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"So tired..."
I flopped onto the bed and rubbed my sore toes. Rui Feng and I had sparred until dinner, and his physical prowess was downright terrifying. I was panting and gasping, while he looked as fresh as ever. I'd had the upper hand at first, but eventually he took control. I grew more and more passive because my ability seemed to consume a lot of spiritual energy. If a fight dragged on too long, I couldn't absorb spiritual energy fast enough to keep up with the amount I used... I'd have to work on that from now on.
After washing off the sweat, I came out of the bathroom and found Si Nan Ying waiting for me. I immediately went on alert. Last time, it had been that embarrassing sexy-lingerie role-play. What would it be this time? Bondage? Public exposure? Si Nan Ying looked a little fidgety. Could she be planning some super-advanced play?
"Xiao Ye..." she began.
"...What is it?" I assumed a defensive stance.
"Actually..." She paused. "We're leaving for the Winterlin Mountains tomorrow."
"I'm not letting you have your way—huh? You said the Winterlin Mountains?" I sagged with relief. "That's all? Rui Feng told me earlier."
She blinked her big eyes in surprise. "So... you already knew?"
"Once you're done this time, you'll be going back, right? I was thinking of going with you. How about it? Can I come along to the Winterlin Mountains tomorrow?" Ever since I learned that real combat was the fastest way to improve, I'd been looking for a chance to put myself through my paces. After all, strength was essential if I wanted to make it in this world. And if I went with them, there'd be a much better chance of someone rescuing me if I got into mortal danger. This was a rare opportunity! But...
"No! It's too dangerous!" she refused without hesitation.
"I figured you'd ask to come, which is why I came to find you! The outer reaches of the Winterlin Mountains are manageable, but the central region is full of dangerous demonic beasts. Some of them are experts at hiding, and even the Si Nan Family can't detect them all with absolute certainty!"
"But... when I first got here, didn't you send me to fight Rui Feng without a second thought?"
"That wasn't life-threatening!"
Not life-threatening... True, Rui Feng probably wouldn't kill me, but breaking a few of my limbs was certainly possible.
"Don't worry about me. I know my limits. To be honest, I want to come along to train and get stronger. We'll be traveling as a team, so one more person means one more helping hand. And if I get into trouble, I'll get support quickly."
"But..."
After half an hour of back-and-forth, Si Nan Ying finally gave in. "But I have one condition! You're coming with me to the storeroom right now to pick out some equipment. No arguing!"
Like in a lot of novels, Spirit Star had all kinds of weapons and equipment, in different grades and varieties. Their spiritual arrays and various tiny components gave them special functions. The user activated them by channeling spiritual energy into them. (Ability users could channel spiritual energy directly; those without abilities used energy sources like spirit stones.) The arrays and components on ordinary equipment had limited effects, offering only basic enhancements like increased strength or reduced weight. For instance, a sword without spiritual energy was just an ordinary blade. Once spiritual energy was channeled into it, its sharpness increased greatly, and it became lighter and more agile to wield. Higher-grade equipment had basic abilities as well as all kinds of special effects, such as added elemental properties or the ability to create illusions.
Equipment followed a strict grading system: ordinary goods without spiritual arrays or components were Mortal Artifacts; equipment with spiritual arrays and various devices were Spirit Artifacts; far more powerful than Spirit Artifacts, crafted by masters and symbols of status and strength, were Treasure Artifacts; rarer still, legendary treasures beyond Treasure Artifacts were Saint Artifacts; and finally, Divine Items, which existed only in legends and only in theory. Spirit Artifacts were divided into low, middle, and high grades. Most low-grade Spirit Artifacts were simple to make and had already been mass-produced in factories, so they weren't worth much more than Mortal Artifacts. Some middle-grade Spirit Artifacts were also made on assembly lines, while equipment of high grade or above had to be handcrafted by highly skilled artisans. Most Saint Artifacts came into being through all kinds of chance and circumstance, born from heaven and earth. Nature itself was their creator. Only a tiny number of artisans could make low-grade Saint Artifacts by hand, and every one of them was a great master whose name had gone down in history. As for Divine Items... their only apparent purpose was to lend color to fairy tales.
Si Nan Ying took me to the weapon vault beneath the inn... An underground weapon vault? This inn was practically a fortress.
The spirit-stone lamps lit up the dark space, revealing a vast chamber lined with racks full of equipment. The sheer variety dazzled me. "There's a lot here, but almost all of it is low-grade Spirit Artifacts. The best are a few middle-grade Spirit Artifacts, and I don't even know where they've been put... Oh well, we'll make do."
Si Nan Ying didn't seem impressed by any of it, but I was already itching to dive into the metal-strewn racks. Swords, spears, staffs, guns, heavy armor, chainmail, leather armor, cloaks, helmets... This was awesome! The romance of men! I'd wanted this stuff ever since my chuuni days. I never thought I'd get to use the real thing in my lifetime! According to the conventions of transmigration novels, dark weapon vaults, old libraries, and roadside stalls were all prime places to find a cheat item. Let's see if there was something here that could send me straight to the top~~
After getting covered in dust, I finally gave up on my delusion. Finding a cheat item by the roadside was just a lovely fantasy after all. With a sigh, I settled for picking out weapons that felt right in my hands. I wandered aimlessly between the racks. Come to think of it, I hadn't even decided what kind of weapon I wanted. How was I supposed to choose?
"Huh? What's this?"
I pulled a strange-looking blade from the bottom shelf. It was black all over, with a completely straight blade and no curve at all. It was about as long as a Japanese sword and roughly as wide as an ancient Chinese sword, so it looked like a straightened goose-feather saber. The part where the blade met the hilt wasn't a guard; instead, it had a strange mechanism that reminded me of a machine gun. A metal box was attached to it, and though it was shorter than I expected, I could tell it was a magazine. There was also a trigger on the grip.
A leather pouch sat beside the blade, packed full of bullets.
C-could this be the gunblade from Final Fantasy? I'd found this ultimate weapon of coolness? Heaven hadn't forsaken me!
"Hey, you've got a good eye. You just picked one of the few middle-grade Spirit Artifacts in the vault." Si Nan Ying's voice came from behind me.
"This is called a Charging Blade. Its function is..."
"It fires bullets, right?"
"How could it?" Si Nan Ying rolled her eyes. "The bullets are for charging it. You put a bullet infused with spiritual energy into the magazine, then—" She took a bullet, loaded it into the magazine, and aimed the blade at a low-grade Spirit Artifact. Then she swung down hard. "—pull the trigger!"
The Charging Blade roared. A dazzling light flared from it as it accelerated toward the Spirit Artifact, cleaving it in two! At the same time, a click rang out, and an empty casing popped free.
Si Nan Ying turned around and flicked the blade, which was still giving off a little smoke. "See? That's how it works. It has tremendous destructive power, but you have to get the timing right when you pull the trigger. It's also limited by the number of bullets, so it's not easy to use..."
"Say no more. I'll take it!" I happily took the blade. As a former chuuni, this thing hit every one of my buttons. Just look at the craftsmanship! It was way beyond those models back on Earth!
Si Nan Ying puffed out her cute little cheeks, apparently unhappy that I hadn't listened to her. "Now that you've picked a weapon, let's look at armor. You can't focus on attack and neglect defense."
Choosing armor didn't take long. I only wanted a set of leather armor that I could wear under my trench coat without anyone noticing. Unfortunately, none of the sizes fit me properly because of my chest, and the armor felt painfully tight there. Si Nan Ying watched from the side, both admiring and envying me.
"Xiao Ye, you're still going to wear that trench coat with the hood... What a waste!"
"What can I do? If I show my face, I'll draw too much attention. It'd make things difficult."
"Xiao Ye, what on earth do you eat to get that big? I'm so jealous..."
"Uh, nothing special... I eat the same things everyone else does."
"But I drink lots of milk every day, and I'm still like this..."
"Actually, you're not small either." Si Nan Ying's breasts weren't small at all. They were a standard medium size, just right to fit in one hand, and beautifully shaped. Looking at them made me want to touch them...
"Having a big chest isn't all that great, actually. It bounces around when you fight, and it's inconvenient in everyday life..." I tried to comfort her. Honestly, I meant it.
"...Xiao Ye, you big meanie!!!! May you keep growing until you get crushed to death by your boobs, baka!!!!" Si Nan Ying fled in tears.
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