HMJ - Chapter 29 (Patreon)

[ One-Handed Sword (SAO Skill) Lv. 67/1000: Sword Skills:

Horizontal, Slant, Vertical, and Uppercut: 1 Hit Skill, causing 50% more damage.

Mods:

Shorten Sword Skill Cooldown Time

Increase Sword Skill Damage

Increase Critical Hit Chance

Increase Critical Hit Damage

Increase Armor Piercing Damage. ]

SAO skills were a decent method to strengthen his swordsmanship, giving it an edge over other people. These skills were a bit different from his regular skills; they were split into two parts.

First of all, there were the so-called sword skills, which were more powerful special moves, giving bonus damage or some effect in comparison to normal sword techniques.

The second part was the mods, which made the sword skills themselves stronger.

These sword skills amplify the base damage output, which is based on the player's stats and equipment. The best part about them is the fact that they stacked with his mastery and other skills.

Unfortunately, they had the disadvantage of being a predictable, preprogrammed move. They had to be used with caution.

And then there was the other problem: these skills were bound to skill slots, even though he had only a limited amount available. Sure, he would get more as he leveled up, but at some point, SAO’s system would introduce a level cap.

Simply put, it is impossible for him to get all the useful skills; these very same systems could generate an infinite amount of them based on the player's needs. Harry would need to focus on some of them. It’s the big question: what made most sense for him?

The combat skills were all weapon- and martial arts-related, which he was picking up, but only as a secondary fighting style. Just in case someone survives his other abilities. Having special moves was useful to overpower the enemy, but that’s it.

On the other hand, there was the possibility of pursuing the different crafts. Crafting methods for video games were simply so broken. And they would also stack with his own skills:

[ Crafting Mastery (Novice) (Active / Passive ) Lv. 89: You are a complete beginner in all crafts. Your understanding of creating things is superficial.

The success rate for all crafts rose by 8.9%.

0.89% chance to create an object of higher quality.

Known Recipes: 73

Sub-Skills:

Craft (Active): Create something out of the required items based on the recipe. ]

Just what made the most sense? He supposed it didn’t hurt to pick up two or three combat-related skills. While other skills were completely useless to him, like Hiding, for example, they worked in a special manner that didn’t stack with his Invisibility Cloak or other spells.

With 2 or 3 combat skills, he would still have enough slots for crafting. And the SAO System would generate new skills based on the player's needs, which would also apply if he introduced objects from other worlds. The big question was what made the most sense.

Lisbeth would be focusing on Smithing; the problem was that she would one day leave SAO, and he had no idea whether she would choose to take her avatar as her body.

Smithing was also the base of so many more advanced crafting possibilities, and many worlds used swords. Swords are trending.

Right now, she is out with Argo and Ygritte. He had helped them get a head start by letting them kill higher-level monsters. But now they were playing the game normally. Their goal is to get Lisbeth to Level 12 for all skill slots and stats.

It turns out the SAO System remained with Ygritte even if he left the party. So she chose to join them on their grind of the first floor. She had enjoyed seeing a different world.

Harry had returned because the first floor wasn’t doing much for him. It would take time until they discovered the first boss room to get onto the next. If he remembers right, it had taken about one month in the anime.

‘You will need more people that you can trust. If you plan to build a powerful kingdom, you can’t do everything by yourself.’ Jura the green Eldunarí and his main teacher in magic brought him out of his thoughts.

While she was an expert in magic, her rider was formerly one of the foremost researchers and experts of magic in the Dragon Riders, and the other two Eldunar gave him a lot of knowledge too.

Miremel's knowledge of magic was less expansive, but she could still add a few things here and there. But where she stood out was teaching him about warfare and combat.

Valdr, the oldest of all the free Eldunar, gave him a completely different type of knowledge. His wisdom and experience were stunning.

While he often communicated through mental images, he knew a lot about the Secrets and Science of the World. He had granted Harry a lot of insights on how to use secrets with the science world more creatively.

‘You think I don’t know that?’ He sighed as he sent the mental reply, ‘I am well aware of the fact. But neither Skagosi nor the Wildlings have a high literacy rate. While they are good at survival and combat, they lack the skills to build a strong society. The only real advantage over other lords and kingdoms is my magic and the power of my inferi.’

‘Your Corpse Puppets are indeed powerful.’ Miremel agreed, ‘But they will leave a bad opinion about you with your people. You should limit their use, or your people will see you as evil, which will be bad for your land. Their deaths are important for most people.’

‘I know. I am planning to make it a punishment for the worst criminals. To scare people off the worst crimes. It was never my intention to become an Evil Dark Lord or a Tyrant. But I have no scruple in doing what it takes to protect my own Life and make it comfortable.’ Harry replied.

‘We know that now. But only after you showed us the exact process by which inferi are created. But shouldn’t it be possible to create Golems with a similar process?’ Jura pointed this out.

‘It may…’ Harry got interrupted from his thoughts as the Door to his Store opened loudly.

From outside the store, he could hear loud shouts and chaos. “Where is he? Find him!” “In the Sewers?” “That direction, sir.”

It sounded like people were searching for someone. And as soon as Harry saw the details of the man that stood in his doorframe, he knew why.

He had a dark complexion and a tall, muscular body. His hair is shaved close on the back and sides, leaving a silver-colored crown on top.

Standing out were the red iris of his eyes. But the most eye-catching feature was the X-shaped scar that marred the top half of his face.

Hidden below his sleeve, on his right arm, was a thin scar stretching entirely around the limb where the bicep meets the shoulder, and, from that mark all the way down to the wrist, it was nearly covered with a complex tattoo.

Harry could feel that this tattoo wasn’t ordinary.

Addressing the clearly out-of-breath man, Harry said, “If you close the door, it will disappear like before, and the soldiers chasing you won’t be able to find it, Scar.”

For a moment, Scar stared intently at him and followed his suggestion, closing the door, before asking in a deep voice, “Who are you?”

“I am a humble store owner!" Harry replied with a grin.

“A store owner who knows who I am and yet gives me a feeling of danger?” Scar scoffed.

“True. I own this store that connects to different worlds. Right now you technically are no longer in Amestris but a threshold in between worlds." Harry explained.

“Worlds? Who are you kidding?”

A small flame and then a light appeared in Harry’s hands, while Scar took a combative stand.

Next, Harry pointed at a chair standing in a corner, turning it into a cat. “See magic, not alchemy. Or which alchemy is able to turn an unliving thing into a living one?”

Scar stared at the cat in shock before asking, “Why have you brought me here, Magician?”

“I didn’t. It’s not in my control to determine who finds an entrance to my store. Fate, or maybe God, has brought you to my store. Who knows? So which state alchemist did you kill for them to chase you so hard?” Harry asked with a smirk.

“No one. At least I didn’t succeed this time.” He muttered.

“Oh, did you fight the Fullmetal Alchemist right now?” Harry realized that, while he didn’t remember everything about the manga, it had been such a long time since he read it that he knew the rough details.

“You know them?”

Harry looked at him for a moment, weighing his words before replying, “I know about them the same way as I know about you. And most importantly, they are not your enemies.”

“They are sinners; they have started this circle of hatred. It will only end if one side is completely destroyed.” Scar gritted out, now anger swelling in him.

"No, they didn’t. The real orchestrator of all this hasn’t revealed himself yet. But if I had to declare a point when everything began, I would say four hundred years ago in Xerxes.”

“Four hundred years ago? In Xerxes? Are you mad? How is the disappearance of that kingdom related to the massacre of my people?”

Harry turned the cat back into a chair and levitated it in front of Scar. “Take a seat. This will take a while. But basically, the one responsible for the destruction of Xerxes wants to do the same in Amestris. Ishval was just beginning to repeat that feat. Let me tell you about the dwarf in the flask.”

Scar looked at him in shock and sat down as Harry began to retell what he remembered from Fullmetal Alchemist.

Everything began with the ambition of Xerxes King for immortality. He instructed his alchemist to find a way to become immortal.

One of the results of these researches was known as the Dwarf in the Flask, a Homunculus that had once existed in the Gate.

The Dwarf in the Flask needed his flask to survive; now that he interacted directly with humans, he felt like he was imprisoned and grew jealous of humans.

But he befriended a slave boy in Xerxes, called Slave 23, because of their similar circumstances, which he could relate to. He began to educate the slave boy with the vast knowledge he had gained at the gate, and the slave became his hand and feet, basically his caretaker.

In reality, the King of Xerxes wished to use the Homunculus to learn the secrets of immortality. And this was a fact that the dwarf abused, deceiving the king and instructing him to create a massive nation-wide transmutation circle.

That circle required bloodshed in specific locations. And it would sacrifice the people inside that circle to grant the people in the center a philosopher stone, effectively making them immortal.

Obviously, it wasn’t the King and his people standing in the true center of the circle. But the homunculus and Slave 23. Granting each of them half of the souls of all the people of Xerxes effectively created the first philosopher stone.

“That’s… So Ishval is just the beginning. Just one of the bloodsheds to activate the circle?" Scar asked in shock, “The target is to sacrifice all of Amestris?”

“Exactly, the goal of the Dwarf in the Bottle had always been to leave the bottle. After Xerxes, his bottle had just become bigger. He is planning to sacrifice the people of Amestris, a country over 50 times bigger than Xerxes, to become god free of all rules.” Harry stated, “Right now he is in Central City, right in the center of that even bigger circle. He is the source of power in all Amestrian alchemy, so nobody can use it against them. Very few humans are aware of the Homunculus's existence. He is no longer the only one; he created something akin to children, who are manipulating events from the shadows.”

“Is the military aware of this?” Scar asked.

“The top, of course. King Bradley is a homunculus, one of the children. While the other leadership is the same as Xerxes King, believing that they would gain alchemy, most state alchemists and soldiers have no idea of the truth and are just pawns." Harry replied.

Scar was silent for a long moment before asking, “What happened to Slave 23?”

“The Dwarf had given him a name back then; you may have heard of him. It’s Van Hohenheim. While the Dwarf went west to Amestris, Hohenheim went east and became known as the Sage of the West in Xing. He created the basis for that arm of yours, Alkahestry, with the alchemy he learned in his youth." Harry said before grinning, “A few years ago, he even returned to Amestris and began working against the plans of the dwarf in the flask. An hour ago, you tried to kill his sons.”

"Wait, Edward Elric is the son of this Van Hohenheim. Does he know the truth?” Scar asked.

“Yes, but he doesn’t know the full truth. Van Hohenheim has been absent most of their lives. They don’t even know yet what a philosopher stone is or that their father has one. The only reason he joined the military was to find a way to restore his brother's body." Harry replied calmly.

Silence was what followed.

Until finally Scar spoke up, “Why have you told me all of this? What do you want of me?”

"Hmm, I simply ask for your help. I have recently acquired my own land. I would like to invite the survivors of your people to live in them and help build them up. They won’t be persecuted there, I swear. We can even form a contract. My contracts are special and bound by the universe itself; nobody can break them. Not even me.” Harry said, "Also, I want to stop the Homunculus. And for that, I will need help. Neither of us can fight the dwarf alone. He is too powerful.”