Infinite Realm

24 hours might sound like a lot of time and while it wasn't exactly so in reality, it was in Infinite Realm.

During the extended period of 48 hours, a lot of major changes had occurred. The number of level 9 players had increased while the overall level of mainstream players had boosted to level 6 for other areas,k but level 7 for clover towns, excluding the late-boomers in the towns.

For the novice towns in Black Rock province, the guilds had all gathered their teams and headed into Black Grill's Cave a few days back. Currently, the fastest of them was already on the 7th floor of the Middle region, about to enter the 8th region. This team was undoubtedly that of the number one guild in the region; Emperor's Might.

Even though Battle Wolves was a tough figure that had made Black Mountain town their major starting point, they had yet to fully migrate their members over to IR until they were done dealing with their resources in other VR games. This lead to the situation where the force of the two guilds was pretty much equal and the same, so they were both threats to the other party. However, even as a branch guild, Emperor's Might was still a super guild and a force to be reckoned with. Moving ahead of everyone else and taking the leading position was one of the naturally expected reactions from people.

Apart from the progress made in Black Grill's Cave, the appearance of the Rigged Steel long-swords made by the unknown 'Cloud Blacksmith' had brought a storm to the 3 towns, especially in Riverdale town, which was the home of all this, similar to how the Snake sword and double-edged iron swords were popular in Black Mountain town. The title "Cloud Master" was the address players attached to the mysterious blacksmith behind the Rigged Steel long-swords due to the 'insignia' on the swords.

More or less that "insignia" was a slight defect that was common for Sato when he forged the Rigged Steel long-swords. Sato wasn't even aware of the fact that he could imprint his one true insignia onto the sword but even if he knew, chances were that he wouldn't care.

While it was true that the Rigged Steel long-sword wad simply a Mid-tier Mortal rank weapon, the quality of the blade was already at the peak of that tier. Apart from that, their prices were ridiculously cheaper than what one would usually find this item to be. Seeing a nice yet cheap item, some players sniffed a business opportunity and began to buy the long-swords. While most players eventually handed it over to their guilds, a few retained the items and decided to sell them at a higher price to make a profit.

At the same time, a bunch of guild members began stalking the trade-house in hopes of spotting the blacksmith "Cloud Master".

The cause of all this, Sato, had visited the trade-house 2 other times right after seeing the good publicity the Rigged Steel long-swords had received. Selling the two batches at different hours was to be able to reap as much profit as possible. To prevent any unnecessary questioning especially with his increased popularity from the Blue Flame incident, Sato had worn a black robe and sneaked into the trade-house when players were least expecting it. Once he was done selling the swords, he would then sneak off again in the same sneaky manner. This led to the identity of the "Cloud Master" remaining a mystery till this moment. And this "Cloud Master' had just completed a few new sets of equipment.

[[ System interface :

Fine Steel Armour (Chestplate) : Mid Tier Mortal Rank : Level 5 : Durability 35

Requirements : Level 5 || 7 [Strength]

[Physical Defence] +12

[Magical Defence] + 7

[Endurance] + 1

]]

Without a doubt, these new defensive equipment would also bring about another storm upon their release.

[[System notification : You have new mail]

Just as Sato was coincidentally done with the equipment, he got a mail from Fudo reporting that Xue Yan had returned.

'I guess it's time to move then.'

Sato wrapped up the leftover materials before storing them back into his space ring alongside the completed armours that were littered all across the floor. Once he was done, Sato then exited the blacksmith guild, ending his 48 hours.

The journey back to Black Grill's Cave wasn't much but that had nothing to do precisely with Sato. After spending an hour in a carriage, Sato stopped at the edge of Stonecreek Forest before taking out a golden key and pointing it mid-air as if there was a done before him. This golden key was the [Void Opening key] Sato had gotten from Worrus after the Trials.

According to Worrus, the [Void Opening key] could be used to open up a portal to the Hall from any part of the kingdom but because the Hall is just recovering back to its original state, the active range of the key was only within Stonecreek Forest. While this made the key seem a bit less useful, it had saved an extra hour or two of the journey so Sato was grateful for it.

Just as he turned the key clockwise in air, a click sounded as the phantom of a door appeared before him with a light burst of golden light. Sato then walked into the door of golden light before disappearing with a flash. Less than a second after he was gone, the "door" followed after him and disappeared too.

When Sato had appeared again, he was in the main hall, and in front of him was the crew with Xue Yan included.

"That was quick. I thought you were in town?" Fudo asked.

"Yeah. But I had a handy item that saved me a lot of time." Sato replied without much of an expression.

"So, what's the plan?" Lu Zhen asked.

"The plan? Simple. We just teleport to the 9th floor and finish off those floor guardians. After that, we head to the 10th floor and settle this problem once and for all." Sato replied with an as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

"Seriously? No raid plans or anything?" Yato couldn't resist asking.

"What need is there for a plan when you have Sato and Xue Yan. This is already killing a chicken with a horse-slaying blade. If you still need a detailed plan then that would be the same as smashing open an egg with a meteor." Fudo looked at Yato strangely.

"Enough chit-chat everybody. We're already on a tight schedule and the other guilds would be catching up to us if we waste more time. Let's go " Sato said.

Immediately after Sato had spoken, he alongside the entire group went onto the teleportation platform at the edge of the Hall and then used it to hear to their next destination.

Unbeknownst to the multitude of players outside of here as well as in Black Grill's Cave, an unprecedented battle was underway.