Astral Online: Cursed by the Demon Lord to Become the Strongest Beautiful Girl, I Rapidly Grow and Dominate with Cheat Skills Despite Being the Weakest Profession - Chapter 14
Chapter 14: The Silver Sword
When the sweat-soaked Kirie returned from the workshop holding a sword, she was surprised to see Sora caught by Kuro at the register counter.
“What’s going on here?”
Even she seemed to have trouble grasping the situation and tilted her head.
Meanwhile, Sora, looking exasperated, glanced at Kuro and explained the situation.
“To put it simply, I’m caught by a dangerous woman who attacked me right after meeting.”
“Oh, it’s Kirie.”
“I see.”
Kirie, who had more or less understood the situation, observed Kuro, who clung to Sora’s arm and didn’t seem to want to let go, with curiosity.
It turned out that the girl wasn’t just trying to keep Sora from escaping. Apparently, she was quite taken with her after dodging her earlier attack.
On the other hand, she cast ruthless, cold glances at those she didn’t like.
Several players who entered the store had already turned around upon receiving her piercing gaze (some of them were even perverts with ecstatic expressions).
This was certainly hindering Kirie’s business.
Sora sighed in frustration.
Unaware of Sora’s troubles, Kuro sniffed around like a dog and said, “Sora has the same smell as the guild master… so I like you.”
“Hmm? Oh, now that I mention it, there is a resemblance, not in the face but in the atmosphere.”
The same smell. A resemblance in atmosphere, not appearance.
Hearing these keywords made Sora think, “Could it be?” but she decided not to pursue it and focused on leaving the register counter first.
Naturally, Kuro followed closely.
Once outside the counter, Kirie handed Sora a heavy sword sheathed in a sky-blue scabbard.
“Here you go. A fine weapon has been completed. It’s definitely a masterpiece, rivaling even Kuro’s ?Night Cherry?.”
“Oh, wow…”
The hilt and guard were simple in design.
The sword was about 90 centimeters long, and its weight conveyed its high specs.
Receiving her newly reborn companion with both hands, Sora’s eyes sparkled at the displayed specs in front of her.
———————————-
?Weapon Name? Silver Sword
?Category? One-handed Straight Sword
?Rarity? C-Rank
?Attack Power? D+
?Durability? B-
?Required Strength? 17
?Creator? Kirie
———————————-
—G-G-G-G-Great!?
Sora, who was inwardly making strange sounds of surprise, found herself stunned.
Her level was 17 and his current strength was also 17. If she hadn’t worked hard on leveling up through slime hunting, she wouldn’t have been able to equip this sword.
…However, the attack power is modest, but the durability is rated as B-.
This seems like a truly exceptional piece of equipment.
It felt as though it inherited the durability-focused characteristics of the original sword. Moreover, the name had gone from a ?Normal Sword? to something very cool, which made Sora sigh in delight.
As Sora trembled slightly with excitement in front of this marvelous weapon, Kirie, laughing, responded:
“When you melt down a ?Normal Sword?, it becomes something called a ?First Ingot?, which is something you’ve never seen before. From there, I forged it into this excellent weapon… but can you even equip this?”
“Y-Yeah, just barely…”
“Hmm, I see. No wonder people are making a fuss.”
Kirie, having deduced Sora’s level from the required strength, looked intrigued. However, this was only for a moment, she pointed to the sword and said:
“Take a look at the blade. You’ll be sure to be amazed.”
At her words, Sora slowly drew the sword from its scabbard.
The blade, gleaming silver, came into view, reflecting both Sora’s and Kuro’s faces.
It was a beautiful sword with a palpable sense of strength.
Sora instantly felt that this sword would be able to keep up with her skills.
“It’s a beautiful sword.”
“Yes, with this, I might be able to put up a decent fight even against a Demon Lord.”
“Demon Lord?” x2
Both Kirie and Kuro tilted their heads in unison, and Sora snapped back to reality.
Oops, she had let slip about the beauty of the sword, which led her to mention something he shouldn’t have.
Sheathing the sword, Sora pondered what to do about his biggest slip-up of the day.
“Ah, ahahaha, I must have been reminded of the final boss from another VR game!?”
With sweat pouring down her forehead, she made a desperate lie.
Seeing her, Kirie seemed somewhat satisfied, while Kuro, who didn’t understand, tilted her head and had a question mark floating above her head.
Sora nervously wiped her cold sweat as Kilie smiled at her. ‘Oh no, she’s going to ask me about this later.’
Having said it, she knew she couldn’t escape the keen perception of Kirie. Moreover, considering the favor of having the sword forged, she couldn’t refuse if Kirie asked about it.
For now, she had to avoid digging herself into a deeper hole.
Sora decided to change the topic and turned her gaze toward Kuro, saying:
“Alright, since Kirie’s back, let’s go outside and have a duel!”
“You haven’t forgotten our promise that I can make you do anything, right?”
“Hahaha, don’t think you can easily beat me, little girl.”
“Sora, you’re the same age as me, right?”
“…………”
She had forgotten about that, but her current appearance was not much different in age from hers.
Unable to think of a good excuse, she simply mentioned that she was in high school, which for some reason Kuro scolded me, saying, ‘It’s bad to tell lies.’
It wasn’t a lie, though…
With a sense of unresolved feelings, Sora quickly led Kuro out of the store.
Watching the back of the silver-haired girl, Kirie could only smile wryly.
When they stepped outside the store, a large crowd of players had gathered as if to watch.
A bit later, Kirie and Shin arrived, followed by Rou. Kirie then explained the situation:
“Oh, since Kuro, the infamous ?Black Princess?, came here, people gathered thinking a duel was about to start.”
According to Kirie, whenever Kuro visits a strong opponent, a duel is always expected, which naturally attracts players who are drawn to betting.
By the way, if you open the menu screen, you can easily place bets on nearby duels.
Currently, many people had joined the betting pool, with roughly half of them betting on either Sora or Kuro to win.
The betting amount was fixed at 5,000 El in the Yggdrasil Kingdom, so the payout would be double, around 10,000 El.
The chat room, eagerly awaiting, was abuzz with activity.
?Will the undefeated record of the ?Black Princess? be updated??
?The silver-haired girl is quite a monster too.?
?I saw Gald’s match, and the ?Sonic Sword? was completely different from what I know.?
?And she canceled that to connect to ?Strike Sword?, right? What kind of brain allows someone to perform such a divine technique??
?Normally, you’d collide before you can cancel.?
?It reminded me of the ‘Black Flash’ that wreaked havoc in the VR game ‘Sky Fantasy’ five years ago.?
?So you’re one of the legendary six players who almost cleared the high-end content, <Satan>, which no one has ever completed??
?Now that you mention it, it really is????
Unable to endure it, Sora immediately closed the casino chat room.
“…………”
Sora closed her eyes, feeling a tight sensation, and pressed her chest with one hand.
Noticing this, Kuro spoke up.
Kuro asked, “What’s wrong?”
Sora replied, “No, it’s nothing. Let’s get started quickly.”
“…Understood.”
After a brief pause, Kuro nodded, untangled her arms, and started walking. She stopped about 8 meters away, her hand resting on the hilt of her black sword.
Sora thought she could close the distance instantly with ?Sonic Sword II?, but given Kuro’s skill level, this distance seemed manageable for her.
To be honest, she was strong.
Earlier, at close range, Kuro had activated ?Strike Sword? without any charge time. To quick-cast something like that required considerable skill.
Thus, Sora had no luxury to focus on anything else.
She lightly slapped her cheeks with both hands.
…Sora Kamijo, switch your focus. Concentrate on the enemy in front of you!
Taking a deep breath, she shifted her mindset.
Sora focused on Kuro, using the insight she had developed over ten years dedicated to VR gaming to gauge her strength from her posture.
She seemed stronger than Glen.
It was clear that recklessly charging in would result in painful consequences.
As she was thinking this, Kuro, standing at a distance, pointed at her and asked, “Are you sure you don’t need any armor?”
“Ah, I think it’s okay to skip it. I don’t want to waste El.”
Aside from the sword Kirie had given her, Sora was still using all initial equipment. Her defense was almost zero.
Although ?Physical Resistance II? would mitigate some damage, receiving a skill attack would likely cut her health by half immediately.
Kuro seemed concerned about Sora lack of armor, but Sora didn’t want to spend El at the moment.
Besides, she wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she had no intention of taking even a single hit from her.
Kuro, slightly irritated by Sora’s response, changed from her calm demeanor to one filled with a sharp killing intent, murmuring darkly:
“…Are you underestimating me?”
“I’m not underestimating you, you’re definitely strong.”
“Then I’ll give you time to prepare your gear. If you need it, I can even share some El.”
“Hmm, it’s a very tempting offer, but…”
Sora pressed “YES” on the [YES/NO] option for the half-reduction duel that Kuro had proposed and declared:
“Sorry, but I’ll decline your offer.”
“Don’t blame the equipment if you lose.”
With the silver sword and the jet-black sword in hand, the two opposing weapons, wrapped in a faint light, simultaneously activated ?Sonic Sword? and clashed head-on.