To return to the main road, I followed my map, which had expanded since I last used it, revealing more of the world. I've only explored less than one-fifth of Rivenvalius, but I was trying to be as efficient as possible with my gameplay. In the past, I've already gone through most of the stuff in this continent, and it wasn't worth exploring again since there weren't many valuable dungeons.
By nightfall, Ayame and I returned to Mechanicsville. Instead of lampposts, magical stones lined the streets, lighting our way through the darkness.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the blacksmith shop, where a dark-skinned man with goggles was hammering away on a blade. The man paused his work, removed his headgear, and greeted us with a "Hello. The name's Smithy."
"I'd like you to make a weapon for me," I said.
"You got the pieces?"
I grabbed one Rychaff fang, one Rychaff claw, and two Rychaff scales.
Smithy nodded. "Looks good. You want me to make Laevateinn?"
"That's right."
"That'll be 8,000 Szerath."
I handed over the money, and Smithy said, "Alright. I'm a bit busy right now, but I should be able to finish it in two days."
"Thanks," I replied, heading out with Sakimi.
Laevateinn was a rapier that gave a passive 10 percent boost to speed. I wasn't a fan of thrusting weapons, but this was a video game, so I was allowed to use rapiers for cuts, even though that would be inefficient in real life.
On top of its high damage, Laevateinn had the special move Silent Sting, which drastically increased my speed for a momentary period in time, allowing the user to seemingly teleport behind their opponent. Additionally, when the special move is active, the next attack dealt massive damage, and it melted the enemy's armor upon hit, reducing their defense for a set amount of time.
Ideally, I would have wanted an ice weapon, but at least Laevetainn did water damage, which was the archdemon's second weakness.
Serial Slain's player base would often argue about the best early-game weapon after Frigid Edge, but I was a firm believer that Laevateinn was the answer. In terms of utility, it wasn't the greatest, but it was a powerful single-target boss-killer.
Now, for the next item on my to-do list.
I had 6,095 Sz remaining, so I still had plenty enough to buy some communication mirrors.
Sakimi and I visited the magic store, and I bought two of the said items. The communication mirrors cost 200 Sz each, so the transaction left me with 5,695.
I handed one of the mirrors to Sakimi, and she examined it with curiosity, "Thanks! This looks cool. I've always wanted a phone."
I did a double-take.
"Huh? A phone?"
"Yeah. That's what this is called, right? Well, I guess the technical term is communication mirror."
"Where did you hear the word phone?" I asked.
"When I used to live in the central cities, that's what the demons called the mirrors. Everyone else who had one of these called them phones too."
"I see."
Phones weren't supposed to exist in this world, so it's possible that a player character may have spread the word. Iago happened to be another player character, so it wasn't farfetched to assume that there were more. On the other hand, the solution could be that the devs programmed the characters to call the mirrors phones, but I don't see the point of them doing that.
"Anyway," I said. "With this, we can communicate over long distances. In case either of us gets lost, we can also track each other's locations."
"Neat!"
As the two of us walked outside the magic shop, we struggled to push through the bustling crowd. Today was a surprisingly busy day, probably because it was a weekend. Some adventurers had other jobs, so they only took quests when they had free time. Still, I didn't think there would be this many people going out at night, especially since a majority of the most dangerous monsters were nocturnal.
"Sakimi, stay close to me so that you don't get lost."
When I reached for the girl's arm, I grabbed thin air. For a moment, I was confused.
Then, it struck me: Sakimi was missing.
"What the—" I exclaimed. "Sakimi! Where did you go?"
There was a light scream, but something muffled it before it could alert anyone. For somebody who wasn't paying close attention, the noise would have seemed like a little yelp, but I could tell that it was Sakimi's voice.
"Sakimi!"
I used my communication mirror to track the girl's location, appearing as a blinking red dot that rapidly raced through the city's back streets. A human wouldn't have been able to move this fast. Did she get kidnapped?
"There's no better time to use this," I muttered, equipping my Wing Boots.
The force of a tiny leap launched me like a rocket, and I landed on top of the Guild Hub building. I sprinted forward, following the dot, and when I reached the roof's edge, I jumped again.
From this height, I spotted something to my left, bobbing and weaving through alleyways. Its location matched the dot on my mirror, but it was too dark to make out any of the figure's details.
I followed the kidnapper with more jumps, but they increased their speed, probably having spotted me in the sky.
Luckily, I still had the advantage. I could travel in a straight line while the kidnapper would have to make numerous turns. I quickly closed the gap, and finally, I fell right in front of my target, performing the classic superhero landing.
The kidnapper was a tan, white-haired elf girl, riding a formidable spinebear, which was...well...a bear with spines on its arms and head. Compared to normal bears in real life, spinebears were also more lupine in body shape. They were a popular mount among Serial Slain players due to their agility and ease of use. To tame them, you only needed a saddle, reins, and some meat to raise its affection.
If I weren't in such a bad mood, I would have dropped my guard when I saw the beautiful elf girl. She wore a cloak over a white and yellow combat dress, and her light-orange eyes shimmered under the moonlight. Other than pink hair, elf girls were my second weakness, especially if they were tan and had white hair (and before you say anything—no, I do not have weird tastes).
In this world, elves were a subspecies of humans with pointy ears. For the most part, they were the same as everybody else except for that singular aspect. Therefore, they were widely considered to fit within the human race.
A figure was squirming behind the elf girl, but they must have been tied to the saddle, preventing them from falling off. If Sakimi were gagged and had lost her staff, she wouldn't be able to cast any spells. It seemed that this elf knew what she was doing.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Marigold," the elf replied, jumping off her mount. "And you must be Ares, the Hierophant. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."
"Leave? Don't be ridiculous. There's no way I'm gonna let you take Sakimi!"
"Welp, I asked politely."
Marigold drew her bow and knocked an arrow.
In response, I equipped my helmet and replaced my Wing Boots with the boots from the Radiant Majesty armor set.
Since I was level twenty-six, I was much faster than ever before.
Right as I dashed forward, Marigold shot her projectile, and I preemptively ducked, performing a perfect dodge. Since she spent about two seconds to aim, it telegraphed the arrow's trajectory, allowing me to make an educated guess as to where it might hit. I didn't have super-human reaction speed, but after fighting against bosses for years, I had learned how to anticipate my enemies' next moves.
During the perfect dodge sequence, I shoved Marigold aside and sliced the ropes that were binding Sakimi. Then, I placed the girl on the ground next to me.
On the other side of the small street, Marigold and her spinebear glared daggers at me. This time, she knocked two arrows on her bow, and I prepared for another strike.
"Stop!" Sakimi exclaimed. "Ares, don't hurt Auntie Marigold!"