Chương 17: Chapter 17: First and Last Day on Floor 2 [Part 2]
[Ayanokoji Pov]
"This is it, huh...?"
"As Argo described, it's a lone hut all over the largest mountain in this area."
I looked myself around for a small moment, seeing already a small trail that would lead you to the destined location the quest would lead you to, according to Argo.
"Before any of that though, I've to start this quest. And fortunately, it also doesn't seem to be limited by time either. That's what she told me at least."
Some quests in here, like the forrest quest I took, had time limits of a span of 24 hours, so it was limited to a group of 6 that could do them in a day, assuming you'd party up with the maximal amount allowed and everyone obtains the items from the Fruit Nerpent in the forrest.
Of course it was also possible on buying this specific item like in my case, as I had offered 2 of them for 22,000 Cor's in the market.
The Market Value for that sword was 23,000 Cor's, and could be negotiated with, given how hard it was to get it.
I didn't have another one of the Anneal sword since I couldn't complete the quest again or better said, many were doing this quest, so I just happened to offer these items instead, that were needed and let those who accepted the quest buy them.
They wouldn't put their life in the line and quickly gain an effective weapon.
It worked well, as those two items were sold within a span of two weeks, easily.
Regardless of this quest, there are some other's out there that also have not much benefit, aside from the items they offer you.
In the case of the quest "The Heifer Strikes Back" which I absolved with Argo and Kirito, while it was in the beginning beneficial for any of us, it's now done, just for the sour cream, the two pieces of bread, that were unique on it's own, and the good amount of Cor's you get.
It was hours wasting guiding a cow, and right at the end, two high leveled monster's appeared in which the game made player's choose to abandon their teammates in case they had one and die or flee alone, or fight, despite the hopelessness, but be saved by the Cow, that kills the two monster's in revenge for the death of it's baby cow.
I did this quest two times, one time alone and one time with Kirito and Argo. By now, I was wishfully thinking of doing it again, if it weren't for the long process of guiding the cow.
The sour cream alongside these two tasty bread pieces that you cannot buy from regular NPC's made this question lucrative for me.
Then again, anyone with the skill [Cooking], such as in the case with Kei, is able to slowly make more advanced things, if the skill is leveled up enough.
I heard of some player's even opening bakeries, with their cooking skill being quite high. I didn't visit any of them yet, but I should do it, soon.
Definitely, since Kei said she wanted us both to go, to compare it with her cooking skill.
Alongside the [Cooking] Skill, she had her [Sewing] Skill and a new skill that I heard her talking about and asking me if she should abandon one of these two skills.
While those two skills might seem trivial for the average person, both of them were equally important to me.
The higher the [Sewing] Skill is, the higher the limited armor with it can be made: lightweight cloth, leather, and monster hide armor.
The playing style I was using was not relying on iron or metal armor, but on lightweight clothes, so my agility does not suffer under it.
Most people by any means chose to have different kinds of armor's, but in my case, I did not need something that was holding me back.
As for the other skill, I did not need to talk about it, did I?
Instead of having Kei abandon one of these two skills or her skill of being able to use her weapon I made sure she would get another skill slot by testing something out.
I invited her to my party, but instead of accompanying me, she was in the "City of the Beginners" while I was hunting higher level Monster's and shared 45% of my EXP with her.
That was the minimal requirement in a party of two.
The person who lands the last blow on the Monster, in case me, in every occasion, would get the 55% of the EXP.
I knew her anxiety of fighting monsters, in particular, higher one's, as everyone was taking the 'Frenzy Boar's' or 'Dire Wolf's' and other low level monsters, so I made sure she could pass level up and get skill slots regardless.
It wasn't beneficial at all for me, but until level 6 for the 4th Skill Slot, it was fairly easy.
Besides, I didn't know if she had to present around me or if it'd work like that, too, so I tested this quite effectively, too.
As for what skill she chose, it was something she heard from one of her friends about, the skill [Cosmetology].
I wasn't sure why, but I figured it might be something she'd like to do with her friends, I suppose.
I didn't really ask why...
It was more of being shocked that skills like that even exist in this world.
Shrugging my sudden thoughts off I decided on finishing this quest as fast as possible without wasting any time further and head towards the labyrinth.
Knocking on the door of the hut where the NPC resides I waited for a couple of seconds for a response until I heard the noise of the door slowly opening and an old man appearing with a question mark on his head.
This was the norm, for most quests, but for the forrest quest this didn't happen, as you needed to trigger it, specifically.
"You've come seeking strength. Do you have the heart of a warrior?" The old man, who seemed to represent a martial artist in this world, asked.
I nodded slightly, thinking this would do it, but then I forgot I was talking to an NPC, so more than that was required.
"Follow me and prove your mettle, then," he instructed, walking in front of me ahead.
While I wasn't surprised about his reply, as Argo told me priorly about it, I was shocked by the fact that this kind of reply from me seems to have worked and been accepted.
More than anything, it was my first time nodding in a quest at all.
I always replied with an affirmative answer so far, so this had me left in quite the awe a bit.
But I guess some of my habits don't die so easily, even in this situation.
Following the old man it took us a minute until we arrived, but then I saw the exact thing Argo described in her message to me as her experience in the Beta Version.
A 2 meter-high and 1.5 meters-wide rock.
"You must split this rock into two using only your palms," the old man said, his eyes narrowing with intensity.
Before I could react, he produced a pot of quick-drying paint and swiftly painted whiskers on my face.
"These whiskers cannot be removed until the rock is split," he added with a faint smile.
"If you manage to split the rock, you will be rewarded with my martial art knowledge and the whiskers will be removed."
Without saying anything further, he walked away, leaving me standing there.
Just to see whether my stats could do anything regarding the rock, I tried on hitting it with one of my palms.
But nothing happened, as expected, naturally.
"I already know the answer from a couple of hours ago, so I should search for one of these annoying <Trembling Ox's> here."
Making myself on my way in search for one of these annoying Monster's, I noticed not even thirty seconds afterwards an <Trembling Ox> spawning right in front of my eyes.
Not only did it spawn quite fast, making me think that [Argus] the company wanted player's to be aware of this, but similarly wise, it felt a bit too simple, for gaining an Extra Skill, as the spawn rate priorly, wasn't even as fast as now.
Then again... I can't compare my mind to that of an average person, so thinking how to split the 2 meter wide rock might appear to be on a significant difficulty for them and they won't overthink the monster's that spawn likelier around them.
Besides, so far, only Argo and I know about this.
Potentially, Kirito and Asuna, too, since both of them are good costumer's of Argo and have a good relationship with her, but I doubt many other player's know about it.
For one, Argo would have known if anyone like her had whiskers in the Beta.
That aside, Kirito would have definitely been aware of someone using [Martial Arts] skills and someone else like Argo having whiskers as it's according to him, her brand logo, in a sense, which was unique to herself.
While I definitely wasn't against the idea of sharing anything of this, I just disliked the fact of someone being able to best me and get more advanced skills of the [Martial Arts] skill tree before me.
However... In this world... the strength of your allies was one of the most important things.
How long could I keep fighting alone...?
There was definitely a limit as for how long I could fight alone, which I knew very well, myself.
So in order to get through this world, too, I needed for myself stronger allies and more people that would fight in the frontlines.
Essentially why, I saved Diavel, so I could control through him his around 300 member guild, which steadily increases currently.
More and more people are fighting, some of them take passive roles of teachers or mentors for younger players, or those who're still scared, teaching them the fundamentals in this game and how to survive.
And they slowly grow into a good community, from what I could see in our meetings, always.
They were definitely a valuable asset, right now.
If Diavel truly died that day, less people would end up fighting, nowadays, and their guild, as they call it, would be split in-between or dismiss.
Even if they did not dismiss, they'd end up hard to be controlled.
I didn't save him for reasons of kindness.
It was specifically for his worth that I could see, that I was ready to make myself stand out by a margin among the player's present.
As for the topic of guilds, it's possible and Argo wrote about it, in her notes, she offers for everyone, for free.
At the 3rd Floor, you're able to form guilds, when you absolve a specific quest.
Right now, the biggest one is that of Diavel's, so people will join him as they're the biggest and one of the first people to clear floor's.
Of course under the assumption everyone that follows his leadership has the intention of joining his guild, too.
Shrugging my head's off, I noticed the <Trembling Ox> running towards me, but I turned my back around, slowly walking away.
I got hit, but it was just a small minimal percentage of my Hit Points that got decreased.
Of course I could dodge, parry, or do my new katana skill <Tsujikaze> but it was a waste of an effort so I walked simply ahead, while feeling the non-existent impact of the Ox clashing against my back.
[HP: 5,800/5,900]
I already knew through the two hours of fighting how much HP each of these respective Monsters would reduce so it was nothing much of a big problem.
The windwasps reduced your hit points by 60, but what made them so troublesome was how fast they were and if they sting you, you'd be under a stun effect for three seconds long.
For lower players certainly a troublesome Monster, but it also gave you weapon enchanting materials, so while it was bothersome, it was beneficial, for most players, too.
I could parry their fast attacks in every scenario and similarly wise improved my [Parry] skill, so it has a bit beneficial for me, too.
Although the Experience Points were low I still got the material enchanting items.
It'd take a while though until I got the one's necessarily for my katana, so they remained useless for me, currently.
For most players with normal weapons or the <Anneal Blade> they'll be useful, in a sense, but as for me, it's not.
I didn't even carry the <Anneal Blade> as one of the floor clearer's, so it had not much of a use to me, improving a bad weapon, either.
I looked at the quest rewards again, seeing everything I'd be rewarded with, if the quest is cleared.
[Quest Rewards:]
[Extra Skill: Martial Art]
[Cor: 5.000]
[EXP: 3.000]
Right now I was just inches away of reaching Level 24, alongside a new additional Extra Skill. Both were great news for me.
Although leveling up was becoming much more of a problem right now.
[Level 23: 385,444/386,400]
I'm soon to become Level 24 after this quest is over but it really took me a while to level up properly the past two weeks.
Ever since I decided on letting the people in the frontline clear the labyrinth and the floor monster, I didn't end up leveling as much as I'd have done, if I fought every monster and the floor boss by myself.
I definitely would have been on a much higher level but it was important on having them fight the floor monster.
As for the one in this floor... I have no hesitation anymore.
I'll level up as much as I can, today.
I won't hold back nor limit my level today.
It's time of diverting some attention from Kirito, the Beater away, and let the masked user X, be the center of the topic, now everywhere.
I'm not doing it for him but it's definitely going to be a problem if the people in the frontline can't work properly together because of their resentment against him.
Besides my trade name alongside my information will become more credible and more sought among everyone, as people will assume I'm the person who sold the Map Data, alongside various others of items under the trade name of [X].
It doesn't necessarily help that they can livestream everything what happens on the floor boss fights, so my credibility will be there, for sure.
Earning Cor's should also become by a margin easier with this.
Revealing the X persona had many benefits for me so I wasn't even slightly against the idea of it.
Most of all, I'd be able to level up, by a margin, hopefully, which was one of my main motivations.
Perhaps three levels...?
I've yet to see, but it mostly depends on the labyrinth size. The first floor had twenty separate floors, with the floor room being at the 20th.
If it's similarly structured like that, I'll have a good chance of gaining good amount of Experience Points.
Although in Argo's manual it's different said, I can't assume it's hundred percent correctly, either.
Well, there's nothing much to worry, either way.
After this quest I'll be at Level 24, so I'm in a margin higher than everybody else. Alongside that, I've quite the good weapon, myself, contrary to what everyone believes.
Roar
Hearing the sound of the Monster again, I had to look at my Health Bar to see that I was attacked once more, but I simply walked further to the remaining way.
It took me ten additional seconds to arrive there, but once I was there, I noticed that the <Trembling Ox> was sprinting again towards me.
As I was facing the rock with my back, and the <Trembling Ox> was running towards me, I made at the right time a high front flip, and evaded the attack of the Monster.
Crack
[Quest Completed]
[You gained the Extra Skill: Martial Arts]
[You gained 5,000 Cor's]
[You gained 3,000 EXP]
[Level 24: 388,444/420,000]
[Cor: 1,684,224]
After these sudden inputs of notifications arriving I looked right back at the <Trembling Ox> and began to exterminate it at first sight immediately.
[You earned 68 EXP]
[You earned 74 Cor's]
[You earned 1 Trembling Ox's Meat]
[You earned 1 Trembling Ox's Leather]
Without any further ado, I sat myself at the new rock that spawned immediately afterwards when I destroyed mine, looking at my status and my skills.
"Hmm..."
[Skills:]
[Sprint:] - [214/1,000]
[Searching:] - [195/1,000:]
[Tracking:] - [121/1,000]
[Parry:] - [94/1,000]
[Night Vision:] - [132/1,000]
[Extra Skill: Katana (New)] - [1/1,000]
"Which one of my current skills should I remove..."
"No... It's better off to not remove any of these skills as of yet. I gained a skill slot at Level 6, then Level 12, and at last, at Level 20..."
"Will I gain another new skill slot at Level 28... or rather at Level 30...?"
I wasn't sure, since even Argo hadn't written anything of it in her manual. But once I achieve "Level 12", I'll ask Kirito.
However... It's going to be a drag switching between the two of my weapons so I'll have to remove one of these skills, regardless.
A bit conflicted I selected [Tracking], but I was conflicted with something else, out of nowhere.
[Tracking is a sub-skill of <Searching>. It does not belong to a to a separate skill slot. Do you instead want to remove the skill <Searching>?]
[Yes] [No]
Clicking the button 'No' I sighed, as I was somehow under the assumption [Tracking] was belonging to a separate skill slot.
[A/N: I kinda forgot that [Tracking] was a sub-skill, but had it quite the few chapter's in as a regular skill in. Lol...]
"If that's the case... I'll put my other weapon in the skill slot."
[Skills:]
[One-Handed Curved Sword] - [500/1,000]
Until I'm also 'officially' gaining the Katana skill, as everybody else, I can't show it to anyone yet.
As for X... it's a different matter...
With this, I can easily switch between those, without losing for the former skill my progress. As for the curved sword, since the requirement to unlock the [Extra Skill: Katana] was to have [500/1,000] it strangely stays that way.
"I suppose... it's time to head out for the Labyrinth now... isn't it...?"
"Yes."
--
A/N: And this concludes the rather short chapter.
Give me some feedback regarding it.
It wasn't by any means a long chapter, but I really couldn't write the next part in this chapter, too.
Want to do a separate chapter for it.
A bit excited how to write it, actually.
Before I noticed it, I had by long written this chapter.
I didn't expect to feel like this, but well, I suppose those are good news I guess.
Anyway, for now, this short chapter will be all.
The next one will be different then.
Also till Level 40 the Health Bar is going to increase by 150. Kirito at Level 40 had 8120 HP and Ayanokoji will have a bit more. Just adding that cause I don't write much notes... lol.
I'm always checking my chapters though, so I'll notice this, in case I forget it.
Well, anyway, that's all.
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