The blue light faded, and the air on the forty-seventh floor was filled with the fragrance of flowers.
Silica stood in the center of the portal. When she turned around, only unfamiliar players were passing by behind her. She knew Lin Yuan couldn't possibly be there, but she couldn't help but take another look.
"Is he really going to run up from the thirty-fifth floor?"
"Hmm." Kirito stepped off the stone platform. "Since he said he would make it, he definitely will."
The two rested in the main street until dawn. The next morning, Kirito took Silica away from the flower-filled town and headed north towards " Hill of Memories ".
The wilderness on the forty-seventh floor is not as dark as the thirty-fifth floor, but the swathes of giant flowers are more dangerous than the trees. Vines lurk beneath the grass, and flower buds will suddenly open and spray paralyzing powder when players get close.
Kirito did not clear out all the monsters beforehand.
When the first vine swept in, he only managed to block the second one that was aimed at Silica's back. Silica ducked to avoid it, and her short sword slashed along the base of the vine, depleting the man-eating flower's health bar.
"To the left!" Kirito reminded him.
Silica didn't turn around, and using a habit she'd developed from when Pina had warned her over the shoulder, she rolled to the right. The bud missed its mark, and she flipped over to stab the flower stem. The movement wasn't exactly graceful, but it was decisive enough.
"I can fight on my own," she said, panting.
"I can tell." Kirito sheathed his sword, which he had been about to draw.
The closer they got to the top of the hill, the higher the monster's level became. Silica's attacks gradually became less effective at breaking through her defenses, and Kirito took over the direct combat. Black sword shadows flashed continuously among the flowers, and the monsters blocking their way had almost no chance to launch an attack.
Silica followed behind and finally understood that the "danger" Kirito was referring to never meant himself.
Near the mountainside, a predatory flower lurking on the rock face suddenly split open. Several thorny vines wrapped around Kirito and coiled towards Silica from three directions.
She raised her sword and cut off one blade, the second one wrapped around the blade, and the third one was already close to her wrist.
A sword blade without any light effect swept upwards.
All three vines broke off at the same time.
Lin Yuan walked down the slope, his clothes covered in dust from the twelve-layered road, but his breathing was not visibly disordered. He passed Silica and pierced the core of the predatory flower hidden behind a crevice in the rock with his sword.
The monster exploded into pieces, and all the experience points were added to Kirito and Silica's system records. Lin Yuan still gained nothing.
Silica stared at him blankly. "You really ran up here?"
Crossing twelve floors in a row seemed like just a slightly long journey to him. Silica remembered that he had no name or health bar; the question was on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it back.
Lin Yuan offered no explanation.
Kirito lowered his voice as he approached, "Where are the people behind us?"
"They've entered this level." Lin Yuan had seen several newly left campfires and footprints during his journey. "There are quite a few people, and they used the transfer door. They deliberately didn't chase us too closely."
Kirito glanced at Silica but didn't suggest turning back. They hadn't obtained the flower yet, and the three-day deadline wouldn't be extended due to danger. Rather than letting the pursuers keep finding opportunities in the wild, it was better to complete the only thing they couldn't afford to fail at.
The three quickly arrived at the Hill of Memories. There were no guarding monsters at the top of the mountain, only a patch of white grass bent low by the wind. In the center stood a withered flower stem, which did not look like a rare item that could revive familiars at all.
Kirito stopped at the edge of the grass. "Take Pina's Heart with you."
As soon as Silica took a step, several tiny patterns of light appeared at her feet. She turned to look at the two of them.
"It's no use for us in the past," Kirito said. "This is a task for beast tamers."
Lin Yuan didn't move either.
Silica clutched the pale blue crystal on her chest and walked alone toward the withered flower stem. As the distance shortened, Pina's Heart began to glow, and a glimmer of blue light drifted from between her fingers and landed on the flower stem.
The tender bud breaks through the gray skin and unfolds into a white flower that gleams with dew.
The prop window opened before Silica's eyes.
She reached out her hand, but paused for a moment before touching the petal.
"Now that you've picked it, it belongs to you," Kirito said.
Silica nodded vigorously. " Pina died protecting me. So I should pick this flower myself."
The flower stem broke, and the white flower transformed into soft light, falling into her palm.
Almost at the same time, Lin Yuan turned his head to look back at the way he came.
Applause came from down the slope.
The red-haired woman stepped onto the mountaintop, her head marked with a green marker indicating a regular player. Behind her, however, emerged more than ten players with orange markers, all of them with their weapons drawn.
"How touching, Silica." Rosalia smiled, raising her spear. "Now that you have the flower, hand over your equipment as well."