Chapter 047 - New Weapon (2)

"In theory, you can do it. But, I don't know the effect as it's not a weapon-based skill," Fay answers.

After hearing Fay's answer, Alex decides to try and get this weapon. He doesn't directly buy it from the store. Alex goes back to Gaia City and walks around the weapon stores in the city to try and buy it from them at a cheaper price. But, it's a hard weapon to find because of its unique characteristic. Usually, weapon-based skills are used with long-ranged weapons, so a Katana being effective with weapon-based skills is not popular among Defenders in this city.

Alex visits 12 weapon stores before he finds a store that possesses the blueprint for this {Crimson Katana}. As this is an unusual weapon, there is none in stock. He has to order one and comes back 2 days later to retrieve the item. He's willing to wait though as it costs 2,000 credits in this store. 500 credits less than the price in the system's store.

Seeing that he has to wait for 2 days to get this new weapon, Alex decides to go back home. He doesn't have any other business to do. With the leftover credits he currently possesses, he can't get another equipment that he likes. He uses 200 credits to buy 10 F-ranked {Energy Stones} before going back. The {Energy Stones} can be exchanged for $1,200, a good amount of money that can help his family.

Other than spending time with his family, he also meets with his 2 best friends. The two wannabe Defenders informs him that they plan to take the Defender Registration Test next month. Alex tells them to wait for him before entering the Realm of Defenders. They ask why they have to wait for him, but Alex only says that he has something to give them.

After spending 2 days with his family and friend, Alex reenters the Realm of Defenders. He immediately goes to Gaia City to get his new weapon. He spends some time to get different kinds of potions he will need in the dungeon before going back to his personal space.

Alex goes back to his personal space after getting everything he needs in Gaia City. He enters the training room as soon as he arrives at his personal space. The {Crimson Katana} looks just like a normal katana, but it has two key differences from normal katana. First of all, the blade is totally crimson in color giving off a murderous aura. It also has a hole at the base of the hilt. It's a hole for a {Skill Gem}. A {Skill Gem} that has been charged with a weapon-based skill can be inserted into it. The charged skill can be activated immediately from this {Skill Gem}.

With the new unsheathed {Crimson Katana} in hand, he walks towards the large hitting log for practice. According to the detailed description of this new weapon of his, it should be able to do some damage to E-ranked 2-stars materials. He commands Fay to change the material of the log to E-ranked 2-stars. The {Crimson Katana} swings towards the log, leaving behind a red shadow marking its swinging path. Sparks fly out as the resulting collision between the katana and the hitting log. The katana manages to cut into the log but fails to cut through it. It only cuts less than half the diameter of the log.

This means it will be enough to do some damage to the Elite E-ranked 1-star creatures inside the dungeon. The Elite creatures usually have a much stronger defense than their Normal counterparts. Some especially tough ones can even be compared with Normal E-ranked 2-stars creatures based on their defensive strength.

Alex tries once again with a similar result. Before he does it once again, he enters the normal mana-enhanced state first. He swings the new katana with his normal mana-enhanced state. The swinging speed is faster this time. It still fails to cut through the log but it manages to cut more than half its diameter.

This time, he tries to extend the mana-enhanced state to his new weapon. His spiritual energy manages to enter the {Crimson Katana} at his first try. But, the result is not as he expected. The spiritual energy just passes through it and scatters to his surrounding. The new weapon, being a good conductor for spiritual energy just means the spiritual energy will easily pass through it. That's why it's a good vessel for weapon-based skill. Using specific technique, a weapon-based skill can be stored inside the weapon for a short period of time and be released upon contact with the enemy due to the material's conductivity.

With other materials, the effectivity of the skill will decrease because either the skill cannot be stored fully or it cannot be released easily depending on the type of material. Alex has tried to do the same with his previous weapon, but his spiritual energy has difficulty entering the {Black-steel Katana}. Spiritual energy is different than spirit perception. Spirit perception is using only his spirit to perceive the world around him. It can easily penetrate normal objects. But, spiritual energy is the combination of his spirit and mana. It forms a completely different entity that reacts differently when meeting other objects. Spiritual energy is the driving force behind almost every skill available in the store.

To be able to store spiritual energy inside an object requires certain techniques. Alex doesn't possess any weapon-based skill, so he never comes into contact with these techniques. He decides to get a weapon-based skill first to get a feel for how these skills operate. But, after spending his credits to buy various things, he's left with 858 credits to his name. Alex starts searching the system's store for a new weapon-based skill that can be bought with his amount of credit. He doesn't want to spend his credits just for the sake of getting a feeling for the technique. If he's going to spend credits, he might as well get a useful skill as well. He finds one that he thinks can be somewhat useful for his next adventure, a weapon-based skill called {Plasma Blade}.