The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

PK Pandemonia Arc: Chapter 71 - Cornered Secret

"Hmm.....I'm indeed kinda like you, not wanting to be bound by guilds and stuff, but, how do I put it.....," Zena leaned back, pondering. "Horizon Edge's just that different. Actually, your impression of guilds only covers the powerful and high-ranking ones, I bet."

"Maybe....." Was what I could only manage when I realized that he was getting somewhere with this topic.

"I mean, for those established guilds which throw themselves into Floor boss raids with the Assault Team, it's like being drafted into the military. I'll agree with you on that. However, HE's never like that. We're a guild that just does.....whatever we want, basically. Anything for us to get by everyday."

He paused again, as if he had just remembered stuff.

"I mean, we do join a few boss raids occasionally, but we don't force every member to join. At the very least, if Misuko's really, like, ordering her members around, they would just be the Company leaders....."

His eyes shifted with a slight frown, but it wasn't like he seriously hated Misuko. If any, he sounded like he knew her pretty well.

"But still, I can do whatever I want, like Drifting with whichever party I choose. Of course, under the condition that I Drift with the HE members as well, but that's simply a win-win deal, don't you think so?"

He had finally pressed the blue circular button beside the typing field, as the message gets sent, accompanied with a simple sound effect that signalled the sent message. Since I was directly opposite of him, I couldn't see what he wrote, of course. If I did, it would have been a complete breach of his privacy.

But for his message to be so damn long, it should have been something important, for someone with an important title, like Misuko. I couldn't help but wonder what could have prompted him to write such a comprehensive report.

"Maybe, if you join HE, you'll still feel like you have freedom, or something like that," Zena swiped away his system windows. "But for you to have lasted a year without joining a guild.....that's honestly shocking. These days, I don't usually see anyone without a guild icon on their HP bars."

"Is that so.....," I remarked, staring at him with a tinge of disdain. It seems like he could have doubted my credibility as a guildless, solo player. "Are you saying that I'm really lucky to have come this far alone?"

"Could be.....Only you know how you've come from those days back on the 1st Floor to you sitting right before me at this very point in time. And, to be honest, I'm curious about how you pulled it off."

Our conversation could have continued with my reply, but we heard knocks from the door. I went to get it, swinging open to Tekion, who was carefully holding my sword with both his hands.

"Your enhancement request on your one-handed sword.....um........Picturesque Brancher+10, done!"

There it was, the sword with the blade as green as nature itself. The tip of its blade made with diagonal cuts that formed a central triangular tip. Strangely, if you'd look at it from another angle, the blade might look greyish, especially from afar.

The blacksmith held my sword carefully with each step before sitting on my bed, as I closed the door behind him. Zena's attention had obviously shifted to it, his face showing his curiosity in my weapon.

"Let's see.....," Tekion let my sword rest on his lap, and touched it with a finger. A small appraisal window popped out. "2 successful attempts on Sharpness, as you've requested."

I gripped on the golden, albeit slight rusted handle, lifting the blade from Tekion's lap. The feel of the sword was the same as usual. I proceeded to return it to its sheathe strapped behind my back.

"Thanks for your services!" I gave a smile and made a light bow at Tekion.

"It-It's fine! I just hope you'll become one of my regulars," Tekion stood up in a slightly flustered manner, his hands spread out in front of my lowered head.

Oh. I guess bowing seemed a little alien to him, and maybe to Zena as well. But it wouldn't hurt if they could get used to this habit of mine.

Well, this did mean that they sure weren't Japanese. That was a fact that I was now very sure of.

"That reminds me, about your sword," Tekion crossed his arms. "There's something very different with your sword than the many other weapons that I've worked with."

"Rakuno, have you ever, ever, EVER enhanced the Durability stat of Picturesque Brancher, at all?"

".....Eh?"

What was.....that feeling? That feeling that made me realize like I was being found out for something that no one else should have known.

I was acting like I was a culprit to some crime I had committed. That chill of tension that went through my spine froze me up for a second, as I couldn't find a reply.

No, it wasn't that I couldn't find one. I just didn't want to.

"Holy shit.....what the hell?"

I turned to Zena, who was now full of renewed curiosity and surprise. He leaned forward, sitting straight up and alert, wanting to confirm what he'd heard a few seconds ago.

"From my experience, for a weapon to last from the time it was crafted to its very last use, you'd need to invest a few enhancement points of Durability on it. Such weapons last a few months, give or take a week."

Tekion started to walk back and forth past my frozen figure, as I couldn't help but stared at him without much of a sound coming out of my lips.

"Even if you'd decide not to enhance the Durability of your weapon for the first few attempts (+1, +2, +3 etc), you'd have to do that eventually before it breaks. I'd say that you'll need to enhance Durability at around the +6 to +8 attempts at the latest before you could still use your weapon for at least an extra month or so. That's the breaking point."

"Wait, wait....." Zena had finally (and thankfully) cut off Tekion's lecture. "So what you're saying is that, Picturesque Brancher was never enhanced of its Durability even though it was supposed to be at its breaking point?"

"Precisely," Tekion voice sounded like a professor. "Which led me to come to a conclusion. The Durability of Picturesque Brancher never needed to be enhanced in the first place."

His words hung rather heavily in the silence of the room. Zena's stare at me had become more intense. Whatever reactions he was having at that moment might have had some envy mixed in there. I was too damn sure about that.

"So your sword.....will never, ever, break? I'll be honest, that's anyone's dream weapon right there."

Tekion stopped by my bed and sat on it. "I guess the blacksmiths who worked on the early enhancement attempts on this sword probably thought that Rakuno would enhance its Durability sooner or later, since it didn't reach its breaking point back then."

I found myself suddenly in a precarious situation, with the stares of 2 guys being directed at me, neither of them willing to shift their focus elsewhere.

Of course, I knew they wanted some answers, or an explanation, but.....but......

Pulling the front shade of my hat down to cover my face, I did a squat on the spot, in a futile attempt to ignore their expectant gazes.

"Oh.....Shit......"

Those words were carelessly thrown out in the whole room, as clear as they could hear them.

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