Chapter 54: Hachiman's Special Equipment
"Hachiman, besides the short sword, do you want to make anything else?"
Kirito and Lizbeth tilted their heads in confusion, not having heard the full explanation.
Lizbeth tossed the cleaning cloth onto her shoulder; the forge's firelight flickered across her face.
Kirito was leaning against the corner wall, adjusting his newly acquired one-handed sword.
Upon hearing the question, he suddenly looked up, a thoughtful look appearing beneath his messy black hair.
Hachiman was crouched beside a wooden crate filled with metal ingots, his fingertips absentmindedly tracing the dents on his sword sheath.
"Ah, I want a lightweight shield that can be strapped to my arm."
"Changing your fighting style now? Are you really sure about that?" Kirito hurried over in three big steps and stood before Hachiman. "You're not seriously discouraged from being knocked away by yesterday's White Dragon, are you?"
Asuna peeked out from behind the materials rack, her honey-colored hair rippling with the movement. "Hachiman's evasion rate is top three in the whole guild, you know. Switching suddenly to wielding a shield — that question makes sense. Moving from a style that equips only weapons to maximize speed to one focusing on defense with a shield doesn't really have any advantage, theoretically."
"No, it's not like that," Hachiman flicked away a spark that floated in front of his eyes. The flames flickering in the forge reflected deep in his pupils. "It's because I haven't found what I want yet, so I want to see if I can imitate it with player-made equipment."
"Oh, you mentioned that before, right? Any clues?"
"No, exactly because there's no clue, I have to try."
"I see."
"Hachiman, the preparation is complete." Lizbeth's voice cut in.
Hachiman then explained the desired attributes.
"Although you want to use a shield-type catalyst, you want to use the same materials as for making short swords. Is that possible?"
"Eh?" Lizbeth suddenly grabbed the boy's collar and shook him hard, her earrings jingling at his ear. "Do you know what you're saying? Making a shield out of short sword materials is like building a castle with cake batter!"
"That's why I'm asking an expert." Hachiman pried her heated fingers apart and pulled out crystal ingots from the system storage. "Materials cost double, and if it fails…"
"That's not about money!" The blacksmith suddenly snatched up a forging hammer half her height and swung it close to Hachiman's nose. "If you mess this up, my reputation will turn into that of someone who only wastes rare materials!"
Asuna suddenly wrapped her arms around Lizbeth's waist from behind and smiled wryly, "Alright, alright, Hachiman probably has his reasons. Last time he said his intuition told him to go left, and didn't we find a hidden treasure chest?"
"That's a different matter!" Lizbeth stomped angrily, and the unfinished sword blank on the anvil jumped. "Okay, but… since it's Hachiman's request…"
Usually, such strange commissions could only be entrusted to craftsmen with deep trust, because such requests almost certainly fail and are typically refused.
But Lizbeth seriously considered the feasibility.
To her knowledge, the SAO crafting system was flexible, but no craftsman had ever attempted such a combination before.
So success wasn't guaranteed—in fact, it was almost certain to fail. After weighing everything, Lizbeth gave a very reasonable answer.
"We have to try to know."
"I think so too. Anyway, if it fails, no loss. Please take care of it."
"Okay, got it. I'll give it my all."
Asuna suddenly grabbed Hachiman's wrist, and warmth from her palm transferred. "Hachiman, your pulse… it's really fast."
Lizbeth, extremely cautious, threw all her heart and soul into the work.
Although she said "failure doesn't matter," she felt Hachiman also held some hope.
With the feeling of "even if it's luck or prayer, I must finish this for Hachiman," she raised the hammer.
As Lizbeth swung down full of meaning, a clear "clang" sounded.
At that very first strike, the metal ingot suddenly began to glow, and the equipment started to form.
All four of them were stunned because this absolutely couldn't be normal.
Lizbeth looked like she was about to cry, thinking it had failed after all.
But when the light faded, a piece of armor quietly lay there.
"It came out… but I guess it's still a failure…"
Kirito suddenly crouched to examine it carefully and concluded, "It looks like a shield. So, I guess it counts as a success?"
"But I've never heard of one forming perfectly on the first try."
'Could it be...'
At the moment he saw the finished product, Hachiman's heart pounded fiercely.
The armor was a small shield worn on the arm, but as a shield it looked overly slender, spindle-shaped.
(Could it have succeeded on the first try? I need to stay calm; it's not confirmed yet.)
"The name is… Acht Faust?"
"In German, 'Acht' means eight, and 'Faust' means fist."
Kirito gave the explanation with the typical gamer style. Hearing that name, Hachiman's heart tightened as if gripped by an invisible hand.
"It's a shield but called a fist… The 'Eight Fist'?"
'Calm down, check the performance first.'
"Lizbeth, how's its performance?"
"Ah, um, this… it's actually equipped with martial arts skills? There are equipment types like this?"
"What? Regarding fighting-style equipment, I remember reading a report saying there's no physical equipment because it doesn't fit 'Sword Art Online's' naming rules."
Kirito knew the details well.
"Lizbeth, what about other stats?"
"Attack power… is almost at the lowest value, so the equip conditions are almost none. Defense is low, but durability is unusually high."
"How is this supposed to be used...?"
Asuna noticed Hachiman was unusually quiet.
Turning to look, she saw his gaze was absentminded, as if recalling something.
Memories flooded like a tide—that coffee-scented afternoon, a man in a white coat spun a holographic projection and pushed it in front of Hachiman.
"Hachiman, the Acht Faust equipment doesn't seem workable after all."
"Mr. Kayaba… that way of addressing you is a bit…"
According to Hachiman's request, Kayaba casually made this equipment as a pastime, and it was basically unusable by others.
Kayaba joked and named the weapon "Acht Faust."
"Because it doesn't fit Sword Art Online's naming rules, and making special equipment just for you is a waste of resources."
"Yes, that's a reasonable judgment."
"If it really gets realized, it'd probably be classified as unique equipment."
"Definitely unique."
At the time, Hachiman didn't yet know about unique skills and unique equipment, just taking Kayaba's words literally.
"But I really admire you for being able to use such equipment."
"Maybe it's just that it suits me."
"If the difficulty is adjusted based on the equipped you, other players would be troubled."
"Sorry, I really have no intention of realizing it, so please don't worry."
"If it were to appear, the acquisition method would be set as a reward for obtaining what you currently lack."
That sentence made Hachiman seriously think about what he was missing.
"Something I'm lacking… friends? No, before that, even acquaintances…"
"Friends, huh?"
"Ah no, that was a joke…"
"Hmm… friends…"