Infinite Realm

As Sato's hand withdrew from the bag, an emerald bow exited alongside it. It had a dreamy feeling to it it alongside a sparkly touch to its look that made it look shiny.

"Here." Sato handed it over to Seiichi.

"A bow?" Seiichi asked. "Not to mock you but mine is quite impressive. It might not be an Upper tier but it's among the top in the Mid tier Mortal rank. It wasn't easy getting it even."

"Just shut up and take it." Sato couldn't help retorting at Seiichi. Here he was offering him a new weapon and he was still acting petty.

"Okay, okay." Seiichi said. He took the bow from Sato halfheartedly before inspecting it with the [Appraise] function. The [Appraise] skill was one of the basic neutral skills, together with [Inspect], that every player would naturally receive but compared to the abilities of a true Appraiser from the Appraiser subclass, it was as nothing. However, it was still a handy skill for players.

'Appraise.'

With a thought, the information on the bow appeared on it in form of a panel only Seiichi could see.

"This…This is?!" Seiichi shouted as his breathing became rushed.

[[ Emerald Star Bow : Upper Tier Mortal Rank : Level 5 : Durability 25

Requirement : Level 5 || 12 [Dexterity] || 10 [Strength] || [Ranger]

[Attack Speed] +15

[Attack Power] +20

[Strength] +5

Skills :

Star sight : Passive : User's accuracy increases leading to a 1.2% increase in critical chance.

Star Shot : Active : Fire an arrow that multiplies into 7, each containing 120% of the user's Attack Power. Cool-down : 30 seconds.

System description : An impressive bow for low level warriors. What more would you expect from something gifted by yours truly.

]]

"An upper tier Mortal rank!" Seiichi exclaimed.

"Yep." Sato nodded.

Even though it might seem like Upper tier Mortal rank weapons and equipment were quite common, this was only in the eye of peak guild experts. For the common folks without any impressive background, Upper tier Mortal ranks were godly weapons that were difficult to get. They mostly used Mid tier Mortal ranks and getting the top class Mid tier Mortal rank weapons would be enough for some of them to treat it as family heirlooms. Maybe later in the game, these weapons would be easily available but for now, they were as scarce as a white peacock.

To make things even more amazing, this [Emerald Star Bow] was among the top in terms of power. Just one look and one would see that it was a bit more powerful than Fudo's [Black Alder Staff]. Fudo's staff might boost two main attributes with one secondary attribute but it only had one skill and that was a passive one that appeared based on luck. The [Emerald Star Bow] however strengthened 2 secondary attributes with 1 main attributes. Nonetheless, it had 2 skills and one of them was even an active skill that would turn a single attack into 7! With the passive ability, Star Sight, it was an ideal model for a [Ranger]'s companion.

"I thought you wouldn't like it? You did say yours was impressive so hand it back." Sato grinned.

Seiichi's lips twitched a bit, wondering why he had said such words. He still steeled himself and shamelessly said to Sato, "When did I ever say such? Are you taking me as a hypocrite? How could I have ever said such to you?"

"Tch. You could have just apologized. No need for being so shameless." Sato replied. "Let's be off. We don't want to waste much time here."

"Alright." Though Seiichi wanted to test out his new bow, especially the skills attached to it, he knew that he would get his time later so there was no need to hurry.

While they were having that short conversation, Fudo was assisting Yato and Katsuo in taking down a few low levelled monsters. While he would not receive any shred of experience for taking down these monster, Fudo still made sure that none of his teammates perished to them. Also being aware of the System's distribution of experience points, Fudo didn't actively participate in the battle neither did he enter a party system with the two. He only stared by the sidelines and interfered when necessary.

"Alright. Enough playing with these low levelled creatures." Sato drew his sword. "We are in somewhat of a hurry so playing with these weaklings is no fun. The strong ones are way better."

As he concluded his statement, Sato dashed at the small horde of monsters Yato had attracted, and slayed them with a little bit above one strike for each [1]. In under 7 seconds, 13 monsters were dead. In other words, Sato spent less than a second for each. Such speed was impressive even if he was slaying low levelled monsters but to Sato, this was dissatisfactory.

"Let's go."

. . . . .

A few hundred metres away from Sato's group, Lu Zhen and Xue Yan where on their way to Black Grill's Cave too. They had prepared at almost the same time as the others but left slightly ahead of them at a much faster pace. As a result, Lu Zhen and Xue Yan were ahead of Sato's group.

"Why are we in such a hurry even? He did say 7 PM. There's a still a bit more time so relax." Lu Zhen said to Xue Yan as the two ran through the forest.

"No. I need his help so it's courtesy that I arrive first." Xue Yan hesitated before continuing, "Plus there's this weird feeling I've been having, as if my instincts are warning me of something."

"Of what?" Lu Zhen asked.

"If I knew, I wouldn't say 'of something'." Xue Yan glared at Lu Zhen.

The two kept on moving for a few metres before Lu Zhen suddenly spoke up.

"There are a few people waiting up ahead." Even though he wasn't a [Ranger], thanks to his high [Dexterity] and his innate impressive sight, Lu Zhen could easily spot objects easier than normal people in a crowded area or even a place like the forest they were in now.

"People? NPCs?" Xue Yan asked. Unlike other games where resource maps were usually devoid of NPCs, the same didn't apply in Infinite Realm. One could randomly encounter an NPC either harvesting a few plants or battling a monster, though such scenarios were very rare. In such a case, they could help the NPC and hopefully get rewarded or enter a conversation with them in order to get a mission. Lu Zhen and Xue Yan had actually met one before but because Xue Yan was in a hurry, they went past the NPC.

"No. Players." Lu Zhen replied with a frown. It wouldn't be weird seeing players here too but what was strange to him was that the players had actually stood still as if waiting for someone.

"Let's circle around them." Lu Zhen said before Xue Yan could reply his previous words.

"Okay." Seeing as how serious he looked, Xue Yan didn't argue with him and just did as Lu Zhen said.

They were still 200 or so metres away from the group of players but before they could take a turn, 2 players suddenly appeared out of the blue and blocked their path.

"Who are you?" Xue Yan shouted. She didn't her voice that much in fear of attracting others but it was just enough to show her annoyance and vexation at the duo.

The two black cloaked individuals didn't answer but one of them faced Lu Zhen and asked "Where are the other 2?"

Lu Zhen was still furrowing his brows, trying to uncover the identities of the duo when one of them had questioned him. From the voice of the player though, Lu Zhen had realised that he was a man.

"The other 2? I don't know who you're talking about." Lu Zhen answered him. He wasn't in a hurry to attack them as he felt that there was no one whom he had offended enough to set an ambush for him. So it was better to answer the question that rush into battle. Who knows, the two players might have made a mistake and they (Lu Zhen and Xue Yan) were not the intended targets.

"Don't play dumb. I mean that fat pig and the other one." The player said, but this time with obvious fury in his tone.

"The fat one…" Lu Zhen tried to remember a fat friend.

"Are you that daft or what? Don't play dumb with me." The player said as he took a step forward in an attempt to rush Lu Zhen.

"Wait." The other player stopped his comrade. "It's been a while miss, don't tell me you've forgotten us?" The player said to Xue Yan. From the way he addressed her, it turned out that he was a male like his partner.

"A while? I'm sorry but I really don't know you." Xue Yan shook her head.

"Oh really?" The player said with an over-exaggerated tone of surprise. He then took of his hood and asked,

"How about now?"