"Holy shit, is she wearing two swords?"
"She's not a rogue. . ."
"Hey, Worm, how the heck do you have two swords equipped? Did you get a hidden class?"
The two were immediately surrounded as soon as they exited the dungeon. All eyes were on Shana. The girl opened her lips, head swerving around her, eyes blinking rapidly.
"Umm. . .huh. . ."
Lucy grabbed Shana's hand.
"Get out of our way, or I'll slash you!"
The small tide of players parted immediately. Not only were the two the highest leveled players there, their equipment were also not comparable at all. That was to say, no one wanted to test the game's pvp yet.
"Come on, run!"
Just like that, the two ran back to Acron. Eyes still came upon Shana, but Lucy merely glared at anyone who tried to come towards them.
"That's gonna be annoying," She muttered passively.
". . .sorry," Shana murmured.
"What of?" Lucy shrugged. "It's just how gamers are. Curious about something they don't have. I'd probably be the same."
She then turned. "Now let's go see about crafting a weapon!"
She paused.
"Your article said we could buy blacksmithing supplies from Alec, right?" She asked.
Shana nodded. "Indeed. However, I already have all that we need on me."
"Oh that's great then!"
The two scurried away from the bustling of the street and found a path between houses to hide from. There, Shana summoned a small, portable furnace, an anvil, a hammer, and a fire starter kit. The anvil on the ground, she started a fire within.
"Alright," Shana said, "Tap the furnace with your Traveler's Book."
Lucy nodded and did as she was told.
The book flipped onto a new screen, floating above the furnace.
[What equipment do you wish to craft?]
Lucy tapped on the option for 'weapon'.
[What weapon do you wish to craft?]
Lucy tapped on the option for 'longsword'.
[Please place the materials you wish to use into the materials box.]
On the left side, there was an empty box. On the right, her inventory was shown. She had 5 [Goblin's Bronze Sword] and 10 [Boar's Tusks]. Thinking nothing more, Lucy shrugged and dragged those two stacks into the material box.
". . .are you sure that will work?" Shana asked, "Are you sure you should be using that many supplies?"
"Nope," Lucy replied, "And nope."
". . ."
"I'm just winging it, Shana."
[Crafting Prototype.]
The bronze weapons became 5 bronze ingots, then the material box swirled with an animation of flames devouring them all along with the tusks.
[Prototype 'Unnamed Longsword' crafted.]
Due to her 'Traveler's First Step' achievement, the prototype's creation was completed in an instant. In her hand, she gripped a shoddy, jagged, looking blade that looked more like a badly molded piece of iron than a weapon.
[Prototype Unnamed Longsword]
—a prototype of a longsword. Try hammering at it.
As Shana watched bemusedly, Lucy went to the anvil and picked up the hammer. Holding the sword on top of the surface, she struck it once. A sharp ring of metal against metal rang. There was a flash of light and the prototype morphed into an ash-gray sword.
[Unnamed Longsword Crafted.]
[Unnamed Longsword]
—a 'bronze' longsword crafted by the player 'Eve', yet to be named.
/at least 7 Souls in Physical Strength required to equip
*10% chance to stun an opponent for 3 seconds when a critical hit is landed with this weapon. This effect can only be activated once every 30 seconds.
+15 Physical Strength
+5 Physical Defense
+5 Magical Strength
". . ."
". . ."
The two were silent, taking in the sword with an ash-gray blade glistening under the sun. Lucy's face in particular was etched with a perverse grin. Overlooking the stat bonuses that summed up to 25, the highest they had seen so far, the weapon had a modifier with a 10% chance of procing. Paired with Lucy's golden feather that increased the chance to 20%, she had a 1 in 5 chance of stunning with a critical hit.
'Now that's what I'm talking about!'
The only downside to creating the blade was that it had taken 5 swords of the goblin series and 10 boar tusks, things she could have sold, and things that would take significant time for anyone to farm. Perhaps, if someone was lucky, they could craft her same blade in a day with a single dungeon run. However, that was a luck few had, they would still need to know the recipe in the end, and they would still have to take time in the actual crafting process without the achievement she had.
'All of that doesn't matter though,' Lucy thought, 'This sword is probably worth it at this stage of the game. I bet a lot of people would pay big to have it made for them.'
She glanced at the screen that popped up in front of her and named the weapon after its modifier and color.
[You have named your crafted equipment 'Blight Ash'.]
[The name has been updated to 'Blight Ash Longsword'.]
[As you are the first to craft this recipe in the world, the series of weapons shall now be known as 'Blight Ash'.]
She equipped the sword, finding the sheath the game matched with it a dark gray. She drew it out, its sharp sound resounding, the weight of it significant in her grasp. For now, it would certainly take two hands to wield once more, but she was satisfied.
"That is an amazing weapon. . ." Shana muttered.
"Jealous?"
"A bit."
"We could try and make you one or two more?"
"There's no need, I'm already satisfied with my twin swords." Shana shook her head. "Gathering the materials alone would take us until tomorrow if we are lucky, or the day after if unlucky. And that's simply if we make only one more."
"What about the player market? Can't we buy the materials from there?"
"For the tusks? Certainly. The bronze swords, however? No. The weapons are sold as soon as they pop up on the market. Right now, one can go anywhere from 500 to 900 gilds."
Lucy couldn't help but whistle at that. That was costly for just one weapon. She herself only had 1,670 gilds, so she could barely afford 2 goblin bronze weapons if they were on the cheaper end.
"How much is the [Goblin Commander's Longsword] being sold for?" Lucy asked.
"About two thousand gilds."
"Interesting. . .how much do you think this one will sell for then?" Lucy asked, pointing at the weapon sheathed by her left hip.
"Hmm. . .that's hard to say. . ." Shana held her chin momentarily. "If I were to be honest, no one can afford it right now, so it should be considered priceless at this stage of the game thanks to its rarity, stat bonuses, and modifier. However, if we must put a price on it, I wouldn't sell it for anything less than six or seven thousand gilds."
"Wow. . ."
Naturally, Lucy didn't actually plan on selling the weapon, that'd be dumb, but she was amazed by the girl's assessment nonetheless.
"Welp," She said, "Should we sell the bows now? I've still got 2 of em in my inventory."
"Mhmm, we should."
[Master, I can sell your weapons for you!] Alice popped up then, floating around Lucy's head.
"What? You can sell them?"
[Yes, master!] Alice said. [Simply command me and I shall list them on the player market for you. With my analysis of the market, I can update the price consistently to make sure you get the most amount of gilds possible.]
Lucy raised a brow. ". . .are you sure you're not hacking?"
[I am simply doing what you can already do, master. The game's system will see it as your own actions.] Alice protested. [As for my analysis, you can do that as well with enough effort. Though, due to me being an AI, I can do it faster, efficiently, and with greater accuracy.]
As Lucy grumbled at the AI who could win a debate against anyone, Shana glanced at her, tilting her head.
"Who are you talking to?"
"Oh. . .I'm talking to huh. . ." Lucy muttered, "My AI?"
Shana's eyes widened. "You have an AI?"
Naturally, not just everyone had an artificial intelligence at their behest. Even the richest of people would find it hard to get one smarter than the bare minimum needed to help with their daily lives. There was a massive gap between a smart assistant, which most people had in this day and age, and an AI.
"Mhmm." Lucy nodded. "She was left to me by my parents."
"Ahh, that makes sense!"
"It does? You're not wondering how she's talking to me in the game right now?"
"No." The writer shook her head. "You are a Heartfelt, after all. It's not weird if your parents left you a piece of tech few know about."
Then she blushed.
"Though, I'd like to meet her. . ."
[Master, if you wish, you can simply speak to me through your thoughts.]
'What? How the heck is that possible? Are you reading my mind?'
[The virtual reality helmet can read the surface thoughts of your mind. It is what allows you to cast skills, summon your Traveler's Book with a thought, and control other aspects of the game.]
'. . .is that legal?'
[It is. It is only reading your surface level thoughts, master. The helmet does not have the technology required to look into your subconscious or memories. As well, I have already perused its coding and can tell you, with certainty, that it does not save any data, deleting any information it gains from you as soon as it has used it.]
'Well that's comforting. . .' Lucy thought. If there was anyone she could trust to know the inner workings of a piece of tech, it was Alice. 'Can you let Shana see you too?'
[If you authorize me to spread myself upon her network, I can break into her virtual helmet and allow her to see and communicate with me.]
Lucy nodded, and then spoke to her companion.
"Alice can show herself and communicate with you if you allow her to spread onto your network," She said, "But, make sure you're sure, okay? Because she will be technically hacking into your virtual reality helmet at that point."
Shana did not think twice.
"Of course, let her do so!" She said, her expression bright.
'Alright, do it, Alice. However, do not touch her cloud or anything else beyond her helmet unless she asks you to, and you must notify me if it's anything beyond what I allow you, okay?'
[As you wish, master.]
A few seconds later and Shana stared around her head as Alice's projection flew about her.
[Hello, master's friend!]
"H-hello."
The writer's usually calm eyes were almost sparkling. Lucy watched as the two chatted with each other.
'Alice, sell the 2 bronze bows in my inventory.'
[Alright master, Alice has put them up for sale.]
[The 2 bows have been sold for a total of 1500 gilds.]
'That fast?'
[The American server of Eclipse currently has more than 3.4 million concurrent players, and these are currently the only farmable weapons, master.]
Lucy nodded, that made sense. Then she stared at Alice's image still flying around Shana, chatting with the girl who seemed to be transfixed at finding something that interested her.
'Are you talking to both of us at the same time?'
[Indeed.]
'Odd. . .'
It was a strange thing. Though Alice was currently only projecting one of herself, Lucy didn't doubt that the AI could likely project multiple bodies if she wished to as well. She had yet to see a limit to Alice's processing power in the five years since she first met her.
'Sell the Bronze Sword too.'
[Sold for the price of 900 gilds.]
[You now have 4,070 gilds, master.]
'Send half of what we just made to Shana.'
[Completed.]
[You now have 2,870 gilds, master.]
It really was convenient having an AI around even in game.
Her new sword crafted, Lucy turned her eyes towards cooking.
LotsChrono
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"Holy shit, is she wearing two swords?"
"She's not a rogue. . ."
"Hey, Worm, how the heck do you have two swords equipped? Did you get a hidden class?"
The two were immediately surrounded as soon as they exited the dungeon. All eyes were on Shana. The girl opened her lips, head swerving around her, eyes blinking rapidly.
"Umm. . .huh. . ."
Lucy grabbed Shana's hand.
"Get out of our way, or I'll slash you!"
The small tide of players parted immediately. Not only were the two the highest leveled players there, their equipment were also not comparable at all. That was to say, no one wanted to test the game's pvp yet.
"Come on, run!"
Just like that, the two ran back to Acron. Eyes still came upon Shana, but Lucy merely glared at anyone who tried to come towards them.
"That's gonna be annoying," She muttered passively.
". . .sorry," Shana murmured.
"What of?" Lucy shrugged. "It's just how gamers are. Curious about something they don't have. I'd probably be the same."
She then turned. "Now let's go see about crafting a weapon!"
She paused.
"Your article said we could buy blacksmithing supplies from Alec, right?" She asked.
Shana nodded. "Indeed. However, I already have all that we need on me."
"Oh that's great then!"
The two scurried away from the bustling of the street and found a path between houses to hide from. There, Shana summoned a small, portable furnace, an anvil, a hammer, and a fire starter kit. The anvil on the ground, she started a fire within.
"Alright," Shana said, "Tap the furnace with your Traveler's Book."
Lucy nodded and did as she was told.
The book flipped onto a new screen, floating above the furnace.
[What equipment do you wish to craft?]
Lucy tapped on the option for 'weapon'.
[What weapon do you wish to craft?]
Lucy tapped on the option for 'longsword'.
[Please place the materials you wish to use into the materials box.]
On the left side, there was an empty box. On the right, her inventory was shown. She had 5 [Goblin's Bronze Sword] and 10 [Boar's Tusks]. Thinking nothing more, Lucy shrugged and dragged those two stacks into the material box.
". . .are you sure that will work?" Shana asked, "Are you sure you should be using that many supplies?"
"Nope," Lucy replied, "And nope."
". . ."
"I'm just winging it, Shana."
[Crafting Prototype.]
The bronze weapons became 5 bronze ingots, then the material box swirled with an animation of flames devouring them all along with the tusks.
[Prototype 'Unnamed Longsword' crafted.]
Due to her 'Traveler's First Step' achievement, the prototype's creation was completed in an instant. In her hand, she gripped a shoddy, jagged, looking blade that looked more like a badly molded piece of iron than a weapon.
[Prototype Unnamed Longsword]
—a prototype of a longsword. Try hammering at it.
As Shana watched bemusedly, Lucy went to the anvil and picked up the hammer. Holding the sword on top of the surface, she struck it once. A sharp ring of metal against metal rang. There was a flash of light and the prototype morphed into an ash-gray sword.
[Unnamed Longsword Crafted.]
[Unnamed Longsword]
—a 'bronze' longsword crafted by the player 'Eve', yet to be named.
/at least 7 Souls in Physical Strength required to equip
*10% chance to stun an opponent for 3 seconds when a critical hit is landed with this weapon. This effect can only be activated once every 30 seconds.
+15 Physical Strength
+5 Physical Defense
+5 Magical Strength
". . ."
". . ."
The two were silent, taking in the sword with an ash-gray blade glistening under the sun. Lucy's face in particular was etched with a perverse grin. Overlooking the stat bonuses that summed up to 25, the highest they had seen so far, the weapon had a modifier with a 10% chance of procing. Paired with Lucy's golden feather that increased the chance to 20%, she had a 1 in 5 chance of stunning with a critical hit.
'Now that's what I'm talking about!'
The only downside to creating the blade was that it had taken 5 swords of the goblin series and 10 boar tusks, things she could have sold, and things that would take significant time for anyone to farm. Perhaps, if someone was lucky, they could craft her same blade in a day with a single dungeon run. However, that was a luck few had, they would still need to know the recipe in the end, and they would still have to take time in the actual crafting process without the achievement she had.
'All of that doesn't matter though,' Lucy thought, 'This sword is probably worth it at this stage of the game. I bet a lot of people would pay big to have it made for them.'
She glanced at the screen that popped up in front of her and named the weapon after its modifier and color.
[You have named your crafted equipment 'Blight Ash'.]
[The name has been updated to 'Blight Ash Longsword'.]
[As you are the first to craft this recipe in the world, the series of weapons shall now be known as 'Blight Ash'.]
She equipped the sword, finding the sheath the game matched with it a dark gray. She drew it out, its sharp sound resounding, the weight of it significant in her grasp. For now, it would certainly take two hands to wield once more, but she was satisfied.
"That is an amazing weapon. . ." Shana muttered.
"Jealous?"
"A bit."
"We could try and make you one or two more?"
"There's no need, I'm already satisfied with my twin swords." Shana shook her head. "Gathering the materials alone would take us until tomorrow if we are lucky, or the day after if unlucky. And that's simply if we make only one more."
"What about the player market? Can't we buy the materials from there?"
"For the tusks? Certainly. The bronze swords, however? No. The weapons are sold as soon as they pop up on the market. Right now, one can go anywhere from 500 to 900 gilds."
Lucy couldn't help but whistle at that. That was costly for just one weapon. She herself only had 1,670 gilds, so she could barely afford 2 goblin bronze weapons if they were on the cheaper end.
"How much is the [Goblin Commander's Longsword] being sold for?" Lucy asked.
"About two thousand gilds."
"Interesting. . .how much do you think this one will sell for then?" Lucy asked, pointing at the weapon sheathed by her left hip.
"Hmm. . .that's hard to say. . ." Shana held her chin momentarily. "If I were to be honest, no one can afford it right now, so it should be considered priceless at this stage of the game thanks to its rarity, stat bonuses, and modifier. However, if we must put a price on it, I wouldn't sell it for anything less than six or seven thousand gilds."
"Wow. . ."
Naturally, Lucy didn't actually plan on selling the weapon, that'd be dumb, but she was amazed by the girl's assessment nonetheless.
"Welp," She said, "Should we sell the bows now? I've still got 2 of em in my inventory."
"Mhmm, we should."
[Master, I can sell your weapons for you!] Alice popped up then, floating around Lucy's head.
"What? You can sell them?"
[Yes, master!] Alice said. [Simply command me and I shall list them on the player market for you. With my analysis of the market, I can update the price consistently to make sure you get the most amount of gilds possible.]
Lucy raised a brow. ". . .are you sure you're not hacking?"
[I am simply doing what you can already do, master. The game's system will see it as your own actions.] Alice protested. [As for my analysis, you can do that as well with enough effort. Though, due to me being an AI, I can do it faster, efficiently, and with greater accuracy.]
As Lucy grumbled at the AI who could win a debate against anyone, Shana glanced at her, tilting her head.
"Who are you talking to?"
"Oh. . .I'm talking to huh. . ." Lucy muttered, "My AI?"
Shana's eyes widened. "You have an AI?"
Naturally, not just everyone had an artificial intelligence at their behest. Even the richest of people would find it hard to get one smarter than the bare minimum needed to help with their daily lives. There was a massive gap between a smart assistant, which most people had in this day and age, and an AI.
"Mhmm." Lucy nodded. "She was left to me by my parents."
"Ahh, that makes sense!"
"It does? You're not wondering how she's talking to me in the game right now?"
"No." The writer shook her head. "You are a Heartfelt, after all. It's not weird if your parents left you a piece of tech few know about."
Then she blushed.
"Though, I'd like to meet her. . ."
[Master, if you wish, you can simply speak to me through your thoughts.]
'What? How the heck is that possible? Are you reading my mind?'
[The virtual reality helmet can read the surface thoughts of your mind. It is what allows you to cast skills, summon your Traveler's Book with a thought, and control other aspects of the game.]
'. . .is that legal?'
[It is. It is only reading your surface level thoughts, master. The helmet does not have the technology required to look into your subconscious or memories. As well, I have already perused its coding and can tell you, with certainty, that it does not save any data, deleting any information it gains from you as soon as it has used it.]
'Well that's comforting. . .' Lucy thought. If there was anyone she could trust to know the inner workings of a piece of tech, it was Alice. 'Can you let Shana see you too?'
[If you authorize me to spread myself upon her network, I can break into her virtual helmet and allow her to see and communicate with me.]
Lucy nodded, and then spoke to her companion.
"Alice can show herself and communicate with you if you allow her to spread onto your network," She said, "But, make sure you're sure, okay? Because she will be technically hacking into your virtual reality helmet at that point."
Shana did not think twice.
"Of course, let her do so!" She said, her expression bright.
'Alright, do it, Alice. However, do not touch her cloud or anything else beyond her helmet unless she asks you to, and you must notify me if it's anything beyond what I allow you, okay?'
[As you wish, master.]
A few seconds later and Shana stared around her head as Alice's projection flew about her.
[Hello, master's friend!]
"H-hello."
The writer's usually calm eyes were almost sparkling. Lucy watched as the two chatted with each other.
'Alice, sell the 2 bronze bows in my inventory.'
[Alright master, Alice has put them up for sale.]
[The 2 bows have been sold for a total of 1500 gilds.]
'That fast?'
[The American server of Eclipse currently has more than 3.4 million concurrent players, and these are currently the only farmable weapons, master.]
Lucy nodded, that made sense. Then she stared at Alice's image still flying around Shana, chatting with the girl who seemed to be transfixed at finding something that interested her.
'Are you talking to both of us at the same time?'
[Indeed.]
'Odd. . .'
It was a strange thing. Though Alice was currently only projecting one of herself, Lucy didn't doubt that the AI could likely project multiple bodies if she wished to as well. She had yet to see a limit to Alice's processing power in the five years since she first met her.
'Sell the Bronze Sword too.'
[Sold for the price of 900 gilds.]
[You now have 4,070 gilds, master.]
'Send half of what we just made to Shana.'
[Completed.]
[You now have 2,870 gilds, master.]
It really was convenient having an AI around even in game.
Her new sword crafted, Lucy turned her eyes towards cooking.
LotsChrono
And, with that, this site has caught up with Wattpad.
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/vwKhVUR
Want more interesting stories? Check out my profile.
