Don't Own anything.
'thought'
"Speech"
"Tvs, Radios, and Text via book or newspaper... when those are around..."
A flurry of glowing knives fly towards the crawling fish.
It's faster than when it first began, due to unlocking a buff at twenty percent health, but it's still not fast enough to outpace the average person's walking speed... at least with everyone here being at such a low level.
If people were higher levels, yeah, this would be terrifying, but as of right now? It's just a death by a thousand cuts.
Every second this fish exists; it is pelted with at least ten knives.
All in all, this boss hasn't been that tough.
With enough People, Cor, and Time nothing is impossible.
What once started as a group of like maybe twenty people has expanded into a horde of at least one hundred, all vying to get that sweet experience and reward.
Well, not really 'vying' he supposes, as they will ALL be getting a reward when this fish dies, but oh well.
'Terror of the First Floor' Titan Mudskipper - Level 28
Health: 0.2%
He hurls two throwing knives at the beast, then follows it up with a third charged throw.
The two knives sink into the fish's chest, but the last strikes it in the eyeball.
Five more knives slam into its flank from other people nearby.
A blonde girl in a cloak slowly comes to a stop beside the black haired swordsman, with a flicker of movement, numerous throwing knives spew from her cloak, she is throwing four every second or so.
Each knife hammers into the mudskipper's face
With a final flourish, she throws two knives at once, both charged up with a skill.
They hammer into both eyes of the fish, causing it to freeze and shatter into dozens of pieces.
All is calm for a second.
Cheers erupt across the field as a wave of golden light crosses everyone nearby.
A quest has been completed!
*Level up*
*Level up*
*Level up*
There's level nine.
*Ping*
560 Cor Acquired.
1 Mudskipper's Fin Acquired
1 Durable Leather Section Acquired
Kirito lets out a long sigh as everyone nearby seems to skim the rewards from the quest.
Mud Skipper Terror:
A titanic mud skipper has been fished up from the lake of beginnings! Without someone putting an end to it, it'll terrorize this floor for the next few weeks! Someone HAS to stop it!
Objective:
Defeat 'The Terror of the First Floor' Titan Mudskipper: [x]
Rewards: 15,000 Exp, 1000 Cor, +1 to all stats, Captain's Waterlogged Coat.
P-Plus one to all stats?!
That's the equivalent to TWO free level-ups.
Captain's Waterlogged Coat:
What was once a dazzling pirate-y overcoat has been rendered ruined by years at the bottom of a body of water. Perhaps an experienced tailor could fix it?
Durability: 102/102
Attributes:
Defense +94
+20% Swimming Speed
Requirements:
STR: 15
VIT: 20
AGI: 10
Dex: 10
The requirements are higher than the boots.
But this is still achievable.
Kirito looks to his own status page.
Kirito: Level 9:
Health: 1125/1125
Stats:
STR: 5
VIT: 5
INT: 2
AGI: 8
DEX: 5
LUC: 2
Unused Stat Points: 6
He puts three points into his strength stat, two into his agility, then one into his dexterity, increasing his weapon damage and carrying capacity, movement speed and weapon handling, and finally critical hit damage.
He's probably going to try and build towards this coat... see if he can fish up an entire set. This defense is no joke, surpassing pretty much anything given up to floor ten, and it's possible that it can be restored. Improving it further?
"I got the last hit." He hears Argo whisper under her breath, a savage grin crossing her face.
Kirito blinks owlishly and looks over to the girl.
She turns, holding up a screen towards Kirito.
Fish Gutter:
A fisherman's blade, found in the belly of a titanic mudskipper. Clearly it didn't save its previous owner, maybe you will be different.
Durability: 150/150
Attributes:
Base Damage 140
10% chance to inflict 'Bleed' for 5 Seconds
Requirements:
STR: 5
AGI: 20
DEX: 15
Kirito frowns and looks to his own sword.
Anneal Blade +2
The father's blade, given in exchange for medicine to cure the daughter.
Durability: 94/102
Attributes:
Base Damage 45* (54)
Requirements:
STR: 4
AGI: 7
Fucking hell. That's a dagger. On average knives only deal like half of the damage of swords.
He idly wonders how close Argo is to being able to wield that dagger.
As if reading his mind, she holds up four fingers with a lazy smirk.
The door opens as I watch my shop's regular strut inside.
"Heyyooo shop me~" she calls out from the doorway, hands on her hips, an impish grin on her face.
"Argo." I greet.
Argo - Lv 13
Holy shit she got stronger. Wasn't she like... level five or so yesterday?
"Guess who just helped clear the first floor boss!" The girl announces as she folds her arms behind her head.
"You?"
"Damn right! Never again! We didn't lose anyone from the raid party, but a few people got below half." The girl admits as she struts forwards and pauses in front of the countertop after closing the door behind her.
"I'm sort of surprised you managed to do it in a single week." I admit.
Argo stares for a long moment. "Week?"
"Yeah? It has been a week, right?" I ask suddenly, now extremely cautious.
"Argo, Dude, it has been a month." The girl answers.
It was my turn to stare blankly at the girl.
"What the hell?!" I bluntly question.
"I guess when you are dealing with this sort of dimensional travel mumbo-jumbo, you get time manipulations free of charge!" The girl shrugs.
She looks to the side and gestures to a new door. "Hold on... what's that?"
"My kitchen." I admit.
"YOU HAVE A KITCHEN NOW?!"
"I managed to get a few boons for getting to fifty sales." I explain as I slowly hop the countertop and drag the door in front of me.
I open it and step inside to a fairly sizable room.
It's... the largest area in the entire shop.
Twelve feet, by twelve, feet, the ceiling is even seven and a half feet fall.
Countertop, stove, fridge, sink, cabinets, there's even a microwave.
Argo lets out a low whistle. "Damn. Pretty nice place."
"This is the best room I've got in the house." I admit proudly.
"It's pretty nice. How much would I have to pay to rent it. You don't get a cooking space like this until like... floor ten. Of course, even they don't have a microwave or fridge."
"Eh, debatable." I shrug. "I'd say just make an extra portion for me if it's 'good' food."
"Extremely kind and fair." She admits.
"So, how's Lisbeth doing?" I ask as I gesture to a dining table with two seats, the blonde grins and takes a seat across from me as I sit down. "I haven't seen her in a while."
"Oh, with my guidance, it's safe to say that she's now one of the richest people in SAO... despite her determination to sell things at barely a profit." She admits. "Second only to this really impressive tailor named Ashley... and that's merely because Ashley can sell multiple sets of gear to a single person such as gloves, boots, pants, shirt, etcetera. Plus she has prices that you would expect."
"Those two probably carried our deathless run against the boss. The raid leader took a serious blow near the end, but Ashley's armor saved him just barely."
"Lisbeth's skills are nothing to scoff at either. Something seems to have lit a fire in her. Most of her blacksmith crafting skills are already at mastery one hundred. Out of one thousand, that is. It'd be pretty ridiculous if she maxed it out in one month, but she's one tenth of the way there."
"Of course, she was the sole blacksmith on floor one, thus every person came to her for upgrades, new weapons, and metal armor, but she pulled a few all-nighters as well. Metal armor is a bit uncommon right now because it slows mobility and almost nobody really wants to be a 'tank' so early in the game where death is a very real possibility."
"Damn. That's seriously impressive. You know why she's pushing herself so hard?"
"Nnnnope. She said that it's her responsibility to help everyone as 'Aincrad's only blacksmith' but I can tell when someone's lying through their teeth. No clue about her real reason. It's safe to say that everyone in SAOknows her and her work. Speaaaaking of her work."
With a flash a black dagger with a golden hilt appears in her hand, she lays it on the table in between us. "Wanna buy this?"
I quietly pick it up and look over it.
Anneal Dagger +8:
A dagger that has been reforged dozens of times, strengthening it greatly. With the addition of a skilled blacksmith, it was further enhanced into a fairly impressive blade, both in sharpness and durability.
Estimated current market value: 14,000 Cor
"Hn. It's certainly expensive... Fourteen Thousand? I don't exactly have enough to buy it."
"Can I get it in store credit?"
"If you promise to not utterly clear me out and render me a penniless shopkeep that lives in a box or something."
"Done." The girl shrugs. "Just give me Five Hour energies until you pay me back.
I tilt my head and scratch my chin. "Yeah, I could probably manage that fairly soon."
I take the dagger and stand up. "I'll write down a note of your current store credit."
I quietly pull out a pen and paper, sitting it on the countertop.
"Current Shop Credit:
Argo (Fem): 13500."
I reach down and pull out the box of five hour energy I have, sitting it on the table, ten remaining in the twelve pack.
"Here you are. The first 'installation'." I announce.
She grins and with a flash they are all placed within her inventory.
"Thank you, Guy-rgo." The grin flashes me a grin and turns towards the door.
It opens before she can reach the handle, causing her to blink up owlishly as a blue haired girl walks through the door.
She is a slender girl, with shoulder-length blue hair, tied up with a sole ribbon in her hair, she wears a yellowish orange dress with a white trim, a large bow on the front.
Argo looks up at her, staring blankly for a moment in surprise. Not seeing a username above her head.
"Oh. I'm sorry." The new girl apologizes as she steps aside and gestures outside.
"…"
"I don't live out there." Argo announces as she reaches for the door handle, closes the door, then opens it in some alleyway.
The blue haired girl freezes as Argo calmly steps outside, waves, and closes the door behind her.
The new girl opens the door instantly, but... Argo is gone, and the scenery is different, this time of an open cobbled street, with a canal running alongside it.
She stares for a long moment, her eyes slowly finding their way to me.
"Welcome to Fortune's Favors. The interdimensional pawn shop. So tell me. What place do you hail from?"
"F-Fiore?"
"Oh. That's not a country I've ever heard of." I note with a small head tilt. Neat. It appears we have a third connection."
"A... Third connection?" The girl repeats.
I gesture to the door. "Close that if you would. I doubt anyone else can enter the shop while it's open."
She slowly closes the door as I let out a low hum and scratch the side of my head. "I probably need to think of a way to explain this in a way that is short as possible considering how often I'll be forced to do so."
"Then I'd need to know their level of technology to compare. Tch. Damn it." I scoff as I glance to the side.
I let out a long sigh.
"Alright. Let's get this over with. Do you have TV?"
"T...V? What is TV?"
"Ah, next best thing, then. Do you have books which tell tales of fictional worlds and characters." I move on.
"We... do..."
"Swell. Imagine three things. First, is your world you live in. That is one. Then imagine ANY fictional book. Then imagine a second fictional book with no connection to the first. My shop, allows characters from book one, book two, and your world to enter this world to buy, sell, and even enter the worlds of others."
"So... this is a crossing point between worlds with different histories, rules, and technologies?!" The girl asks.
"Wow. You actually got it really quickly." I note with a pleased smile. "Pretty much, yes. Exactly that. So tell me, what makes your world 'special'."
"Well, we have mage guilds." She begins quietly.
"Oh! So you are a magical world! That's good. Mine is a magic world as well, but yours appears to be 'public' mine is more 'private'." I admit.
"What do you mean?" The girl questions, an excited glint in her eye.
"Well, there's a large divide between the 'nonmagicals' and the mages in our world, the mages and stuff deem themselves 'Supernatural', and that includes things like mages, demons, dragons, basically anything a 'normal' human would see as strange. The supernatural then proceed to erase the minds of normal people to keep them in the dark about supernatural nonsense."
"That's horrible!" The girl gasps.
"Eh, different world, different cultures." I casually dismiss with a shrug "it's probably for the best that they don't know, because it's pretty scary knowing that at any possible moment your entire city could be encased in ice at the whim of someone else and there's nothing you can do about it."
"What about that blonde girl? What's her world like."
"Believe it or not, it's actually a lot like mine. Same general landmarks and cities, same landmasses, the key difference is that her world holds no magic, but tech has grown far more advanced than my own. But her situation is... difficult... how do I explain it."
"Imagine for a moment, that a masterful wizard created an enchanted item. A helmet. Whose sole purpose was to make people sleep and place them into a shared dream. Said shared dream was a truly magnificent place, one hundred floors, combat, bosses, a chance to have fun with friends and enter mortal combat with monsters and other players without being at risk of death. Imagine if the creator sent out a few of these helmets to people across your country, and they worked amazingly, just a truly tremendous advancement in magic."
"What the helmet did was breathtaking, letting you taste, hear, see, smell, feel what it would be like to live in another world for even a short time. So, these testers told what the helmet did, and got even more people interested. So, on day one, ten thousand people enter this world. However, the creator does something. He removes the ability to allow people to leave. In addition, he made a change to the helmets, making it so people who die in the game... die for real."
"What?" The girl whispers her hands coming to her mouth.
"If someone tries to take off the helmet while you are playing, you die. If for some reason your headset's technology fails and it turns off, you die. The fact that it kills you isn't even the worst part! It was marketed as a game... and as a game... that means children are playing."
"Oh god!" The girl gasps.
"Yes, and it's not a game that can be beaten quickly as well. One hundred floors. The largest of which being about six miles across. Then there's the fact that they will have to beat an incredibly powerful foe at the end of each of these 'floors'. By the time they get out, months will have passed. Possibly even years. Their bodies will have atrophied, and everyone will have missed years of their life. Years of childhood for the younger ones."
I allow my explanation to sink in.
"Always. What can I get for you? We accept whatever currency you have, or if you want, you can trade things. I accept magic books- because of how annoying they are to get in my world- and other things like magic swords and such."
She stares for a long moment as I continue on. "Books, technology, foods you have never tried before?"
"I... do like books." She weakly announces. "But this is just... so much to comprehend... I- I don't know what to do with all this information."
"We don't have many books in stock right now, buuuut tell you what, tell me what kind you like, and I'll go out and get them the next time I leave."
"W-Well anything, really. I like history, literature, your technology sounds interesting... then there's the magic of your world, but you said that you aren't able to get those sorts of books."
"Eventually I'll be able to, but as of right now? I'm sort of still starting out. I've got basically no presence in that world, and despite my clearly godly power to pierce through dimensions, I am frail and weak. I know no attacking moves, and I more or less have to pretend I am non-supernatural to avoid attention."
"I... see." The girl frowns slightly. "I'll come back later. I don't really have any money on me... nor anything to trade. Plus you don't have any books yet."
"Alright. Goodbye!" I wave. "I hope to see you around!"
Pov: Elsewhere
What the fuck?
A white haired man frowns as he walks through town.
LezooTheSlayer - Lv 7
GaryThe501 - Lv 8
The average level of players on floor two is level seven.
That isn't normal. It should typically be around level four, maybe five considering it took a month for them to get here from day one.
Not seven and eight
Diavel - Lv 10
He spies a man in a dark black coat.
The first floor's last hit boss drop.
"Excuse me." He quietly begins.
"Hn?" The blue haired player hums, glancing over his shoulder to the man with long white hair. "Do you need something, sir?"
"I am... confused... how did everyone get to such a high level so quickly? I had spent almost all of my time grinding away on floor one, I heard that it had been cleared and I come back to find everyone at my level or surpassing it." He begins.
Heathcliff - Level 8
"Oh, that's because of a sole quest on floor one. It sucks that you didn't get it. Basically, a high-level mob spawned but it had a debuff because there weren't any high-level players nearby. We spent a good five hours pelting it with throwing knives until it died. The quest it gave out and the experience still gave almost every player three to four levels in an instant." He explains.
Huh?
That isn't right.
"How... did it even spawn?" He mutters
"Apparently someone got a fishing rod? I don't know, really." The young adult shrugs.
What?
Did... Aincrad's system unlock every single crafting profession on the first floor?!
Damn it.
It's new technology, there's always going to be bugs, of course.
Maybe creating a system to look after and value the health and safety of players was a bad idea. For what he had planned, at least.
But it shouldn't be able to interact with the system or the players. He closed it off.
Is there something else at play? Something ensuring that this is 'fair play'?
He will be forced to check the code.
I sit a large stack of books on the countertop and look to the sole book I am being offered.
Basic Fire Magic Spellbook:
Learn the intricacies of fire magic with this how-to guide. If you have magical power, you have the potential to learn!
Estimated Market Value: 100,000 Jewel
That's, what, a thousand dollars?
"This a good deal for you?" I ask as I gesture to the stack of books, rapping my knuckled on the top of the first book. "I've got world history textbook, thirteen hundred pages, hardback, it should give you a decent overview of my world... of course, this has all notions of supernatural creatures and magic removed. It is for the 'normal man', thus there are probably some inaccuracies. Maybe in a war instead of a general dying from a landmine, maybe they were blown up by magic, I don't know, but overall it should be vaguely accurate."
I lift another book. "A bunch of 'short history' books written by the same author. There are eleven in the series, each at about eighty to one hundred pages, paperback, detailing a different thing ranging from our mail system to the telephone."
I then gesture to the next pile. "And finally, a set of ten books that was regarded among 'the greatest literature' in our world. All hardbacks. I'm unsure if it will translate well to your own, however."
All in all, this is about six hundred dollars in books.
"This is- this is too much!" The girl gasps.
"if you truly feel like that, I'll always take more basic magic books. It'd be nice to be able to potentially protect myself." I admit quietly.
She swallows slowly and picks up the large book. "I'll just take this for now... I'll be back with some more magic books in order to trade."
Oh wow. I am ripping off this poor girl so badly.
But I need it.
"Okay. Be safe." I wave quietly not showing my genuine internal conflict about scamming one of the better Waifus of Fairy Tail.
After she leaves, I nod slowly and open my lifeline for the foreseeable future.
"Fire magic is one of the easier magics to learn across Earthland, but do not let its simplicity fool you, fire magic is an incredibly destructive brand of magic. The most destructive of the four-element quartet of Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth."
"All mages must have two traits. The first, the ability to sense, store, and manipulate Ethernano, the power behind all spellcasting. Next, an incredible desire to learn. Magic response in response to deep emotion. It can be desire, anger, joy, any emotion is applicable."
Well, this should be a pretty decent read.
As I work my way through roughly the half-way point of my book, the door jingles.
I glance up to see the brown haired girl I helped become one of the most valuable and wealthy players in SAO.
Lisbeth - Lv 15
"Oh my god- how did you reach level fifteen already?!"
"Hey Argo." The girl shyly waves. "Yeah, it's been a while. Apparently more time for me than you?"
"That's what me and the other Argo discovered." I nod slowly.
"Yeah... I've been pretty busy." The girl shyly admits. "But I've got some free time now to come by!"
"I can tell you've been busy. You are two entire levels above Argo." I observe with a small smirk. "And she was a beta tester."
"Er... well, I was in a party with both Kirito and Argo while they were fishing. I did that big quest that they triggered, then crafting also grants some experience." She admits. "It grants more the better objects I craft, it's sort of understandable why I am so far ahead. I am crafting things that were supposed to appear post floor two. Basically, while they were fighting level one mobs, I was fighting level two mobs. They'll eventually catch up and surpass me soon enough. I'm not exactly impressive. Argo's better at fighting than me anyways, as I make sure a large portion of my stats go to luck to improve my smithing and enchanting success rate. At least one point per level at the very minimum."
"Don't be like that." I sigh. "You do know that you are the SOLE reason why so many people are alive now, right? Do you know how many people you have saved? Dozens? Hundreds? You are one of the most valuable players in Sword Art Online."
She scratches the back of her head bashfully. "Anyone else could have probably done the same if you and Argo-fem sponsored them."
"Would others have pulled all nighters perfecting their craft? Would others charge so cheaply for their time and effort? Wouldn't they monopolize the fact that they can craft weapons and metal armor and use the fact that they were the only ones to be able to do so to jack up the prices to ridiculous extremes? I heard from the other Argo that you barely charged anything for both weapons and your upgrades. Merely enough to cover material cost and to keep the room you rented yours for longer. Plus, of course, a bit on top of that for your time, but you honestly deserved so much more."
"I... didn't want to take advantage of everyone." The girl whispers as she looks at the floor.
"You have a good heart, Lisbeth." I smile, causing a slight dusting of pink to cross her cheeks.
"So, do you want something or are you planning on just hanging around. I'm fine with either." I announce with a small shrug.
"Uh, can I get a soda? And maybe some snacks?" She asks.
"Alright." I nod as I rise to my feet and make my way to the kitchen door, I wander idly to the fridge and open it, Lisbeth following along behind me, looking around the room.
"So you have a kitchen now?" She asks.
"Yep." I nod "I got it fairly recently. I don't cook much beyond some instant ramen every now and then, but it's nice to have. Plus the sodas are cold now!"
"So what kind do you want?" I ask as I gesture into the fridge.
"Uh... this kind was good." She points towards the line of Sprite I have along one side of the fridge.
I nod and grab two, offering her one. "This is also my preferred drink."
She also picks out a bag of chips as we both sit down.
"So, what were you reading, Argo?"
"The shop connected to a new world, one that's basically just a generic Isekai plot. Magic, guilds, wizards, monsters. That sort of thing. It's no Japan, certainly. But my newest customer gave it to me in exchange for a couple of books."
"Wooooah that's cool! Do you think that they have any unique ores?"
"They probably do." I admit with a slow nod.
I lift the book and hand it to her.
"Fire magic?!"
"Yep. I haven't exactly finished it yet, buuuut it has been an interesting read so far." I take the book that she offers back to me and sit it at the corner of the table. "Plus it sounds like something that I can actually get the hang of."
I close my eyes and hold my arms in front of my chest, palms facing inwards.
I hear the girl gasp in front of me, causing me to open my eyes to see a flickering and distorted magic circle.
It fizzles out the second I stop focusing on it, not that it could even form any fire, due to the shop hampering anything potentially dangerous like grenades with a pulled pin, or just shooting a gun in general, but the fact that I could create anything at all is already impressive to not only me, but the girl across from me.
"Woooah! Could I? Possibly read the book?" She asks.
"Sao's system probably won't allow you to do magic." I point out, so it's probably pretty useless in your hands, plus it relies on something called 'ethernano' which is basically just 'magic air particles'. Something I seriously doubt Aincrad has due to how much Kayaba seemed to hate the idea of magic spells in a fantasy setting."
"Yeah." She sighs. "That's a good point. Oh well, maybe someday."
I nod once. "Yep. Maybe someday."
"Sooo, hey Argo could you get me some Tin maybe?" The girl asks.
"Buying enough metals for forging is expensive." I point out.
"I knooow but, I'm no longer receiving any experience or mastery from crafting things with Copper. Argo- the girl- said that the next material they get is Tin on floor five, but... I don't want to stagnate that long! I want to make stuff! I want to get better at crafting!"
"Hrn." I hum. "I can probably get you some tin, but it will cost you quite a bit."
"I don't mind! I just want to max out my blacksmithing skills as soon as possible!" The girl exclaims
"What makes you push yourself so hard?" I lowly question, a frown forming on my face as I tilt my head slightly.
"H-Huh?" She asks.
"Why go through all this stress to push yourself further and further?" I ask.
"Because... I want to help people." She declares. "A-And, well, if it would be okay with you? Maybe I could... come here after the game is completed?"
"You want to leave your old world behind?" I question with a surprised blink.
"Y-Yeah." She shyly whispers as she looks down at the floor.
"Why?"
"Well, because..." She lets out a quiet sigh as she nervously twirls a finger in her hair. "I... am not satisfied with my old life."
"Why not?"
"W-Well, my parents are sort of lazy bums, and I have no friends, so I... might as well move into a new body that's both stronger, faster, and has crazy skills that I could never duplicate in the real world. Besides, it has already been a month. It's likely we won't clear this game for at least a few years... do you know what happens to someone who doesn't move an inch for years?"
"Atrophy?" I supply.
She nods mutely. "I'd be forced to go through insane amounts of physical therapy, and it's possible that my parents won't even take me to do so. The only reason I appear to be in a hospital right now is because the government is probably giving money to the families of the people trapped here."
"So... when the time comes, I'd like to stay here... if you're okay with that, at least?" She whispers.
"Lis. Of course, I'd be okay with that? First off. having a smith in-shop is literally a dream come true for a shopkeeper. Secondly. You are my friend. If you want to come live here, by all means, I'll support you."
A smile works its way across her face. "I'm glad."
"So it's three Cor for the drink... and how much for the chips?" She asks.
"Oh, don't worry about the chips or drink, Lis, it's on me. Those swords you'll make me in the future will far surpass the worth of basically anything I give you."
"Wh- no! I should still pay-"
"I won't hear it Lisbeth. I'm already ripping off basically everyone who comes to the shop. I mean, really, Kirito bought a chocolate bar for FIFTY cor! That's literally like six thousand yen!"
"But we can't get it in Sao! Plus we get money for killing stuff! So, it's fair!" She replies.
"Nnnnot really. I feel like an asshole taking advantage of your death game. Just take your free food."
"But I can afford it!"
"You can. And you will be paying for basically anything in my shop with future cool weapons."
The girl looks like she is about to reply, but the bell above the door jingles in the other room.
"Oh, that must be Levy with the other magic books. Be right back." I quietly whisper as I get to my feet.
I walk out of the kitchen. "Oh, Levy, good. You're back. I've still got those books of yours."
"Thanks you! I've got some more books for you as well, one for slightly more advanced fire techniques, then one for water."
"Thank you so much!" I reply with a bright smile.
Another world touches the shop! Plus Lisbeth reveals her plans to eventually join Argo in the shop, abandoning her old body completely.
As a simple businessman, Guy-Argo literally cannot say no! I mean, really, Free Blacksmith + Companionship? That's a win-win!
Guest Reviews:
Satisfied reader: That was my goal with picking SAO instead of Fallout as the first world
Guest 001: Guy Argo's about to stop sitting on his hands, he hasn't gone to SAO yet because he fears that Aincrad's system might try to 'delete' him, but, it appears he has connected to a world WITHOUT an artificial intelligence monitoring everything! Even if he did go into SAO, it's not like he would be able to do much, he isn't a 'player' thus he can't level up, gain 'loot drops' or 'Skill Proficiency' easily.
JustAFan123: He probably won't be getting any 'real' modern weaponry for a long while, sadly.
Porcelain Throne: I mean, it's BOUND to happen at some point.
MrBone93: Believe me, Argo might ACTUALLY start doing some shit once he gets a little more protection.
ToastedCookies: Nothing is safe from his 25x chocolate bar upcharge. (A total fuckup on Kirito's part tbh. Listing what you'll pay for it? If he hadn't said anything Argo totally would have been like '5 Cor', but here he goes, ruining it for everyone.)
Anyways, I'll see you all later!