I like crossing the most

Chapter 577: A Fool Has Good Luck - Aqua's Familiar

The implementation of the Idol Project was extremely successful. It gave the lower-level players something to do and also allowed Akusis Church... or to be more precise, Sato Kazuma to make a fortune.

Guichu and Zhen are in high spirits these days.

Fortunately, he arranged a concert every month, which did not make Alice suffer too much, nor did it affect the speed of everyone's leveling. I heard that he also came up with a ranking thing, so that the top players could meet and shake hands with Alice, and every player who contributed money could get prizes and support items of different levels. For a time, Aincrad set off an idol craze.

I have to say that he understands hunger marketing.

Xiaolin was leveling up with Aqua in the labyrinth area. Sorry, it was Liu Zi, the big shot, who was leveling up with them.

Because the murderous guild, Laughing Coffin, has been making a lot of noise recently, many people took advantage of the situation to attack players and put all the blame on Laughing Coffin. But PoH was not angry about being smeared. On the contrary, he hoped that Aincrad would be in chaos and even declared that he was responsible for all the crimes.

It looks like an absolutely evil posture.

As a last resort, Kobayashi had to take Aqua to upgrade her level so that she would not be surrounded and attacked in the wild.

Nowadays, if ordinary players stay in the safe zone, they can rest assured, but Aqua's personality of being a troublemaker will never allow her to stay in the safe zone obediently, so we have to change it to raising her level. It's not that I haven't thought about having people follow the stupid goddess, but Huihui, Yunyun and Darkness are all in the same situation.

As for PoH…

Never discuss gains and losses with a mentally ill person. This is what Kobayashi has experienced personally - from Aqua and others - you never know when the villain who is hostile to all players will make a big move.

The twenty-seventh floor of Aincrad.

This is the floor that we just cleared. The team has now moved on to a higher floor. The experience here is lower than the upper floors, but this floor is better in terms of safety. There are gains and losses, and Kayaba Akihiko has done a good job of balancing this aspect.

Krillin, Aqua and Ryuzu are leveling up here.

"Xiaolin, take a break."

"……Aha?"

"Look, we've been out here upgrading for three hours. How about taking a break?"

"Are you serious?"

Kobayashi glanced at the stupid goddess who had already taken out food and wine. She didn't seem to be here to gain experience and level up, but more like she was out for a picnic. He suddenly couldn't hold back.

"——You've been doing nothing since you came out. It's Liu Zi and I who are killing monsters, okay!"

Aqua was still a burden without any offensive power, and Kobayashi did not expect her to be of any use when conquering the BOSS, but he at least asked her not to disturb him when he was leveling her up.

With this lazy attitude, even the passion for upgrading disappears when I am with her.

Aqua pouted and said aggrievedly: "I just let you take a break because I saw you were working so hard! I am being considerate of you! I am not wrong, okay!"

"Uh……"

No matter what the stupid goddess thought, she did have good intentions. It’s just that Kobayashi and Ryuzi are both iron men and didn’t feel very tired.

Never mind, it’s about time.

"Let's take a break for now."

"Okay, Master Kobayashi."

Liu Zi obediently put away the sickle.

The three of them sat on the ground in the maze area. There was a small hill with a slight slope, green grass and a breeze blowing on their faces. There was also a big tree behind them to provide shade. The beautiful scenery made people feel relaxed and happy.

When it comes to enjoyment, Kobayashi would like to call the stupid goddess the best. She can always find a comfortable place to be a useless person. Then Aqua happily took out a sandwich from the prop box.

"Here, this was made by Asuna."

"Asuna?"

Xiao Lin was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly realized.

In terms of close relationships, apart from their guild mates, Asuna and Aqua have the best relationship. I don't know if it's because Aqua is too outgoing, but Asuna has turned into a wife, doting on Aqua and feeding her often.

I heard that Asuna's cooking skills are almost at the proficient level.

Hell, Xiaolin hasn't mastered any skills.

"Here, it's delicious."

"……Thanks."

She took the sandwich from Aqua, who looked expectant, and didn't understand why she was so nervous when it wasn't her cooking.

"Mmm. Delicious!"

Took a bite and it tasted amazing!
Maybe it’s due to my cooking skills, the food was surprisingly delicious.

Aqua smiled foolishly and said, "Right? I've always been reluctant to eat it. I heard that it's made with high-quality ingredients. Although it doesn't increase the temporary amplification effect, it tastes very good!"

The food in SAO has special enhancements, such as the Blue Meta dessert on the fifth floor, which has the effect of real perspective.

However, Kayaba Akihiko probably didn't want the properties of food to play too big a role in the boss battle, so the added effects are all insignificant.

"… I say, you're not going to force Asuna to cook for you, are you?"

"No! Rather, Asuna insisted on giving it to me. My item box is almost full of this food."

Aqua pouted.

Kobayashi wondered if Asuna was treating the stupid goddess as a pet.
...Never mind, it doesn’t matter.

"Liu Zi, you should try it too."

"…It's delicious. I have to say that Asuna-sama has made an invaluable contribution to allowing me, a puppet, to taste such delicious food. But I also have to say that Kayaba Akihiko, who created this game, is an inferior creature. Does he think that all creatures need food to survive? He actually set up something as unnecessary as a satiety value."

The elegant maid ate while speaking venomously.

I don't know if Kayaba Akihiko was peeping, but even if he was, he probably wouldn't understand what Ryuko said. After all, Ryuko is a puppet that relies on gears to operate, so she doesn't have rigid needs such as hunger and thirst, so there is no matching taste.

"Think about it the other way around. Kayaba Akihiko allowed you, Ryushi, to taste the delicious food. You should be grateful to him."

“…I will just be grateful.”

Although she said this, her expression actually showed disdain.

Xiaolin shrugged and said nothing more.

Turning his head, just as he was about to speak, he saw the stupid goddess lying on the ground with her butt sticking up, her back facing them, doing something unknown.

“…Aqua?”

Just as Kobayashi was about to pat her shoulder, he saw Aqua making eye contact with a monster, and no one knew what they were doing.

The monster is the Feiyulong that spawns on the 27th floor. It is blue and white all over, similar to the dragon in "Suqing", but it is not a giant dragon, but a second-level flying dragon.

The experience value of Feiyulong is very high, but the trouble is that it can fly.

As we all know, in SAO without magic, flying monsters are the most difficult to spawn, so other players will run to the upper level.

Of course, Kobayashi is an exception.

With silk threads and chains, he can imprison several monsters at a time. Combined with Liu Zi's super high attack power, he can gain experience very quickly.

No, that's not the point.

Sudden--

Somehow, the goddess and the monster both stretched out their right hands at the same time, and clapped their hands together, making a crisp sound. Then, taking this as an opportunity, Aqua took the opportunity to pick up Feiyulong, looking intimate.

"Ah this...?"

Xiao Lin was dumbfounded.

This is a turtle looking at a mung bean. Are they attracted to each other?
But he soon realized that it was Aqua who had captured the pet!
SAO has a pet system, and players who get pets are called tamers. This name is not a standard profession or skill in the system, but a common name.

Monsters that normally attack aggressively in battle may occasionally show goodwill to the player. If you can seize this opportunity and successfully tame the monster by feeding it, it will become a valuable creature that can provide various assistance to the player - a familiar.

Everyone will call these lucky players beast tamers with admiration and envy. Of course, not every monster can become a familiar. Only a small number of small animal-type monsters can.

Originally, Kobayashi thought that among all of them, Sato Kazuma had the highest probability. After all, his luck value was undoubtedly the highest, maybe even the highest among all the players.

It’s not that Sato Kazuma will have no chance in the future, but it was unexpected that the first person to get a familiar would be Aqua, especially since her luck value is probably the lowest in the guild.

But there is something strange about this.

The conditions for taming a familiar have not yet been fully listed. The only certainty is that if too many monsters of this type are killed, taming will never happen.

Even if you try to repeatedly contact monsters that may become familiars, they will usually attack actively, and fighting is impossible to avoid.

In other words, if you want to become a tamer, you must keep in contact with the target monster, and as long as there is no triggering event, you must run away without saying a word. It is not difficult to imagine how complicated this job is.

Then Aqua...

Oh, right! She never killed any monsters!
That being said, it's not just monsters like the Flying Feather Dragon. The stupid goddess hasn't killed a single monster since the first floor. She even only participated in the BOSS battle once on the fifth floor, and she was a bait!

What? You don't even kill monsters. Are you a goddess? Ah, I am a goddess. That's fine. ... Should we say that fools have good fortune?
Xiaolin sighed to the sky.

He did the hard work, but Aqua took all the benefits.

"Xiao Lin Xiao Lin."

"Yes, I'm Xiaolin."

"Let's give it a name. The system prompts that after giving it a name, you can make it my familiar."

"Then you can choose a name. As for the name... it's up to you."

Xiao Lin was upset and didn't want to reply.

The stupid goddess did not get angry because of his perfunctory response. After thinking for a long time, she finally made up her mind and said, "Jier Emperor, its name is Juer Emperor."

"Hmm? Isn't this the name of the egg from which your chick is about to hatch?"

"It's a dragon! That's a dragon!"

Aqua opened her mouth and picked up Feiyulong—now she should call him Zeerdi—and said, “It is precisely because I can’t take care of Zeerdi now that I gave him this name.”

So that's how it is. Is that any consolation?

The egg bought by the stupid goddess was temporarily placed in Wiz's shop. When Vanir saw it at first, he politely asked why she brought a gift. But when he learned that Aqua spent hundreds of millions to buy this egg, he burst into laughter and secretly infused the devil's power into it.

...that's too far.

In short, Aqua now has a familiar and has changed her job to a tamer in name only.

"By the way! Aqua, what are its ability values?"

"Let me see."

Aqua began to check and visualized the window for Kobayashi.

"Hmm... not bad."

The direct combat power of familiar monsters is not very high, but you have to know that familiars exist to protect their masters. They have strong auxiliary capabilities and generally have multiple special abilities. The same is true for Emperor Juer.

It has the ability to search for monsters that are approaching, the healing ability that can restore a small amount of health to its owner, the amplification ability that increases speed and strength, and the water-based attack skill - water bullet.

After seeing the last skill, Xiao Lin suddenly understood why the two of them fell in love with each other.

"Xiao Lin Xiao Lin, look!"

"what?"

"——Flowers, birds, wind and moon!"

Feiyulong was seen standing on top of the stupid goddess, looking up and spraying water, while the stupid goddess took out two fans and made funny poses. I don't know how Aqua trained her, but Emperor Zell quickly understood her idea, and the two even performed their talents on the spot.

"...Don't think about playing all the time."

Xiaolin sighed.

A familiar...

A familiar is not a monster with a fixed level. It will level up as the master's level increases. The only problem is that it consumes experience and slows down the master's leveling speed. However, compared to the amplification effect it brings, a slower level increase is not a big deal.

And in this way, the safety of the stupid goddess can be guaranteed to some extent.

No, maybe she can join the team and defeat the BOSS together with them! ...Forget it, with Aqua's attitude of resisting danger, it would be too difficult for her to participate in the BOSS strategy battle. It would be better for her to be a useless person.

Then, he saw—

"Come, Emperor Jer, it's delicious."

Aqua took out a small bottle with a pointed mouth and pretended to pour it into Feiyulong's mouth. Kobayashi's eyes immediately widened.

"—Don't give the monster alcohol, you stupid goddess!"

This is not a familiar, this is a drinking buddy!

------

When Aqua returned to town with Feather Dragon, it caused quite a commotion.

In SAO, it is an iron rule that towns are safe zones, which means that monsters cannot enter towns unless there is a special event - monster siege in the game.

Although the familiar's combat power is insufficient, it still has auxiliary capabilities, and many players are interested in Feiyulong.

"... In summary, I think that not killing large numbers of monsters of this type is one of the necessary conditions for obtaining a familiar. As for what kind of monsters can be used as familiars, I don't know."

"I see."

Argo pretended to write and draw in a small notebook.

She was here to gather intelligence. As the most famous intelligence dealer in Aincrad, she rushed over as soon as Aqua returned with the Flying Dragon.

Kobayashi did not hide anything from her about his companions, comrades-in-arms, and benefactors who helped him conquer the floors - mainly because Kobayashi was not quite clear about the requirements for subduing familiars, and they also stumbled upon it by accident. And it just so happened that Aqua had this luck, which made Sato Kazuma, Megumin, Youyou, and Alice extremely envious.

After gathering the information, Argo did not keep it to himself, but spread it throughout Aincrad.

Unfortunately, the harsh conditions did not allow anyone to successfully subdue the familiar, so many people gave up. It was not until they reached the 40th floor that they heard that someone had successfully subdued a familiar.

(End of this chapter)