Chapter 44: Kreg Series

Yoshino Aruven had decided to end his circle of debts. And yet why was he digging himself deeper instead?

Perhaps we need to turn back the time a little to explain what happened exactly.

The time was around 11:20 in the morning.

The tactic of doing reconnaissance on possible paths was quite effective. The first recon attempt was completed even before the 20-minute time limit was reached.

Steven O had reported signs of human activity in his assigned path. The team then followed along that corridor and dealt with incoming monster encounters.

On their second recon attempt, Yoshino found human energy signatures on his assigned path. They went there next accordingly.

On the third attempt, O had found signs once again.

This would have been their fourth reconnaissance attempt. Yoshino was eager to find signs of human activity in his path. Perhaps he was still not that mature enough to let his classmate get the better results.

But he instead found a lone female student bending over a fountain of an intersection.

She was wielding a one-handed pickaxe that she was using to dig something along the structure. It seemed to be some kind of mineral.

"Excuse me, what are you doing there?"

Yoshino asked as he approached. He had allowed his curiosity to get the best of him once again.

"Kyaah! A pervert!"

The female student yelled. She turned towards the source of the voice. She crossed her arms in front of her. She then tightened the grip on her pickaxe.

Wait this was wrong.

Punishable crimes were prohibited in the dungeon. What would happen if someone else misunderstood this?

Yoshino quickly denied the accusation,

"Wait this is just a misunderstanding."

"You're… standing behind me!"

"For around seven or eight meters. That's quite far enough, right?"

"But still, right behind me?"

"…"

The female student did not believe his claim. She even made the young man speechless when she began to emphasize on the detail she noticed. She then concluded,

"You have been staring at my bum!"

"!"

"How long have you been staring?"

"I just arrived!"

Yoshino dejectedly answered. He could not believe that his first interaction with another participant in the dungeon would end up like this.

He was not a sexual offender. Although he might have arrived around two or three minutes ago, that could still be considered as 'just arrived' right?

"Disappear, pervert!"

The female student was probably convinced that her suspicions were correct. She threw her pickaxe towards the young man.

"[Weapon Call]!"

Yoshino reacted quickly. He called forth his Zeta Blade and parried the incoming tool.

Clang!

The knife was able to deflect the thrown pickaxe.

"!"

The female looked surprised. She seemed to have noticed something. But this was not enough to interrupt her actions.

She opened a small dimensional rift in front of her. She called forth a pump-like device.

"Go, Bellows!"

The female student exclaimed. She then squeezed its mechanism to produce a gust of air.

"[Enchant]: Wind!"

Yoshino activated his skill. He decided to raise his wind element affinity. The boost had then extended to his weapon. He used it to block the attack.

"As I thought."

"?"

The young man was puzzled upon hearing her remark. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

The female student explained when she saw his expression. She said,

"That is a magic weapon. Am I right?"

"How can you tell?"

"The sound it made when it deflected my pickaxe. That knife is probably made from a precious material. I then used my Bellows to verify my suspicions."

"Oh? Quite perceptive of you."

Yoshino raised an eyebrow. He was skeptical upon hearing the explanation. Even though different metals do produce different sounds when struck.

There was no way someone could easily identify a material with only a single clang.

But the female simply shrugged. She opened a small dimensional gate and threw the pump-like device inside. Next, she called forth her thrown pickaxe and did the same.

She then walked towards the young man. Her shoulder length black hair with a tinge of pink swayed on every step she took. She was now around three meters away.

"How about this, let me take a look at that magic weapon of yours. In exchange I'll overlook your act of voyeurism."

"W-why should I do that?"

"Because I can report your act to the facilitators."

"That's blackmailing!"

"If it would make you feel better, I'm a blacksmith. So rest assured, I will not do anything funny."

You should have said so from the very start!

Yoshino wanted to retort back. However the female student spoke faster. She added,

"Unlike you, I'd say."

The young man winced upon hearing the added remark. He did have a slight pang on his conscience. But only slightly.

However, the female student had dismissed the weapons she was wielding. This was probably a sign of good faith on her side.

Yoshino pondered for a few seconds. He still needed to know a few more information. So he asked,

"Then you are an Artisan?"

"Yes."

The student nodded in confirmation.

Artisan was the Main Class that focused on developing their Dexterity. This was the parameter that pertains to a person's finesse, hand-and-eye coordination, and crafting ability. This was also the parameter that is related to one's SP gauge.

There were many vocations in [Roku Shiki Online] that dealt with production, manufacturing,  and trading items. There were also vocations that utilizes artistic ventures

.

All of them were collectively regarded as Artisan. And of course the blacksmith vocation belonged to this class.

Yoshino was almost convinced when he heard the confirmation. But he still had to ask for one more piece of information. A detail that he should have asked from the very beginning.

"What is your name by the way?"

He inquired. He held his weapon carefully. He secretly prepared his stance in order to react with whatever answer he received.

However the female student giggled when she saw his wariness. She shrugged,

"You dare ask a lady of her name? You haven't even given yours."

"Oh… sorry about that. The name is Aruven. Yoshino Aruven."

"I see. My name is Ariana Aries. Nice meeting you."

The female student smiled. She introduced herself with grace similar to those who were born in a well-off family. Well, actually she was born to one of those!

But Yoshino still had to confirm what he heard. It would be really awkward if she ended up just having the same surname as those elite families. He asked,

"Aries? As in one of the 12 clans of the Hyugan Nation?"

"Yes."

"The one that is famous for their blacksmithing skills?"

"Yes."

The female with the family name of Aries nodded at both questions. Although there was a slight hint of annoyance in her tone when she answered the second one.

Nonetheless, she remained smiling. She then asked in return,

"Convinced now?"

"Alright, here."

Yoshino decided to accept the offer. Theft was prohibited inside the dungeon anyway. And since the female student came from a well off family, there was no way she would taint their name with her petty acts right?

The young man flipped his knife. He then handed over the weapon with its handle facing the female student.

Miss Aries accepted the gesture. She first checked the weight of the weapon. She then properly held the knife her right hand. She used her left hand to trace through the blade.

She grew surprised after a few seconds. She said,

"This… is a Kreg weapon series!"

"Oh? So you do know about it?"

"Yes! I told you right, I'm a blacksmith! There's no way I cannot recognize such a fine work."

The Kreg series was a collection of weapons forged by a certain pioneer a few months after the world transmigrated.

But after a few years, that certain pioneer deemed this series as prototypes for his future and way better works.

Nowadays people in the know only treated the Kreg weapons as an item of novelty. Relics of the past that belonged to the gallery.

Nonetheless even someone who was an amateur in weapon-smithing like Yoshino could identify how well made his magic weapon was.

Miss Aries pulled his thoughts back when she spoke. She asked,

"What is this weapon's name?"

"Zeta Blade."

"One of the 23 original works!"

Miss Aries was further surprised upon hearing the answer. She then flipped the knife from side to side. She swung the weapon left and right. She then inquired,

"No offense, but how did you purchase this kind of weapon? Your family name does not ring a bell among those on the well-off circles."

"Because I did not purchase it. That was a gift given to me by my weapon master after I graduated in high school."

Yoshino replied. He had given the extremely summarized version of his past. There was no way he would share such a backstory to someone he just met anyway.

"This is a very generous gift. Especially for someone who is still stuck at Tier 1."

"Hahaha, well can you give my weapon back now?"

"Not yet."

Miss Aries refused. She then raised the knife she was holding up into the sky. She seemed to be looking at it against a source of light.

She then stared at the young man. She narrowed her eyes and asked,

"Are you aware on what exactly is the rarity of this weapon of yours?"

"Probably around supreme-grade?"

"Wrong!"

Miss Aries scolded when she heard his guess. She even looked as if she had listened to blasphemous words spouted by a sinful person.

After a few seconds, she sighed in resignation. She then revealed,

"This is a Unique-grade magic weapon."

"!"

Unique-grade was  the fourth classification of item rarity. It was the next grade higher than Supreme-grade. Meaning its quality was something that even money would have difficulty acquiring.

In addition, Unique-grade items were regarded as that because they were one-of-a-kind. In other words, only one copy of Zeta Blade was available throughout the world.

Yoshino was surprised to hear this revelation. But he then gave his reason for his wrong estimation. He said,

"I did consider that. But aren't Unique-grade items possess two special skills? As far as I checked, my Zeta Blade only has one."

This was indeed the case. The succeeding rarity grades beyond Supreme-grade would possess an additional effect as they went higher. This was the special characteristic of higher rarities that made premium items pale in comparison.

However, Miss Aries seemed to be expecting such a remark. She readily answered,

"That's because this weapon is just half-finished."

"Huh?"

"Perhaps your weapon master wanted to test you out if you could figure out this detail or not."

"That seems quite possible."

Yoshino could not deny such possibility. His weapon master was someone who do fancy giving such tests.

Fortunately, Miss Aries had pointed this out. She then flipped the magic weapon towards the young man. She also handed the knife with its handle facing first.

She then made an offer,

"How about this, I can offer you to recast this weapon. In exchange, you have to help me gather a certain resource."

"What resource?"