Sword Art Online ー The Cloaked Swordsmen

Chapter 16 - Scouting mission

Kirito had his head drooping down. It was clear to me that he was gloomier than usual.

Then, after he explained the situation with Asuna's wind fleuret. Apparently she had given the blacksmith a chance, but she was instead proven wrong as her Wing Fleuret shattered into pieces.

I immediately narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

"Right then, i'll go scout them out... You think about a way to get her sword back"

I instructed, pulling my hood over my head.

"Okay thanks, I'll get on that right now."

Kirito said as I walked away to look for Nezha the blacksmith.

I promptly made my way to the last place the blacksmith was stationed in as I ran eastward.

At that moment, a bell rang out, which indicated that it was 8 o' Clock.

I pulled up the menu and tapped on the figure, unequipping my white cloak.

Underneath my white cloak, I wore a darker outfit in case I ever needed to sneak around. I rushed through the gates of Urbus making sure to avoid street lamps.

I reached a line of trees planted at the eastern border.

As I was now wearing a darker shade of clothing, it helped me blend in with the shadows and increased the rate of my hiding skill.

In my player menu, there was a shortcut at the bottom of the main screen, showing my hiding skill.

A small indicator appeared which stated that I was now 80% blended into the tree.

I put my back against the tree to increase the blending. It was dark and there was nobody around.

Although, my equipment was not a very dark color, the level of my hiding skill was high enough to allow me to hide efficiently.

However, it's nowhere near Argo's, whose specialty was to spy on people and gather information.

As I waited behind the tree, a player-crafter closed up his shop at the eight O' clock bell. It was none other than Nezha the blacksmith.

He extinguished the flame in his portable forge and put away the ingots in his leather sack.

His hammer and other tools went into a special box as he folded up a sign and set it down on an empty spot on the carpet, then straightened out his display of weapons for sale.

Once every object related to his business had been neatly packed on top of the six-by-six-foot carpet, Nezha tapped the corner to bring up a menu screen and hit the "store" button.

The carpet rolled up by itself, absorbing the countless items on top of it. In just a few seconds, the only thing left was a thin, rounded tube.

The short blacksmith picked it up with ease and hoisted it over his shoulder.

The magic Vendor's Carpet was always the same weight, no matter what items were locked within its internal storage.

With a magic carpet on his shoulder, Nezha let out a sigh of exhaustion and started plodding off, towards the south of the square.

I waited for him to walk away a few distance away from me as I followed him, pushing off of the tip of my toes and stayed within the shadows, in an attempt to stay quiet.

It seems hanging out with Argo made me absorb her skills as if they were my own.

Although, they were a bit crude compared to her.