Sword IV: Regular

Journal's POV

Event's POV

I'd been running my small shop for over a week now, and I'd never even gotten one customer. You'd think that in a death game like Sword Art Online everyone would constantly be looking for a new piece of armor or a better weapon and they'd be in a hurry to upgrade them. You'd be right, but there's more to it than just that; turns out there's a lot that goes into being a blacksmith. Whether it's how high you can make the stat increases on every upgrade, the chances for some materials surviving the process, or even the likelihood of getting different bonus skills on the equipment. The problem with my shop was my competitors; either they offered dirt cheap prices, special skills, or had some other edge that I just couldn't deal with.

I'd gone to my regular spot that day hoping against an established pattern that I'd at least get a single visitor. My shop was... well it was a 'shop' in the loosest terms. All I had was a small tarp situated on the corner of two highly traveled roads of the city. I'd lay my best wares out on top of the tarp to show them off and I even had a wooden sign in front of everything to advertise my store (that part cost me col, so thanks to it I was already low on cash). I also had a small anvil to work on, but I was afraid the game would start simulating dust on it. Soon enough though... that's when he showed up.

"Excuse me?"

It took me a moment before I realized that I was the one being talked to. Raising my head, my eyes landed upon one of the most gorgeous human beings that they'd ever seen. He was tall, had a lean body, and was very handsome. I swear I've seen his face before, maybe as the lead singer for a Pop band in Japan. His hair was kind of on the shaggy side, but it didn't cover any of his bright gleaming eyes or his great smile. Opening his mouth, his voice was that of an angel as he-

"Do you know where I can find the Midnight Anvil smith-shop? I'm sure you've seen plenty of people heading that way."

...I guess I should have started with what a huge ass this guy was. I (very reluctantly) gave him directions to the place, but he was already walking off laughing before I'd finished. Now that I think about it, that was supposed to be the largest smith shop in town... he was probably only here to give me a hard time. ...Jerk. Anyways, I was kind of stuck in a slump at that point. Right up until closing time.

"Lisbeth's Street-side Smith Shop? I guess it works..."

"If you want directions to Midnight Anvil, it's down the street and then you take a right after the inn."

"The first thing you do is tell me where to find another blacksmith? You not gonna get a lot of business like this, lady."

I shifted my gaze upward and they landed on the second person to approach my shop that day. This guy... well let's leave his face alone for right now. (Footnote: Now that I think about it, you can still alter your appearance even after the reveal... that first guy probably had a ton of acne on his face or something). At the very least his avatar looked like it fit the setting, though I couldn't find a hair accessory on him to turn his hair that bizarre shade of silver (as a side note, I recently found a clip to turn my hair pink. I just wished it had boosted my sales a little instead of having spent even more Col on this place). His outfit was this strange mix where it technically fit in this fantasy world, but it could also pass back in the real world as a fashion statement. The oddest thing about him though were his eyes... red on his right, green on his left. I heard there are some items out there to where you can change both of your avatar's eye colors, but this is still early game and I've never heard of different colored eyes on each side .

"So... you do upgrades on equipment?"

He was asking me pretty bluntly, and judging from the fact that he wasn't looking over any of my equipment it was pretty clear that he wasn't interested in any of the other gear I had to offer. It didn't bother me that much, I mean working on different equipment still counted as a sale, and having no sales thus far I guess I'd have to take what I could get.

'That's right, what were you hoping to upgrade?"

To answer me pretty bluntly, he unslung this giant sword from his back and held it out for me to take it. While he could hold the darn thing with one hand, even with my above average strength stat I had trouble lifting it onto the anvil with both. Its design was one that I'd never seen or heard of before, but maybe it was just because it was a rare drop or something? This thing also looked like it had gotten a LOT of use, with scratches covering most of the blade... though the amount of usage shouldn't effect its appearance, at least not to this degree. Adding to the mystery was that the weapon's name didn't come up when I used my appraisal skill; it was just filled out with question marks from left to right.

"There a problem?"

"No... I was just looking over what I'd need to do to upgrade the weapon."

It wasn't a complete lie, the information that I needed was there.

"Since this is your first upgrade on this weapon you don't need to supply any materials for the upgrade; all you really need is a blacksmith with a high enough smithing skill."

"And how much is this going to cost me?"

Dang it... Prices... This being my first customer, I didn't know how much I should charge him. If I charge him too little I'll never be able to make a profit and if I charge too high I'll never get another customer. My mind tried to think of an answer.

"How does... Six Hundred sound?"

In hindsight that was pretty low, but I guess it was a first upgrade after all; I could afford to cut this guy a bit of a break. His nod was all of the signal that I needed to get started and went to work on his weapon, hitting it repeatedly with my smithing mallet. Within a couple of strikes, the weapon glowed showing that it had become upgraded. None of the scratches in the metal disappeared, but that would probably have taken at least a couple of high end upgrades. Checking its status, my jaw nearly hit the floor when I saw how much its stats had increased across the board; this was nearly TWICE as good as before.

"Something wrong?"

Right... I was keeping him waiting.

"No, nothing's wrong! In fact I did a better job on it than I was expecting!"

I laughed nervously, but he wasn't amused. Instead he just made a few taps and sent the payment over before taking the weapon back into his hands. Checking the payment, I managed to see that he'd sent over the amount in full and I'd been given a name; Ragna. He then took a couple of practice swings with his weapon, nodding my way when he seemed satisfied.

"I, uh... For only another fifty col, I can use my appraisal skill and check to see what you need for the next upgrade."

"...Go ahead then."

Using my skill to gain the weapons info, I saw that he'd already sent the Col over for the next job. I did some checking through the info before I found what I was looking for. The material wasn't a very rare one by any means, but when I told him what he needed his face alone said that he was a few short.

"If you want, I can supply some of the material for you. I'll charge a little bit extra, but it won't try and rip you off, I swear.'

He seemed to need a moment to think it over. While the material was a common drop, the monster that dropped them was halfway across the floor. If I could keep him here I could try and get a little more business out of this guy and try to turn a decent profit. In the end he agreed and from there I upgraded his material an additional two times and letting him know what materials he needed for the next upgrade.

"You know, I've got other pieces of equipment to sell if you want to try and mix your style up. I'm pretty proud of the weapons I make, so I'm sure you'll find something you like."

I wasn't really bragging, I'd worked on this equipment for weeks trying to get the best upgrade bonuses for each one. They weren't cheap to make, but selling one of these things to this guy would be a huge boost to my sales, way more that I'd get for just upgrading his equipment.

"Sorry, but I'm pretty attached to this sword of mine."

Shot down, but then again it'd be a little weird if he tried to get a new weapon after he upgrade his old one. I'd already made a decent amount of Col that day anyways, so this was still a great win in my book.

"Thank you, come again."

It was the first time I was able to use those words and it just... it just had an awesome feel to it. Ragna looked at me with a bit of an... off expression before he shrugged and left... My first customer. That night I treated myself to the best food that I could find. In truth I might have gone a little overboard, but I felt like celebrating.

The next morning I was on my way to my usual shop location on the tarp and before anything else there he was again, waiting for me to show up. He had his arms crossed and was leaning against the wall, making it seem like he'd been waiting for me for some time now. When I asked him what he was doing, he scratched the back of his head in mild embarrassment.

"I... I sort of forgot to upgrade my coat while I was here."

I just smiled at let him know I'd be with him first thing after I set up shop for the day. I'll take more work wherever I can get it. He then unequipped that red coat of his and handed it to me. Without his coat I just saw the hakama set he'd been wearing beneath it, but now that he had his jacket off his right arm looked... weird. The thing was completely wrapped in dark leather and his gauntlet covering his hand didn't look like any piece of equipment I'd seen before.

"A-HEM."

Ragna was glaring at me. Apparently he didn't like people looking at his arm much. Upgrading the coat was much the same as the day before; unknown name, no materials needed for the first upgrade, and a massive boost to his stats. That time he had the materials that he needed for the upgrade himself, so I'd earned less money on the upgrades than I did yesterday... still made decent coin and got some good smithing experience. When he went to pay me though, I noticed that there was a little extra. I tried to ask him about it, and just gave me another shrug and told me it didn't matter before heading off again.

He wasn't at my shop the first thing next day, but I tried not to let it get me down. I tried pushing a couple of wares to anyone that passed me by, but it didn't look like they were interested... except for one guy. I didn't know what his deal was, but he told me he was willing to pay top dollar for a sword like the one Ragna used. No matter how much I insisted I didn't have the building details for the weapon, he kept insisting that he wanted to have a sword that was the same design as his. He didn't try anything, but he left if sort of a crass huff when he didn't get his way. Past that, no one stopped by... until of course-

"Slow day?"

Ragna wasn't exactly mocking me, more like he understood where I was coming from. Despite the fact that he'd literally been my only customer, I put on my most welcoming smile and asked what he needed help with today. Turns out the guy was actually in the market for some throwing weapons, go figure. I tried offering him some of the small throwing nails, they didn't do much damage but they were cheap, easy to make, and pretty accurate. He told me he was looking for something that would make a better impact. The only other throwing weapon I had were throwing daggers, which were at the exact opposite end; tough to use and expensive. He assured me that he'd make them work, but I wasn't so sure.

In the end, I actually left my shop for the day and followed him out into the fields. I never go out of town or leave the safe zone; I only did that once to leave for this city and that was more than enough excitement without trying to find trouble. But I wasn't planing on going very far; just outside where I could show him how to use the weapons. There were a couple of really easy monsters that go down after a simple knife throw.

Using one of the nail darts that I'd crafted, I gave a basic explanation of how to activate the skill before winding it back and throwing it forward. I'd hit the little rodent head on, one of my best shots even, and it shattered immediately. He tried the same thing with his dagger; winding it back, charging the skill, aiming it, and throwing it forward... I couldn't help how hard I was laughing as he missed by a mile. I tried to apologize, but then he went and got four of them at once without even using the aiming skill... I glared heatedly at Ragna as he sent at me a look I found to be just a little too cocky.

For the next few days, Ragna and I would keep coming by my shop to do business; either to buy more throwing daggers or to upgrade the same two pieces of equipment. He was my only customer, but he was a steady source of income and that was good enough for now. Then about a week later, Ragna came to me with a different request.

"A Katana? That's pretty sudden, why the change of heart?"

"It's not for me, it's for someone I owe a favor to. I need the best one you've got and I'll upgrade it too if I've got the materials for it."

"Um... you might be interested in one of these then... You're taking this pretty seriously, is this person a really good friend of yours?"

"I... don't really know him that well... But I can at least tell his heart's in the right place... I guess I wouldn't mind calling him a friend."

Really reclusive, just like I'd always suspected. In the end though, I raked in my biggest profits so far from Ragna. I even took a look at his equipment and made sure he knew the materials that he needed to gather for his next upgrade. Things were going amazing... until the very next day.

"!... No... I can't have..."

I was about to begin work on giving Ragna's sword another upgrade, likely the last one he'd be able to get on this floor with the rarity of the items this upgrade required. Everything was all set and ready to go... but, as soon as I'd put the item on my anvil, I'd gotten the worst message possible.

Item is unable to be upgraded due to insufficient Smithing Level.

"What's wrong?"

He was waiting on me, and I had to tell him something. A lie for why I couldn't do it. Anything but this! ...In the end I knew I had to tell the truth, even if hurt me more than anything. I was looking down in shame so I was staring at Ragna's feet as I forced myself to choke out those words.

"I... I can't upgrade the weapon... My skill is too low and it won't let me do any work on it."

Ragna didn't say anything.

"I'll probably be able to work on it soon enough... but if you... if you really need it... You should go to... some... one..."

My voice was trembling right then; there I was about to send my only customer off to another smith-shop. And that would be it, of course they'd have no problem working his blade with all of the business their smiths get on a daily basis, and Ragna would probably get a better deal there than he'd ever get working with me... I started to think it was stupid to think I could ever open my own shop.

"Guess I'll come back another time then."

I couldn't speak as Ragna took his blade off the anvil and put it back on his belt. As my eyes went up to face him directly his face... it didn't look to different to be honest. But his eyes told me a different story, like there was a sense of hidden kindness in them.

"When's the soonest you can get your Smithing level up to speed?"

Huh? Normally a smithing stat took a ton of time and resources to rise, and the level Ragna was looking for was a good ways away from anything I could work with. It shouldn't have been possible... but...

"Come back tomorrow, I'll have my stat up by then. I swear."

Looking satisfied with that answer, he nodded and started to head off.

"By the way... That guy I mentioned the other day, he likes his new sword... You did good work on it, Lisbeth."

My heart leaped; someone was actually praising my work? This was a dream come true.

"...Call me Liz, okay?"

"Tch, picky aintcha?"

Even if he was leaving in his usual moody manner, I couldn't help but feel that the guy was starting to act differently... even if it was just a little. But those weren't the thoughts that I had time for; right now I needed to go and get as many smithing supplies as I could. For the rest of the day I spent all of my time tirelessly crafting weapon after weapon, giving upgrade after upgrade, and creating every armor piece that I could think to do. I probably got more than a couple of odd looks from people that passed me by, but I didn't care. By the time I'd finally made it to the level that I needed, it was already dark outside.

I could barely feel my arms after smithing for so long and hard while my legs were like jelly. Breathing heavily, I started to make my way back to the inn I was staying at... but on the way back I heard crying. A young woman not much older than myself was sobbing in the streets near the town gate, another girl holding her close and trying to comfort her while a crowd of people watched. I didn't get the full story, but it sounded like she'd just lost her boyfriend; he'd died when they'd been surrounded in the fields and he got cut across the chest trying to protect her... It was sad sure, but I didn't know what I could do for her.

Back in my bed, my mind was racing thinking about that girl in the streets. Like it or not, SAO did carry a constant threat of death with it and it was times like these that reminded us all what was really on the line. Losing someone close to you like that... I tried not to think about it too much, but my stupid mind immediately went to the absolute worst place; what if I lost Ragna?

True he'd told me that he'd had someone that he could call a friend, but I never saw him with a party of any sort. Was he a solo player? I'd never really asked him, but the more I thought about his attitude the more it made sense. And if he didn't have any sort of party to help keep him safe it was all the more likely that he'd die somewhere out there... alone. Then I'd be alone too... I'd lose my only customer.

I didn't get any sleep that night, and when I opened up shop I was completely exhausted.

As if to be especially cruel to me, Ragna wasn't at my shop when I arrived, nor did he arrive within the first hour. Truth to be told, I actually got some good business that day; three groups of people that had seen me working so hard last night came to me for work. Two of them looking for upgrades while the final one bought a new weapon and a full set of equipment. I tried to be as welcoming and as helpful of a blacksmith as I could be but, my mind was somewhere more important.

Thanks to those darn worries, I ended up keeping my shop open two hours later than I normally did and my regular customer never showed up after all. I've never felt heartbroken before, but as I finally gave up and started heading back to the inn, I certainly felt like my heart was in a million tiny pieces. I was walking through the streets when...

"You just closed up? How damn late are you open?"

It was Ragna, standing right behind me with his arms crossed in the darkness as he waited for me to answer. I didn't respond right away though though, I could only look at him. I probably looked like a deer in the headlights with the way I was staring at him. With the passing silence, he looked like he was about to speak again, but I interrupted him.

"Y-You're late."

"That's what you're worried about? I just got caught up in some sh- ...Sorry."

Sorry wasn't good enough; I was... upset. Looking up at him, I was glaring at him something fierce. He didn't seem to change his complexion though, even as I had my own fists gripped so tight they were shaking.

"I... I was worried you'd died... That you gotten killed out there..."

"It's gonna take more than what I've found on the first level of this thing to kill me. I'm not worth losing any sleep over."

That's all? 'Just don't worry?' What kind of an idiot was he!? This is exactly why I was worried about him!

"...I need you to promise me."

"What? You need me to-?"

I think this was the only time I've ever really seen this guy fazed at all. He looked at me like he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. I was gritting my teeth in anger, but I had to get my point across. I felt like my heart was about to leap out of my body.

"Promise me you won't die out there!"

I'd shouted it, loudly. Already there were people looking our way at the scene I was causing. I didn't care then I don't care now. I was on the brink of tears... right before I heard-

"Heh..."

Laughter; Ragna was laughing. It started off small like a chuckle, but then it slowly started to grow as he couldn't stop laughing with this goofy smile on his face the entire time. He wasn't mocking me, he just looked like he couldn't help himself... There was actual joy in voice, like he was happy for the first time in a long while.

"If you feel so strongly about it, Liz... Then I promise I won't die, you have my word."

His tone was still happy, but at the same time serious. When I looked him in the eyes, for the first time they didn't seem quite as mysterious as they usually did; he was being straight and upfront with me, like he had nothing more to hide. And he was even smiling at me... in a caring way.

GROAN...

...As possibly romantic as that could have ended, my stomach decided to let out a low gurgle and cut through the silence. Ragna stared at me in awe for a moment before giving a much shorter chuckle while my face was probably turning red.

"D-Don't you dare laugh at me! It's your fault that I wasn't able to eat! You said you'd be back for an upgrade!"

I was still causing a scene, but I didn't care and neither did Ragna (hopefully). He stopped laughing and scratched the back of his head with a little guilt (good, he deserved it).

"I guess you got me there... My treat?"

Good, he knows enough that I'm owed dinner with what he just put me through. I'm glad he understands that much.

"I'm gonna make it expensive."

I never said I was going to let him off easy though.

"Fine, fine... Just leave me with enough dough so I can pay for the damn upgrade."

Smiling, I nodded as our exchange was understood. I started heading back to the inn I was staying in, this time with my regular walking beside me. I probably should have left it there... but I couldn't help but be sure he meant what he said.

"Hey... You mean what you promised me, right? That you'll... stay alive?"

"Damn straight I mean it."

Looking at him though, I saw that his caring smile was gone and now he had that same cocky smile from the time we went with the throwing daggers.

"Who's going to give that shop of yours any business if I go and kick the bucket?"

"Ah-! ...Y-Y-You... YOU JERK!"

I might have shouted at his stupid smug face then, but now I've at least I've got my regular customer where I need him the most...

Right at the top of my Friends List.

Author's Note

I promised that I'd try to have this chapter out by the end of day Sunday. So what did you think? Did you like this dynamic? How about the writing style? Do you want more of these journal chapters to show up in the future?

Now obviously introducing Liz like this might put a bit of wrench in my plans for the Floor Eight saga, but I figure that as great as it was at the time, it didn't age all that well with the rest of my writing. I was going to go back and change it anyways.

Anyways, here are the review responses.

Dread Grim Reaper: Hopefully this makes it feel better.

RedBurningDragon: Eh, maybe.

Xcell: To be revealed later I'm afraid.

The Unplanner: Some foreshadowing is good, but people often want results.

Wlyman2009 and Shirosaki Kizuro: Ragna... often has to spend any money he has (meaning there's a girl out there that will extort him for a meal, somehow.)

pendragonZx: I try to improve.

TheEmeraldMage: I guess with all the support this has gotten, I've made the right choice.

Darkel: No plans for another crossover at the moment, but thanks for a lengthy review.

ZilverX The Twin Writers: I'm assuming most people coming to this reboot would assume so.

MIDKNIGHT The Fallen One: Thanks for the two reviews my friend.

TheB: Bunnies, eh? Nah, he'd still go there if only to curse Rachel's namesake.

BlitzNuteral69: I'm gonna keep going.

ARSLOTHES: That was the general goal.

Until next time.

Ciao!