The name of the armor was getting a bit toothy, but Sam was fine with it as long as it worked properly. The thing he was most curious about was the extra note at the bottom about armor quality. As if to answer his question, a System notification appeared.

As a crafter, you can now see the qualities of works that you have had a hand in creating. The tiers of quality are not associated with rarity, simply with the general quality of the work.

Tiers from highest to lowest

Perfect

Supreme

Pristine

Masterwork

Superlative

Great

Fine

Good

Subpar

Bad

Flawed

Trash

Broken

These tiers influence the overall effectiveness of any work, and can work to increase its power within its own rank.

Sam had not been expecting anything at all, and certainly not something like this. He had given up on the idea of crafting long ago, but now it was just here, waiting for him to take up its mantle. George had told him that it was basically impossible to acquire a profession without years of prior expertise, meaning that what Sam was looking at here was impossible.

The man hadn’t said anything about that matter when Sam had informed him of the change, but Sam could tell that George was shocked. Well, perhaps this would be a way to mop up some easy levels, and do a bit of good for his little community. Besides, he couldn't say that he wasn't excited at the prospect of being able to make his own equipment. George was a fine smith, but Sam could make equipment for himself at a much higher level than anyone else. Or at least, he assumed so.

So excited was Sam by his new prospects, he only remembered about the staff when he spotted Lao walking down the street. The man looked years younger than he had been before, but he was still recognizable. Sam smiled as he approached him, and Lao spotted him.

“I’d heard about the wonders of plastic surgery, but I didn’t know that it was this effective!” Sam called out, laughing.

“Oh give it up already. I knew that you would be on me about my appearance,” Lao responded.

Despite his banter, Sam could tell that the man was overjoyed to have reclaimed a few lost years. Sam pulled the staff out of the loop on his back, and showed it to Lao.

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“Can you tell what this is?” Sam asked the man, letting him touch it.

Lao frowned as he was confronted with the seemingly mundane rod of iron, but when he touched it, his eyes lit up.

“Is that what I think it is?” He asked, stroking the end of the rod, his fingers surrounded with a soft blue glow.

“Yes. It’s the staff of Sun Wukong. This thing was a pain to get, but I hope you enjoy it.”

"Enjoy it? Are you giving it to me?” Lao asked, incredulous.

“Of course. I already have my weapon here, and nobody else uses this kind of weapon. Seeing as you haven’t chosen a weapon yet, I feel that this would suit you. It isn't that hard to wield, and its special abilities make it a dangerous weapon even with no expertise.” Sam pushed the staff towards Lao, who took it. He seemed reluctant on the outside, but Sam knew that he was overjoyed. “Now, do you wanna take it for a test spin?” Sam said grinning.

Sam started to lead Lao towards the wall, wanting to leave the city to test the weapon, but Lao informed him of a new arena that had been built near the city center, for this express purpose. When a fight between two F Rankers could take out a city block, it was better to keep that far away from any inhabited areas.

As the two men walked down the road, they drew looks, some at Lao with his new staff, and others at Sam with his pristine armor. Most of the gazes admittedly were for the armor, but those who knew enough were able to figure out what the staff was. The roads were definitely wider than they had been before, and the volume of passersby was staggering. Sam would have placed the population of the city at around 50,000 people by now, and he knew that more would be coming over the next months. It was a sad reminder of the once multi-billion strong population of Earth, but this was the first step to rebuilding everything that they had lost.

The arena itself was relatively quiet, with only a few fighters sparring inside of it. There were a few scattered spectators in the stands, all of whom were silent. This was not the same sort of area as the one that Sam and the others had fought in before. This was a place of training, not a place of gaudy spectacle.

The arena floor was divided into smaller sections, with one larger one in the middle. That was where Sam and Lao were heading. As they entered the arena, everyone’s eyes landed on them. Like clockwork, the currently sparring fighters leaped out of the pit, and the walls dividing the sections came down, leaving one larger circle of sand in the middle of the arena. Sam was about to say something about this, but Lao shot him a glare. Sighing, Sam went along with it. Their fight would only be distracting to the others anyway.

However, none of the fighters left, instead climbing up the stands and finding seats of their own. As they did so, people started to stream in the doors and milled about, filling the remaining seats. Sam flashed a look at Lao, who shrugged.

“What? I didn't plan this. We should have been more careful in coming here. It was quite clear what our motivations were.” In any case, neither of them could do anything about it.

Sam shook his head in exasperation, and leaped down into the pit. Lao followed soon after, and the two powerful cultivators squared off. The crowd started to chant their names as they circled each other, and as the battle began, they cheered wildly.

Sam flashed forwards like a bullet of burnished steel, raising his hammer high over his head. Lao planted his back foot, and sent out a pulse of his Dao energy, creating a web of blue light in the air. Sam could feel from the aura of the energy that Lao had formed a Fragment stage Dao. Sam’s mace started to glow with his own Dao, and he brought it down on the shield.

A sparkling stream of electricity coursed through his weapon, and a shockwave of red energy slammed down. The shield bent under the onslaught, beginning to fray at the edges. It was suddenly banished, and Sam flipped in the air to regain his balance. The staff suddenly extended, catching him in the gut and propelling him backwards. Even without any force behind it, the attack still stung.

The web of blue light appeared around Lao once more, and the man pointed his finger at Sam. A bolt of blue lightning shot out of it, tearing the blue web of energy apart. Sam dodged to the side, and the attack crashed into the wall. There was a humming noise as it reflected off of an unseen barrier, fizzling out on the wall. Sam smiled at Lao, happy at how far he had come. However, Sam still had an image to maintain.