Nezha

Nezha (ネズハ) is a supporting character in the Progressive series of the Aincrad Arc and one of the main characters of the Rondo of a Fragile Blade story. He is one of the 10,000 players who were trapped in Sword Art Online, where he was a member of the Legend Braves. He was the first player to ever open a player blacksmith shop in the game during its official service, but later abandoned his shop in favour of joining his friends in battle.

Sword Art Online
Nezha is short and squat, with a young honest face, appearing to be in his teens. He has slightly drooping eyes and plain parted bangs, making him look like a perfectly typical crafter. Kirito described Nezha's voice as young and boyish.

During the 2nd Floor boss battle, Nezha wore a bronze breastplate, gauntlets of the same material, and an open-faced helmet. According to Kirito, his short, stocky build and round, dour face accentuated his image of a beardless dwarf.

Rondo of a Fragile Blade
On December 8, 2022, Nezha attempted to enhance Ryufior's «Anneal Blade +4», but failed four consecutive times. After passively accepting his client's outraged vituperation and timidly apologizing, he offered to buy the spent weapon for 8,000 Cor, a generous amount considering the inability to upgrade the sword any further. The offer was accepted by a stunned Ryufior and his friends.

That evening, Nezha was visited by Asuna and Kirito, who wished to upgrade the accuracy of the former's Wind Fleuret. Receiving the rapier, as well as the maximum amount of materials for the upgrade, Nezha seemingly melded the materials with the blade in his portable furnace, then carefully hammered the sword on the anvil. However, on the tenth and last strike, the weapon completely and irreparably shattered.

The blacksmith and his clients remained motionless in shock for several seconds as the shards disappeared, after which Nezha stood and began profusely apologizing. When he offered to refund the enhancement fee, he was instead requested an explanation on the witnessed phenomenon, as weapon destruction was not a possible outcome of enhancing a weapon during the beta test. Nezha revealed that the destruction of the enhanced weapon may have been added as a possible penalty in the official service, as he had suffered the same incident before. After the explanation, Nezha offered an Iron Rapier as compensation for the lost weapon, or to at least refund the fee of his service, but both offers were rejected, thus he apologized once more as the two left.

Less than an hour later, Nezha closed his shop and carried his equipment to an inn, unaware that he was being followed by Kirito. After some hesitation, Nezha entered the inn, where he was greeted by the other members of the Legend Braves. Nezha reported the results of his business for the day but expressed his concern over their usage of the weapon enhancement scam, stating that continuing it would risk exposing them, while they had already made enough money to cover the cost. Unbeknownst to them, parts of their conversation had been overheard by Kirito. The Wind Fleuret disappeared from Nezha's inventory minutes later due to Kirito's intervention.

Following the defeat of the Bullbous Bow the next day (December 9), Nezha followed the Clearers to Taran. That night, after several successful services, he received a request from Shivata to enhance his Stout Brand's heaviness. Unaware that Kirito and Asuna were observing him, Nezha gathered upgrade materials from among his wares and tossed them into the furnace. At that moment, he used the Quick Change mod to swap Shivata's Stout Brand for a spent one. With the exchange only noticed by Asuna and Kirito, Nezha proceeded with the upgrade process, causing the weapon to shatter. Shortly after Shivata left, Nezha closed his shop at eight o' clock and dejectedly departed from the plaza.

Two days later on December 11, Nezha was visited by Kirito, who was disguised in heavy plate armor, and was comissioned to upgrade his Anneal Blade's quickness. Upon receiving the sword, Nezha briefly admired its properties, before accepting payment for the materials. After using the Quick Change mod to secretly switch the weapon with a spent one the instant he tossed the materials into the forge, Nezha finished the upgrade process. When the sword irrevocably shattered, Nezha prepared to apologise but was stopped by Kirito, who removed revealed his identity and retrieved his sword using Quick Change.

Realizing that his scam had been exposed, Nezha revealed that most of the stolen weapons had been converted into money. Thus, he planned to commit suicide, which he believed to be the only remaining method for atonement, but was stopped by the intervention of Asuna.

When asked about the origin of the upgrade scam, Nezha revealed that none of the Legend Braves were responsible. He explained that moments after he informed his group of his decision to abandon training his Blade Throwing skill in favour of becoming a blacksmith, they were approached by a player in a black poncho. This player taught them the weapon-switching trick without requesting anything in return.

After the encounter, Nezha decided to follow the group in utilizing their new information, rather than continue slowing their progress. He quickly became remorseful the first time he performed the scam, but was unable to return the weapon or convince his teammates to discontinue their actions when he witnessed their enthusiasm over the success of their scheme. The recollection of those past events prompted him to start slamming his head onto the table in the room they were in. After doing so for a while, he was inquired of Kirito of his level and skills, and if he was willing to relinquish his Blacksmith skill in favor of the Martial Arts skill. In exchange, Nezha was offered a chakram Kirito had acquired from a Taurus Ringhurler from the Labyrinth, as well as a map detailing the route to and location of the Martial Arts quest. Accepting the demands, Nezha declared that sacrificing crafting and being a swordsman was all he needed, though he did not consider his usage of the chakram eligible for swordsmanship, and was told by Asuna that anyone striving to beat the game was considered a swordsman. Then he was guided by the pair to the beginning of the path to the quest area and left to finish the journey on his own.

Three days later, Nezha completed the quest on December 14, gaining the Martial Arts skill, and immediately headed to join the clearers for the boss raid. Just outside the entrance to the dungeon, he ran into Argo, who had just finished a questline detailing the attack patterns and strategies of a new Floor Boss added to the 2nd Floor since the official release. Using his throwing weapons in conjuncture with her Hiding skill to avoid and lure monsters out of their way, they reached the boss room immediately prior to the appearance of Asterius the Taurus King. When the new boss paralyzed a fifth of the raid party and was about to kill Lind and Kibaou with his hammer, Nezha quickly threw his chakram at Asterius' weak point on his crown upon his head, interrupting the attack with his strike and drawing the boss' attention to himself. Though hurt at Orlando and the other Legend Braves' concealment of their association with him, Nezha ordered the shocked raid members to help each other recover while he kept Asterius occupied. Watching the boss' head, he leaped aside when he saw the Taurus King's eyes glow just before Asterius unleashed his lightning breath attack. After pulling the boss' aggression for two minutes, he briefly paused as the recovered players resumed their assault and drew the Taurus King's attention away from him. Thanking Kirito and Asuna for allowing him to play a critical role in a boss battle, he followed the former's instruction and continued using the chakram to stagger and interrupt Asterius' breath attack for the rest of the fight.

After the boss was defeated, Nezha congratulated Kirito and Asuna for simultaneously landing the final blow on the Taurus King and thanked them again for granting him the chance to be what he had always wanted. Immediately after, he was approached by Shivata and two other victims of the enhancement scam, the former of whom questioned him on the reason behind his change in classes and the source of his chakram. No longer having any regrets, Nezha prostrated himself before them and confessed.to stealing their weapons, taking the blame for the Legend Braves by revealing he had already sold the weapons and spent the money on himself. After passively accepting the furious raid members' subsequent outraged condemnations, at Lind's query, Nezha imparted his name to him and listened to the raid leader's proposal of reparations for his crimes. However, at that moment, another player from Kibaou's team accused Nezha of indirectly killing one of his victims by depriving him of a sufficient weapon. When the player derided the former blacksmith for his inability to reverse the would-be deceased victim's death with apologies and money, Nezha declared he would accept any punishment they decided upon him, prompting the players to begin calling for his death. Then Orlando and the other Legend Braves moved to and knelt by Nezha's side, disclosing their own roles in the upgrade scam. While they offered their equipment as amends for their misdeeds, Nezha wept with joy over his friends' assistance.

Trivia

 * Nezha's name is based on a deity from Chinese folk religion and a Ming dynasty Chinese fantasy novel, Fengshen Yanyi. The deity's name was pronounced as Ne-zha or Na-ja in Chinese and as Nataku (ナタク) or Nata (ナタ) in Japanese.

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