Weapons

Trying to find a sword that fits your needs without knowing a damn thing about weapons can be one hell of a pain. 

Although all the swords in the shop looked like they were of high quality, he knew nothing about their purposes. 

On display, he saw different sabers, long swords, and even gigantic claymores. Although he wanted to ask someone for help, besides the shopkeeper, who was already busy with another customer, there were no other employees. 

In the end, he just ended up staring at the display cases of swords, hand on his chin to make it seem like he was deep in consideration. 

"Those only display the ornamental swords, considering you've got a basic set of armor, the actual swords you're looking for are over there," Someone pointed out. 

Vega was a little embarrassed that someone had seen through the facade, but he was thankful for setting him in the right direction. 

He seemed to be only a few years older than Vega himself, wearing a simple brown shirt and baggy dark pants that complemented his heavy boots. 

His brown hair was tied up into a ponytail, and with a little stubble on his face, he stood at least a head taller than the 6-foot Vega. 

"By chance do you work here?" He asked. 

"Me? Oh, no, I'm just here to appreciate a master craftsman's work." The stranger replied. 

"So you're also a blacksmith?" Vega asked. 

"Something like that, yeah." The stranger answered. 

"You think you could help me pick out a good sword? I'm not too knowledgeable about this kinda stuff." Vega asked truthfully. 

"Yeah, I gotchu." He answered. 

"For someone like you, I'd recommend a Saber. They specialize in cutting and slashes, plus with them being one-handed, you can also pair a shield for easy defense." 

"Considering that you know nothing about swords, I assume you're a beginner. And while you can swing that sword around, I doubt you'd be able to execute any sort of parry or block without damaging the blade itself." 

"Huh, I never really considered buying a shield," Vega responded. 

"Most don't. They read stories of heroes' overturning entire battlefields with a single sword by their side and think they can do the same thing." He chuckled. 

Vega offered an awkward smile back. He couldn't admit that he too was dreaming about that exact scenario. 

"By chance, you don't happen to have your own shop, do you?" Vega asked. 

"Why? You want to buy a weapon from me instead?" He mused. 

Vega gave only a nod before the stranger realized he was being serious. 

"Wait, you're being serious? You sure? My stuff isn't nearly as good as the stuff they have here." He warned. 

"Unless your swords are complete garbage, I don't see why not," Vega responded. 

"Those be fightin' words, you know." He chuckled. 

"That's only if you don't have the confidence to back up your skills." Vega retorted. 

"You wanna talk like that, huh. You know what? I'll make you the best sword you'll ever hold." He stated. 

"That's a pretty high claim, don't you think?" Vega questioned. 

"That's only because I've got the skills to back up my claim." He smirked. 

"I'll be the judge of that. How can I contact you once my sword's done?" Vega asked. 

"I'll just send you a friend request. Gimme a sec." He replied. 

"I mean, we'll just meet up here in a week or so." He quickly backtracked. 

"Wait, you're from Earth too?" Vega asked. 

"Oh, you're a player too? Thank god." He sighed. 

"What do you mean? Are we supposed to hide it or something?" Vega asked. 

"You haven't checked the top post in the forum?" He asked. 

"No? Did something happen?" Vega asked in confusion. 

"Alright, man, look. You know the top ranker, Aurelius, right? Well, he created a post claiming that his biggest advice to everyone was to make sure no one besides other players knew about the system." 

"He didn't offer any explanation, but the comments under his posts have been raging with conspiracy theories about it." 

"Since he's been the top ranker ever since Altera 3.0 began, people think he's got insider knowledge about how we got kidnapped here and all." 

"So even though we have no clue if it's good advice, most people choose to follow it. I recommend you do too." 

"He's been the top ranker since version 3.0, huh," Vega commented. 

"The guys practically dominated the game ever since it was released on VR. If anyone knows something the public doesn't, it's gonna be him." 

"He's definitely a bit suspicious, huh," Vega said. 

"Get in line, man. People have been saying that ever since he started. For the most part, though, he's never strayed the player base the wrong way." 

"By chance do we know what starting point he chose?" Vega asked. 

"Nah, not a clue. The guys are as mysterious as can be." He shrugged. 

"I mean, other than that Vega guy who came out of nowhere, he's like the game's biggest enigma." 

"What's your tag, by the way? I still haven't added you." 

"It's Vega Kiran…" 

"Like the guy on top of the leaderboard." He questioned. 

"Yeah, that's me," Vega answered truthfully. 

"Mhm, yeah, sure. I'll humor you, though." 

[Legendary_mechanic has sent you a friend request. Y/N]

[You've accepted the friend request! Legendary_mechanic is now your friend.] 

"So do you believe me now?" Vega asked. 

The would-be blacksmith looked at his system screen and at Vega a couple of times before coming to the realization that he indeed wasn't lying. 

"Well, I'll be damned." He said in shock. 

"Damned indeed. Though I'm certainly glad that the legendary mechanic believes me now." Vega teased. 

"Wait, but if you're the number one on the leaderboard, how do you not know what kinda weapon to buy?" He quickly realized. 

"Oh ugh. I mean, I kinda never played Altera before. I played like once, and that was it." Vega admitted. 

"What? Ho-? Why? What??" He stumbled. 

"I just never really got into it, you know…" Vega shrugged. 

"But you knew we were gonna get transported into another dimension. Why not play Altera then, when it was our best clue on what was gonna happen?" He blabbered. 

"I mean, I kinda just went on a world tour during that last year," Vega replied. 

"I- but why???" He exclaimed. 

"That's gotta be like the stupidest thing I've ever heard someone do." He said. 

"It was a blast, honestly, I don't regret it." Vega smiled. 

"And you're smiling too." He sighed. 

"HANS YOUR BREAK ENDED ALREADY YOU LAZY SHIT." Someone shouted from the back of the store. 

"Ah, shit." Hans grimaced. 

"Your names, Hans?" Vega asked. 

"Hans Voss yeah. Alright, look, I gotta go, but before you do anything, find out what weapon suits you best." He advised. 

"There's a training center near here where you can pay 20 bronze a month to train. Go there and actually feel out a wooden weapon before buying the real thing." Hans said before rushing to the back. 

With that, Vega was left standing alone in the front of the blacksmith's shop. Although he left empty-handed, the gains he received were worth so much more than something a simple sword could provide.