《The Legendary Craftsman》
Prologue
[ welcome to Nebula ]
[ please select a name ]
"Dorian"
[ name selected - Dorian ]
"Status"
Name : Dorian
Level : 1
Race : Human
Titles : N/A
Class : N/A
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...
HitPoints (regen/hour) : 25 (5)
ManaPool(regen/min) :10 (5)
Stamina(regen/min) : 10 (5)
Strength : 5
Dexterity :10
Intelligence :5
Vitality : 5
Equipped items: N/A
Skills : N/A
[ do you wish to enter the tutorial?]
"yes"
[synchronising]
...
The world inside Nebula has been running for a month now. Dorian had, after this time, managed to save enough money to buy a capsule and try the virtual world for himself.
" I''m in! But where am I? It looks like a safe zone, anyway... "
A single tree grew in front of him in the center of a pond. Very much like other games, this seemed to be a place where recovery was boosted and enemies couldn''t enter.
[ Introduction to your status screen ]
[ HP is your hit points. if it is reduced to zero, your avatar is permanently destroyed. ]
[ MP, along with Stamina, are the two main resources for casting skills ]
...
Half an hour later, Dorian was still stuck reading the tutorial notes.
[ to attack, approach the nearby target and swing as you would in real life ]
" FUUUUUUU......!!!!!! "
hopeless.
Chapter 1- Level 1
After another hour of tutorial, Dorian had finally been able to escape the safe room and its single tree. Sprinting, jumping and dodging had all been the most basic techniques he''d gone through, although he could have done them all without the tutorial.
Nebula would be the second virtual reality game that Dorian played, after Immerse- the biggest virtual reality game of its time. After finding Immerse, Dorian had played it as an escape from school and his father, both of which treated him badly. He joined Carpe Diem, and with the help of the guild leader and other members, slowly started rising up the ranks. They became another family to him, giving him advice on school, friends, women, even his own family. When it shut down, Nebula quickly rose up to take its place, with many of the old players migrating as well. Dorian was a bit behind, because he couldn''t afford to buy one of the new gaming helmets, and he certainly couldn''t afford to buy one of the new gaming pods. Dorian was hoping they had remade Carpe Diem in Nebula, with all the old members.
Leaving the training room, he saw a path seemingly leading to the center of the village he had spawned in. Maybe now, he could buy some actual supplies, instead of the awful [ training sword ] and [ beginners buckler ] that he was holding. Taking a step forwards, his map, which had been blacked out in the training area, started to update itself.
[ you have discovered Village of Beginnings ]
Walking to the village square, he saw a noticeboard with what he guessed would be jobs, quests or other miscellaneous tasks. Already becoming distracted, he walked over, blending in with the crowd of other players that had formed around the board. As he was inspecting it, something caught his eye.
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[ Blacksmith Karsi''s Quest. ( B+ )
Quest description : Blacksmith Karsi is fed up of late deliveries. Deliver 30 iron ores to him in place of his usual supplier.
Quest requirements : N/A
Quest completion : Deliver 30 iron ores to blacksmith Karsi. ( 0/30 )
Quest reward : +50 xp.
+5 affinity with blacksmith Karsi.
Quest Faliure : -10 affinity with blacksmith Karsi.
Taking it off the board, Dorian decided to try. Not because of the xp, which he could easily get from just about anything, or for the affinity with Karsi. Purely based on the fact that it was a good non combat quest, and that most of the other quests had restrictions of some kind.
[ received quest - Blacksmith Karsi''s Quest ]
Leaving the village without even looking around, Dorian plotted a path to the nearest mine on his map. The only extra supplies he could afford was a pickaxe to complete the mission . The dark wooden handle had a polished shine, becoming thicker at the very base, while the brightly polished steel pick on the other end glinted in the light of the sun.
[ Gleaming Steel Pickaxe ]
>Allows the user to mine any material. This causes a slight loss in durability with each mining attempt.
>If the target of mining is rated as higher than steel, a large loss of durability will occur with every mining attempt
>durability : 75/75
...Five minutes later, Dorian was regretting his decision to sprint as much as he could. Although this was a game, it still felt as if he were living in this world, and ragged breaths were escaping from his lungs. Watching his stamina bottoming out, he slowed down and used the only stamina potion he had left, out of his original three.
The entrance was in sight. At last. The areas outside of villages, towns and other human settlements often became increasingly dangerous as the night drew on. Goblins, Kobolds and even Chimeras roamed some parts. Dorians'' plan was to spend night inside the dungeon, then return during morning when the roads are safe again.
Chapter 2- Fiery Temper
Outside the mine was an old railway track for what was probably a minecart. A few miners were standing around, looking perplexededly at the entrance to the mine. A few hunks of ore lay unprocessed next to a smelter and a long line of tools was sitting unused at the entrance.
" Hey! I wouldn''t go in there if I was you..."
A miner had walked up to Dorian, pickaxe in hand. His beard had a thick layer of stone dust clinging to it.
" There''s a troll down there. And it brought its friends. "
The stone walls of the mine shook at that moment, seemingly emphasising the risk.
" Is there a way to kill it? " This quest seemed pretty stupid, now. No wonder it was still on the noticeboard.
" Only way we found, was to blow it up. That seemed to work for the first one. And none of us are stupid enough to go back in there to die trying to kill the other."
" Thanks for the advice. I''ve been given a quest from blacksmith Karsi though, so I might as well just get it out the way now..."
Dorian looked over to the ores by the smelter. "How much can I buy those for, then? "
"Those? Let''s say 20 copper for each ore. How does that sound?"
Looking at his money, Dorian was left sorely disappointed. The only thing in his pockets seemed to be moths.
[ 0 Gold, 0 Silver, 50 Copper. ]
"Ah, actually....I''ll just try mine...."
" Okay. Here, then. Take my lamp. You''ll need it where you''re going. " The kind miner seemed to misunderstand Dorians predicament.
"Do you have enough food? Are you eating well?"
" Hah yes, I''m doing well, thank you for your concern..."
''I really do need to think about getting myself some better gear...''
[ Miners lamp has been aqquired ]
[ Miners oil has been aqquired ] (3)
[ Miners lamp (full) ]
a lamp safe for use in mines.
> when in use, illuminates your surroundings. Can be worn on the hip.
> burns one jar of oil for one hour. Refillable. Time left: 60/60 Minutes
When the trolls had first been found, the miners hadn''t even stayed long enough for the shit to stop dripping down their legs, before running for the exit. It was pure luck that one of their lanterns had been knocked over in the rush, igniting the entire quarry and the barrels of explosives that they had used to blow up obstinate rocks. The miner that knocked over the lantern was probably dead by now. An explosion that could kill a troll was almost certainly going to kill the miner that started it.The surviving troll was probably heavily wounded, although for a level 1, it would still be impossible to kill. The bigger question was whythe trolls were there in the first place.
The death penalty, for a level 1, wasn''t all that bad. It was basically just creating a new character. Even the tutorial was optional. Thankfully.
Putting his hand on the wooden gate leading to the mine, he pushed open.
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[ entering Small Mine ]
[ enemies are present. Small Mine is changing status to Trolls'' Dungeon ]
[ To exit, the dungeon must be cleared ]
He grunted with displeasure. It wouldn''t kill to have those notifications pop up before someone goes into the dungeon... Dorian equipped his training sword, miners lamp and the beginners buckler, wishing he had at least bought a slightly better weapon. Walking onwards, his footsteps echoed against the tracks, until he heard an unintellible gibbering from up ahead. Immediately, he squatted down, sneaking forwards just enough to get a look at the creatures ahead.
They were crowded around a fire, all chattering away in their unintelligble tongue. A rat was slowly roasting over it, being turned on a makeshift spit. The creatures looked like goblins, ugly, gnarly things with pointed ears and sharp teeth. One of them wore a stick doll around its neck, tied together with twine and prayers.
He looked at the names above their heads. Fortunately, they were white. Common mobs.
[ Goblin rogue. Lvl 10 ]
So the fodder was probably going to kill him with one swing. Great. Dorian started sneaking backwards, when,SCREEEEECH. His pickaxe, which was on his waist, had caught against a metal frame and started dragging along it.
All three of the goblins looked over, still jibbering. It was starting to get annoying. Well. Since his cover was blown, he might as well make the most of their surprise.
I''m going to have to try it...I hope Miner isn''t too annoyed...
Sprinting up towards them, he equipped the lantern in one hand and oil in the other, letting the sword and shield go back to his inventory. Throw.
[ you have thrown Miners oil ]
[you have thrown Miners oil ]
...
[ you have thrown Miners lamp ]
The oil doused the goblins, blinding them for a second. Enough for the lantern to arrive.Swoosh. The goblins rolled on the floor, taking damage each second as the fire continued to burn.
-30
-30
-30
-30
...
Running in, he swung his training sword as hard as his level 1 body would allow. A satisfying thunk sounded from the impact.
[ critical hit! ]
-8
"......"
Dorian was reminded once again that he was using the [ training sword ]. And that he was level 1. How useless.
After a few minutes of them burning and Dorian doing his best to hack away at them, they were all probably on very low health. However, the problem now was that the fire had gone out, and their steel cleavers looked a lot more threatening than his flimsy sword. they rushed him, swinging their cleavers in an overhead arc. Dorian raised his shield to block, squatting downwards slightly to disperse the force into the ground. This is where his years of practice from Immerse came in useful.
[ you have taken 15 damage]
[ the cleaver is stuck in your shield. ]
[ You have lost mobility in your left arm ]
[ durability of beginners buckler has decreased by 20 ]
[ You have learned Beginners shield technique! ]
The goblin tried to pull out its cleaver, yanking so hard that Dorians'' arm felt like it was about to become dislocated from the socket. But there was an opening, and Dorian was definitely going for it.
" Die! "
[Critical ! ]
- 8
[ you have learned Beginners Swordsmanship! ]
[ you have defeated Goblin Rogue Lvl 10! ]
[ +150 xp ]
[ Level up! ]
[ Level up! ]
Looking at his Hp, Dorian realised that it was still bottomed out. The level ups did absolutely nothing for replenishment. Pulling out a potion from his inventory, he chugged it, praying that it would work before the next attack. The potion restored 50Hp, and was one of the three that he spawned with after the tutorial. It''s a pity that his max Hp was so low that he couldn''t make full use of the potion.
[ you have taken 18 damage ]
- 4
[ you have defeated goblin rogue Lvl 10! ]
[ +150 xp ]
[ Level up! ]
Dorian drank another potion, killing the last goblin rogue with a simple swing of his training sword. He didn''t drink his last potion, letting his health naturally regen while he was out of combat.
"Heh. Now, I just have the boss to kill, and I''ll be free! "
"Status"
Name: Dorian
Lvl : 4
Race: Human
Titles: N/A
Class: N/A
Hp(regen/hour):2/55(11)
MP(regen/min):11/11(5)
Stamina(regen/min):5/11(5)
Strength: 11
Dexterity:16
MagicAttack:11
Skills: Beginners Swordsmanship Lvl 1, Beginners Shield Technique Lvl 1.
Items: Training sword (damaged), Beginners buckler (damaged).
[ Stat Points: 30 ]
Checking his newly learned skills, Dorian chuckled. This was the beginning.
[ Beginners Swordsmanship Lvl 1]
>When equipped with a sword, +2 Strength.
[ Beginners Shield Technique Lvl 1 ]
>You have a slightly higher chance to block attacks when using a shield.
>Attacks are slightly more likely to land as glancing hits, even if you don''t block.
Although he used all but one of his potions, Dorian was pretty happy with the outcome. He learned two new skills and levelled up, all with the cost of a lamp and a few jars of oil. Now, he has to decide where to invest his stat points...
Chapter 3- Forced to be a Hoarder
Looking at his build, Dorian wasn''t sure on how he wanted to play the game. A tanky bruiser? A fleet footed rogue? A mana powered magician? Something else? In Immerse, he had played as a DPS warrior, dealing out heavy amounts of damage while staying relatively low on defense. That later came back to haunt him, after his guildmate, Swann, sniped him with one blow when they were matched against each other in the quarterfinals for the Immerse 3rd year world cup. This time, he wanted to be able to deal some damage but also survive without the help of a guildmate or dedicated frontline.
He decided to check out if the goblins had dropped any loot. An auto loot feature would be pretty handy. He would check it out later and see if he could find a setting for it.
[ Goblin rogue Lvl 10 ]
>Rusty Goblin Cleaver
>Worn Tunic
>Rat meat
[ Goblin rogue Lvl 10 ]
> Goblin horn (2)
> Rat meat
[ Goblin rogue Lvl 10 ]
> Shamanic Charm
> Goblin horn
"Hmmm....."
Apart from the cleaver, which was too small for Dorian to wield properely, the rest of the drops seemed pretty useful.
[ Rusty Goblin Cleaver ]
durability : 10/40
attack power : 80
> Rust has set into the blade. Each attack unconditionally reduces the durability. Weaker attacks consume less durability. Each attack has a chance to cause poison damage.
>The handle is too small to be held comfortably.
-The blade of a Goblin. Who knows when it was last cleaned? -
[ Worn Tunic ]
Durability: 28/35
Defense: 10
- good for staying warm. It seems to be second hand. -
[ Rat meat ] (2)
Consumable.
+10 Hp.
- Tough and unpleasant, but still edible. -
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[ Goblin horn ] (3)
Crafting Material.
>Often used in basic recipies or crafting techniques, the Goblin horn has become almost standard as a starting material.
- Flexible but strong. Good for all sorts. -
[ Shamanic talisman ]
Item. Consumable
> When in the inventory, causes spirits to appear randomly near the owner.
> Upon being broken, releases a curse that latches itself onto an enemy in line of sight. If there is no enemy nearby, the curse will target you instead.
- A doll made of sticks never seemed quite this creepy. -
Dorian picked up all the loot, equipping the tunic. He took the Rusty Goblin Cleaver, but left it in his inventory to either dump or sell later, since equipping it was impossible.
'' Those goblins were way too overpowered...If I don''t find something else to deal with the troll...I''m dead...''
The troll wouldn''t even be on the same level as the goblins. It was the boss of this temporary dungeon, so would have stats to match. Most likely, if he was hit once, Dorian would die, even through a block. Stupid quest.
Setting aside the quest for now, he decided to explore the dungeon some more. Maybe there would be a loot box? A hidden treasure to let him escape the dungeon? Dorian didn''t know, but regardless, his adventurers blood was racing.
[ you have discovered an iron vein! ]
[ mine the vein to gain the minerals! ]
Taking out his pickaxe, Dorian got to work. The pickaxe was fairly good quality so it didn''t take long to mine the vein until there was nothing left. Although, the vein also wasn''t that big.
....
[ you have obtained iron ore ] (8)
The mine split into a few branches, so Dorian chose the left most one, just to remember his path. A few spiders were crawling around, but they were pretty harmless. That didn''t stop him from killing them though, getting the small amounts of XP that they did give.
[ you have defeated Small spider Lvl 1 ]
[ + 15 xp ]
[ Gained Weak Spider Venom ]
...
''Hmm, whats this? Looks interesting...''
[ Weak Spider Venom ]
Consumable. Item.
Can be used to coat blades, adding extra poison damage to attacks.
If consumed, poisons the target for 3 poison damage every minute, for five minutes.
- A vial of weak spider venom. Don''t mistake it for your health potion... -
Dorian walked to the end of the tunnel, where a miner lay collapsed against the wall. His pickaxe lay next to his unmoving hand.
[ Dead Miner ]
''I don''t want to be disrespectful, but I really need that lamp...''
Bending down, Dorian took the lamp and oil from the body, closing its eyes and saying a quick prayer for the body, in case they were religious.
[ you have opened theFaith stat! ]
[ Visit a temple or shrine to learn more! ]
[ Until then, Faith is locked at 1 ]
"...."
''But I.....Ugh never mind...''
Rounding a corner, Dorian came face to face with the one thing he didn''t want to meet. The disgruntled troll was hunched over the corpse of what could only have been a goblin. Presumably, it had been one of the more annoying ones.
Dorian came up to waist height on the troll, perfectly in line to see its only adornment - a ragged loincloth that seemed as though it was more dirt than fabric at this point. A particularly odorous stench wafted out from the many stains that made up the cloth. However despite somehow surviving a lack of personal hygiene so bad that it would make a skunk gag, its yellowed teeth and claws were still sharp enough to gouge chunks out of the very dead goblin in front of it.
[ Emaciated Troll Lvl 25 ]
''Maybe now would be a good time to use those statpoints...''His hand shook over the allocation button, but the roar from the troll snapped him out of the menu just fast enough to see a rock arcing its way towards his head.Duck.
''Damn, thats vicious. What the hell am I supposed to even do to this thing...? ''
Although emaciated, the troll still had strength that Dorian couldn''t deal with. Let alone killing it, just piercing its tough skin with his training sword would be challenge enough.
The rock flew over his head and smashed against the wall, practically exploding on impact and sending rock shards out in all directions.
[ you have taken 4 damage ]
"...." Great.
Chapter 4- A gleam in his eye
"Well, bring it on then! "
The troll was strong, but slow. Taking advantage of its cumbersome size in the narrow mine, Dorian ran as fast as his stamina let him, closing the gap between them.
'' If I have to kill this thing to escape, I might as well do it sooner rather than later...''
[ you have applied weak spider venom to the training sword. all attacks will deal a small amount of additional poison damage over time. ]
Stepping sideways to dodge the trolls swinging arm, Dorian lifted his sword in a diagonal arc, cutting the troll from its waist to shoulder. The sword felt like a paddle, cumbersome and heavy as he tried to cut through the thick skin. A small scratch showed up on the troll, just having broken the surface of its skin, not enough to draw blood.
'' What sort of skin is that!? It might as well just be made of stone! ''
His arm actually ached from the impact, feeling like he had just broken a bone or two in his hand. Which, he actually might have. Since his health went down from that attack.
[ you have taken 2 damage ]
Dorian stabbed forwards with his sword, lunging as if he was performing a fencing thrust, ducking under the trolls attack.The blade went straight, slicing through its tough skin and piercing its torso, spreading the poison that was still on his blade into the troll. Furious, the troll smashed down with both arms, shattering the blade that was still caught inside its body, taking deep lacerations on its arms as it did so.
[ Critical hit! ]
-12
[ the training sword has broken! ]
[ Take it to a blacksmith to be repaired! ]
-10
-4
-4
-4
-4
...
The poison was helping a lot, continuously chipping away at the trolls health, while dorian did his best to weave through the attacks. The blade, now less than an inch long after it had snapped off, had become useless. Dropping the handle, Dorian pulled out something he had hoped to save.
[ you have broken the shamanic charm! ]
[ the vengeful spirit inside is finding a target ]
[ the vengeful spirit inside is haunting the emaciated troll! ]
An invisible blade started to hack down on the troll, like a ghostly companion, opening up wounds with every strike. A thick, dark blood soon started oozing out of them like tree sap. The shamanic charm was based off of the goblin that it dropped from, so a shamanic charm that was dropped from a lvl 30 goblin witchdoctor and the lvl 10 goblin rogue would have completely different power levels. Their rarity, despite already being a rare drop, only increased as the levels increased.
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-6
-6
...
Now all he could do was pray that the charm would kill it, ducking under its clumsy attacks and using his shield to block the ones he couldn''t avoid. It was becoming more and more irate, with an ominous redness starting to spread in its eyes. Each shard of stone that exploded off of the walls dealt some damage to Dorian, leaving him unable to focus completely. After another strike from the ghostly sword, it let out a roar, shaking the surroundings and knocking Dorian off his feet. Seeing a stone coming quickly towards him, Dorian raised his already half destroyed shield. Thunk. Cracks ran through the boards, splitting the shield down the middle. The rock was still embedded in the wood, along with other fragments of stone.
[ the beginners buckler has lost 8 durability! ]
[ the beginners buckler has broken! ]
[ you have taken 10 damage! ]
[ you are at critical levels of health! ]
'' Damn, this troll has too much health! Even after using poison and the shamanic charm, it still hasn''t died...''
He chewed on one of the disgustingly overcooked rats meat, restoring his health to acceptable levels and trying to keep his distance while he recovered, but the troll had other plans.
Rushing towards him, its eyes became fully red, with raised veins popping up all around its body. Its skin started to protrude jagged spikes of what looked like bone, which glinted menacingly off of the light coming from Dorians lamp. Charging towards Dorian at a speed at least twice what it was before, it lowered its head to try and bite him with its oversized teeth.
Still backing up, Dorian waved his arm over his equipment list, taking out the only thing he could and waving it in a windmilling circle like a cartoonish power strike. His proficiency with it was lacking, to say the least.
" If you think you''re so tough, watch me kill you with a pickaxe! " He let out an absurd line, swinging just as the teeth came closer and closer to taking off at least a good chunk of his body.
[ Critical hit! ]
- 32
"....Huh....?" He didn''t really know what result he was expecting, but it wasnt that. The troll looked about as shocked as Dorian, falling on one knee and staring with its one good eye towards the small human that had somehow done the impossible. Lodged deep in the trolls other eye was the pickaxe.
The troll finally collapsed, shaking the ground as it fell down from its kneeling position. Dust rose up in a cloud, choking Dorian who had almost been turned into troll food.
'' Well...that was interesting...''
[ you have defeated the emaciated troll lvl 25! ]
[ an additional xp bonus is given because of the massive level difference! ]
[ you have learned the skill Critical Strike! ]
[ you have earned the title ''Mine protector'' ]
[ the Dungeon ''Trolls Dungeon'' has been cleared of enemies! ]
[ Returning status from Trolls Dungeon to Small Mine ]
[ you have gained troll hide ]
[ you have gained noxious loincloth ]
[ Level up! ]
[ Level up! ]
[ Level up! ]
[ Level up! ]
The system dinged repeatedly as Dorian was once again bathed in the golden light of a level up. First things first, Dorian wanted to know what the new skill actually did. Honestly, the loincloth was probably better left unexamined. He would gift it to the next person that annoyed him.
[ Critical Strike Lvl 1. (passive) ] (0%)
> Increases your chances of landing a critical hit by 1%
>increases the damage of your critical hits by 5%
- Every enemy has a weakness. Exploit it. -
[ Mine protector ]
> you can buy items at a discount from miners. You can sell items for a slightly better price to miners.
- Thou art Mine Protector. I thank thee for thine service -
Looking pleased with himself, Dorian pulled his pickaxe back out of his inventory, finally ready to start with his quest. That is, if nothing else disrupts him...
Chapter 5- "Whats 9+10?" 21!
[ you have learned Beginners mining! ]
Dorian had almost finished mining. Swinging his pickaxe for so many times had made his stamina drop very low. Sitting in his inventory was a nice stack of 24 iron ores, shining and ready to be delivered to the blacksmith. Panting, he sat down and while he was waiting for his stamina to recharge, he looked at his stats.
Name: Dorian
Lvl : 8
Race: Human
Titles: N/A
Class: N/A
Hp(regen/hour):95/95(17)
MP(regen/min):12/12(5)
Stamina(regen/min):12/12(5)
Strength: 19
Dexterity:24
Intelligence:19
Vitality: 19
Skills: Beginners Swordsmanship Lvl 1, Beginners Shield Technique Lvl 1, Beginners Mining Lvl 1
[ Stat Points: 70 ]
His Hp had gone up a lot, but his other stats seemed to be very similair to what they started as. Fortunately, Dorian had a lot of stat points to allocate. His Hp was probably high enough, so no stat points really had to go there. Dorian wasn''t planning on becoming a total tank. Putting the majority of them into strength and dexterity, he left himself with a few more to put into his stamina, just because it seemed pitifully low, and he didn''t enjoy the idea of running out of stamina halfway through a fight. Interestingly, it seemed that putting stats into strength and dexterity passively raised his stamina by a marginal amount, resulting in a few extra points appearing in the stamina stat. Which is nice.
In hindsight, it would probably have been better to allocate the stats and then start mining, but its not like he was in a rush. Regardless, his final stat sheet ended up looking much more full than previously.
Name: Dorian
Lvl : 8
Race: Human
Titles: N/A
Class: N/A
Hp(regen/hour):95/95(17)
MP(regen/min):12/12(5)
Stamina(regen/min):15/30(6)
Strength: 49
Dexterity:49
Intelligence:19
Vitality: 19
Skills: Beginners Swordsmanship Lvl 1, Critical strike Lvl 1, Beginners Shield Technique Lvl 1, Beginners Mining Lvl 1
[ Stat Points: 0 ]
[ you have obtained iron ore ]
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[ you have gathered 30 iron ores! bring them to blacksmith Karsi for a reward! ]
"Phew....that went on for way too long..."
Walking out the mine, he walked past the same group of miners who were waiting the first time. However, this time there were only three miners instead of a whole group. They had rough cotton clothing on instead of their mining gear, and they had a small rabbit roasting over a fire.
"Ahoy there! We didn''t think we''d see you alive. Turn tail and run, did you? "
The miner walked over grinning, arms outstretched.
" It''s harder than you thought, isn''t it. Those guys are tough enough to survive a lance to the skull."
Smiling, Dorian clapped the miner on the back, following the invite to sit by the fire.
" Yeah, they''re tough allright. I barely managed to survive..."
A pause, as Dorian accepts some meat from the other miners. They all looked at him with sympathy, knowing full well how much fear a troll can put in a man.
" But, I did kill it. And with a pickaxe, no less "
*Cough* A few pieces of half chewed food were spat to the floor as the miners started choking.
" Youre joking...?"
" Heh, go look for yourself. It even broke my sword in the fight. "
He showed them the broken handle, taking it out of his inventory.
" Well lad, that''s an achievement if I ever saw one. Let''s drink to that boys! "
For the next few hours, Dorian didn''t do much except chat with the miners and drink. By the end of it, he had drunk so much that he was starting to get notifications from the system.
[ you have gained poison resistance level 1! ]
[ your health is very low! It is recommended that you find an antidote ]
......
That night, Dorian slept in the mine. It was already late when he had finished talking with the miners, and he didn''t feel like being ambushed by an insanely overpowered creature in the dark on his way back. Deciding that he couldn''t do much until tomorrow, he logged out of the game.
" Logout. "
[ Preparing to logout...25% ]
[ ...85%.....100%. ]
[ Goodbye, Dorian. ]
The light dimmed to darkness as the Virtual Reality helmet powered down. David sat up, taking the helmet off his head and breathing in deeply. His father would be coming back from work soon, so he had to make sure he was ready.
David was the son of one of the wealthiest men alive, but he was still very grounded and realistic with his views. This could have something to do with the fact that he wasn''t given an allowance at all, and had been working in a local fast food shop after school to save the money for his helmet. His grades were high, although a lot of that was due to being rich. He was privately tutored after school, and often he would struggle to grasp a concept until he practiced many times. Although, the tutor definitely helped.
Going to the gym, he found that his sister was actually already on the running machine, her blonde ponytail bobbing up and down as she ran. She was in the year below him, and he wasn''t sure if it was because of him, but she had chosen to take philosophy and history in school. She always said she''d drop out if she had to take the same subjects as him.
" Hey sis! How''s it going? "
He walked to a nearby treadmill, starting it up and attaching the safety clip before setting his pace to slightly above hers. He knew she would notice. Although, the time on hers said 20 minutes anyway. It''s not like he could actually compete with her.
" Have you seen the new game thats come out? It''s pretty cool...."
She glanced over, looking at the speed on his treadmill. She frowned, upping the pace on hers as she started to speak to David.
" Yeah, I''m already playing it. I picked a pretty bad class though, so I''m just waiting to be able to change it when I get to a high enough level. "
" A......class....?" David shook his head. Trying to recall his status screen, he started questioning his memory...
[ Class: N/A ]
'' Are we supposed to start with a class....?'' His frown just got deeper as he ran. He didn''t even notice that his sister had turned up the speed on her treadmill once again.
" Yeah, a class. The system gives you a class based on your performance during the tutorial. If you didn''t do the tutorial then you can just pick a basic one at the start of the game..." She seemed to notice his confusion and replied with an answer that had useful information.
" So what if you did the tutorial but you never got a class....? "
" I dunno, ask the developers. I don''t know everything. " She turned her treadmill off, wiping down her sweat and going off to clean up. The treadmill beeped as she left.
David looked over, checking the time on her treadmill. Although he did track at school, most of his time was spent on studying. Compared to other students, he was still at the top, but compared to his sister? He couldn''t come close. Unlike him, she spent more of her time in the gym, although her studies didn''t lag behind.
New record! 7 miles in 30 minutes!
" .... "
David had a lot of work to do, both in real life and in the game. Stepping off of his own treadmill, he wiped down and headed to the computer to write the devs an email.
Beep! 5 miles in 30 minutes!
He had a lot of work to do...
Chapter 6- The weight of Failure
"Did you see the email?"
In the office where Nebula had been created, a few developers were sitting on their computers, answering questions about the game for confused customers via email. Most of the game balancing was done automatically by Nebula, as it was designed to do, so the developers had become the game equivalent of a help desk. Additions to the game that Nebula suggested, like additional races and storylines, were usually passed by the director.
"Yeah, some guy who didn''t get a class? If it''s true, we''ll have to run a diagnostic on Nebula and try find out what happened. In the meantime, somebody check to see if he''s not just looking for compensation. " The director of the project was starting to stress out. He took a sip from his coffee, not seeming to care that it was cold. Walking to his own desk, he sat down and started to think.
If Nebula was really starting to show problems, then they would probably have to shut it down for maintenance soon. Considering they had marketed it as " just as stable as reality", it would probably hit the company hard. His emails would blow up. He would have to speak to the press. Even his routine of relaxing with a coffee and doing nothing would have to change. Please, can this guy just be looking for compensation. Otherwise It would become a nightmare. Sip.
"Nebula, bring up the information on Dorian#9900 "
Account number: 722645
Started playing: 3 days ago.
Rank: ~90%
NPC interaction: Very Good.
....
....
Name: Dorian
Level: 8
class: N/A
guild: N/A
The director let out a sigh.Sip.Things like this were not what he wanted to be dealing with first thing in the morning. Taking out a sandwitch, he started eating the soggy bread as the tuna mayo came dangerously close to falling out of his sandwitch and onto his keyboard. Sip. Coffee and tuna mayo. Not the best combination. Next time he would just buy donuts from that shop around the corner. Damn good donuts, those.
"Give him a class change book and send him.....hmm....10 gold. " Finishing his coffee, he stood up to refill his cup.
"Director, the compensation needs two step authorisation to send. Please input your password. " A password box was created for him to type into, flashing gently around the border.
"Director James Moss" His hands flicked across the keyboard.Ding! Ding!
"Thank you director. The compensation has been sent. It will be put in his personal storage. " The box faded away and Nebula went silent. Director James Moss went to refill his cup of coffee. Maybe he would buy some of those donuts while he was up.
Walking back through the town was an interesting experience, since Dorian left so quickly the first time. The cobbled roads were rickety but traversable, and the buildings themselves were made of stone, with basic wooden decorations and accessories inside. Wooden shutters took the place of windows, and nearly every building nearby seemed to have a sign hanging from its entrance.Karsis'' Smithy, Sienna the Apothecary, Broken Potion, andThe Humble Inn.They sold weapons and armours, healing services, magic items and a bed for the night. The Humble Inn also provided a place to store items you didn''t want in your inventory, which is probably the only reason they were still in buisness.
In the Village center, he saw a single fully grown apple tree, bordered by a wall of stones to keep people away. It had been growing for at least 50 years, although the amount of apples it produced had only shot up during this time. surrounding it in a ring were market stalls, selling fruits and vegetables at low prices. A pub squatted on the edge of the village center, looking like it had fallen into disrepair. The entrance doors had, at one point, been destroyed, leaving the owner to replace them with a loose collection of wooden boards and nails. The sign read The Ancient Batchelor.At least it was honest.
Looking at his skills, he should probably learn at least one spell, since otherwise his mana would just be sitting there doing nothing. Dorian walked into the broken potion, squinting as he tried to see in the darkened room. As his eyes adjusted, he saw that the inside was very much like the outside. Rickety wooden shelves were attached to the walls, and the shopkeep was behind a counter that seemed entirely too fragile to support anything being put on it.
" Hello there. Please do ignore the state of the place. We''ve had a dry spell, you see. No customers. " The man behind the counter was wearing dark robes that covered his feet. A spellbook hung by his waist, along with his money pouch and a short dagger on the other side. The hood was pulled back to reveal his face- slightly rounded with a hooked nose protruding from the front. Despite the contents of his message, a smile pulled at the corners of his lips, making him seem friendly and eccentric, rather than haunutingly creepy.
" You can call me Lochland." He raised his arm, his fingers peeking out of the all encompassing robe to shake Dorians'' hand.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
" ...So, what are you looking for?"
Dorian opened the shop menu.
[ Lochland the Merchant Wizard ]
[ Spellbooks ]
Mana Bolt ( 80 Silver )
Mana Shield ( 80 Silver )
[ Consumables ]
Mana Potion ( 5 Silver )
" Is this all you have? " Considering Lochland was supposed to be a ''Merchant'' Wizard, his wares seemed to be a little lacklustre. Both the mana bolt and mana shield were automatically given to you at the beginning of the game if you chose the magician class. For someone who was supposed to be a wizard, he didn''t sell many spells.
" It is. I''m working on some more at the moment, but it''s going to take some time to figure out if I dont want to blow myself up. " A flash of a past traumatic experiment flashed through Lochlands eyes. Maybe a spell gone wrong, or an accidental portal to a demon world. Dorian wouldn''t know.
" Aren''t they a bit expensive though....?" The price of 80 silver for one basic spell could buy 8 pickaxes. The pickaxe that Dorian had bought was only 10 silver. Granted, it was a beginners pickaxe, with overall pretty low stats, but still.
'' Even with saving everything I earn, learning something like this for 80 silver would take at least a week. If 100 copper is 1 silver, then I would need to collect 8000 coppers. And that''s assuming I do nothing but hunt for money in that time. ''
Dorian had started with 10 Silver. The pickaxe, to be exact, was 9 silver and 50 coppers, leaving him with 50 coppers.
" How about this. If you do something for me, I''ll teach you Mana Shield for free. " Lochland had a grin on his face.
" Take these to Blacksmith Karsi, and tell him I said hi. " He pulled out a box from behind his counter, long enough to fit a person in. There was a letter on top, and Dorian heard the jingle of coin from inside it.
[ Don''t Shoot the Messenger ( C- ) ]
Quest description: Lochland won''t deliver this himself. Do it in his stead to win his favour.
Quest requirements: Good affinity with both Blacksmith Karsi and Lochland the Wizard.
Quest completion: Deliver the box and letter to Blacksmith Karsi. (0/2)
Quest reward: Mana Shield.
+5 affinity with Lochland the Wizard.
Quest faliure: - 20 affinity with Lochland the Wizard.
Dorian looked at the quest. Unless this one happened to change halfway through like the first quest, it should be pretty easy, and the reward was very good, considering the difficulty.
" Sure. I was going that way anyway, so it''s actually perfect. "
[ received quest- Don''t Shoot the Messenger ]
[ received Lochlands Mysterious Box ]
[ received Lochlands sealed letter ]
[ you are over your maximum carry weight. Movement speed is dropped by 60% ]
[ you have learned Lochlands Mana Shield! ]
" Good luck! " Lochland waved goodbye to Dorian from the doorway, blending into the darkness inside the building as Dorian slowly got further and further away.
The walk to Karsis'' Smithy was quite short. The two buildings were very close to each other. However, to Dorian, it took a very long time.
Dorian was sweating and panting by the time he reached the door to Karsis'' Smithy. Each time he tried to put the box and letter in his inventory, an error appeared.
[ Error. This item can''t be put in the inventory ]
Regardless, after reaching the door to the smithy, Dorian pushed open the door, picking up the box and taking it with him. A bell jingled when the door opened, tinkling before falling quiet again. Dorian walked towards the counter, dragging the box behind him as he did so.
Just as he arrived at the desk, a man came through the back door, with his blacksmithing apron still on. His thick beard covered the majority of his face, but didn''t manage to hide the piercing grey eyes, or the creases on his brow. The name above his head read Blacksmith Karsi.
"See anything you like? " Karsi pulled off his gloves and tucked them under the counter. His hands were tapping on the wooden top, eager to get back to work.
''So this is Karsi. He seems...nice...''
Dorian handed him the quest notice, as well as the 30 iron ores to go along with it.
" Ahhh, I was hoping these would arrive. I''ve actually almost run out.Thank you. " Karsi started to become a bit more friendly towards Dorian.
'' Is this because of the affinity?''
[ you have completed Blacksmith Karsis Quest! ]
[ +50xp ]
[ +50 C ]
[ + 5 affinity with Karsi ]
'' So it looks like I did get money from completing the quest, even if it was just a small amount. I wonder if quests display the monetary reward after it reaches a certain value? '' This was good news for Dorian. His previously meager moneypouch had instantly doubled in size, from 50 Coppers to 1 Silver.
"Ah, I also took this huge box from Lochland the wizard, he asked me to deliver it to you..."
" Perfect! That should be finished now. " Karsi smiled as he took the box, opening the letter after he set it down. However, while reading it, his face lost all of its happiness, and became gloomier and gloomier. By the end of it, his brows were so creased that they practically split his face in two.
" Dear Karsi...........sorry..........I tried..........couldn''t be done..........turned to dust......accept this gold.........compensation...." Veins were pulsing in his temple. Throb. Wrapping the paper in both hands, he crumpled it into a ball. An instantaneous burst of fire from his hand turned it to ash. He slammed the golden coin on the countertop, cracking the wood with the force. A charring smell started to permeate the room, with smoke coming from Karsis hand.
" This damn wizard!!.....He saidhe would definitely succeed. Now he went and ruined the Sword of Solomon!THESword of Solomon! How am I going to use this?! as DUST?! Oi! Go tell that wizard that he had better find a way to fix this, before i go over there and tell him what I think about his great magics myself! " Karsi grabbed the box, ripping the lid off and throwing it against the ground. A large pile of dust rolled out like a glittering silver hill.
[ new quest! ]
Don''t Shoot the Messenger II (SS) ]
Quest description: Blacksmith Karsi needs that sword. Find a way to recreate or repair the Sword of Solomon.
Quest requirements: completion of Don''t Shoot the Messenger (C-)
Quest completion: return the Sword of Solomon to Karsi in good condition.
Quest reward: +30 affinity with Karsi.
20 Silver
Blacksmithing recipe - Shield of Absalom
Quest faliure: The sword cannot be recreated.
-50 affinity with Karsi.
-5 levels.
Dorian looked at the box, looked at Karsi, and took a deep breath. If he said no, there was a pretty high chance that Karsi would end up burning him to at least near death. The intimidation factor of a burly fire wielding man is not to be underestimated. Also, there was no time limit, so unless Dorian purposefully failed the quest, or there was no production method for the Sword of Solomon, there should be no problem. Although, there was no way he would be able to complete it anytime soon.
" I''ll see what I can do..."
" Good lad. Now get out there and tell him what to do. " Karsi kicked Dorian out the forge, slamming the door behind him.
[ you have taken 35 damage ]
[ received quest- Don''t Shoot the Messenger ll ]
Little did he know how much this quest would cause him to gain...even if it wasn''t straight away.
Chapter 7- Sometimes the most well laid plans...
Checking out his newly learned mana shield, Dorian couldn''t help but grin. Although the wizard had gotten him hooked on that annoying quest, his mana shield was good, to say the least. Unlike the usual ''bubble'' shield that the normal mana shield was, Lochlands mana wove together in on his arm to form an actual heater shield, glowing a dull golden colour in the evening light.
[ Lochlands mana shield ]
Description: form a shield of mana.
Cost : 5 mana to summon the shield
+1 mana per second
+1 points of mana for every 1 point of damage negated.
Effect: negates up to 30% of incoming damage.
Duration: until the spell is cancelled or mana runs out.
The stats were vastly different from the normal mana shield, with less of a mana cost, and a greater effect. However, the shield only behaved like a normal shield, and wouldn''t cover his blind spots like a regular mana shield would. Regardless, for a fighter like Dorian, this was definitely better. Although, this did mean that he would have to start investing points into his mana as well as his other stats in order to make the best use out of the skill.
Since he didn''t have much he could do without any gear, Dorian walked over to the auction house, wondering if he had enough funds to afford anything. Fortunately, after having learned the specialised version of mana shield, he wouldn''t have to worry about a shield, as long as he used his mana carefully, and played smart.
There was a guard at the entrance, armed with a set of leather armour and a short sword. Sweat slowly beaded on his skin, dripping down and quickly evaporating on the hot stone floor. His eyes were slowly wandering over the market stalls a short distance away, lingering on the women a bit longer than the men. Dorian walked through the door, unimpeded and seemingly unnoticed by the guard, who just gave a grunt as he walked past.
Inside the Auction House was an empty stage, with rows of seats in front of it. Some of them had people in, while the majority of them were empty. Sitting down, Dorian saw a list open up in front of him.
[ Auction House - Beginners Village ]
>weapons
> armours
>items
>consumables
>crafting materials
>crafting tools
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[ Inbox ] [ Personal Storage (3) ]
Going to the weapons section revealed a whole new list of subsections. Navigating his way to the weapons > one handed > swords, Dorian looked at his options.
> Wooden training sword ( 3 Silver )
>Rusty steel sword ( 6 Silver )
> Polished steel bastard sword ( 18 Silver )
> ....
''Ah, yeah. This is why I didn''t buy a sword last time as well...''
Dorian had looked to see if he could buy a sword when he bought his pickaxe, but after seeing the price, had decided to stick with his training sword. He guessed most people probably got more use out of theirs than he did with his. Going down a different line of thought, Dorian started thinking about the possibility of buying the materials from the auction house and seeing what type of result he could get with them.
'' Instead of buying a sword, can I craft myself one? '' The question stuck in his head for longer than it should.
Navigating to the bottom of the menu, where the crafting tools were, Dorian scrolled through the list, trying to find a set that he could actually afford. He already had 3 goblin horns, and a few left over iron ores, so he was mainly looking for cheap production tools like hammer and tongs.
[ Small Blacksmithing Kit ]
> Light Blacksmithing hammer- 2 Silver
> Blacksmithing tongs -75 Copper
> Blacksmiths'' leather apron -1 Silver
> Blacksmithing gloves - 15 Copper
Okay, So Dorian knew he was poor, but this was crazy. He was just about to leave, when something caught his eye. On the very bottom of the auction house menu, he saw that his personal storage already had a few items inside it. Looking through it, he almost found himself laughing with joy.
[ Letter from the developers ]
Hello, Dorian.
We thank you for bringing this bug to our attention. As compensation, we have rewarded you with a guaranteed random rare class book, as well as some gold for your troubles. We hope you enjoy your time in Nebula. For any further concerns or queries, contact our office via email, as you did before.
From the Nebula support team.
[ Random Class Change Book. ]
One time use. It will grant you a random rare class.
[ 10 Gold ]
The 10 gold was especially appealing to Dorian at the moment, since he had basically no money or power to do anything. After collecting the gold, he went back to the auction house screen, starting to imagine buying every piece in the auction house at that moment. Supressing those thoughts with great difficulty, he scrolled back down to the crafting tools section of the auction house, adamant on following through with his original plan.
[ Small Blacksmithing Kit ]
> Light Blacksmithing hammer- 2 Silver
> Blacksmithing tongs -75 Copper
> Blacksmiths'' leather apron -1 Silver
> Blacksmithing gloves - 15 Copper
Bid! Bid until they are mine!
After the time limit ended on the items, Dorian had ended up spending 50 Silvers on just the blacksmithing kit. Wincing, he collected his items from his inbox, weighing them in his hands before putting them straight into his inventory. After reaching Karsis'' smithy, he looked over the materials that he had at his disposal.
[ Goblin Horn ] (3)
[ Iron Ore ] (5)
Good enough materials, for a first few attempts. Sitting down in the forge, Dorian started to draw up a plan of his sword, before crafting it. The blade would be thick and heavy, for cutting as opposed to stabbing. It would have to be one handed, since Dorian needed to use the mana shield with his other hand. On the plan, he ruled a line 30 inches for the blade. Behind that, the crossguard, grip and pommel. The blade was straight, with a wide fuller and crossguard. Altogether, the sword design was about 35 inches long.
With the plan complete, Dorian got to work.
Chapter 8- ...End up just how you want them.
Starting by taking out the loincloth from his inventory, Dorian washed it, scrubbing out clumps of dirt and the occasional dead critter that had died due to the smell. Squinting as his eyes watered and his sinuses ran, Dorian cut the loincloth into small pieces and put it into a new pot of water, almost hot enough to boil. Setting the pot next to the fire, he left them to soften while he worked on refining the other materials.
Looking at the water he used to wash the loincloth, he saw that it had turned black, with particles of sediment and who knew what else floating around in it. Tipping it out onto the street didn''t seem wise, since he would he fined for pollution or causing damage to property, so, he put it in his inventory to throw out later.
[ you have obtained a jug of noxious liquid ]
This liquid is made up of very little water. It is a blend of various foul smelling materials and waste products.
> Throwing this on any living creature will cause blindness and incapacitation for 4 minutes.
> If ingested, it will cause severe poisoning and incapacitation until the status effect is cured.
- Don''t drink this. Just. Don''t. -
While the loincloth strips were soaking in clean water, Dorian moved onto the next part. Grabbing one of the goblin horns with tongs, he held it in the fire, watching as the outside slowly turned a polished grey colour in the fire. Taking it out, he held it over the anvil, beating it with heavy hammer blows, until it cracked into fragments.
As night arrived and Karsi moved to light the torches inside the forge, each bone shard shone in their flickering light. Taking each piece, he ground them into a fine powder, holding them once again over the flames. The powder, still mostly white at this point, slowly turned grey in the fire, glinting in the torchlight. This would act as a carbon source when he mixed it with the iron.
[ you have successfully processed the goblin horn ]
blacksmithing skill has gained xp! ]
you have gained Goblin bone powder ]
[ Goblin bone powder ]
One of the processed forms of Goblin bones that many craftsmen ignore.
- "Grind it nice and even now. No big bits." Forgemaster Valin -
With the loincloth strips stewing, and the goblin bone powder finished, Dorian started the furnace, putting the iron ore inside to melt down into its seperate pieces- pure iron and the slag that floated on top. Within minutes of pumping the bellows, he started to sweat. The fire, which had been a mild flame before, was roaring in the forge, almost translucent, and hundreds of times hotter than before.
Each breath he took burned his lungs, as even the air around the furnace rose in temperature. His hair was matted to his head, and his legs shook as he let go of the bellows. But still, it was far from complete. Opening a hole in the bottom of the furnace, molten iron poured out, flames leaping up as it trickled over a bed of sand, cooling rapidly into a bar. After it had cooled, Dorian picked it up, gingerly placing it in his inventory.
[ you have successfully refined iron ore! ] (5)
[ you have gained iron ingot ] (3)
The only other person in the forge was Karsi. Walking over to inspect the work, he nodded in approval.
" Looks like you''ve done some research before doing this." His grey eyes looked over Dorian, whose stamina had bottomed out repeatedly during this time. An almost indiscernible smile appeared on his face, hidden by his beard.
" If you need some help for the next part, I don''t mind lending you a hand. "
Karsi grabbed Dorians shoulder, supporting his trembling body and guiding him to a nearby chair. Dorian had been working for two days without rest, continuously working on his plan. Karsi was about to start, when Dorian spoke up.
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" Let me do it. I can do it. " Legs shaking, Dorian stood before Karsi, both of their eyes looking like hot coals in the fiery light of the forge.
" Very well. But I''m impressed. If you want, I can still teach you a few things. " Karsi shrugged, looking at Dorian expectantly.
[ Karsis'' Lessons. ( A- ) ]
Quest description: Karsi has seen the spirit of perseverance in you. He will teach you his knowledge through hard work and practice.
Quest requirements: Very good affinity with Karsi.
Quest completion: Learn Karsis'' Secret blacksmithing skills.
Quest reward: +500 Blacksmithing xp
+ 20 affinity with Karsi.
Title- Karsis'' Apprentice.
Quest faliure: - 10 affinity with Karsi. This quest will not appear again.
'' Secret blacksmithing skills? Most likely, this is the only chance I''ll have to learn them. Damn. I''ve got to do it now. ''
" Okay, but can I work on finishing this first? I''ve already been working on it for days, so....."
" Sure, actually this can be our first lesson. When you''ve finished refining your materials, come wake me up. " Karsi walked away, sitting down on a nearby chair to fall asleep.
'' Okay.......''
[ received quest - Karsis'' Lessons ( A- ) ]
After Karsi went to sleep, Dorian went straight back to work. Taking the water with the loincloth strips in it, Dorian strained the mix through a rough cloth, letting the liquid drip through into a bowl underneath, and then letting it cool.
[ you have obtained an unfinished product. Finish the production for the system to understand your creation. ]
Ignoring the system message, which felt like it was questioning his skills as a craftsman, Dorian took the iron ingots to the forge. By this time, the sun had started peeking over the horizon, casting long shadows in through the smithy. Closing the wooden shutters to block out the light, Dorian spread the bone powder over the ingots, beating them together until they became one long rectangle.
As they joined together, he stretched the ingot into a long rectangle, before folding it in half and flattening it again. Losing sense of time, he repeated this process, over and over again. After a while, even the system notifications weren''t enough to disturb him. He didn''t notice Karsi, who had woken up and was now standing behind him, watching with great interest.
[ you have successfully refined steel! ] (3)
[ you have successfully folded the steel ingot 10 times! ]
[ Great care has been put into this work. A slight bonus will be added to the finished product. ]
Tang! Tang! Tang! As the hammer fell down, Dorians'' novice experience gradually filled out, and his strikes became smoother and more relaxed. Finished with the folding, Dorian lay just the tip of the rectangle in the forge, heating it up until it glowed in the darkened room. Tang! Tang! Laying the end over the anvil, he beat the shape of a point into it, starting with the end of the blade before slowly moving his way up to form the rest. His hammer kept going, stretching out the tang from the steel blade.
Grabbing a file, he started etching a fuller down the length of the blade, removing weight without sacrificing strength. After this, came the temper. Watching the entire blade turn bright orange, Dorian plunged it into the vat of oil, fighting the urge to flinch as steam and fire danced in front of his face. Leaving it on the anvil, he moved over to the [ unfinished product ], putting it near the fire to let the gel like substance dry, before grinding it into powder.
[ you have created Hide glue! ]
With the blade nearly done, Dorian heated it one more time over the coals, letting it cool down slowly in the air. By this time, the third night had already come, and Dorian was long past his point of maximum efficiency. However, his focus stayed on finishing the sword, forcing himself to keep moving. The system announcements were still coming, but he wasn''t reading them. In fact, he hadn''t even noticed them, focussing entirely on producing the blade.
Starting work on the crossguard, Dorian took some of the steel he had left, and stretched it into a simple bar. punching a hole through the middle for the tang, he shaped the crossguard, thinning the profile and streamlining the design.
After finishing the crossguard, he took a goblin horn, shaping it as a handle, before hollowing out the center, and applying the hide glue, to keep it attached to the tang after it slid through.
finishing up with a pommel, Dorian crafted a simple disk, slotting the tang through it as well, before heating up the end of the tang and beating it down in a rivet. finishing with a polish, he didn''t notice Karsi step back from behind him, sweat on his brow, and the remnants of sparks dancing at his fingers.
Now that the sword was complete, Dorian felt fatigue so strong that he couldn''t do anything except fall asleep. His stamina had fallen into the negatives, starting to drain his health instead. Closing his eyes, it didn''t take long for him to fall asleep, missing the final notification as his avatar dissapeared.
[ Great care has been put into all stages of production. The end result will have a moderate boost. ]
[ You have been assisted in breaking past your limits. The end result will have a low boost. ]
[ Fire magic has permeated this item throughout its production, affecting the end product. ]
[ Your focus has been maintained for over 60% of production. The end result will have a moderate boost. ]
[ you have crafted the Steel sword of the Fiery Sunrise ]
[ Beginners blacksmithing has evolved into Apprentice Blacksmithing Lvl 1 ]
[ you have gained beginner knowledge of Mana forging. Speak to Karsi for more. ]
[ Level up! ]
[ SYSTEM WARNING - user has lost consciousness. ]
[ Logging out. ]
[ 0%.......12%........84%......100% ]
[ Goodbye, Dorian ]
Chapter 9-A Class act
David woke with the helmet still on his head, with no idea of the time. His neck felt cramped, probably due to sleeping in such an odd position. As he moved to get up, an excruciating pain started in his head, winding its way to his eyes, making him squint and tear up.
Taking off the helmet with a groan, he went to the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water into an old " Immerse " cup. This wasn''t the only memorabelia he had of the game. Trophies and t shirts filled his room- a reminder of a past thats long gone. Looking at it, he took on a half vacant expression, thinking back on the people he met while playing the game, each of them forming a bond of friendship that he hoped would last a lifetime.
As he drank the water, he felt his mouth hydrating, getting rid of the dryness that had appeared while he was asleep. Smacking his lips, he looked through the cupboards for some food. After being in the capsule for so long, his stomach was grumbling with displeasure. Finding nothing, he grabbed a bowl of cereal and poured a generous amount of milk on it. Within minutes, the bowl was gone, and he had gone back for a refill.
Seeing a note on the counter, David picked it up, marvelling at the horrific handwriting and torn edges.
"hey dumbass, ive left for the weekend to go to Lucas''s house. dont break everything. "
From his sister, then. And that would explain why the house was so empty. His dad would still be at work, probably fixing the next thing that went wrong in the program. Walking towards the gym, Dorian started wondering if his friends from Carpe Diem were playing Nebua, and how they were doing. That would be his next task then. Either setting up, or finding Carpe Diem in Nebula.
Starting on squats, David racked the weights and lifted, muscles straining against gravity as he lowered himself down with the barbell on his shoulders. He was well ahead his class in terms of fitness, and although he didn''t need to be exersising so often, he enjoyed it. Usually. Today, he was uncharacteristically preoccupied, lifting less than he could and finishing earlier than he should. Partially, because of the pounding headache that wouldn''t go away. Walking to the shower, he cleaned off, getting rid of all the sweat that he had gathered while in the capsule, and in the gym.
Feeling the lack of motivation, he grabbed a menu for takeout, and ordered in. At least today, it was just buying food for himself and not his sister, so that cut the price in half, taking it to 12 dollars. Honestly, that was 12 dollars he didn''t have, but the shops were too far to walk, and he needed to eat. When his dad came back, he could buy food then. Usually, the delivery arrived in half an hour, which meant he now had half an hour to kill.
Sitting down at his computer, David opened up the official webpage for Nebula. Going to the forums, he searched through them to try find what sort of class he could get from the random rare class book, and what sort of classes other people seemed to have. So far, almost everyone seemed to have a common class, while a few of the rankers had recently upgraded theirs to uncommon.
The rarity of classes seemed to follow the same system as the monster and item rarity- common, uncommon, rare, sub elite and elite. There were more above those, but realistically during this point in time, nobody would have a sub-elite class, while David seemed to be the only person with access to a rare class at the moment, through the [ random rare class book ].
After a while of browsing the forums and finding nothing, David heard the delivery driver knocking on the door. Grabbing his food, he sat down, trying not to mess the curry as he tipped it over the rice. While one hand was forking the food into his mouth, the other was turning the pages of a study book as he tried to prepare for his upcoming physics test. It would probably go well, and he had studied a lot already, but it didn''t hurt to go over it again.
After finishing his food, he spent another hour purely studying, before returning to the headset, where he logged into the game again, shifting nervously when he thought about his new item.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ connecting to Nebula ]
[ 0%.....55%.....92%....100% ]
[ welcome Dorian ]
[ you have spawned in Karsis smithy ]
Looking around, Dorian saw that all was pretty much as he left it. The smithy was still open for buisnes, with people coming and going, and he had a shiny new sword in his inventory. And, by looking at it, all that time spent on it seemed to have paid off.
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[ Steel Sword of the Fiery Sunrise ]
Durability: 100/100??Attack Power: 120
> +10% to all fire attack damage.
> Firebreather- This weapon can absorb fire attacks and unleash a counter. When the charge is full, the next attack blocked will automatically spend the entire charge on a fireball. Optionally, the charge can be spent early to cast a weakened form of the fireball.
> During the day, each attack deals 20 additional fire damage.
> During the night, the weapon will slowly release the charge to glow. It will stay illuminated for 1 hour on a full charge.
- A sword made from scratch by a dedicated beginner and hidden master. Countless hours have gone into perfecting it.-
Dorian looked at the sword, his eyes wide and unblinking. Forgetting about his jaw that had hit the floor, he compared it to the steel longsword that he had found in the market.
[ Steel Longsword ]
Durability: 110/110??Attack Power: 140
> If equipped in one hand, -12% attack speed.
- A longsword crafted by a competent smith-
'' The difference is so big? ''
At this moment, Karsi came over, with a grin on his face. "So boy, you like your sword? Took you a long time to finish her up, after all. "
" It''s....overpowered. " Dorian grinned, taking the sword out of his inventory to show Karsi, who hadn''t seen it yet.
"....Take good care of her, boy. She''s a damn good weapon. " Karsi nodded, glad to see that their efforts had paid off. Although, he would never tell Dorian that he had helped. Better let him stay motivated to make something like that again.
Although his sword technially did less damage than the longsword, this was for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the longsword was made to be used with two hands, hence the penalty if someone tries to equip it in just one slot. Second, his sword did an insane amount of extra damage during the day. The elemental damage was incredibly useful against almost everyone, since at such an early point in the game, nobody would really have any counters to it so far. Third, he could still use a shield, spell or something else in his other hand, with no penalty, unlike the longsword.
Putting the sword in his inventory, he decided to ask around and look for other quests. Considering now he had a good sword, it was probably time to put it to good use. Before that though, he still had to change his class. Opening his inventory and taking out the class book, he opened the page, unable to stop his hands from shaking.
[ are you sure you want to change your class from " N/A " to a random rare class? This change cannot be undone. ]
[ you will lose all current class bonuses ]
[ Yes / No ]
Dorian didn''t even have to think about the answer. Currently, he was level 9, and classless. The only classless level 9 in the whole game. He had lost out on 9 levels of honing his class oriented skills, and he wasn''t about to miss another. Choosing yes, he waited to see which class he would get, praying it would be something useful. Or at least something that could use a sword...
[ you have chosen to renew your class. ]
[ analysing your gameplay ]
[ production oriented gameplay detected ]
[ secondary fighter orientation detected ]
[ analysing your skills and stats ]
[ blacksmithing has been found to be the highest level skill ]
[ Lochlands mana shield has been found to be the highest grade skill ]
[ strength has been determined to be the highest level stat ]
[ balanced classes have been prioritised due to your gamestyle ]
[ production classes have been prioritised due to your gameplay ]
[ your class has been found ]
[ your class has been changed from " N/A" to " Apprentice engraver" ]
[ you have lost all class benefits of " N/A " ]
[ you have gained class benefits of " Apprentice engraver " ]
[ apprentice blacksmithing lvl 1 has become apprentice blacksmithing lvl 2 ]
[ you have gained the skill engraving lvl 1 ]
[ you have gained the skill rune crafting lvl 1]
[ you have gained the skill mana circulation lvl 1]
[ you have gained the skill appraisal lvl 1]
[ you have gained the skill refinement lvl 1]
[ you have gained the skill inner flame lvl 1 ]
[ you have gained 5% fire resistance ]
[ you have gained 5% magic resistance ]
[ you have gained a Rune tree (0/3) ]
[ Rune tree (0/3) ]
> once every 10 levels, the system automatically adds a rune slot to your rune tree
>for each rune slot, you can design a rune.
> runes cannot be removed from the rune tree.
> once the rune is learned, it grows on the rune tree, where it can be crafted an indefinite amount of times. Each rune is defined by the materials used to make it, the effects of the rune, and the skill requirements needed to craft it. At least one of these will be set by the system.
> the runes can be inscribed into weapons/ armours to give them extra effects, however they cannot be removed once inscribed.
After managing to read the entire list of system notifications, which was a chore that Dorian hoped he would never have to repeat, he summarised it in his head. A blacksmith who could engrave runes onto their weapons, and had a mild immunity to magic.
'' Did I just hit jackpot....? ''
Dorian, for the second time that day, had to pick his jaw up from the floor. A class like this seemed likely to give high versatility, if played right. He started thinking about adding some extra touches to his sword.
'' Although, I don''t know what the other rare classes will be like when they appear...maybe mine sucks. I''ll have to wait and see. ''
Thinking about it logically, his class would be good for now, but as soon as other people started getting their own rare classes with combat oriented skills, he would fall behind pretty fast. It might have better stats, but without any offensive skills to back those stats up, he would be pretty much useless in a fight. Basic attacks only got so far, after all.
'' I wonder what I could do with my sword....''
Although, he was starting to get restless just staying in the one place. It''s time to move on to greener pastures...
Chapter 10- Patchwork Team
[ you have gained the skill engraving lvl 1 ]
> Scribe runes directly onto items, increasing the efficiency of the rune. However, the rune cannot be removed and a failed engraving will ruin the item.
[ you have gained the skill rune crafting lvl 1]
> Create runes to socket into items. Increasing the level results in more versatile rune designs and higher quality runes.
[ you have gained the skill mana circulation lvl 1]
> Magic resistance +5%
> mana regeneration +2.
[ you have gained the skill appraisal lvl 1]
> Look at the details of an item. Higher levels give more details and less chance of faliure.
[ you have gained the skill refinement lvl 1]
> Refine materials to increase their grade.
[ you have gained the skill inner flame lvl 1 ]
> The temperature of fire is easier to control.
> +5% fire resistance.
Dorian looked through his skills, playing around with them for a while to get used to them. The really interesting ones were the rune crafting and engraving. Depending on what it took to craft a rune, then he could very quickly outfit himself in an entire set of runed gear- something that nobody else had at this moment.
Opening the rune tree, he got to work, activating the crafting menu. A holographic table appeared in front of him, with complex formulas taking up the majority of the space.
[ Please design a rune ]
'' Hmm...What sort of rune do I even want? ''
Looking at his sword, it already had fire damage, so adding more would just be a waste of a rune slot. Thinking about it, he could probably add some sort of special effect like health steal, but as well as those taking a lot more skill and resources than something simpler, the effect would probably be almost useless at lower levels. And honestly, Dorian needed the stats at the moment, since he was still a good 6 or 7 levels behind everyone else.
Dragging a blank rune design onto the table, Dorian thought about what sort of rune he could make without wasting one of his rune slots.
'' What sort of rune won''t devalue as I level? '' With a frown, Dorian disgarded the flat value runes, like " +50 hp". Although they would be good in the short term, using something like that later would add almost nothing to his total HP. With some reluctance, he also discarded the percentage based runes, because although they would be good, he needed combat power, not just stats. Looking at the 0/3 slots, Dorian felt both pressure and excitement. Only 3 chances to make a unique rune.
There was one idea that stood out to Dorian, and that was to make a skill based rune. The extra stats could always be gained from forging the base armour well anyway. Skills or passives would end up helping more in the long run, especially since they were the only thing that runes seemed to be able to do that blacksmithing couldn''t.
Thinking up to this point, Dorian grinned. Near the Village of Beginnings, there was a raid boss that respawned once a day, called the Forest Guardian. As the name suggests, it''s a guardian of the forest near the Village of Beginnings, taking the shape of a bear to fight off intruders. Multiple Teams of 8 were needed to kill it, and the raid usually took a few hours. Its base stats were amazing, and if someone was attacked by one of its paws, unless they were a high level tank, they were instantly dead.
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" Create a Rune of Summon Bear Familiar "
[ creating a rune of summon bear Familiar ]
[ Rune of Summon Bear Familiar ]
Summon a bear while wearing the item this rune is socketed into. The bear is proportional to your level and acts as an NPC follower.
[ Do you want to create this rune? ]
" Create Rune "
Ting!
[ Rune has been created ]
Going to the rune menu, heart pumping, Dorian looked at his new rune.
[ Rune of Summon Bear Familiar ]
Summon a bear while wearing the item this rune is socketed into. The bear is proportional to your level and acts as an NPC follower.
Unlock Requirements: N/A.
Crafting Requirements:
1 metal ingot or valuable stone. The item used will affect the rune.
1 bear pelt. The bear pelt used will affect the rune.
......
Often, at the beginning of the day, the village square would crowd full of people trying to form raid teams against the boss. Each team was shouting out their requirements, trying to get enough members together to have a realistic chance of beating the boss. Right now, Dorian was here, trying to find a team to fit into so he could get the pelt of the Forest Guardian.
" Looking for a warrior! One spot left! "
" Looking for a priest! One spot left! "
.....
''With a rare class, I''ll probably have an easier time than others trying to join a team...I think.'' For a moment, he frowned, thinking of something bad. '' But it seems like they all want a specific class....''
...
" Hi! I''m trying to raid the boss, do you have space in your team?"
" Sure, what class are you? "
" I''m an apprentice engraver...it''s a rare class...."
"Oh, cool. But it doesn''t sound like a combat class....what sort of skills do you have? "
" none at the moment, but I''ve got a good sword..."
" Oh, maybe next time. Also, where''s all your gear?"
Dorian had forgotten that the only equipment he had was a worn tunic and sword. For a person who was a glorified blacksmith, his equipment state was awful. He probably looked like a homeless vigilante. Although, now it made a bit more sense why nobody wanted him in their team.
After asking almost every team and being kicked out by them all, he was forced to start thinking about ways to get stronger without a team. Now, the summonable follower seemed like an even better idea. They were reliable, scaled with his own strength, and maybe most importantly, they wouldn''t steal loot or xp. The only problem would be trying to get the materials to summon a good enough minion in the first place.
After trying for over an hour, he turned away, giving up on the raid and trying to think of another strategy. As he walked out of the village square, he couldn''t help lowering his head in embarrassment. '' Is my class really that bad? I know I don''t have a lot of skills, but still, it feels a bit unfair....''
After walking out the gate, he saw a man and woman walking past, talking about the raid boss.
" So, do you think we''ll get into a team this time? "
" I hope so. We''ve been levelling a bit more recently, so somebody should take us. "
The man drew his sword from his sheath and swung it around. It was similair to a katana, although longer by a few inches. His other hand was empty, so combined with the katana, it was safe to say that he was a pure damage build. The woman, on the other hand, seemed to be a magician. She carried a staff on her back, and wore gaudy robes instead of armour.
Grabbing onto the last hope he could see, Dorian called out. " Hey! If you''re looking for people, can I join you? "
Most teams for this raid boss were 7 or 8, so having a team of 3 would make it a bit difficult to find a team with enough spaces, but they let him in without complaint. Chatting as they walked back to the village center, he learned that the swordsman was called Nova, and the mage called herself Wild Muffin. They had been playing since the game came out, and were a good 8 levels ahead of Dorian, with the skills to back it up.
Since most of the teams had been taken, they found themselves waiting until the square was almost empty, eventually merging together with another half team, to make a group of 7. The additional squad consisted of two archers and two priests. Not a very good lineup, but since there was no warrior available, they would have to try make do.
Setting off for the Raid Boss, the squad members chatted on the way. One of the archers, a teen called Swift, had been playing the game since release and had already reached level 19, the highest level in the whole squad. They were also true to their name, being the fastest member on the team, both when they spoke and moved.
The time passed quickly, until they reached the edge of the forest, where the Raid Boss spawned. Archers, mages and other long range fighters would find it increasingly difficult to keep up the damage, as the thick and numerous trees got in the way.
[ you have discovered the Guardians'' Forest! ]
[ The Guardian senses your presence. Trespassing will result in retaliation! ]
The squad stepped forward.
Chapter 11 - Armed to the Teeth
It took one step for the squad to realise their mistake. The ground, usually a dark, loamy brown, had turned black. A thick ichor stuck to the nearby trees, covering their usually pristine bark in the crimson glue of drying blood. Motes of magic dissolved in the air, scratching vivid symbols into the air before fading away as quickly as they appeared. Remnants of a spellcaster, or maybe one of the elementals that existed in this place. The usually cold air had become frigid, a murky gloom hiding all light but that which came from magic. With a whisper, the mage called for light. Glowing in a dull competition with the now fading symbols, the growing sun fought to overcome the darkness, balancing precariously between flickering out and gaining ground. Nothing remained here. Even the guidestones seemed faded, eroded by the passing of an impossible number of years. A small, feverish glance forward revealed nothing but a wide open arena - a clearing between trees, formed by the wild raging of an unstoppable force of nature. Blood soaked the ground.
[ you have discovered the Ancient Forest! ]
[ you have found a hidden territory! ]
[ +50xp ]
The slow shuffling of their feet seemed to grow with every step they took. All weapons were held at the ready, and just as the party finally took a second to look at the clearing, they heard it. A gunshot crack so loud that they were deafened, reverberating throughout the entire forest and erasing the stifling quiet with a vengeance. The sound, caused by the Guardian itself, shook the stones that formed the ground, continuing on to deafen the invaders who dared to trespass onto its'' ground. There it was - charging at them - an angry, hulking giant, barrelling through each and every tree between it and them as though they were matchsticks to ignite its'' fury. Covered in wounds both old and new, The Forest Guardian charged at the team.
[ Swift has wounded The Forest Guardian ]
The response was immediate. And desperate. A swarm of sparks lit up the forest as they surrounded the bear, singeing fur and blinding it as the team stepped back, opening up whatever space they could between them. With the oppressive weight of the forest holding any magic from reaching its'' peak, the sparks quickly faded, giving way to a moving paw that could topple a barn with ease. Nova intervened. Blade left sheath, and both sides were wounded.
[ Nova has taken 45 damage ]
[ The Forest Guardian has taken 90 damage ]
And with that, the fight began. Wound after wound accumulated on The Guardian, and none of them seemed enough. A berserk tornado that wildly obliterated those around it, The Guardian swiped so quickly with its'' paw that each attack had the power of a cannonball behind it.
[ Wild Muffin has taken 100 damage ]
[ Wild Muffin has been Silenced ]
Wild Muffin, the only mage in a squad of 4, was disabled. Her items, weapons and skills greyed out. Her health down to the single digits. The low light that she had created started to flicker, not even bright enough to reach the ground she stood on. And the rampage continued on. Retreating behind Dorian, she grabbed a healing potion from her inventory, waiting for the timer to tick to zero. The next blow came for Dorian, a wild arc that brought the weight of the sky onto his defence, twisting the sword in his grip until his fingers bent.
[ Dorian has taken 40 damage ]
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The damage was not trivial. Unable to dodge even the next attack, he twisted to the side, guiding his blade through dense fur and piercing the arm of The Guardian. Igniting in a flare of brilliance, his sword shone even through the matted fur of the beast it was embedded in.
[ Dorian has taken 40 damage ]
[ The Forest Guardian has taken 30 damage ]
And then, a flame. Searing hot and scorching its'' own path through the air, Wild Muffin attacked. An assault comparable to a natural elemental, the fire spread on The Guardian like a devouring curse, burning up even more of its'' body, seeming to only be fuelled by the low health of its'' caster.
[ The Forest Guardian has taken 80 damage ]
[ The Forest Guardian has taken 10 damage ]
...
Not enough. The Guardian, fighting with a fervour that should be reserved for the righteous, leaped onto the party once again. And this time, there was no end. Phantom jaws clamped around each member of the group, holding them in place and cutting away at their already precipitous health.
[ Dorian has taken 15 damage ]
[ Wild Muffin has taken 40 damage ]
[ Nova has taken 25 damage ]
[ Swift has taken 40 damage ]
[ Wild Muffin has died ]
The death came suddenly. The quiet drop of a wooden staff on a dirty ground signified the loss of a character. Health bars were all low, and as The Guardian turned to face a new opponent, a keening blade leaped for its'' heart. And struck.
[ Nova has retaliated with Retribution ]
[ The Forest Guardian has taken 240 damage ]
[ The Forest Guardian has fallen! ]
[ Loot will be split according to contribution ]
[ Nova has gained Bear Spike ]
[ Wild Muffin has gained Moon Staff ]
[ Swift has gained Lined Shoes ]
[ Dorian has gained Singed Bear Pelt ] (2)
[ Dorian has gained Forest Guardians'' Claw ]
[ Nova has gained 2.4k xp ]
[ Wild Muffin has gained 2.0k xp ]
[ Swift has gained 700 xp ]
[ Dorian has gained 700 xp ]
[ Nova has levelled up! ]
[ Dorian has levelled up! ]
And just like that, The Forest Guardian was defeated. A victory, but one that came at a cost. With this being the first boss that most of them had challenged, the difficulty was unexpectedly high, resulting in avoidable casualties. Had they played with more experienced players, or waited to get better gear, maybe the win would have been better. Dorian made a note to himself that any future boss encounters would have to be planned and researched in advance. Despite the gratifying ting of his level up, he felt unexpectedly sorry that they had lost a party member, and that their account was now no longer going to be available to play. His feet carried him towards the center of the clearing, where the guardian lay, body still. Smoke rose in curling wisps from its'' fur, still smouldering quietly.
With the survivors dispersed, Dorian took the time to examine his spoils. Somewhat lackluster, they seemed to be not much different to what he could get if he fought a normal monster that existed anywhere else in the world. Probably due to the copious amounts of fire used to damage the guardian. Apparently, the drop rate was different for each class - with the combat classes directly getting items they could use, whilst Dorian got materials he would need to craft his own. This had its benefits - the items that Dorian could craft from these materials would probably be on at least the same grade as the ones handed out to the combat classes, and he would also be able to enchant and customise his items with further enchantments, practically for free.
[ Singed Bear Pelt ]
Crafting Material.
> Crafting Material taken from a bear. Although damaged, the pelt is of high quality and can be used for many things.
- Especially Furry. -
[ Forest Guardians'' Claw ]
Crafting Material.
> Crafting Material taken from The Forest Guardian. The claw is opalescent, shining softly in dark spaces.
- Power lies in every strike. -