After breakfast, we decided to go to the 54th floor temporarily to continue our arrest. We were looking forward to seeing what levels awaited us this time, and we were a little surprised. The 54th floor has almost no land and is a floor like an aerial temple with corridors floating in the air. There are corridors and passages in front, where high fences have been installed.
"Uh-huh, I didn't expect to encounter a level like the Sky Temple so quickly."
Shino looked down from the nearby fence. However, his face gradually turned purple.
"This is if someone with a fear of heights comes and they faint. I mean, even if you're not afraid of heights, you might be so scared that you can't even see the bottom."
"Yes, this level is completely built in the sky, so you have to be careful. If something goes wrong, don't be pushed out of the fence. If you fall, you might die directly."
Probably, the outside of this fence is the same as the outside of Aincrad. It is no exaggeration to say that this is an instant death trap that will kill you instantly if you fall. I had to be careful and keep going so I wouldn't fall. Well, if it dropped that much, it would become an unreasonable game, so that won't happen.
Lelan gave me a “voice” as I was thinking about these things.
"It should be fine. Even if you fall, I'll jump out and save you. You need to be careful of enemies trying to blow you away, but you don't have to worry."
No matter what you think, we'll get there before Lelan jumps out and reaches the Judgment of Death area. I appreciate Raylan's words, and as long as I can rely on his ability to take action, that's probably not true.
"Okay, that's it. But you won't get blown away and thrown out so easily. If you get blown away easily and fall down, you won't make it. It's just a death game."
Shino showed a satisfied expression.
"Of course, the development team wouldn't be so barbaric and create a device that could kill players so easily. Also, Kayaba who appears in your story wouldn't be that crazy."
"No, to put it bluntly, Kayaba Akihiko is a madman."
If you want to create a great Nerve Gear and Full Dive game, then its true form is a game and device that traps the player inside, and if they die there, they will die in real life.
Kayaba Akihiko was a madman and wanted to create such a device. But even so, Kayaba will not create a device that allows players to die easily.
A long time ago, there was an RPG where players would die over and over again, but this was possible because it wasn't a death game. Although this game is a death game, Kayaba himself has made it clear that this is not a death penalty, so it is impossible to die so easily.
Thinking of this, I was startled when I reached my hand towards the top of the fence. I paused in the air and felt my hand touch something. It's like having a transparent wall.
"What's this"
When I reached out again, it felt like I hit a wall and my hand stopped. As a test, I made a fist and slapped it, but it made no sound, but it felt like I was knocking something. Ah, is this it?
"Ah, that's good"
"What?"
“Above the fence, or rather, there is a wall that doesn’t look like a fence.
Shino tilted his head and stretched his hand to the fence. Sure enough, my hand didn't come out of the fence like I did and stopped.
"That's true. I can't see it, but there must be a wall. In this case, you won't fall to your death."
It was exactly what Kayaba Akihiko expected. This game, while irrational, is designed to be a death game.
"Yes, Lilan, I don't need your help in an emergency."
Lilan looked depressed and lowered her head.
"Am I useless?"
However, I thought, it would be great if I could ride on Lilan's back and fly in such a sky. Flying on the back of a dragon is the player's longing and unfulfilled wish. I know this is going to happen in the world, so I'm super excited. Unfortunately, it seems you can't fly past this level due to invisible walls.
"Next time, let's fly to the sky on the 22nd floor. There seems to be no height limit in the upper part of the maze, and there are no enemies. The weather settings are also good, so it should be very comfortable."
Shino seemed to realize something and said to Lei Ran.
"Ah, well, Laylan is a dragon and has wings, so he can fly in the sky. It feels so good to fly on your back, can you do it?"
Lilan raised her head.
"I don't mind. I feel like I can only fly now when I'm fighting a boss. If you want, just run in the sky of this castle. Well, it doesn't seem possible on this level."
"There's nothing we can do, let's go, let's go."
The two nodded after hearing my voice and walked behind me. After confirming, I started walking in the sky corridor, but after a while, I noticed something. That was during the boss battle on the 53rd floor.
At that time, Sinon was charging and firing sword skills, but something felt wrong with her movements. No, before this, Sinon's dagger swing seemed awkward, or he was not used to it.
There are 9 weapons in the game: one-handed sword, greatsword, curved sword, katana, two-handed axe, spear, one-handed staff, and dagger, but each one is highly dependent on the player's potential. Often a player feels awkward when fighting with a one-handed sword, but conversely, is very stable when fighting with a spear.
"Sinon must have the potential to adapt to other weapons." But even if Sinon is holding a one-handed sword, it looks strange. Other weapons also have that feeling. What weapon is Sinon adapted to? Maybe such a thing does not exist, and Sinon can only fight with a dagger that she is not familiar with. Just as I was thinking this, Shino's voice in my mind came to my ears.
"Hey, Kirito. Can you stop for a moment?"
As he spoke, he stopped and turned around. Sinon stood there with the skill window open.
"What's wrong"
"I want you to see this, when I opened the skills window, I saw this"
"picture?"
As if guided by Shino's words, I stood in a row next to her and checked the window, but the next moment I felt a little surprised. A name I had never seen before appeared in Sinon's skill window. Its name is "Shoot."
"[Shooting]? What is this?"
"I didn't know, but when I opened the window, something like this happened without me realizing it."
"There are many skills in this game, but I have never heard of shooting skills among them." Similar skills include throwing skills that slightly enhance long-distance attacks. Although I have acquired them, is "shooting" more important than that? What about high skills?
However, even the informant had no idea such a thing existed. This game is actually made with the premise that you can move your body to play, so it shouldn't be filled with ranged attacks.
(wait?)
"An idea flashed in my mind." No, I should say I remember it more correctly.
I've seen goblins, lizards, and werewolves use bows and arrows while climbing this castle before. Normally, they would be equipped with the same weapon types as us and shoot with the same sword skills as us, but their bow and arrow skills are far from ours, and this is the only long-range attack and skill in the castle.
How can we not call the bows and arrows that only they have "long-range weapons"?
"No way, is this the bow and arrow skill!?"
"Yumiya's skills?"
"Yes, when I was conquering this area before, I encountered an enemy equipped with a bow and arrow and launched a long-range attack. I should use a skill. Maybe this skill is a skill that allows players to equip a bow and arrow."
Shino's eyes opened slightly.
"In other words, I can now equip a bow and arrow?"
"I think so."
"That's when I realized." Until now, even if you go to a weapons store, you can only find 9 types of weapons: one-handed sword, broadsword, curved sword, katana, two-handed axe, spear, one-handed - hand it over A staff, and a dagger. no problem. Even if Sinon's skills are related to bows and arrows, there is no way to confirm it.
"But it's useless. If you don't have the bow as an item, you can't check whether it can be equipped."
"Oh, I see."
She turned to Shino in surprise. Unknowingly, Sinon had opened the item window with her left hand and started sorting the items. Moreover, there was a look of surprise on his face. It's just like me.
"what happened?"
"This is a bow.
"What did you say?"
Looking from the skill window to the item window, he focused on where Sinon was pointing. Displayed there was an item with a name I had never seen before, "White Bow." White Bow "White Bow"?
"Bai Gong. What is this?"
"I don't know. But it definitely feels different than anything else."
"Is this what just popped up?"
"Yes, and it seems that this can be equipped like a dagger."
"Normally, it's impossible to add items to the item window without being noticed." Did Sinon automatically appear as a reward since she acquired the shooting skill? I thought something like this should be impossible, but it appears that's not the case.
Immediately afterwards, Shino opened the white bow and summoned it in front of her. And when the summoning light erupted, the bow really appeared. Sinon gingerly reached out and picked up the bow, but Lilan and I also focused on the bow along with Sinon. Literally means "white bow" and is colored like birch. The only time I saw it was when I was fighting monsters. This was the first time I saw such a bow.
"This is a bow"
"Uh bow"
Lelan called out as the two of us stared at each other for a moment.
"I see, Shino can fight now"
"Yes. This can be equipped, so starting from today you can equip it to fight. Let's try the equipment."
"Anyway, I want to hear what you think."
Shino understood, opened the equipment window, and equipped her with a white bow. Sinon, who has only wielded a dagger until now, looks a bit new with a bow and arrow, but I have never seen a player equipped with a bow and arrow.
No, before Sinon's skill came out, I didn't know that you could equip a bow, and I had never seen one before, so the figure of Sinon equipped with a bow in front of me was Aincrad. A first look in history.
Shino took a quick look at the bow and pulled the string. The next moment, an arrow appeared in Sinon's hand, wrapped in light just like when the sword skill was activated. He looks like the archery player you occasionally see on TV. I wonder if that light comes from shooting skills.
Thinking of this, Shino immediately pointed the bow to the vast sky and released the string. The arrow of light left Shino's hand, cut through the air at an invisible speed, and disappeared into the sky. Sinon sighed and stared blankly at the trajectory of the flying arrow.
"I see, this feels a lot better than using a dagger."
"It's amazing. It's an attack I've never seen before. It's like Lelan's breath attack."
Lilan nodded.
"This does look a lot like my attack. If two people can attack from a distance, they should be able to defeat the enemy without letting them get close."
Until now, you could only use your weapon to attack enemies that were close to or close to you, i.e. close range attacks. However, Sinon's bow is a substitute that can attack enemies from a distance and defeat them without letting them get close. It's revolutionary, no, it's going to blow Aincrad players' minds. Involuntarily, a kind of excitement welled up from the depths of my stomach.
"It's amazing! This is a skill. It's not just convenient!"
"Ah, but where is Kirito."
"What"
Shino looked a little disappointed.
"Sorry, I'm sorry to make you look forward to it but I can't use this weapon."
"Huh? Why?"
Sinon pressed the white bow and brought up a window. As a sign of interest in looking at numerical values, I pointed out. The next moment, when I turned my attention to the numbers displayed on Shino's fingertips, I was surprised and disappointed. ——The attack power of this bow is ridiculously low.
"Wow, what is that number! Too low!?"
"Yes, the power of the dagger I used is about one-fifth weaker. As a result, you will not be able to fight the enemies on this level at all. Even if you fight, you will not be able to cause decent damage. Unexpectedly, that is Rubbish."
"Indeed, this is already a junk level." When I heard that it was a white bow, I thought it would be a good number, but this number is not comparable to the weapons sold in the weapon shop on the second floor. Such a thing would be of no use to us as we ventured through the fifty-fourth floor.
"What the hell is this? I had high hopes for this rare skill, but"
"I can't use this. I need to find another piece of equipment somewhere and I don't know where it is."
I recalled in my mind the lineup of weapons shops on each floor, but they were all one-handed swords, broadswords, curved swords, daggers, and spears. It seemed that there were no bows, arrows, or spears. arrow. Maybe there is a way to go back and check the weapon shops on each floor, but I don't want to waste my time on such a troublesome thing
Thinking of this, the moment I put my hand on my chin, I suddenly remembered something. Having said that, this Aincrad has the blacksmith skill, and has a blacksmith shop run by players who are proficient in that skill and able to do business.
By polishing and strengthening a weapon, you can increase its attack power, but sometimes by adding materials, a weapon can be reborn into an entirely different and powerful piece of equipment. Moreover, such equipment usually drops on the 1st and 2nd floors, and many of them are useless by the 54th floor. If Sinon's bow is given to a blacksmith, it might be possible to regenerate it into a completely different and powerful bow.
"Shino, there is a better way."
"What"
"Leave this to the blacksmith. The purpose of this game is to strengthen, so that weak weapons can sometimes become strong weapons. This may be the case with Sinon's."
Shino stared at the white bow with all her attention.
"I see. Although it cannot be used, it can be used as long as it is strengthened."
"That's right. I have to capture it, but it's not something I have to worry about. Now I'll go back to the city to find a blacksmith."
"That's when I suddenly had an idea." It was Asuna.
During Asuna's time in "Shining Asuna," she defeated a lot of enemies and worked hard to level up, but at the same time, her sword was definitely getting worn out. Weapons in this game lose durability every time you slash an enemy, and when durability reaches zero, the weapon is damaged and consumed.
The blacksmith will restore durability and make it last longer, but Asuna's weapons are not mass-produced like those sold in weapon shops, but are rare items like last attack bonuses. And it seems that it has been used for a long time, so it should be maintained by a specialized blacksmith.
"If you ask Asuna, she might be able to introduce you to a blacksmith."
"Okay, let's go meet Asuna."
"At Asuna's house?"
"Ah. Asuna's rapier has been in use for a long time. Asuna must have repaired that sword at the blacksmith. Do you know the rest?"
Shino made an expression as if she had thought of something.
"Ah, then I'll ask Asuna to ask the blacksmith to help me strengthen my bow."
"That's right. And Asuna also wants to meet Lilan."
Lelan turned to the city.
"Indeed, I have been in contact with you recently, maybe I have not been to Asuna. Asuna may have something to tell me soon, so I agreed to go to Asuna's place.
"correct.
Shino nodded, folded the bow and arrow and put it on his back. After learning that Sinon's bow had undergone such a change, we retraced our steps and headed straight to the headquarters of the Bloody Knights where Asuna was.
