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Volume 1 Chapter 9-3: Rank Up

I’d been looking at all the weapons with 『Arms Appraisal』 and finally saw something labeled 『E』. Uhhh which one was it…there.

『Bastard Sword Rank: E Refining Lvl: 27
Skill: Gravity Change (Minute) Severing Correction (Minute)』

The weapon that entered my eyes had not been carefully placed up on a display on the wall, but was instead thrown in a corner with a bunch of other blades.

Since most of the well presented weapons were almost all of the G Rank, I thought that this E Rank weapon would be considerably rare in this shop.

Why was this child placed in a bucket of bargain ‘weapons for 10,000 mars each’?

I took this one out of the bin and held it in my hands.

The length of the blade was around 110 cm and was double edged.

「Soujirou-sama, is there something?」

Sistina called out to me having surmised that something had caught my eye.

「This sword is E Rank and has two abilities so why is it only 10,000 mars?」
「I think it is most likely because not too many people can use 『Appraisal』 or 『Arms Appraisal』 like you. Most people don’t have a special skill like yours, Soujirou-sama, so they need to use their knowledge and experience to judge instead.」

Certainly now that she said it I looked at the bastard sword once more. The blade had some flaws and the edge had some chips in it.

Second-hand goods? The skills on it only went up to (minute) so maybe the previous owner hadn’t truly recognized its effects. But as a Magic Sword Master I could most likely raise this sword up into something with greater effects.

「Alright. I’ll take this then. It’s a bit heavier and longer than Hotaru-san and the balance is a bit different, but I think it’ll be good for off-setting the low gravity.」
「Very well.」

Since I had gotten the go ahead from Hotaru-san, Sistina and I took our weapons to the front and paid 70,000 mars and walked out of the store with our new weapons. We ended up getting 2,000 mars off thanks to Sistina’s negotiations. She didn’t even use her Art of Negotiation.

I had received a scabbard for the sword as a freebie so I now had my new sword on my left hip and Sakura-chan on my right.

If I was going to pursue the art of dual-wielding then I needed to be able to draw both simultaneously.

Sistina discussed how to carry her weapon properly with the shopkeep and they settled on a leather strap that would attach to the hammer. It would allow her to sling the hammer around her back, but it seemed that when we entered the tower she planned to carry the hammer with her own two hands.

「Soujirou-sama, I’d like to equip the weapons we purchased now if that’s alright.」
「Huh? They’re already equipped though?」

This is weird…my weapon is hanging on my hip so it should be equipped right?

「If we don’t properly record our ownership of the weapons they won’t be able to display their true abilities.」

Sistina said as she moved her axe hammer from her back and into her hands.

「When you obtain a weapon you must take it into your hands and allow it to recognize you as its owner. You hold it and declare 『Equip』」

At that moment the axe hammer let off a faint light.

「Even this much will allow the weapon to feel more comfortable in your hands and make it easier to wield. It has also been confirmed that the performance of the weapon increases a bit as well. I am unsure of why this happens, but you can try it for yourself by appraising it afterwards.」

I see, it was certainly true that the bandits had their names attached to their weapons. Recording the owners of weapons appears to be common sense in this world.

『Arms Appraisal』

『Axe Hammer Rank: F Refinement Lvl: 11
Skills: Strength Correction (Weak)
Owner: Sistina』

「Ah, the skill effect improved a bit. Could it be that the axe feels lighter for you now?」
「Yes」
「Ehh, how interesting. This world has pretty strong bonds with weapons.」
「Maybe that is also why Sakura and I obtained such abilities ja.」
「Ah, that’s right. Hotaru-san I just remembered but you have a skill called 『Arms Restoration』 right?」
「I do.」
「Then could you try using it on this sword? I’d feel bad if we just left it damaged like this.」

I said as I took the bastard sword out of the sheath on my hip and handed it to Hotaru-san.

「Hmm…certainly the maintenance on this blade was very poor…it’s quite hurt. Well, leave it to me 『Arms Restoration』」

Hotaru-san intoned as she held up the bastard sword.

There was a legend about the origin of Hotarumaru’s name.

In early Japanese history a military commander was using the katana in battle. A violent fight occurred that caused a chip in the sword’s blade. However, that night the commander saw a dream in which a swarm of fireflies engulfed the blade and healed it of its wounds.

The legend then says that the next morning when he checked on the katana it had truly been fixed. It was there that Hotaru-san got her name.

Hotaru-san’s 『Arms Restoration』 skill may have come from that legend as well.

Small orbs of light emerged from her hands as they floated onto the bastard sword’s blade and engulfed it.

That spectacle emulated the legend. Hotaru-san is truly amazing.

Only around 10 seconds passed before the lights slowly dissipated. Some small inconsequential nicks were left, but the chip in the blade was completely healed and the sword itself was now in perfect working order.

「Umu, not a bad blade. Do your best to help out Soujirou ja.」

Hotaru-san said to the sword before handing it back to me.

「Thank you Hotaru-san. I’ll be counting on you from now on partner 『Equip』」

The sword in my hand shone with light for a brief moment before I felt the handle in my hand suddenly adhere to my grip.

Ahh, now I get it. This is what equipping means? …I can really feel the difference in feeling between an unequipped weapon and one that I had equipped.

『Arms Appraisal』

『Bastard Sword Rank: E Refining Lvl: 27
Skills: Gravity Change (Minute) Severing Correction (Weak)
Owner: Fujinomiya Soujirou』

「Un, the skill improved a bit.」
「Sorry to ask, but Soujirou could you also appraise me too?」
「Eh!?…I don’t mind at all, but what’s wrong Hotaru-san? Do you feel unwell?」

I was worried that I had been too rough last night and had hurt her in some way. If that was the case I could only blame my incompetence.

「Fu, don’t worry Soujirou. It’s the opposite. I’ve been feeling strangely light since this morning. It feels like I’m feeling better than ever before.」
「Thank goodness, don’t scare me like that. Okay then, 『Arms Appraisal』」

I was relieved that I hadn’t done something to harm her and used my skill with peace of mind. However, my face soon froze…wait…why is it suddenly like this?

「What’s wrong Soujirou?」
「…un…I don’t really know why, but your rank went up Hotaru-san…everything has been strengthened.」

Hotaru-san’s information was floating in my mind.

『Hotarumaru Rank: S++ Refining Lvl: (Max) Essence Lvl: 2
Skills: Empathy Communication Personification
Sense Presence + Sense Killing Intent + Sword Arts
Body Strengthening (Human Form) + Attack Correction +
Arms Restoration Light Magic』

Her rank had increased to S++ and some of her skills and passives had gotten pluses next to them.

At this point I pretty much understood the different ranks of skills after seeing them. I guessed they were something like this 「nothing→(minute)→(weak)→(strong)→『+』」

And the Essence Level increased to 2…why?

I conveyed the exact data to Hotaru-san and Sistina seeking their input.

「I see…so that’s how it is…」
「Essence level is something like that…but how should I put it…it’s an ‘amazing’ power…」

The two of them discussed like they’d realized something and for some reason Sistina’s face was blushing fiercely.

「Eh? What is it?」

At my inquiry Hotaru-san looked at me with a wry smile.

「I think this is easy enough to answer. Only one thing happened between last night and this morning when I suddenly ranked up.」
「If we think of the root word that forms 『Essence』 then we can understand pretty easily.」
「Ah…」

Even I could understand at this point.

「So this happened…because I did ‘that’ with Hotaru-san?」

Hotaru-san chuckled as she nodded.

「It can’t be anything except that. I also feel like this number 2 is after it did increased to max once and restarted…」
「W-well it was pretty intense last night.」

So was she trying to say that last night I had increased her Essence level to 100 and caused her to rank up? Then it was a bit too much and overflowed into the two that was written there today…hmm…

So in short one of my abilities as a Magic Sword Master was that I could do the deed with human form swords and raise their Essence Level and their ranks? Ohh! What an amazing power!」

Does this mean that I can do it many times with Hotaru-san in the name of strengthening her?

Then maybe the Refining Level was something like combat experience…or maybe using special materials to temper the blade?

「Huh? But then why was Sakura-chan’s Essence Level so high?」
『…..』

Sakura-chan suddenly let out a sorrowful feeling. A feeling of deep regret and repentance.

Ah, that’s right…Sakura-chan had been stabbed into my body and bathed in my blood. That’s why…

Well…even so that wasn’t something I was willing to do. There was no blood transfusions in this world and I was afraid of getting sick from some sort of disease as well. I definitely don’t want to try that.