Progressive Factor II: Lacrimosa Of A Reaper

The Blacksmith and the Idol Return

Jaymes

Outside the town of Stachion ia an expansive wilderness of brown grass, green forests, and fog-covered hills and cliffs. For the avid adventurer, they'll be happy to know that this is just but one of the five variable climates of the sixth floor. An uncrossable mountain range separates those biomes, but there were a few possible ways to cross from one section to the other in the beta. At the center of the floor is the star-shaped Lake Talpha, and each area's shores are open. There's a cavern between the area they're currently located and the region to the west that cuts through the mountains, but like any cave in an RPG, it has its share of dangers.

The Celestial Tower, or the floor boss labyrinth, is in the region bordering the other side of this one, directly southwest of the staircase connecting the fifth and sixth floors where Jaymes and Koharu are located. Looking at the connection between the sixth and seventh floor makes Jaymes realize that his beta knowledge of the game ends the moment they step on the tenth floor, and once we reach the eleventh, we're all in the dark moving forward. And sometime between now and then is the day Kirito, Asuna, Koharu, and Jaymes will finally go their separate ways.

While the partnership of Jaymes and Koharu will continue, Kirito and Asuna's are uncertain. Asuna has many other options to choose from; she can rejoin Mito, join Jaymes and Koharu, or stick it out on her own. Jaymes believes he knows Asuna's choice, so the uncertainty lies with the Black Swordsman. If he had to guess...

"Long time no see! You seem well. Still getting along?"

"Lisbeth! We haven't seen you since the fourth floor. Are you still looking for forging materials?"

Time for guessing will come later, now that their appointment with Lisbeth has begun. The blacksmith greets Koharu with a hug and a wave to Jaymes, then answers Koharu's question. "Not right now. I have a customer that didn't like my weapons at the shop so she's asking for a special-made item."

"Your forging job seems to be going well. Nicely done!"

Lisbeth sighs despite Koharu's compliment. "I'm not so sure about that. That customer is a little bit troublesome."

"Is she scary?"

"No, no, no. She's a nice person. Really. She's the type that tests my limits. It's the fact that she wants two of the same sword, and she wants them to be as similar as possible stat-wise as well. This should be a fun job."

Jaymes had suspected before when Koharu and Asuna got their current weapons that crafted weapons are a different cut from bought weapons and reward weapons. If he got Imperial and the Flame Shield from a shop, or as he did as a reward, there's little to no variability to the stats of the sword and shield if someone else got the same items. But a crafter is different. The materials used to forge or upgrade, the quality of those materials, and the crafter's skill level all play a part in the final product.

For Lisbeth to complete this request, she has to forge the same sword twice and as identically as possible. The likelihood of those chances depends on what Lisbeth uses as materials and her skill. But there's a final factor that Lisbeth or any crafter, NPC or player, can control - chance, or what gamers call "random number goddess" or "RNG".

RNG plays a part in every component of crafting and combat. In combat, it controls the chances of critical hits, the amount of damage a normal or critical hit does, and other factors. In crafting, the values of stats and other effects are random too. Theoretically, Lisbeth can't create the exact same sword twice, which is why "as similar as possible stat-wise" is an important distinction. The chances of that are greater but still slim.