After much time off and much stress, I'm back from midterms. I will continue to write this story and, I swear, it's getting better. The base of this chapter comes from the seventh episode of SAO. I don't own SAO or anything like it. This chapter was hard for me because I really want to get to the boss fight. I really just want to get to it, but I still have to get Zeke up there. Read on and enjoy and leave a comment for suggestions...
The last time he'd met player blacksmith, he'd had his goggles made. Custom orders! Just what he wanted.
"Oh, hey. Can I, uh, get a new sword? Mine's kinda cheap now that my level's high enough. And I want it custom made, dragon handle. Single-handed longsword, please."
"Uh... Are you sure you want to buy a custom blade? You haven't even seen my stock yet. My quality is good and all, but wouldn't you be more satisfied with a pre-made blade?" Her brown, short hair hung in her eyes, hiding the guilt in her eyes.
"I'm set on getting the blade I want. It's got to be custom made as well." The girl who was in charge had a look of disbelief.
"You- you actually want to buy one of my custom made weapons? But, don't you know how much metals will cost you?"
"I'm absolutely sure I'll be able to buy your finest blade." Zeke was lying through his teeth and he knew it. It was a trick he'd learned from Amelia. "I have more than enough Gil even for armor." Zeke had a small smirk, even if his face did feel a little warm. His heart did slow down though when the blacksmith's face lost doubt.
"Well, if you say so. Do you have a design in mind?" She raised her heavy hammer and hefted it over her shoulder. Zeke nodded before answering.
"Yeah. Like I said, it's got to have a dragon hilt and an enchantment to give it Flame Strike. I want it to be a longsword, as well. I don't care what color you dye it. Actually, keep it it's natural color."
"And...? Do you want me to make it out of? You have to know exactly what you want." Zeke hated deciding these things.
"Just give me something powerful and heavy. And just give it a random name." Zeke had wanted to get into making his own weapons but most of the powerful guilds wanted his help to find the boss room. He never had time to explore other skills than combat.
"Whatever, but if you want a good blade, it's going to be blue-ish, maybe black. Unfortunately, The assault team's already cleaned me out of Loria metals. It's like they've already found the boss..." Her face had a look of disgust for them.
"Well, that means I should have gotten here earlier. We're going to siege the boss room tonight."
"So you're one of them," she said, her face looking as if Zeke was filth. "I guess you'll be wanting a Loria sword as well. But, too bad for you!"
"C'mon! We're trying to help you guys get back to the real world! Just help me out and make me your last Loria sword. Please?" The Smith looked around and switched her weight back and forth, trying to decide.
"Fine! But just because you convinced me. And you'd better pay up when we get back from foraging!" She was blushing slightly.
"Wai- What? What do you mean, 'Get back?' Why can't you just buy some Loria?"
"Because it's a quest item and since I haven't had any recent players completing that quest and selling me the metal. So we're going to have to go complete the quest ourselves."
"Well, why should I go with you?" He just wanted a badass sword, to go quest hunting.
"Because! If you don't, I'm not making your stupid dragon sword!"
"... Fine, I'll go do your quest. But I better have a discount on this."
After an hour of following the blacksmith girl, they came to a clearing in the head-high grass and an old miner-looking guy sat in a small hole. The journey to was fairly boring. The blacksmith only wanted to talk and Zeke was never the greatest for words, exactly. He was always saying the wrong things to girls that talked to him. Amelia was different, though. Zeke wished they hadn't parted so he could have some company that wasn't twisting his stomach into knots. The only thing he really listened to was that her name was Kira and that the quest didn't involve fighting some weakling monster.
"Excuss me, sir," Kira called out. A message box appeared in front of her and she looked at it for a while. Then she turned toward Zeke. "What's your name?"
"I'm Metaldargon of the Blades of Alliance. We're the fifth strongest guild on the entire floor. It's about to become a lot more competitive now that we've found the boss." While Zeke was talking, a tag team quest invite from 'Kira-Kitty'. He accepted it as soon as he stopped rambling.
"I really don't care, but I really want to get that Loria metal and get rid of you."
"Then why have you been talking to me?"
"Because I'm the leader. So come on and help me find some crystals. I just hope your mining skill's high enough..." Zeke's ears turned a dark shade of crimson as he nervously laughed. His mining level was two. Was it high enough. Kira noticed and put her hand to her eyes and groaned. "I'll lend you a pick, but you have to mine the rocks yourself." After a few moments, she tossed a heavy pickax towards Zeke, who had stoop down to catch the tool.
"Should I be looking for a certain gem or crystal or whatever?"
"Just crystals. Go look in the nearby rocks already. And don't bother me until you have at least ten Crystals." She turned huffily away and disappeared into the grass. Zeke released his breath and his facade fell. He hefted the pick and walked into the grass, snorting every ten seconds to keep in out of his nose. Luckily, he found a rock right off the bat. Or more like, it found him.
He was just walking, having been in the grass for about a minute when his boot hit something. In less than a second, he was on his face, goggles pressing into his head. He lept up and drew his blade, expecting a fight. Nothing happened.
Realizing his stupidity, he put his Rebellion back. He spotted the boulder he'd tripped over and picked up his dropped pick. With a swing of his arms and the whoosh of the swing... he bounced harmlessly against the rock.
"What!?" Zeke swung again and again until he saw a message.
Mining Level Increased!
He cleared the message and swung again. Now his swing left a crack. Invigorated, he swung again. The boulder cracked down the middle and another message box appeared.
You got a Ruby!
Damn it! He didn't need a ruby, he needed a crystal. He was about to start out for another boulder when Kira came out from the near by grass. Her leather apron was replaced by a small breastplate.
"Have you got enough crystals, yet? I have nineteen of 'em and I haven't been able to find anymore rocks."
"No. All I've been able to find is a stinkin' Ruby." Kira started to look shocked.
"Wha- How could you get a Ruby!? Those are one of the most valuable mining drops on this whole floor! I'm- I mean, we're keeping it." She nodded, mainly to herself.
"That was a crystal? Well, what are we going to do in the mean time," Zeke asked, flustered that he couldn't just be done with this whole ordeal. He'd had enough trouble for the day and the high sun told him he might be late. Surely they wouldn't start the boss fight without the Blades of Alliance, right?
"We'll just have to wait the forty two minutes until the next respawn of rocks. Plus, I'm hungry." She plopped down, though Zeke wondered how comfortable it was since she was now wearing armor instead of work clothes. Imagine, metal pressing into your back. If it isn't unpleasant, it wasn't pressing hard enough.
"Did you bring a picnic or something," Zeke said, perking up at the prospect of free food.
"No! Get your own grub." Damn it! He opened his menu and retrieved a seasoned porkchop. It was cold because it was from the picnic two days ago.
The forty five minutes they sat there, they hardly spoke to each other. There was talking, though. Kira was a non-stop word spigot. She would not shut up, no matter how angry Zeke got. Finally, a boulder spawned near them. In fact, Zeke was the first one to find it and he was lying on the grass with his eyes closed.
"-hammer's my best works so far." Kira was still talking when a chime sounded and Zeke suddenly felt like a bus hit him. The air was forced from his lungs when the rock landed on him.
"Help. Me." He watched as his health bar started to drop until the rock exploded, Kira holding her pick and a purple gem. "Thanks. You probably saved my life."
"Almost beaten by a measly rock? A lead frontlines soldier? This is going to be the joke of the week, I tell you." Her smirk told him she was going to tell every customer she got. "We have all the crystals we need so let's go make your sword." She led him through the labyrinth of grass and reeds until they came back to the clearing with the miner. She simply walked up to him and pressed his shoulder and a menu appeared.
Quest Complete!
Gil: 200
EXP: 650
Item: Loria Ingot
"Good thing we have our Loria Ingots. I would have done this quest a few times to get this stuff." Kira looked happy for the first time. "Let's go and make that sword, Metal."
"Couldn't I have just stayed back and done some other things? Like buying armor?"
"No," she snapped. "You had to go with me. How else would I- I mean, we have gotten a ruby if you hadn't come?" Zeke shrugged.
"Can we get there quickly? I have Teleport Stones, if you need one." He'd opened his menu and withdrawn two blue, transparent bricks of glass and offered one to Kira.
"I have my own," she said, smacking away his hand and stone. She retrieved one of her own and called out, "Teleport to Fiscama!" Zeke repeated the activation chant as Kira disappeared with a shower of sparkles from the shattered stone. Moments later, they were standing next to each other in town, facing the Inn Zeke had slept in.
"C'mon," Kira called, already walking towards her shop. Zeke followed with his eyes in Kira's hair. The minutes of walking was short as he focused on the wavy strands of her short hair.
"Alright. I need you to give me your ingot of Loria. For crafting your stupid sword." Zeke did so and watched the metal pass between them. Kira then placed both of the red and black ingots from her inventory into a furnace and waited ten seconds by pumping the bellows. The two ingots had merged into a large metal pole. Using tongs, Kira removed the red-hot metal from the furnace and placed it lovingly on an anvil and got a hammer. Then, she adjusted a few settings before slamming the hammer into the cooling metal. Two more cycle went by before she dunked it in a brine solution and placed it in the furnace again.
After five minutes of watching her work, a white glow enveloped the metal and it's shape changed. Now, the deep, strong rust color was a shining red blade and the dark black was a pair of dragon wings as the hilt. A red leather wrapped the handle was topped with a black dragon head. It was beautiful.
"It's finished, Metal," Kira said, even though he was already looking at it. "I've taken the liberty of naming it, as asked, and it's called 'The Dragon's Blood.'" Zeke reached out a hand and picked up the blade. It was a bit heavy, but it's balance was perfect and the grip fit him extremely well. It was almost creepy. He liked it. Plus, he felt like he had a title to make.
"I like it," he said with a grin. "But can I get a sheathe for it? And can it be black?"
Ha! I finished it with a name for Zeke as a swordsman. Legend-ary. It's amazing. If you're Clark Astle, you already know what the name is. Your feedback is greatly appreciated, no matter how rude. I'm a tough guy. Send me any kind of feedback you want, but be truthful, please. I hope you guys stick with me, in the good and bad. So, until next time. LowePlays, signing out!