Chapter 20 - Extra Skill Analysis

16 March 2023, 9.30pm

Rayon, 14th Floor

The second floor of Tekion's workshop only consisted of a couple of rooms similar to those found in an inn run by NPCs. It definitely was where he spent his nights, and to be near his workshop as well.

As for me, I was always sleeping in inns, and being on the move constantly to explore the next cleared floor every week or so. It felt weird not needing to fork out 500 col just to crash into a room to rest up tonight.

Tekion's room looked no different than a room in an inn. The only difference I saw was a big pile of weapons of all kinds at an empty corner. "Don't mind them." Tekion said. " I crafted too much, and my inventory can't possibly hold them all."

"You're quite the hard worker." I said as I looked for a chair.

"Ah, no. It's all thanks to the players who gather crafting materials for me. Including you, of course." Tekion replied as he passed a chair to me.

I nodded, and sat down. I've got much to ask him about the Bow & Arrow skill.

"Alright, so what exactly is the Bow & Arrow skill?"

Tekion sat on his bed and said, "Well, it's a weapon skill, obviously. But not a skill you could ever obtain with ordinary means."

"So it's a special skill, or something like that?" I wondered.

"It is, but at the same time, it isn't exactly what I'd call special." Tekion confirmed with a confusing statement. "Have you ever heard of.....Extra Skills?"

"Never heard of them." I simply answered. "How do you know such skills exist, though?"

"From a magazine introducing the game mechanics and features of SAO before its global launch. It was only a very small article talking about it."

I leaned back on my chair. "You remembered doing that way before SAO started service? That was like, 5 months ago."

"Even so," Tekion said, "I knew I came across that article. Extra skills are skills that are obtained through unknown conditions. Players who acquire them don't know where or how they got them. The article mentioned those as 'hidden triggers'."

"So they're really, like, abilities that don't manifest until someone unknowingly does something for them to appear?" I asked. "I mean, usually the system would just show the conditions for acquiring a certain skill to a player who wants it, but for Extra Skills the system doesn't do that?"

Tekion replied. "Not only that. This is just my guess, but what I think is that the system treats Extra Skills as things that don't exist. That's why not many players know about them. I do, but I never knew the names for such Extra Skills before SAO started official service."

"So you think that the Bow & Arrow skill is one of them?" I said.

"That's right. How did you acquire it anyway?"

"I instantly got it right after receiving this bow as a quest reward in the Elf War campaign quest, but that can't be right. If unlocking the Bow & Arrow skill required players to do the Elf War campaign quest, then all the other players who had done it would had gotten it as well."

"But they didn't. Well, the Elf War campaign quest does give you a different ending to the story when you complete it. Which side did you choose?" Tekion asked.

"The forest elf side. But that doesn't explain anything either." I said, hands crossed. "The unlock conditions for the Bow & Arrow skill can't be that obvious. We can only guess what it might be."

I brought down my menu and out appeared my bow, landing on my lap.

Tekion stared at it intently, and said, "True...but there's one Extra Skill that's been known to quite a number of players already. The Katana skill."

"What, that's an Extra skill? That's not so secretive. I've seen players using it since the 10th Floor." I pointed out.

"Well, it is because the unlock conditions for it were hidden by the system. I met only one katana user since I started out as a blacksmith, he said that unlocking the Katana skill required leveling up the Curved Sword skill to Level 500." Tekion explained.

So those players were just hardcore in leveling up their weapon skills. My Spear skill had only just reached level 400. I could really feel the effort those players put in to level up the Curved Sword skill fast.

"Well, let's put that matter aside for now." I said. "What I'm really here for are enhancements for my bow."

"Ah yes, I figured you'd ask that. That bow user also made the same request." Tekion touched my bow for a few seconds, and an appraisal window popped out in front of him.

I watched as he scrutinized the weapon's stats as if he were a professional.

"I wonder if this was crafted with dragon scales or something...." The blacksmith said.

"It looked like it was. But it was given to me as a quest reward. It used to belong to....the forest elves. In other words, it was most probably made by elf NPCs." I explained.

Tekion's eyes seemed to glow in fascination."Dragon Slayer. An intriguing but simple name for a weapon. I wonder if I could craft bows with my crafting skill's level. Well, I don't think it's possible. The same can be said with katanas as well. But you're lucky I can enhance bows."

"I never asked you to craft them anyway." I said as I brought materials out from my menu. "I think these are enough for 3 to 4 times, assuming that they're successful."

"Then I'll get to work then. It won't take long, of course." Tekion took my bow and materials to an anvil right next to his bed. With only one failed enhancement attempt, I was given back Dragon Slayer +3 before I stashed it back into my inventory.

Tekion sat on his bed with a sigh. "I wish I could craft bows. Maybe if my crafting skill was at a higher level..."

"You like to craft weapons and stuff?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I really like to explore new crafting combinations." Tekion noticed my confused face, and continued." Have you ever wondered how the weapon crafting system works?"

I thought about it. "I'm just a guy who gets his crafting materials by slaughtering monster mobs everyday. Plus, I'm not into scraping my weapons to create new ones."

Tekion leaned over to me, as if he wanted to let me in on a secret. "Well, I've found out that using crafting recipes not recorded by the system itself can lead to the creation of new kinds of weapons."

"So you mean...creating crafting recipes by using crafting materials obtained from different Floors is possible?" I tried to understand what he was talking about.

"Exactly!" Tekion snapped his fingers with excitement. "You don't have to follow the crafting recipes given by the weapon crafting system. The weapon's created from them are too plain and have low stats. Which is why I tried to craft stronger weapons by modifying the crafting recipes."

"Oh, that explains those stuff then." I turned to the mountain pile of weapons at the corner of the room.

"Those weapons' stats aren't as strong as those of a rare weapon drop. But I'm still trying to search for crafting recipes that can create exceptional weapons. I'm sure they exist."

"I hope they do. " I reassured Tekion while bringing down my menu to check the time. "Oh, it's already 10, but I better get going to the Labyrinth."

"The Labyrinth on this Floor? What for?" Tekion asked.

I went to the door, and turned back at Tekion with a grin. "I believe I'm gonna level up soon if I do a little more EXP farming, and besides, I know that you're never been to the Labyrinth on this Floor. Don't you want the crafting materials that drop over there?"

Tekion smiled back. I'd imagined his eyes were brimming with sparkles when he heard my offer.

"Looks like you really know how to make a blacksmith happy. I'm counting on you, friend!"

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