Chapter 658: A request? A bet with Kirito
Exiting a weapon’s shop, Wu Yan sighed while rubbing his temples.
This is the nth armory that failed to live up to Wu Yan’s standards.
SAO is now entering the later stages of the game. The smithing industry is already in a developed state.
Some blacksmiths are already making weapons that are better than the loot dropped from monsters. Players can also ask blacksmiths to enhance their weapons for them, increasing the potency of the weapon. Rather than grinding and praying that a monster drops the weapon they want, it would be easier to buy weapons from a blacksmith.
Wu Yan didn’t want drops from monster, he wants equipment from blacksmiths.
He’s not planning on changing his equipment for now. His equipment is optimized by him and he is wearing equipment with god-like stats, including the Heaven Gazer. After grinding and leveling, he grew into his equipment set, the average level of his equipment are also leagues away from the closest frontliners.
So long as Wu Yan is willing to continue investing in his current equipment set, he can keep his equipment until the end of SAO. In other words, Wu Yan doesn’t need to change his equipment.
At least, that’s what he thought.
In reality, he’s not worried about his armor that can keep up with his growth. He’s more annoyed about his weapon.
No, not the Heaven Gazer he busted his back upgrading and grinding for. With Dual Blades, he needed another sword.
He learned his lesson from the duel with Heathcliff. He used shabby equipment and that sword broke halfway through the duel. If Wu Yan had another sword on par with the Heaven Gazer, he could have exhibited more power than when he was using that “crappy sword”.
He never had to use Dual Blades before, none was worthy enough. That’s why Wu Yan didn’t bother to solve that problem at first. It wouldn’t be funny if, in a dire situation, his sword fell off from its hilt at the most crucial juncture.
Wu Yan’s been around the world and back looking for a weapon good enough to make his off-hand weapon. From known artists to lesser-known blacksmiths, he visited them all.
It’s always either the material or the crafter’s problem. He just couldn’t find someone good enough to make an excellent sword for him. It looks like Dual Blades will have to gather dust inside his skill tree. For now, he’s praying he won’t have to use Dual Blades on enemies. Otherwise, other players might call him a wasteful rich player who wrecked blades after blades just because he can.
Wu Yan is at the end of his wits, he is even considering grinding until another rare sword appears. The next problem, when will he actually get his hands on another weapon? Wu Yan reckons he wouldn’t be able to grind and wait for the next weapon to appear.
Rubbing the Heaven Gazer behind him, he pursed his lips as he opened his friend list to locate Asuna’s name.
Wu Yan knows about Asuna’s friend who had strong smithing abilities. In the original work, she was the one who crafted a formidable sword for Kirito. Before meeting her, Kirito wandered around looking for an offhand weapon just like him.
Wu Yan felt awkward when it came time to click on the send message button. He wanted to know where he can find Lisbeth.
He’s not worried about Cors. He’s hesitating because the two of them never talked after adding each other as friends. He’s kinda nervous when he thought about hearing Asuna’s voice.
Wu Yan didn’t know his current situation is similar to when a girl or boy is about to call their crush. They wanted to call their crush but they wavered when they wanted to dial the number in.
He scratched his cheek and his fingers stayed in the air without moving, Sighing, he closed the interface.
“Let’s continue searching, I sunk this much time, what’s a little more time then?”
He gave himself an excuse and he continued walking towards the next location.
There are teleportation gates in towns. With them, players can save precious teleport crystals when traveling between floors. Wu Yan is loaded with cash but he isn’t a big enough spendthrift to waste Cors when there’s free stuff nearby. Players using teleport crystals also materialized there so it’s convenient for him in a lot of ways.
He arrived at the teleport gate near the plaza. The familiar noise of a disturbance entered Wu Yan’s ears. He frowned and he looked at the source of this noise.
Finally, a player around the age of 20-30 stood there as he implored the players nearby to do something for him. Most of the players flat-out ignored him. Some even cursed the man while the rest looked troubled.
Wu Yan rubbed his head in confusion when he saw a familiar figure.
Wu Yan approached the familiar person from the back and he asked him.
“What are you doing here? Kirito...”
Kirito was taken aback, he was watching the player with a scrutinizing look, he didn’t notice Wu Yan who crept up on him.
“It’s you!”
“Don’t act like you just saw a ghost!”
Wu Yan’s lip twitched.
“Is it that shocking to find me here?”
Kirito finally regained his composure and he rubbed his head with a slightly embarrassed look.
“Well, a little, yeah...”
They only met on a few occasions. The first time they saw each other was on the first floor. Then, they also met during the Christmas event in the Forest of Wanderings.
Kirito is surprised because the player who just greeted him is a living legend inside this game.
“Right...”
Wu Yan pointed his lips towards the player who is asking for help.
“What’s going on with that guy?”
Kirito’s expression sank and he bitterly laughed.
“That is the guild master of a small guild called the Silver Flag. His guild members got killed during an untimely encounter with the orange guild known as Titan’s Hand.”
“An orange guild...”
Wu Yan rubbed his chin.
“The kind of guild that robs players, sometimes even killing players just because they couldn’t pay up?”
“Yes...”
Kirito nodded.
“He wants someone to avenge his guild members. He just wants the evil-doers to be jailed.”
“Oh? He’s a kind person...’
Wu Yan sighed.
“Well, you going?”
Kirito chuckled.
“Don’t tell me you’re interested?”
Wu Yan had an idea and he gave Kirito a sneaky grin.
“Hey, Kirito...”
Wu Yan turned towards Kirito.
“How do you feel about making bets?”
“Bet?”
“Let’s bet on who is the first person who can jail the most Titan Hand members!”
Wu Yan had a very mysterious smile on his face.
“Whoever wins get to ask the loser to do a favor for him, how does that sound to you?”
Kirito stopped for a moment but he followed up with a wide beam.
“Sounds interesting...”
“Oh? Then...”
“Fine! I will take you up on that challenge!”