Lisbeth worked tirelessly in Lindarth, the peaceful town of watermills on Aincrad's 48th Floor.
"Thank you very much! Please come again!"
She had just finished her last scheduled task for the day. Leaving the reception desk to the NPC staff, she retreated into her inner workshop.
"Alright. Time to get to work."
With renewed energy, she placed an ingot on the anvil inside the furnace. Once the metal glowed a fiery red, she moved it to the striking anvil and began hammering it with her favorite tool.
In real-world bladesmithing, a smith hammers hot iron, reheats it, and repeats the process to shape it gradually. In Sword Art Online, however, the weapon's creation concludes after a set number of strikes on a heated ingot.
As a brilliant light faded, Lisbeth examined the completed one-handed sword and let out a soft sigh.
"Another failure, it seems."
She checked the weapon's stats. As a sword, it was high-quality, but it failed to meet her expectations. It lacked the excellence of "that sword" she had crafted once before.
Since creating that particular masterpiece, Lisbeth made it a daily habit to forge at least one one-handed sword, hoping to replicate her previous success.
Three factors determine the quality of player-made equipment in SAO:
The crafter's skill level.
The materials used.
Luck.
Regarding her Smithing skill, Lisbeth had already reached mastery.
Next was the raw metal. Although this ingot sat several tiers below what she used for "that sword," it remained a reliable, high-grade material. She had even heard that a fellow blacksmith used the same metal to craft a weapon currently serving a front-line player.
That left only the third factor: luck. Lisbeth, however, refused to accept it as the reason. She didn't want to believe that her greatest achievement—that crystalline blade—was merely a stroke of luck.
"Maybe I can only reach that result with that specific metal?"
She thought of the Crystallite Ingots from the dragon's nest on the 55th Floor. Despite the fact that they were essentially "dragon droppings," they were undoubtedly top-tier. While other metals might emerge as players cleared higher floors, nothing currently matched or surpassed its quality. Every blacksmith in the game still craved it.
"Even if I wanted more, I can't gather it alone at my current level."
Though she had grown stronger since then, she lacked the courage to storm the White Wyrm's nest by herself.
"And I'm too embarrassed to ask Kirito for help again. Good grief, I just wish I knew the exact conditions for crafting something of that caliber!"
Lisbeth wasn't a hardcore gamer by nature. However, when it came to her specialty, Smithing, her professional curiosity—her craftsman's soul—drove her to solve the mystery.
As she remained lost in thought, the shop's bell rang, followed by the familiar greeting of the NPC attendant.
She paused her analysis, pulled off her work gloves, and checked her "professional smile" in the mirror. She felt a brief sense of deja vu. With that fleeting thought, she stepped out of the workshop.
"Hello! Welcome to Lisbeth's Smithy!"
She saw a player who stood out from the usual NPC crowd. The customer turned toward her and spoke.
"Ah, hello. A friend recommended this place. Can I place a custom order?"
An overwhelming feeling of deja vu hit Lisbeth.
"I see. So Kirito sent you."
The boy introduced himself as Mitsuki. He came seeking a weapon on the recommendation of Kirito—the person who carried her masterpiece, and someone who held a special place in her heart.
She noted his gear: a two-handed spear and no shield. He wore a long-trimmed jacket in light gray with striking green accents. Strangely, he pulled a spear—likely a monster drop—from his back and said, "I want something with roughly these specs." His mannerisms and words mirrored Kirito so closely that she pressed her hand to her forehead in disbelief.
"Well... among the ready-made two-handed spears, this one is my best."
She handed him a spear from the wall. The boy gripped it, performed a few practice swings, and frowned.
"It's a bit light. I prefer something with more weight."
"How about this one then?"
He tried another. He liked the feel of this one better, but suddenly began spinning it with the skill of a circus performer.
"Hmm, the balance is off. Do you have one with a 7-to-3 ratio between the blade and the butt?"
This hyper-specific request gave Lisbeth a literal headache, even in a virtual world.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but do two-handed spear users usually care this much about weight?"
"Normally, they don't. Maybe just the overall weight."
Whether he realized he had just admitted to being an "outlier" or not, it was clear no ready-made product would satisfy him. Lisbeth had to craft it from scratch.
"Fine, I can make it. But to reach that level, you'll need high-tier materials."
"Don't worry about that."
He opened his menu, and a large, heavy-looking burlap sack appeared. When he opened it, Lisbeth saw the dark glint of metallic ore.
"Wait—is this Athanasian Ingot!? And in this quantity? Did you gather all of this yourself?"
"Yes. It was a nightmare. I think I have a phobia of traps now."
On the 65th Floor, a famous "horror-themed" quest required players to recover family heirlooms from a monster in a haunted mansion. Completing the quest was easy for high-level players, but the mansion's basement contained piles of stolen jewelry and treasures players could take. This specific metal was hidden among them.
The basement swarmed with traps—some dealt damage, while others were jump-scares. If a player screamed, the mansion's boss would attack in a rage. Because players had to sift through the loot while dodging these traps, almost no one wanted to go there. This made the metal incredibly rare despite its known location. Lisbeth never expected to see this much of it—a material that rivaled Crystallite Ingots—right in front of her.
"Is this enough for the base and additives?"
"It's more than enough. Exactly how many spears are you trying to make?"
"Just one. But as you know, spears come in many varieties."
Two-handed spears in SAO generally fell into two categories: the standard Two-Handed Spear like the one he carried, and the Lance, which resembled Western knightly spears.
The Two-Handed Spear further branched into types like the "Naginata" for slashing, and the "Halberd" which utilized axe skills, making it one of the most diverse weapon classes in terms of design.
"I want a two-handed spear—not a naginata, a trident, or a partisan. I want something streamlined. Exactly like the one I have now."
As he pointed to the spear on his back, Lisbeth stood there, mouth agape.
One frustrating aspect of SAO smithing was the weapon's appearance. While the smith chose the category and used their skill, the system handled the transformation from ingot to weapon. One could influence stats through materials, but the final color and shape remained a mystery until completion.
Lisbeth had seen customers leave unhappy with a weapon's look even if its performance was perfect.
This meant Kirito's Dark Repulser could have ended up as a thick, clumsy slab instead of a sleek masterpiece. There was even a tiny chance it could have turned out bright pink instead of translucent white.
"Wait... you mean...?"
"Yes. I'll stay here under your care until we get the perfect spear. I'll handle the tea, and I can even look after the shop for you."
"Whaaaaaaaaat!?"
Despite the early hour, Lisbeth flipped the sign to Closed and retreated into her workshop, hammering away without pause.
This was her seventh attempt. The six spears hanging on the wall were all excellent weapons, but because their heads were either cross-shaped or trident-like, he simply shook his head in refusal.
"Good grief... are all solo players in the Clearing Group like this!?"
She wanted to vent her frustration through the hammer, but she remembered his words: "I'm looking forward to the best spear," and she calmed herself.
Stay calm, Lisbeth. You have to take weapon-making seriously.
Since each spear consumed one ingot, she only had four chances left. If the perfect spear didn't appear, would he go back to gather more metal? Given how exhausted he looked, he would likely give up on the appearance and settle for one of the previous eleven.
No. Forcing a player to settle for a weapon is my failure as a blacksmith.
In this world, weapons are partners that share a player's fate to the very end. As the creator and maintainer, she considered it a stroke of luck to have another chance with such luxury materials.
Top-tier metal, high-quality additives, and her own "Master Smith" skills—what would they produce? Was her success with Kirito's sword a fluke or an inevitability? Lisbeth mixed that curiosity with a sense of gratitude toward the boy for the opportunity. With a fierce determination to craft a spear that would leave him speechless, she struck the final blow.
The ingot emitted a brilliant light and reshaped itself rapidly. The rough metal mass finally became a long, two-handed spear.
"Miss Lisbeth, the tea is ready—oh. Is the seventh one done?"
"Yes. The single-headed spear you wanted is complete."
The moment he saw the black spear resting on the anvil, its head etched with faint lightning patterns, his eyes lit up like a child receiving a gift.
"Its name is Exalion. Numerically, its stats are on the same level as that gray spear. Try it out."
The boy picked it up to test the weight and performed several practice swings. He then began spinning it with masterly skill.
"Amazing. The weight, the feel of the swing—everything is perfect."
Seeing his satisfied expression, Lisbeth breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing the joy on a player's face when they found their perfect weapon always made her hard work feel worthwhile.
At that moment, she decided to ask the question that had been on her mind.
"Tell me... is your reason for wanting a second spear the same as Kirito's?"
The boy stopped moving completely.
"I thought I was the only one who knew about that... but he told you too."
"I don't know the specifics. I just guessed that he needed it—that's all. And don't worry, I haven't told anyone."
"I'm glad you're an understanding player. You can do whatever you like with the unused ingots. The other spears too."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. It's better they stay in your shop and find players who can use them properly than sitting with me. Now, what do I owe you?"
"Let's see... that comes to about five million Col."
"Five mil—!? Wait a second."
He was likely checking his balance. He hurriedly opened his menu, and his face went pale.
"I'm sorry... can I... pay in installments...?"
When she saw him hanging his head and muttering, "I thought three million would be enough," Lisbeth couldn't help but laugh.
"I was joking. You had me make a lot, but you provided all the materials, and I got rare metals and new products for my shop. One million will do."
"Just in case, based on a very slim possibility... could we make it... free?"
"You clearly don't appreciate my mercy in cutting the price by eighty percent, do you?"
"I'll pay the one million Col immediately."
He operated the trade window, and one million Col transferred to her account.
"Thank you!"
"Anyway, thank you, Lisbeth. I'll take good care of this spear."
"Just call me Liz. Since we've gone through all this, we aren't strangers anymore. Mitsuki."
"That's true. I'll come back for maintenance next time. See you later, Liz."
Lisbeth waved goodbye to the boy as he left. She then returned to her workshop once more.
"In the end, what is the secret?"
There was a rumor that a weapon's quality changed based on the intensity of the blacksmith's feelings during the forging process—a rumor that seemed impossible. But thinking back to when she made Kirito's sword, and this spear just now, Liz felt she had been carrying strong emotions in her heart.
Can a player's emotions actually influence the system?
"Heh, of course not."
She decided to leave the supernatural stuff as mere rumors. Cutting off that line of thought, Liz began organizing the large collection of spears she would display in her shop window starting tomorrow.