I pick up the sword and examine it closely. The Saya is glossy silver with purple lightning like accents adorning it. The sword's Tsuba is a design that shows a Four-tailed Kitsune in profile, a purple gemstone for its eye. The Same is silver ray skin and the Ito is purple and tightly wrapped around the hilt. The Kashira is that of a fox's head, the eyes purple gemstones, the ears adorned with small purple tassel earrings. I remove the sword from its scabbard and examine the blade. It is absolutely exquisite. It's no wonder my daggers are in the condition they are in. The blade has a very distinct saw tooth Hamon, that seems to give off a faint white aura. The whole blade gives off a very slight hum of energy.
Behind me about 10 feet away appears a large, distinctly Asian chest with the appearance mimicking a traditional Japanese house. Its construction was of Cherrywood, adorned with gold reliefs of the Kitsune I just fought. The lid of the chest looks just like the roof of a traditional Japanese home with greyish-blue tiles in a gentle sweeping slope with all 4 corners turned upward toward the ends. I could easily climb into this chest with how large it is.
I sheathe the sword and walk to the chest and open it. Inside is a complete set of samurai armor, and not just any old set of armor either. In fact, it appears to be the same armor the Samurai Kitsune was wearing. I set the sword down leaning it against the chest and then I take out the boots, pants, gloves, chest piece, and helmet and set them gently on the ground. I just stand there admiring the craftsmanship that went into making this armor. A suit of armor like this would be absolutely priceless back on earth, possibly even more valuable than the most valuable specimens in collections and museums.
I begin stripping off my shredded gear I'm barely still wearing now. There is no point in keeping it as it's practically destroyed. My first real pieces of gear that I loved so much didn't stand much of a chance against the foe I faced. That battle was far too vicious for anything but the finest gear to survive. I wonder what the stats are on this gear though. I couldn't even make a scratch on the Kitsune's armor with my daggers. It must have a pretty ridiculously high amount of defense to do that.
I take a moment to examine my still bleeding wounds from the ridiculous battle, my blood now falling down my skin as the Samurai's sword had vanished with her. I start healing my wounds starting from that one that kept growing and wouldn't heal. It wasn't expanding anymore, so I healed it until it closed. Once closed it stays closed this time, since the ability that created it having obviously worn off when the samurai perished. I take my time healing all my wounds and using my water spell to wash away any blood on my body. With that done, I turn to my new armor. This is every gamer's dream! Their own set of actual samurai armor!
I start with the boots first, slipping them onto my feet. They fit perfectly and seem to be melding with my feet and lower leg. The pants go on next, again fitting perfectly and seemingly melding into my skin. The body piece and gloves go on next. Again, I can't help but noticing the feeling of the armor melding with my body.
Finally, I pick up the helmet. I turn it over, so the mask is facing me. I look into the face looking back at me and it's the same Kitsune mask I saw when fighting the Samurai. It's distinctly foxlike, with the same over-exaggerated facial features common with Japanese Kabuto helmets.
I lift up the helmet and place it over my head until it's on and I'm looking out of the eye holes in the mask. The whole helmet then melds with my head. The mask that I was able to see in my peripheral vision retreats and disappears. It appears as though the mask is now my face, and as I touch it, I can feel my touch as though I am touching my bare skin. Suddenly silver whiskers erupt from the sides of the mask and slowly wave around in an unfelt breeze. The purple accents all over the entire suit suddenly emit a purple glow and slight hum just like the sword did.
The whole suit of armor suddenly grows MUCH lighter. So much so that it doesn't even feel like it's there. I pick up the sword I left leaning against the chest and touch it to my left waist where the scabbard immediately attaches itself to my hip. I feel power surge through me as it does so. I open my equipment screen to see what this gear is all about.
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[https://i.imgur.com/ONR45ej.png]
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My jaw hits the floor looking at the stats on this set of armor. It's so far and away more powerful than what I was wearing, it's no wonder that fight was so difficult even though I was a higher level than the Kitsune. There was no way in hell my daggers would even make a dent in this stuff. Each individual piece of this set alone provides more defense than ALL of my previous gear combined!
The set bonuses are very intriguing. The speed and strength buffs are self-explanatory, but the four- and five-piece set bonuses are what I'm really interested in. I have no clue what Utsusemi is, so I mentally click on it hoping there is an explanation as I don't speak Japanese.
Utsusemi
Move with godlike speed, leaving a shadow image in your stead. 30 second cooldown.
"THAT'S WHAT THAT WAS!!!" I shout as I recall our fight when the Kitsune seemingly vanished when I would strike it, only to appear behind me or somewhere else entirely!
I'm excited. My whole body shivers with excitement as this skill is now mine. It took my full power bloodlust skill to overcome this technique to where I could hear the movements of the Kitsune and follow it that way. It was a fearsome technique that I wasn't sure I was going to figure out.
For the 5-piece set bonus, it doesn't say what these tails do. I focus on it and a tooltip opens.
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The 5-piece bonus is shockingly amazing. Apparently, my armor will suck in the souls of my vanquished enemies, similarly to how the sword draws in blood. After a certain number of souls, I will gain a tail. Amazing!! It's also a shocking number of souls required to gain all nine tails. So apparently, I need 100 kills for the first tail, then another 200 for the second, and another 600 for the third. So, in order to get the first three tails, I need to kill 900 monsters. That doesn't seem like a lot at first, but after the fifth tail, that's a lot of monsters that I need to kill. I kind of wish I had this armor during my grind. I would probably have 4 tails already with how many wolves I killed! 6 months of grinding and I only would have 4 tails. It seems like it could take a lifetime to gain all these tails.
I turn my attention to the sword's stats. This is magnificent! I can't see any foe withstanding a blow from this weapon.
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[https://i.imgur.com/GNI5oQN.png]
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I let out a loud whistle in appreciation. Muramasa. I have heard that name before. I think back to the lore I read from some of my favorite RPG games of my previous life. These games were all developed in Japan, so it wasn't uncommon for Japanese legend and myth to find its way into the lore of these games.
That's not the name of the sword as I recall the name. That's the name of a legendary Japanese swordsmith who forged it. I recall reading that there were crazy legends about his creations, most of which state the swords were referred to as demon blades. These blades were said to hunger for blood, often so much so that the wielder of the sword would end up dying from self-inflicted injuries in an attempt to satiate the blade's hunger for blood.
Looking at the passive ability of this sword, it seems as though this sword may just be a source for most of those legends. I let out a chuckle thinking of how ridiculous that sounds. The Kitsune is just myth in Earth's Japan, it wasn't actually real, although Muramasa was a real swordsmith on Earth. But here in this world the Kitsune does exist, AND I'm holding a sword forged by Muramasa, well one that bears his name at least, with abilities only depicted in stories of legend passed down over 500 years. Did this sword actually exist in both worlds? Or has it been to both worlds?! Or did this Kitsune somehow travel to Earth and have this blade forged for her by Muramasa 500 years ago? If this actually IS a sword forged by the legendary Muramasa back on earth, then that means there has to be a way to get back there. I begin rubbing my head as the ramifications of this are making my head swim.
The answer to those questions might show me a way to get back to earth, possibly back to my life, but that will have to wait as right now I'm holding a truly terrifying weapon. I'm not sure I'm even worthy of such a blade, but the fallen Kitsune believed I was worthy of such power. She chose to bestow this power to me. I place a hand on the hilt of the sword and grip it tightly.
"I accept this weapon, this power from you. I hope that I prove myself to be worthy of its power." I say solemnly.
I turn my attention to the sword's weapon skill. I have no clue what Iaijutsu means, so I open the tooltip for it.
Iaijutsu
Weapon skill made available through the Passive Ability: Blood Absorption. As the sword consumes the blood of your foes, the sword's Hamon begins to glow green, red, or violet, depending on the amount of blood it absorbs. Using Iaijutsu unleashes the attack corresponding with the color displayed. May use any lesser form of Iaijutsu even if the blade is showing a higher color. Using Iaijutsu consumes all absorbed blood, and the sword reverts to its inert state (White Hamon).
Holy shit! This is a crazy skill. I'm seriously glad I didn't end up finding out what the violet skill does. I partially unsheathe the sword and look at the Hamon of the blade. The faint white glow is there. So, I need to feed the sword. It seems like my blood thirsty partner here has just as much of a desire to see my foe's blood as I do. I sheathe the weapon again and smile knowing we are going to work together just fine.
"I'm going to feed you so much blood my friend." I say to my new sword.
I do a quick check of my stats to see how much stronger I have become with all this crazy good gear. I'm already betting it's ridiculous. Goosebumps erupts all over my skin when I see my stats.
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[https://i.imgur.com/LdVArsH.png]
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"HOLY SHIT!!!"
My stats are so off the wall bat shit crazy that I can barely comprehend it. This set is WAY too overpowered! I don't think there is much that can challenge me with this kind of gear. Everything is Legendary Class, or what I assume the color means to be legendary in quality, and most of the stats from this gear set are almost 10 times higher than my base stats! Also, to think this gear is just going to grow in power as I gain tails is just making me so excited! 10% increase in power for each tail I unlock! This is too damn much, but I'll take it!
i have little doubt that I could probably steamroll the entire next floor with how I am now. However, I think just to be on the safe side, before I head to the third floor, I have to go back to the arena, rest for a bit, and collect my things, and maybe test out my new power on a few unsuspecting wolves...