Recap: Kirito and a blacksmith player adventure for rare forging materials.

Iro’s Thoughts:
This week we meet the fetching blacksmith Lizbeth, who was featured on Asuna’s friendlist last week as well as in the OP. She runs a popular shop on the 48th floor of Aincrad, being one of the highest level blacksmiths in the game, and she forged Asuna’s top-tier Rapier weapon, <Lambient Light>. We first see her sharpening this very weapon for Asuna, who’s looking especially dolled up today – she’s wearing earrings and everything, getting ready for an “it’s not what it looks like” date.

Anyway, Kirito shows up in Lizbeth’s shop before long, looking for a new sword that can match his super-rare monster drop. She offers him the best sword she’s ever made, but when he tests it out in comparison to what he’s using, it breaks like a twig. Aiming to regain her honor as a blacksmith, Lizbeth persuades Kirito to let her come along on the quest for rare forging metal on the 55th floor. Supposedly there’s a dragon boss there which eats the local crystals and refines them into metal in its stomach, but nobody who’s killed the dragon has found the loot yet.

During the fight, Lizbeth steps out of cover and accidentally draws the dragon’s aggro, triggering its blizzard attack. She and Kirito get blown into a large hole in the dungeon, and are forced to make camp for the night. They have a bit of a heart-to-heart, and Lizbeth asks to hold his hand as they sleep. Because somehow she’s fallen in love with him after knowing him for less than 12 hours. Yep.

Once morning comes, Kirito (of course) deduces that the hole is the dragon’s nest, and digs up the rare metal. Since it refines the metal in its stomach, then logically it would shit it out in its lair instead of dropping it as loot when killed. They hitch a ride out of the hole on the dragon’s back, and Lizbeth confesses to him as they fall through the air, making sure he can’t actually hear her. They return to the shop and Lizbeth forges a new sword with the POWER OF TEENAGE 12-HOUR LOVE, the end result being a unique sword known as <Dark Repulser>.

In lieu of payment, Lizbeth asks Kirito to let her be his exclusive blacksmith, and is on the verge of properly confessing her TEENAGE 12-HOUR LOVE when Asuna barges into the store, worried about not being able to track her best friend over the past day. Seeing the relationship Kirito and Asuna have, Lizbeth decides to cheer on her friend instead of pursue Kirito herself. Heartbroken, she goes off to a corner of town and cries over her lost TEENAGE 12-HOUR LOVE. Kirito manages to track her down before long, trying to comfort her despite not even bothering to equip her sword, and she makes him promise he’ll end this hell of a video game they’re all trapped in. Roll credits.

Cuts this episode? Not much, really. Everything that was important got included. That said, I wouldn’t say it’s okay to just go and read this side story right now – since this was included in the second volume, there are some spoilers for parts of the first volume that the anime hasn’t reached yet. And lastly, a notable change – in the anime and the print publication (which is what you’ll find on Baka-Tsuki), Lizbeth asks to hold Kirito’s hand while they camp out in the dragon’s nest. In the original web-published version, she strips down to a camisole and gets into his sleeping bag, where they “hug” each other to sleep. Yep.

At any rate, I’m pretty sure we’ll get to the actual plot of this show next week, instead of yet more side stories.

Marlin’s Thoughts: My god, this girl falls in love faster than a Ghibli protagonist.