He approached the impressive collection of weapons that laid before him and ran [analysis] on each one, so he could see the estimated damage of the weapon though he had no idea how these values were assigned.

"Can I help you?"

The one who had called out to him was the store owner, he approached from the back room and took off his work gloves and heavy goggles. Ran could see him clearly, he was a rather small man but surprisingly strong for his size. His face was hard and full of soot as was his long and rough beard.

"We do have a large choice so don't hesitate to ask”

Ran nodded then went through the weapons on display. He needed something resistant, so rapiers and other slim blades were out of the question, war axes or maces would be closer to what he was looking for, but while devastating they were a bit too cumbersome, he needed something nimbler.

Ran finally came to the conclusion that a longsword would suit him best, with his exo he could afford to handle a heavy weapon with one hand while shooting with the other.

He questioned the owner about what he had in stock.

" I would need a long, sturdy sword that can easily cut through armor, the bigger the better.”

The man crossed his arms.

‘Yet another kid that doesn’t know what's best for him, huh ?’

“Everything I have is on display here, you won't find anything better, at least not in this city.”

Ran smiled.

“ I can see that, nothing here is below 100 dmg, that's some fine work you have there, mind telling me how this whole system works ?”

The blacksmith was taken aback for a bit then smirked

“Heh, not everyday you see someone with [analysis], yeah I don’t mind, it's fairly simple, every weapon has an offensive value and every armor has a defensive value, the higher it is the better the equipment is, but don’t just go and pick the weapon with the highest dmg, just like with levels its not absolute, the most important thing is choosing the most suitable weapon for you.

I have seen too many youngsters go and die in a dungeon because they chose a flashy sword with good stats, don’t join them in an early grave.”

He kept going for a while but Ran learnt some precious information.

Just like levels it seemed like everything in this world had metrics attached to them, some merchants with an advanced [analysis] could even detect the “value” of wares. Who decided this ? Where did these data come from ? That was a can of worm Ran would have to investigate in due time.

He also finally got an idea of how the system worked for weapons, they were differentiated by their rarity, the material used, their ability to inflict damage, their sharpness and probably a whole lot of other things that a medieval society might not even suspect.

The official ranking system went something like this:

Poor: 0 to 100 dmg

Common: 100 to 200 dmg

Unusual: 200 to 300 dmg

Rare: 300 to 400 dmg

Unique: 400 to 500 dmg

Legendary: 500 to 1000 dmg

Legendary weapons were, as their name suggests, legendary. A country the size of the kingdom possessed barely ten or so of these.

“And what about weapons higher than 1000?”

The owner chuckled a bit

“Such weapons do not exist, at least we do not have records of them in modern history. The characteristics of a weapon are based on both its quality and its ability to kill. A 4 digit weapon could easily take down an entire squad in mere seconds.”

Ran smiled at the thought.

“Why are you interested in it, kid, are you looking for one? Sorry to disappoint you but I ain't got that in stock Im afraid”

“No, I'm just curious, I’m sorry to ask again but are you sure you do not have any other long swords ?”

The owner pondered for a bit then let out a sigh

“ Fine, I guess it can’t hurt to show you my personal collection, these weapons aren't cheap tho, you sure you can pay up ?”

Ran nodded.

The owner went into the back room again and Ran heard him poking around. He came back five minutes later, holding three heavy sword-like weapons with damage ranging from 300 to 350. Ran examined the blades carefully, but he was still not satisfied with what he saw.

These blades were certainly of good quality, but they were not dense enough, which was essential to make sure his weapon would not break in the middle of a fight as well as to increase his penetrative power. For example, his combat knife was made from a special alloy with a depleted uranium base, 3 times denser than a normal steel knife, it could even penetrate the weak points of an exo.

Just as he was about to resign himself to buying one of these swords, something caught his eye in the back of the store.

There, hanging on a wall, Ran saw a weapon that looked very much like what he needed, it was thick, heavy, and far too massive to be called a sword.

“Can I take a look at that ?”

“What? That ? This sword is just for decoration, I tried to strengthen the traditional swords to make them stronger, bending and striking the metal again and again, I spent weeks on it! But the successive layers finally gave this monster, 5.6 feet (1.7m) for 30 lbs(14kg), good luck to use this in a real battle."

“I'm interested in it.”

The short man brows furrowed.

“ Did you even listen to what I said ? I ain't giving you a heap of metal that you can’t even lift for you to get killed.”

“May I at least try to swing it ?”

The little man shrugged and took the ebony-black scabbard from its holder and handed it to Ran.

“Here, don't complain if you end up breaking something”

Ran giggled slightly, that man was a good guy behind his scruffy look. He grabbed the weapon and pulled the blade from its sheath with a rough sound. It was a high quality work, It would not break easily and could certainly take (and deal) quite a beating.

Ran took a few steps back and tested it, he swung the blade over head and felt the incredible momentum behind the sword, like a guillotine being waved around. It would be quite hard to handle with one hand but its sheer power more than made up for it.

He kept swinging around, slowly getting used to the weight of the sword.

This weapon was definitely made for Ran, few could use it effectively, even with his exo Ran was barely able to make it combat viable and when he analyzed it, it showed 395dmg, a rare weapon at the top of its class.

The owner was speechless, trying to hide his astonishment, but Ran sensed it nonetheless.

“Well I will be damned…”