A journey to another world starting from a sword

“Let’s replenish our supplies at the South Market in Urbas first,” Mitt suggested.

As soon as she finished speaking, she pointed to the bottom of her HP bar in the upper left corner of her field of vision.

"Unfortunately, even if we go back to the training grounds to fight monsters now, there's not much time left."

The four-leaf clover pattern that appeared after the three finished eating the cake represents a "lucky reward" buff.

Generally, besides donating a large sum of money to the church to receive blessings, one can also achieve the same effect by equipping jewelry with this effect or tasting special foods and drinks.

In SAO, the only explicitly stated attributes are Strength (STR) and Agility (AGI), but there are actually some "hidden parameters," one of which is "Luck." Luck affects resistance to attacks such as poison or paralysis, the drop rate of rare treasures, and the probability of critical hits, making it a very important parameter.

Since the effect lasts for fifteen minutes, if you take it while resting in the maze area, you can enjoy the benefits of the extremely high luck value in subsequent battles.

but now......

"Ah! Speaking of which, I think I've heard that a highly skilled blacksmith has appeared in the East Square of Urbas!" Mito tapped his fist on his palm, then looked at Asuna. "Want to give it a try?"

Chapter 68: The Enhanced Conman

A universal law in Aincrad: player blacksmiths have a higher success rate than NPC blacksmiths of the same level.

The reason for this is that the NPC's "smelting" skill proficiency is fixed and will not increase because players in Aincrad forge, strengthen, or maintain weapons. Although they look like dwarves who are good at smelting, their proficiency is quite worrying.

Another aspect is the smelting hammer used for blacksmithing. The blacksmiths on the second-level main street of Urubas use bronze hammers, while at present there are steel hammers that require a higher level of proficiency to equip.

Whether it's skill level, the tools used, or the success rate of weapon enhancement, the legendary blacksmith should be superior to the NPC blacksmith.

In other words, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to steal business from the NPC blacksmith.

In the morning, Urbus East Square was almost deserted, a stark contrast to its bustling atmosphere in the evening.

Apart from two or three couples sitting on the outer bench (who are probably couples in real life), everyone else was walking around in a hurry with a clear purpose, bustling about like working adults entering the workforce.

“Found it, it’s over there.” Mitt walked side by side with Asuna and Silica, and pointed to the small player who had spread out a carpet in the northeast corner of the square, with a small anvil and weapon display rack on it.

This was the first time she had seen a craftsman-type player actually doing business since SAO officially launched and became a death game. Under the current circumstances, no player would upgrade the "smelting" skill, which is not directly related to survival rate, let alone do business.

Even Ashurai, the tailor she met on the first floor, had no such plans yet.

Although their team often gave her the materials dropped by defeated monsters to help her improve her "Tailoring" skill proficiency.

But as for Ashura herself, she doesn't want to "turn her hobby into a job," which is the other party's original statement.

That makes sense. Ashura is very likely an enthusiast or professional in the field in real life. She only entered SAO to experience the fun of the game. If a lot of players ask her to customize clothes, then it really becomes a job.

Currently, Ashurai has only mentioned that he can help with crafting if there are any good materials available, but obtaining rare materials is not such a simple matter.

“Back in the closed beta…” Mitt said nostalgically, gazing into the distance, “In the main passageways of each floor’s main street, you could see merchants spreading out colorful carpets and bustling about buying and selling.”

"Eh—I really want to see that." Asuna couldn't imagine what kind of scene Mito was talking about, because the players' revelry at night was the most vibrant scene she had ever seen.

“It will happen someday,” Mitt said, tugging at the neckerchief of his cloak and letting out a breath.

“That person!” Silica suddenly pointed ahead and said.

Ahead was a player wearing advanced metal armor that reflected sunlight; they had just seen him yesterday.

"Ah, it seems to be Mr. Sivada." Asuna also recalled that he was the player who stood next to Commander Diabel yesterday.

"It looks like he's strengthening the weapon," Mitt remarked after observing, explaining that the delivered weapon was about to be continuously hammered on an anvil, which is not how forging and maintenance are done.

Upon approaching, the three saw a sign standing to the side, with "Nezha's Smith Shop" written at the top of the price list.

It should be pronounced as Nezha, that's the blacksmith's name.

At the same time, the blacksmith also posted a list of the enhancement rates for each weapon in the shop, and specifically stated that if the enhancement materials provided by the shop failed, only the cost of the materials would be charged, and no additional handling fees would be charged.

"They really have a conscience," Mito muttered. "By the way, Asuna, we brought our own materials. How many enhancement materials do you have in your backpack?"

"Hmm... four pieces of 'Planck Steel' and twenty-eight 'Wind Wasp Stings'," Asuna said, flipping through her inventory.

"Wind Wasp" is a bee-shaped monster with a black body and green stripes that appears on the second level.

An insect measuring 50 centimeters in length would definitely terrify people in the real world, but in Aincrad, it is considered the smallest monster.

Since everyone has only been on the second floor for less than a week, the materials used for enhancement will definitely be used by themselves first, and then sold. In fact, because there are no merchants, it is extremely inconvenient for players to buy and sell.

Previously, everyone had to ask around in Argo to see which players wanted to sell their enhancement materials. Due to this scarcity, the prices of most materials were generally high. This situation will likely only improve and bring down the prices once a large number of players arrive.

At this point, the materials they had were mostly collected by hunting specific monsters themselves, which took a lot of effort.

"We only need twenty poison needles, and the success rate of the enhancement should reach the maximum of 95%." After estimating, Mitt relaxed. With such a high success rate, there was no possibility of failure, especially since they had just eaten a cake that increased their luck.

On the other hand, for a blacksmith, the best customers are those who buy even the raw materials from him, because he will earn more money that way.

While buying materials from the blacksmith to enhance their weapon is a good option, since they have plenty of money, the Wind Hornet's poison sting is an additive material for enhancing "precision." Among them, only Asuna uses a rapier that requires "precision," so the extra materials are useless.

The metallic clanging sound, "bang bang bang," carries a certain melody.

The owner of the enhanced broadsword, Sivada, was staring intently at his weapon, probably praying for success.

Even Asuna, Mito, and Silica, who were watching from the sidelines, felt a bit nervous, just like them.

"Bang," the final hammer fell.

Everyone was stunned the moment the dark gray blade shattered.

There shouldn't be a "weapon damage" penalty for failing to upgrade in SAO, right?

Mitt quickly recalled that the penalty for a failed weapon enhancement should only be one of three things: "maintaining the original state but losing materials", "enhancement parameters being converted", or "enhancement values ​​being reduced".

What's going on now?

Asuna and the others watched Sivada, the person involved, and instead of grabbing the blacksmith's collar and yelling "Give it back!", they accepted reality with somber expressions and left without any complaints.

He walked away with his head down, brushing past Asuna and the others without even saying hello, which was enough to convey the bitterness in his heart.

"Should we strengthen it further?" Asuna asked softly after Sivada had walked away.

"Welcome..." The short blacksmith, Nezha, had a voice that clearly belonged to a young boy, and he was probably not very old in real life.

He quickly stood up, bowed his head, and asked, "Shopping... or skincare?"

If this were in real life, I doubt any customer would trust this store.

"Um, we..."

Just as Asuna was about to step forward to negotiate, a very subtle but certain feeling flashed through Mito's mind.

This feeling of panic is just like the moment I almost thought I had lost Asuna.

"Wait, Asuna." Mito grabbed Asuna's arm and pulled her back from her step.

"M-Mite?" Asuna turned her head in alarm.

“…” Mitt silently shifted his gaze back and forth between Asuna and the blacksmith named Nezuha, finally taking a deep breath and saying, “I…we haven’t collected enough materials yet, we’ll talk about it next time.”

"Huh?" Asuna, who was being practically carried, didn't react for a moment and exclaimed in surprise.

Seeing this, Silica glanced back at the blacksmith's shop and then quickly chased after him.

“…” Nezha watched this scene quietly, and finally sat down as if he had breathed a sigh of relief.

Once they were far from the square and in a small alley, Mito released Asuna's wrist.

"What's wrong, Mito?" Asuna felt uneasy because of Mito's unusual behavior.

"I...I'm a little scared." Mitt clenched his hands and turned his face to the side.

"It's alright." Asuna reached out and took Mito's hand, comforting him, "Mr. Sivada was probably just unlucky."

“No!” Mito knew Asuna was unaware of the source of his worries. “That’s too unusual!”

The failure to enhance the weapon and the resulting damage seemed to negate all her previous experience.

The thought that Asuna's weapon had also been shattered by that hammer blow caused her heart to ache as if it were being pierced by an iron spike.

The "Wind Flower Sword" was proof of her reconciliation with Asuna, but it's going to be damaged because she suggested finding a player blacksmith...

Seeing the blank look on Asuna's face, Mito became extremely anxious. Then, when she saw Silica behind her, a flash of inspiration struck her: "Hasn't Dante returned yet?"

If that man were here, he would definitely...

-----------------

"I'm off now. Don't be late for tomorrow's strategy battle, even if you don't break the stone, remember to go."

After receiving a weak wave from Kirito, Dante nodded and left the secluded place of the martial arts master.

The newly added skill in the skill bar, named "Physical Skills," still has a proficiency level of zero.

But it already has a basic skill, a single thrusting technique called "Flash Strike" where the fist swings forward in a straight line. There should be many opportunities to use it in the future.

After retrieving the armor from his inventory to lighten the load, Dante ran towards Urbus at top speed.

When encountering unavoidable monsters on the road, I easily dispatched them without taking any damage with just two sword strikes.

After entering the streets of Urbus, Dante casually sent a message.

Suddenly, he felt a gaze on his cheek. When he turned his head, he found Asuna staring at him from under her thick hood.

"Have you had lunch yet?" Dante asked first.

To his surprise, Asuna didn't answer. Instead, she looked at him speechlessly and said, "I've wanted to ask you this for a while now. What's your national custom to ask if you've eaten yet?"

"I'm very hungry." Dante pointed to the sky above, indicating the current time. Even though the light was coming in from the side of the floating city, it was still as bright as the midday sun.

"Here you go." Asuna held out her hand from behind her back to Dante's eyes. "Beef skewers I bought from the roadside."

"Ha—" Dante chuckled, then took it. "Thank you."

The beef, skewered like pan-fried tofu, is coated with sauce and grilled until it has an incredibly tempting sheen, even while it's still hot.

The two walked side by side toward the vicinity of the square.

"Have you eaten?" Dante asked Asuna, taking a bite of meat and smearing oil all over his mouth.

"No," Asuna said after glancing at him. She had originally planned to try it, and if it was good, she would buy one for each person.

"..." This made Dante look down at the skewers in his hand, and then reluctantly hand them over.

"I'll buy it later!" Asuna turned her head away, both amused and exasperated.

"Oh." Hearing that Asuna wasn't going to eat it, Dante withdrew his hand and continued eating, then said meaningfully, "This is delicious."

"Yes, yes," Asuna replied helplessly, taking a handkerchief from her pouch and using it to restrain Dante's head as he tried to dodge. "Don't move!"

After wiping the grease from the corner of his mouth, Dante hesitated for a moment before reaching out with the wooden skewer holding the last piece of meat. Wouldn't it be pointless to wipe it off if he ate it again?

This time, Asuna didn't refuse and opened her mouth to take a bite, but the piece of meat was a bit too big, making it impossible to eat it all at once.

Watching her adorably move her little mouth, Dante couldn't help but laugh, "Pfft—"

"W-What?!" The hood slowly rose about five centimeters, and Asuna stared at him with sharp eyes.

"It's delicious, isn't it?" Dante laughed heartily.

"Mmm, delicious." There's no denying that Asuna really thought it tasted good.

After meeting up with Mitt and Silica, the four of them stood in a narrow alley overlooking most of the square, gazing at each other.

"As you predicted, there were about four failures this morning, and each failure involved a rare weapon." Looking at the man in front of him, Mitt, feeling relieved, reported on the situation he had been monitoring for half a morning.

Immediately after she sent the message, she received a monitoring order from Dante—to see how many times the other party could fail in a morning.

In that instant, Mitt understood Dante's intention; the man had once again precisely struck at the source of her unease.

Thinking of this, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, a sincere affirmation of his talent and the best response to this tacit understanding.

At the same time, she also had reason to believe that the short blacksmith Nezha in the distance was the first enhanced fraudster in SAO.

Chapter 69: So Tragic and Beautiful

"As expected..." Dante said knowingly.

"What do you mean?" Asuna and Silica were both confused.

Dante then explained, "I confirmed with Argo, and normal enhancement failures will never result in weapon destruction. Only when attempting to enhance a sword that has reached its limit of enhancement attempts will this situation inevitably lead to destruction."

He paused, then made a guess that was almost a fact: "In other words, the weapons of Sivada and the players after her were secretly switched during the enhancement process."

"Huh?" Asuna paused for a second, then asked urgently, "What about Mr. Sivada and the others' weapons?"

"It's probably safely stored in that con artist's inventory," Dante chuckled, his gaze darting to the other end of the plaza.