《I Enchanted The Whole Forest》 Chapter 1.1 - The Tower of White As far as it concerned me I thought of myself as an ordinary teenager with an ordinary school life. I lived a chill life and listened to chill music without a care in the world. Until a lightning bolt busted my ass into a new world. Seriously, what a way to come wide awake into a new body. More or less what I expected to be honest. A lot of people have been disappearing in these past few weeks. A few special snowflakes came up with stupid theories but it was obvious what it was from the start. ¡°Welcome to the Tower of White. I shall be your guide.¡± a white-clad figure came in from a white portal and a white¡­ I think you get where this is going right? Everything was fucking white in this room. Even the clothing the twelve newcomers wore was white. By the way, my name¡¯s Cam. Even my name¡¯s simple right? Damn, I loved my life. Anyway, this was where things got weird real quick though. The person acting as our guide just threw us into our own little spaces and gave us three gems to choose from.
Skill Gem (Red): Ignite (low-rank magic) - DPS, SPELL, FIRE ATTRIBUTE
Skill Gem (Black): Raise (low-rank magic) - MINION, SPELL, DEATH ATTRIBUTE
Skill Gem (Green): Barrage (low-rank attack) - RANGED, PROJECTILE, BOW, FIREARMS, PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTE
It was a simple collection of three skills which I had to pick to progress further. If I remembered correctly the most used skills were spells. Yeah, we outsiders somewhat knew what happened inside of the Towers. Because there was a huge scoreboard above our heads ever since someone from our planet reached the top 1000 rankings. The scoreboard had many functionalities but we just used it to research into the Towers. We got nothing but information that would be useful inside the Towers. I memorized almost all of it anyway. From all the most used skills to the variable traits that appeared from time to time. Flame Body Constitution was a fairly common trait which allows the user to cast fire-attribute spells onto his own body for a damage boost. It seemed pretty powerful since the number 67 spot used it to climb up the tower fairly quickly. By the way, #67 was a chimera and not human. Which made it even weirder for me to wrap my head around things as I was starting my own research into the Towers.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Anyway, back to choosing my starter skill. "Aaaaand chosen." I said as my hand grabbed the green gem standing before me. What was I to do with it now? "You were the last one. Please eat the gem now." "You know for something that looks this pretty it would be a shame if I ate it." I replied. "Please eat it to proceed." "Fuck you too by the way." I flipped off the white figure as I swallowed the gem in one piece. "Not even one part of it left! Now what?" I struck out my tongue and showed the figure it was eaten. I waited a second. Then two... after about thirty seconds or probably even less I was notified by my good ole'' friend blue screen that the stone I had eaten would not kill me.
//Skill Gem(green): Barrage// had been absorbed. [Barrage lvl.0] acquired. Ranger class has been unlocked. Thief class has been unlocked. Sorcerer class has been unlocked.
"What''s with the classes? I thought only rangers could use barrage?" I had to ask. "...Skills don''t have limitations. As long as it is a projectile [Barrage] can be used." "Even snot balls?" "As long as it is a projectile and you consider it an attack." "...A''ight then." I shrugged and followed the guide to the next area. The next area was extremely...white. This is getting a bit repetitive. I''ll skip describing the areas around me until they finally gain some colour. "What''s with the barely visible altar there?" I just couldn''t shut up. "Why are you so carefree?" the guide answered with a question. "I did some research, I think?" "It looks like you did. Can you then guess what this is used for?" the guide placed their obviously white hand on the altar and asked. "Class selection? I guess?" "Alright, you did you research correctly. Please put your hand onto this." "A''ight." I nodded and came up to the altar and pressed my hand against it.
Ranger class - Starting equipment: Inferior Bow and Quiver (arrows included)/Inferior Handgun (includes bullets), Inferior Rusty Dagger, Shabby Jerkin
Thief class - Inferior Dagger, Shabby Jerkin, Thief''s Purse and Hood
Sorcerer class - Robes, Random Inferior Elemental Staff, Chain Belt
"It''s obvious I will go for Ranger." I clicked on the Ranger option and light shed upon my body. The white clothes I was wearing finally turned into something which was worth describing. A shabby jerkin made out of probably a highly fashionable potato sack covered my upper body and some cheap brown pants covered my privates. Thank god. I chose the bow as my weapon of choice because it was obviously more ammo efficient than a handgun. As for the dagger. It seems that it came with a sheath that could be put around my hips as a belt. "Damn, I must look good." "Your class has been determined. It is time I introduced myself. My name''s Rigwald and I am this Tower''s highest ranked participant. And the final boss for you to claim my rank. My form will not be fully revealed until you enter the top 10 of White Tower''s participants. I look forward to our fight." the white-clad being dispersed into smoke and left me before a door.
Entering Lvl.0 Zone, Twilight Forest... .... ...
Why the fuck are there loading screens even inside the real world?! I screamed inside my mind as I waited for the zone to load... Chapter 2.1. - The Twilight Forest
Shabby Jerkin (Common) Durability: 10/10 Armour Rating: 1 Speed Modifier: 1.1x Description: An inferior piece of equipment worn by most newly initiated participants. It has...holes.
"Not even surprised," I said as I checked on my equipment using the [Identify] skill that the guide never mentions to newbies. It is to make them less prepared it seems. "What about the bow?"
Inferior Wooden Bow (Common) Durability: 15/15 Attack Power: 1-10 Physical Damage Crit Chance: 1% Crit Multiplier: 1.5x Description: The most common bow made from the most common wood and string. It is quite common.
"Well I guess that''s alright. So to kill someone with a 100 hp I''ll need to hit them minimally 10 times." I thought and checked on my HP. 100/100 HP "Nice." I smirked and looked at the zone that I spawned in. It seemed to be in an eternal twilight based on the position of the celestial bodies. That gave the forest some kind of creepy vibe for some reason but that''s good I guess. I looked around and saw no living beings so I just sat down and started shooting arrows at the nearest tree without stopping. Out of 10 arrows only 2 of them had hit. "Let''s try using [Barrage]."
Warning! The skill [Barrage lvl.0] won''t earn experience points from repetitive actions. Do you want to proceed using it? Y/N?
"Fuck off." I laughed it off and shot an arrow. As soon as I did that another three spectral arrows appeared behind the one I shot. And my accuracy improved as well if I used the skill. "What is the mana cost of this?" I checked. 40/60MP "Only three, no, wait, yes. Only three uses! Rangers have shit mana capacity. How do I increase it?" I checked around with whatever screen I could open and it seemed that I...can''t allocate stat points. They seem to be gained automatically by leveling up.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Rangers gain 3 Dexterity and 1 Stamina stat point per level before level 10. After that, we can choose a path which we want to take which will give us 2 bonus points. "iNT and WIS should improve mana capacity..." I sat down and scribbled on the dirt all the shit I had to take care of before level 10. My research from the scoreboards told me that phys-builds fall off quickly if I don''t take care of my body before level 10. "Level 0, 0% exp gained." I frowned as I looked at the options I had. "Why the fuck am I bothering myself with this? I should just go and kill three lvl.0 monsters at a time." I stood up and went looking for cannon fodder. They said if you searched for it then it should appear! And they were right! Whoever they were! Anyway, it''s a rabbit with 30hp. And no, it didn''t have horns or fangs. Just a white rabbit. Normal common rabbit. "Did I get the worst starting zone in the world?" I asked myself as I shot the rabbit with [Barrage]. It hit him straight into the face.
You have entered battle. The Common White Rabbit had taken 26 physical damage.
"26 divided by 4... Uhh.... Enough." I took out my dagger and stabbed the rabbit for 4 physical damage and gained 1% of experience. "I can''t even do simple division while under stress... A single arrow dealt 6.5 damage..." I felt bad about what happened earlier so I grabbed my dagger and started skinning the poor rabbit. "Tip #1 from Cam''s survival guide. All skills are acquirable by hard work. So work hard!" i recited the first note from the list I made a week ago.
Passive skill [Skinning lvl.0] had been acquired. Do you wish to enable it?
"Yes." I said and continued to skin the rabbit of its skin.
Inferior White Rabbit Skin (tier 0 crafting material) - Skin and fur from a white rabbit. Has no special properties.
Yes, yes, yes. Oh my god! So irritating. "Stop common system messages from coming through. Only notify me if something notable happens." I waved my hand and made the screen disappear. The forest was good for me for the small amount of time I was here. Anyway, time to eat. I grabbed the rabbit meat and my bow along with some wood and started a fire. "Tip #2 of Cam''s survival guide. Learn how to start a campfire. I thought I''d need it to survive the night but it seems that night never truly falls. I will probably still need to sleep though." I talked to myself as I placed the rabbit legs and other parts of its body over the fire to cook. "Day 1 of Cam''s Tower adventure. Doing great so far. Hope you''re enjoying the broadcast and now I''m signing off to take a nap!" I threw my bow to my side and laid onto a huge trunk which could hold my whole body on top and fell asleep. Half an hour later I woke up and saw some of the meat had burned while some of it had cooked pretty well. I threw away the burnt meat and ate the well-cooked one after it cooled down. I also needed to put out the fire in case a predator comes along. My MP seemed to be full at the time so I took my bow and quiver and went on to hunt more rabbits. A black one and two brown ones were slain this time. I decided to go all in and waste all my mana before coming back to the place I now called "Home Base #1" "Home Base #1 features were as following: Trunk bed, campfire which no longer burns, leaf blanket, beautiful scenery!" I had put my hands onto my hips and laughed full heartedly with pride in my first base. "Rugga, Rugga..." "Well then. It is time to bring out Tip #3 of Cam''s survival guide. If you hear strange sounds in the vicinity it is time to leave your base to God''s hands. See ya!" And that was the short story of how I made and left my first base for taking in less than an hour. I''ll return to speak about the sound that made me leave it another time. It deserves a whole another chapter for that. Chapter 2.2. - The Twilight Forest Okay so, before I started actually caring about the sound earlier I was a bit distracted from the weird look this forest had. It had this entrancing feeling around it that just made me so relaxed. So relaxed that I fell asleep near a new trunk I found a few hundred meters south, I think. I may sound insecure but that''s because I am. Okay, let''s recap. My first base which I promptly named "Home Base #1" has been taken over ( Note: Cam doesn''t know what happened to the base she just assumes things.). For which I blamed that Rugga Rugga monster. But in hindsight, I should''ve probably looked into the source of the sound a bit more thoroughly. Next thing on the list! I raised my hand an sat up on the trunk I found. "This forest has a lot of cut down trees," I commented and placed a hand below my chin so I could''ve leaned on it. "Must be nice." I sighed and closed my eyes for only a little bit. And I fell asleep. Mother was right I was a lazy bum. No wonder I got belly fat... But Victario had told me I was cute as a small rabbit. So he''s more right than mother. At least I was not fat.
Zone Quest Found: The Twilight Ruins lvl.0 had been opened. [The Twilight Ruins] - An area of a long lost era. Many souls have wandered into the ruins in hope of another chance at life. Will you fulfill their wishes? Reward: Random [Green] colored skill gem or Random [Black] colored skill gem Note: Skill gems will give lvl.0 skills
"The hell''s this?" I woke up to a blue screen saying there was a zone quest available. I accepted it immediately.
The minimap function had been enabled for the quest. It will only show you the shortest path towards the temple. The minimap will be disabled when you reach the goal.
"Useful." I said with a smile. And that''s how I completely forgot about the Rugga Rugga monster for the time being. Anyhow it was time for me to do the second most important thing I did during my time staying in the lvl.0 zone. And that was finishing my first quest and powering up. I hunted rabbits and admired the scene while going to the Twilight Ruins. I didn''t know why but the leaves on the trees were becoming purple and red the closer I went towards the ruins. As I neared the entrance of the ruins I barely saw anything so I created a torch using my newly acquired skills in creating fire. "Creating fire is the fundamental skill needed to survive," I spoke as I slowly, and by slowly I mean really slowly entered the ruins. There was no sign of any spirit here or there so I just sat down and looked at the things I gathered from the rabbits so far.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. My experience bar was at 20%. Which meant I killed 20 rabbits. That was an explanation to those who were still a bit knuckleheaded. "But damn I didn''t know items could drop too."
Rabbit Fur Gloves (common) Durability: 5/5 Armor rating: 0.5 Speed Modifier: 1x Description: Thick gloves made from leather. Perfect for melee combatants or heavy bow users.
It was useless as fuck as you can see. Even if my aim with basic attacks was questionable this would just make my aim even worse. [Barrage] could probably still be used with the gloves on but what''s the use? I would kill the rabbit before I ran out of mana anyway. "Show me my skills."
[Barrage lvl.0] - 20% experience gained towards lvl.1 Spectral arrows fired: 3 Damage multiplier of arrows: 1x
[Skinning lvl.0] - 24% experience gained towards lvl.1 Quality of finished products is enhanced by 1%
[Fire Starting] - no experience can be earned for this skill It is easier to start a fire
I was not even one bit surprised. Skinning gained 4% more experience because I managed to get lucky and get higher quality leather from two rabbits. I still didn''t know what to do with the skins but I kept them in my quiver alongside with my arrows. By the way, I had three more arrows left. 9 if we count the spectral arrows that [Barrage] makes. "Are you here to help me miss?" a spooky old guy sitting on top of a pillar asked me as I shot 4 arrows in his ass. "Sure," I replied after seeing the quest screen blinking rapidly. "Do you wish to hear my wish?" "Sure," I said with a blank face. I thought. Probably crying like a little baby because there''s a ghost before me. Nevertheless, I got accustomed to this as well. One had to get used to things like these when taken to conquer the towers. "I was once a great sorcerer..." "Get to the point." "What does the poor ranger without any arrows have to say?" The old guy smirked. Now I could see why ghost glowed. So we could see their ugly faces even in the dark. "Nevermind; my wish is simple. I wanted to create an original skill gem. I, like you, was once a conqueror. I failed my trial at the 46th floor. I was so close to finishing it as well. I must say it was like an arrow shot through my heart when I died to the boss of the floor." "Get to the point." "Just fucking help me pass on my unique skill to someone." "How about me?" "Nah, no rangers, you know, an arrow through my heart, that kind of shit." "Stop talking like a teenager, that''s why I am here." "I was a teenager too when I came here, idiot." "Skill." I placed my hand in front of me. "Cheeky brat." he placed his hand over mine and they both gloved in unison. I was wide-eyed as I noticed that the spirit...was in his underpants. Oh, and the screen that appeared in front of me was somewhat interesting too.
Tribal Skill - [Spectral Enchant (red)] - lvl. 0 - The user can enchant an object with a random attribute at a 5% success rate.
"What''s a tribal skill?" I had to ask the old man. But his spirit had wandered off to the afterlife as soon as I gained the skill. "I still want to know the answer though." I mumbled and took out the gloves from earlier. "5%!" I closed my eyes and tried to enchant the gloves.
Enchantment failed. Rabbit Fur Gloves (common) had lost 1 durability point.
"Again!" I tried again but with more spirit. Another fail. And this continued for a whole 4 tries until I almost destroyed the gloves. But the last time was a success and I was left with...
Unidentified Rabbit Fur Gloves (common) Durability 1/1 Armor rating: 0.1 Speed modifier: 0.9x Description: Rabbit Fur Gloves which absorbed chaotic mana from the world. They became corrupted and lost most of its properties.
Weren''t they thinner now? I noticed that they became heavier but, well, they were thinner. I guessed I could use them now but damn...that''s a heavy hit to the quality of the fur. It''s not soft anymore.
This was the end of my first day. I took a nap later and woke up being stared down by a giant ape in the trees. But that''s a story for my next entry. Chapter 2.3. - The Twilight Forest There were a few interesting facts about myself: 1. My full name''s Camille Zana 2. I studied architecture in high school 3. I don''t like furry beasts. Facts ended there because of a furry beast I needed to take care of. Anyway, what would you guys do if a blood red ape with razor sharp teeth appeared on top of a tree and looked down upon you as you woke up? I imagine most of us would piss their pants and then die when that thing jumped down on them. I guess I was an exception. It just continued to stare at me. Like I was an insect not even worth wasting time on. "Girrrrl." the ape growled at me. "Oh shit, it can talk. Who would''ve expected that." I accidentally spoke out loud. "You arre who?" "Yes sir, my name''s Cam! May I ask for your name your highness?" I replied with the utmost respect I learned from reading knight novels. "Highness? We don''t deserve a name. Lowly level 1s like me and the others of my family." It jumped down from the treetops. "Why are you so small ape girl?" it towered me at two and a half meters. For reference, I was 1.64m tall. "L-Level 1 you say-" I stuttered when I heard this guy had a family. "W-Where''s your family your highness?" "Floor, higher. I was chosen to protect the forrest!" it punched itself in the torso and yelled into the skies. "I see!" I smiled and took a step back. Hoping he wouldn''t notice. "Rugga?" it was confused probably. "Why are you going away from me?" "A-Am I now?" I grabbed the arrows in my quiver and tried one last resort. "Barrage never indicated I needed a bow to use it. If I did then the system wouldn''t offer me a gun." I glanced at the arrows in my hand. "What arrre those?" he lowered himself to my eye level and looked me up and down. "Needles my lord. For acupuncture!" "Acupuncture?" "Yes my lord! Like this!" I grinned and threw all three of my arrows at the damn ape with [Barrage] active. "My MP is gone..." I commented and took out my knife.
You got lucky! Your attacks have done a critical strike. You''ve dealt 180 physical damage!
You''ve dealt a fatal attack! [Barrage] gains double experience! 64% experience gained!
"Y-You thought I would die to this?" the ape rose from up from the ground in a berserk mode and yelled at me as he threw his fists at a speed unimaginable to man. "You should just stay dead! Enchant!" i pressed my hand onto the ape in my adrenaline rush and used something I would never use in a fight. I enchanted the ape, and obviously, it failed. But the chaotic mana from failing muddled the ape''s thoughts even further and he finally fell and died like how every ape should. "Never again."
Your use of [Enchant] had unlocked a new class for you! [Vitality Enchanter] unlocked! Level up bonuses if you switch: DEX +1 per level, STR +1 per level, INT +3 per level, WIS +2 per level, VIT +1 per level Vitality Enchanters have 7 skill slots instead of the 5 skill slots Rangers have. You can change classes at a church in any town besides the level 0 one.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
"A 7-stat increase per level instead of my 4-stat one does sound nice..." I thought about and decided not to switch. The 3 dexterity and 1 strength I gained every level was fairly nice,even though I still didn''t level up. "Show me my experience." I opened up my experience bar and a shining green bar almost filled to the top appeared. "-84%, that''s quite good. What were the objectives I needed to clear to advance further?" I looked the objectives up inside the system and noticed I cleared two of them already. Only one was left. "I cleared a quest and killed a higher levelled beast. Now I only need to find an upgrade to my current weapon-" I pondered about it for a moment and then took my bow which was lying on the ground. "This will work right?" I used [Enchant] on it 13 times in a row before it finally decided to work.
Fatal Wooden Bow (Common) Durability: 2/15 Attack Power: 3-15 Physical Damage Crit Chance: 1.1% Crit Multiplier: 1.6x Description: A common bow enchanted near the death place of a great beast. It is fairly common nevertheless.
"Does the location matter as well?" I asked myself and another screen popped up saying I cleared the zone.
The Twilight Forest(Lvl.0) zone has been cleared. Do you wish to go to the level 0 town? Y/N?
"Duh! Of course, do I want to go to town. But wait a second. I need to skin the ape from its fur. I guess it costs something since it''s level 1." I answered and made the system wait for my decision. After skinning the ape my [Skinning] skill gained 6% of experience due to the sheer size of that fur. I clad myself in the fur from the beast because it couldn''t fit into my quiver and entered the level 0 town.
"What''s that thing?" A woman near whispered a question to her partner. "A newbie it seems." The blond guy behind her answered so clearly I heard him from 20 meters away. "Does she know she''s covered in blood?" the woman asked. "What kind of question even is that Eve?" the blond guy frowned and stepped up to me as I was gazing at the town I got teleported into. "Hello there! My name''s Abe, I am kind of a big deal around here. May I ask you if you''re a newbie?" "Isn''t it obvious?" I replied and took a better look at his face. It was fairly handsome. But I could''ve seen it fairly clearly that he felt disgusted from looking at me. "What do you want?" "I saw that fur on your back and wanted to ask you if you were selling it?" I knew it! He wanted my precious fur! "No sorry, I plan on making something with it." "You''re a tailor?! Why did you pick a tailoring class when you started out?!" Oh god, he''s irritating. "Listen here, boy. Or man. Your questions make me sick. If you want answers then take me to the closest inn and pay me for a meal." "Deal, only if you sell me the fur." "How about some rabbit furs I got?" "How many?" he seemed to be up for it. Maybe I could have a deal with him. "Around 20 of them I guess." "What shape are they in. Item level?" Oh god, do his questions ever stop? He just needed to take the damn furs for the lowest price for gods sake. "Fairly undamaged, and what do you mean by item level? Is that important?" I asked him, clearly confused by his questions. "Item levels determine the quality of the weapons and the amount of mana they can take when enchanting with essences." He explained with a smile on his damn face. "How do I check that?" I asked. "The item level is usually the same level as the enemy it dropped of. Common mobs drop only items at the same level as them while some rare mobs can drop 1 level higher items." "Level 0 materials then. Do you want them?" "If the quality is as you say then I''ll take them for the price of 2 copper per 1 fur." "That''s 40 copper coins then. Here are the furs." I took out the small furs from the rabbits I got and gave them to him. "Here are your coins." he threw a bag with exactly 40 coins in it. "How did you count the coins so quickly?" I asked. "System assist technology, it can count them for you. It makes trading a lot easier. You unlock it when you reach level 1. Don''t tell me you still haven''t reached level 1?! No wonder you ask so many questions. You should''ve stayed in whatever zone you were in and grinded to level 1 before coming here." "Why?" "Level 0 zones are impossible to return to. They are considered the rarest zone levels in the Towers." "Ah, makes no sense but whatever. Anyway, I have one more question." I lowered my head and smiled while he couldn''t see my face. "What the hell is with your eyes?" "Ah, I see it finally worked on you. I couldn''t believe myself when a mere tailor managed to avoid the Vastay race''s [Eyes of Corruption]" he smirked and placed his hands on me. I smirked inside my mind and let him touch me. "Now give me the damn fur you noob." he gripped my shoulder with inhumane strength. "What if I told you no?" I pulled my face up and whispered into his ears. "Your damn powers have no effect on someone who has seen ghosts." "W-What?! You''re telling me you don''t see the apparitions? What kind of tailor are you?" "Fuck off already you damn beauty bird boy. Damn appearance confused me for this whole time. You really thought your damn feathers are hidden with that wig? Your claws hidden with those boots? Get away from me you damn bird boy or I''ll break your brittle bones like- like-" "?" he released his grip and looked at me with his eyes wide. "Oh just fuck off!" I yelled at him. "You forgot what you wanted to say, didn''t you?" "Shut up." "''Kay, thanks for the furs anyway, damn noobs." he grunted and went back to his Eve girl or whatever. At least that girl didn''t hide her race. Were they brother and sister? "Ugh... My head hurts." I almost fell from my headache but soon my senses returned to normal. "Huh? Wait a minute. Didn''t we agree that he will buy me a meal? Fuck I got scammed..." I spoke to myself and went to find an inn. Chapter 2.4. Interlude #1 I came to this inn every day for the past 10 years being in the tower. I was known as ¡°That depressed thief¡± by the locals for many years. Kids feared my tattoos while I treasured them with my whole life. I spent my days on the streets helping people and earning money on the side. I was no longer a thief, but my class said otherwise. Bo¡¯lee was the only person that understood me. It was a shame I couldn¡¯t understand one bit he mumbled without that tongue of his. But at least he never left me. ¡°Bo¡¯lee, I heard a newbie appeared in the town today. Do you think he or she will come to your inn?¡± I asked with a hood over my face. Bo¡¯lee shrugged, it was his way of saying he doesn¡¯t care. ¡°How could you not care! It means another patron! And another person that will look down upon both of us!¡± Bo¡¯lee looked at me with sympathy and I have shut up for the time being. The entrance bell ringed and a fur-clad young girl entered the inn. The entrance hall was dead silent. I continued to sip on my beer and ignored her. She must¡¯ve experienced a lot. ¡°One room please.¡± She came up to Bo¡¯lee and asked for a room. I guess she had a pretty good eye for discerning who¡¯s the owner. Bo¡¯lee looked at her and waited for her to give the money needed for the room. The girl¡¯s hair was pink and dark brown at some places. She wore a pony tail which was quite fuzzy. I think I might¡¯ve started to like her if she continued to amuse me. ¡°1 room please!¡± she told Bo¡¯lee again. I interrupted her. ¡°Girl, you need to pay up, Bo here can¡¯t talk. It¡¯s 20 copper per night.¡± I told her. ¡°2 nights please.¡± She took out 40 copper coins and took the key Bo¡¯lee gave her. ¡°Why can¡¯t he talk?¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°He lost his tongue in a battle a long time ago. What¡¯s your name girl?¡± ¡°Camille, and yours?¡± ¡°Ak¡¯li.¡± I took my hood off and smiled at her. I¡¯ve seen many people being shocked by my appearance but this girl was different. ¡°Ak¡¯lee? Are you sibling?¡± She didn¡¯t even react to the dragon jaw tattoo all over my lower jaw ¡°It¡¯s L-I and not L-E-E.¡± I corrected her and continued. ¡°Nice to meet you Camille, as you have guessed we are siblings. Twins, as a matter of fact.¡± ¡°You guys look so different to be twins. What race are you?¡± ¡°We are humans.¡± ¡°But he has horns.¡± ¡°His class is a bit special.¡± ¡°Classes can affect your physical appearance?¡± She asked me. It seemed that she still hasn¡¯t noticed the tattoo over her left eye. ¡°Here, take this mirror.¡± I took out a mirror from my robes and gave her to check on her face. ¡°What is this!?¡± she touched her arrow tattoo furiously. ¡°You can¡¯t get rid of it. It is called a Brand.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been branded? Then yo-?¡± ¡°No, these were made by Bo¡¯lee.¡± ¡°Why would you do that to yourself.¡± ¡°We lost our privileges to continue to rise up the Tower. So we decided to start a tattoo shop and a inn. We used hollow snake bones to create the iconic Twin Dragon tattoos both of us have.¡± ¡°You guys sound like one interesting pair of siblings.¡± This girl was interesting. I wished to keep her. We would¡¯ve been quite good sisters. Too bad she would probably blindly advance to the level 10 zones and die like the rest of them. ¡°Ak¡¯li, I wanted to ask you this, but-¡° She seemed to be hesitating. ¡°What is it? Ask me anything.¡± I smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a bit rude to ask this I think. Where are the bathrooms?¡± ¡°You want to wash yourself? Does the blood bother you? Follow me.¡± I stood up and placed the hood over my head again. ¡°Thank you!¡± Camille, the girl I met that day. Was someone unforgettable. I remember the first day I met her even today. ¡°The Tallest Daisy. Heh, that title. I wonder how she is doing today.¡± I smoked a cigarette and smiled as I puffed out smoke. ¡°Ak¡¯li, would you mind cutting your hair any time soon?¡± A male voice came from behind me. I grabbed my disorderly hair and tied it up in a ponytail. The Twin Dragon tattoo on my back shone green for a moment as I stood up and went to greet the man standing behind me. ¡°Hi, long time no see Rig!¡± I smiled bitterly. "What''s up my former comrade? What brings a smile to your face at these times when my position as the number 1 is being challanged?" "I was just reminiscing about an old friend." "Did that friend of yours die?" "Nope, she should be coming for you sooner or later in my opinion." "Oh great, another suicidal bastard that wants to fight me. What did you tell that friend of yours this time?" Rig asked her. "Nothing, it was her own decision after she heard our story. I never mentioned your name though." "Great..." Rig laughed out load and grabbed Ak''li''s shoulder. "Let''s go get a drink. I need to speak with you both." "Sure." I looked down into the streets and a streak of pink flashed through the streets. My eyes must''ve fooled me for a second. I thought I saw someone from the past... Chapter 3.1 - Abyssal Forest "Tell me more about yourself." The girl that introduced herself as Ak''li asked me. The question caught me off-guard. I''ll be honest. This whole situation was weirding me out. I just went with it because I felt I might regret it in the future. "What''s there more to say about myself though?" I replied with a question. I was telling her the truth, my life was without any major events. "I could say some things about my past though," I said. "Please do, I might tell you some secrets then too." Ak''li put a hand over her mouth as she laughed. I was stunned by the beauty of her smile. This black-haired girl which suddenly appeared in my life has started to grow on me. "I was born into a family of four. I am the youngest of three children. My parents never expected much of us and just let us do whatever as long as we were good people. That could be the reason why I don''t really think things through before going somewhere." I started telling her about my family. "So you''re the youngest, same with me. I was born into a family of twelve. I have 6 sisters and 3 brothers not including myself. Bo''lee and I were the last born and the most talented between us siblings. Our clan trained us and educated us until we were 15 and we were sent here..." Ak''li''s facial features contorted as she continued: "I think it was our fault we failed the trial. We''ve become the Tower''s equivalent of NPCs after breaking the rules." she said with a grim tone. "Rules?" I had to inquire. "You''ll get to know them as you reach level 1. Let''s not talk about my past anymore though. I feel like I said enough." Ak''li stared at me with a smile. But I could tell, her smile had deeply hidden emotions that not even I could tell what they were. "Right- I was supposed to live my life with no care in the world. I was excited when I came here. I had a reason to actually do something. I had something interesting to do." I couldn''t figure out which face I was supposed to make here. Was I happy right now? Or maybe a bit melancholic. "So why don''t you seem happy?" she asked me. I looked at her tattoo filled back and just stopped speaking. I let her take the lead. "Do you know what you can gain when you reach the end of the Tower?" she grabbed my hand as though we were a couple and smiled. "A wish. No limits, and a single wish." she looked me into the eye and then smiled so hard that her eyes closed. The more I looked at her the more I felt her beauty was transcended the mortal realms. "Are you a fairy?" I blurted out something without thinking.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "Hah! Nice one! Sorry to disappoint you, we are still humans." she laughed and held my hand even tighter. Was she nervous? "Your family must miss you," I said. "Not at all, to them, we were nothing more than weapons. Children trained for the final trial." "What wa-?" a hand landed on my mouth. It stopped me from speaking further. I looked into Ak''li''s eyes and widened my own. Her eyes had changed color to a golden one. "I may act friendly but still- We are not friends, girl. This is a good-hearted warning from me. Don''t mess with former rankers. Not even those who were corrupted." Ak''li stopped holding my hand and left towards the inn. I looked at her still shocked and then looked at the place where she left me at. A giant bathhouse. "So she did take me to take a bath." I smiled and stopped thinking of the event that just transpired. I entered the bathhouse and got a change of clothing while I was at it. I placed my armor into a locker I bought and went to take a bath.
Rankers. A term used for the ten highest climbers of the Towers. The names of the ten rankers of the Tower of White have never been disclosed. It could be said that all of them besides the rank 1 are mysterious people. But for some reason. All of them were making strange movements lately. The rank 5 suddenly disappeared, rank 2 and 7''s initials have switched places on the scoreboard. It all started to make less and less sense. But to Cam that was unimportant. She stood at the portal to the next zone and sighed. Her second day was spent trying to speak to Ak''li once again but she was nowhere to be found. She then left and slept at the inn. As soon as the sun struck its light on the city she went and opened the portal towards the next zone.
Warning! The climber is still not level 1 and has no ID set up! Your record won''t be recorded if you clear the zone. Do you wish to enter the level 1 zone [Abyssal Forest] ? Y/N?
"Yes." and her figure flickered out of existence. She appeared in a forest similar to the last one. But this one''s trees were gray and lifeless while still having dark green leaves on them. The forest ground was riddled with stones and pebbles which made it uncomfortable to walk on with the shoes she was wearing. Her equipment was underlevelled and she too was underlevelled for this zone. From the information she gathered she guessed leveling up would be easy but the environment was plain hellish. "It is colder..." she commented and looked around. Unlike the former forest where the time was in an eternal twilight here, it seemed to be an eternal night. "I''ll make a fire," she said and used her knife to get some firewood to prepare for a campfire. Her days in the second zone had started and she felt this zone would last longer than the last one by a lot. She checked her status for the first time since entering.
No ID set Level 0 84% towards level 1
Class: Ranger Ranger Class Bonuses: +3 DEX, +1 STR per level
Stats HP 100/100 MP 60/60
VIT:10 STA:8 STR:9
DEX:11 INT:6 WIS:7
"Fair enough. I need to gather skills as well. I have 2 green and one black slot left." I frowned and thought of my survival plan for the time being. Chapter 3.2 - Abyssal Forest, New Encounters
Level 1! Various Tower abilities are now unlocked. You can now use [Status] to see your enemy''s level. Abilities [Class] [Skill Analysis] [Inventory] and [Repair] are available.
I smiled as I took out the last worm that came out of the ground. They appeared as soon as I started the fire. "It seems that either light or heat attracts them." I checked on their corpses hoping to find some drops. There were none. With their corpses dismantled using my knife I took a look at their meat and frowned. It was all gray and mushy, I doubted it was edible. I checked on the scales that I managed to pick up from them.
Deep Worm''s Scales (tier 1 crafting material) - Scales that have fallen off a Deep Worm that grew up in an abyssal biome. Items crafted with this have a chance to obtain a [Slippery] Modifier.
"I wonder if I can coat my jerkin with this..." I glanced at my dagger and decided to do something I didn''t do in a long time. First thing I did was check my inventory. A square screen which was separated into a 10x20 grid appeared. This was the inventory I just gained. I looked at the items I had and took note of how much each item took up. One material item took up to one single slot and something like a trunk took up a 4x4 space. "I have a lot of string which Ak''li made me buy and a glass bottle." I look at my mostly empty inventory and smile. I took out a bit of string and used my dagger to make holes in the scales. After doing that I placed each scale neatly on my jerkin and arranged them so they protected my chest and belly area accordingly. After I finished modifying my armor I got a notification about a new passive skill. [Modify lvl.0] was its name. It did just what I thought it did. It allowed me to see if something is modifiable and to modify something. I was being a lot more productive in the short time I was here than I expected. I checked the jerkin''s stats before putting it on.
Shabby Jerkin (Common) [Modified with Deep Worm Scales] Durability: 11/12 Armour Rating: 2.5 Speed Modifier: 1x Description: A beginner equipment modified to suit the owner (ID N/A)
"It''s different than enchanting. The durability increased but the speed modifier has been lowered. Does that mean I''ll be slower? Anyway, I should try repairing it too. [Repair]!" I say nicely as a dim white light covers the jerkin in my hands. "It didn''t change but the durability was restored...!!" I suddenly got an epiphany. Probably a bit of a delayed one now that I think about it. "Enchant," I repeated the process of enchanting and repairing until I got what I wanted. "Enchant!" I said one last time before my mana ran dry and a change happened in the item.
Spectral Shabby Jerkin (Common) [Modified with Deep Worm Scales] Level 1 body equipment Durability: 11/12 Armour Rating: 2.5 Speed Modifier: 1x [Covenant with the Spectrals lvl.0] - The wearer is blessed by a low-ranked spectral spirit. All spectrally based abilities gain an additional 0.3% more flat experience Description: A beginner equipment modified to suit the owner (ID N/A)
"Phew," I wiped off the sweat from my brows as I let out a sigh of relief. The chaotic mana listened to me this time as I was enchanting. It seemed that I had made a pretty good equipment piece for my level. Before I put it on I decided to look at it one last time and noticed that the ends of the jerkin had flickered in and out of existence for a while before stopping. "Does enchanting modify the properties of the materials as well?" I asked myself before putting it on. It felt heavier but much more powerful. It was hard to describe the feeling of the ability described but I could feel a certain pressure gathering whenever I thought about my skills. "I should''ve never doubted myself. I am invincible with this skill combination!" I put my dagger away and took out my bow and arrows as I ran towards the center of the zone again. From the information I got from the sibling I concluded that each zone below level 10 has a level cap. I can only be level 1 99% experience here. Which meant! "I can farm all the monsters and then the zone boss before going higher," I smirked and located the next swarm of worms. 4 Deep Worms gathered around me and scuttled around my looking for an opening in my defenses.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. I throw my dagger at one of them and kill them instantly. I shoot two arrows at one and the other two are left to be dealt with for later. I was running low on mana even before the fight so I stalled for some time before firing with [Barrage] and killing both of them. Each worm gave me 1% of experience in general and for [Barrage].
[Unknown''s POV] "Achoo!" I sneezeed for the first time since coming to the Tower of White. Must be the trees. For all the worrying my partners had for me I never saw the dangers of the zones after level 0. They all felt the same. The only thing that changed was the location. It wasn''t a cave anymore but a pitch black forest. "Abyss my ass this looks like someone threw a giant paint bucket over it and called it done," I commented on the appearance of the trees as I walked towards the center. My ID on the scoreboards has been decided a long time ago. I lost my inital abilities since the Tower was governed by True Gods but I still managed to influence them to leave me with my origin ability.
Starchart Chimera Level 1 84% towards level 1
Class: Monk (R-1) Monk Class Bonuses: +3 VIT +1 DEX, +1 STR per level, Mana is changed to Origin Energy
Stats HP 100/100 OE 100/100
VIT:14 STA:5 STR:10
DEX:10 INT:10 WIS:4
"Coming to this world was a pain in the ass and now I have to go through these trials like some weakling." I frowned at the sight of these low stats and sighed. In the end, I could do nothing besides grinding my stats back to a reasonable level. I had my body with me at least. This was the only good thing about this trial. "Another human?" a female voice, young it appeared to be. I heard it behind me, I must''ve not dreamt it? Impossible, someone actually came this close to the center before me? I was shocked or so to say. Was she like me? Did she call me human? Wasn''t it obvious I was a chimera? Was the tail not a giveaway in itself? I grinned stupidly as I saw her pink hair and shabby armor. "Oh look, another newbie like myself." I said and stood firmly in place, with my hands behind my back. Must''ve scared the poor girl because I clearly saw a light flash through her when my tail came out into the light. Too bad, too bad. She will have to--!?? "Oh my." I blurted out without thinking, three, no four arrows were stuck in my metallic scaled tail. Decorating it with blood oozing out of them. Must''ve been a lucky shot. I thought. And then another barrage of arrows hit my tail. "WHAT IN THE STARS ARE YOU DOING!?" I yelled out and dodged her oncoming attacks. "Killing the worm boss... Oh, it''s yours?" Was she blind? Wasn''t it obvious it was a tail? What worms was she talking about anyway? It couldn''t be she actually hunted those lowly beings in this zone instead of the actual monsters? How come I couldn''t dodge her first attack? I asked myself and tried restarting our conversation. "Let''s restart. My ID''s Starchart Chimera, and yours?" I asked with a smile while hanging off a branch with my tail. I could see how she could mistake me for a human. I did look quite similar to those naked monkeys. But that was because of my origin ability and not some evolutionary traits as they called it. "ID? Oh yeah I still haven''t set it." I saw her fiddle through the system screens for a moment and then she introduced herself. "Hello, my ID is Spectra. Nice to meet you Chimera." She put away her bow. I took that as a sign to come down from the tree.
"Nice to meet you Chimera." I said as I glanced back and forth between the scaly tail and the dark gray skinned person in front of me. For someone that looks so strikingly similar to a human he sure didn''t act like one. He stood on his toes high up and walked like a panther stalking its next prey. "So what are you doing here?" I asked. I decided not to attack the strange humanoid as he seemed to be a contestant as well. Ak''li told me to be wary of all who are still contesting the scoreboards but I felt I might trust this guy. "I was sent here as part of the level 1 zone of course. Is it wrong if I asked you to tell me what you''ve found so far around here? Did you find the zone boss?" "Ah, about that. I need to share it right?" "Share what?" He looked at me suspiciously. I thought he may have thought I got some good drop from the zone boss. Which I still haven''t found yet. "The Zone Quest?" I said quietly as I tried to hide the fact that I started another quest so soon in the climb. "There are quests in these damn Towers as well?!" He looked to be irritated and kicked the tree closest to him. "Poor tree. Nevermind that, just go to the inverted tree an hour away from here and you''ll find a small talking monkey that will give you the quest." I pointed in the general direction he should be going and left. "Inverted tree?" "Yeah, you know, it grew inside and not outside, it seemed hollow so I took a look inside and noticed it was much bigger than I thought. The monkey''s kind of grumpy so, beware." "Hey, what system are you from? I don''t remember any humanoid races with pink hair and such body types as yours in the known systems." "System?" I was perplexed by his question but I answered to the best degree I could. "I''m from Earth. Thanks for asking." "I''ll try to visit your system when I finish the climb. I hope I find good fighters there!" he ran off and left me wondering of how much bigger is the universe if people like that existed. Anyway, back to the usual. Loot was of importance. And hunting worms had been a profit. All in all I got a full inventory worth of stuff I needed to organize. First were the actual equipment drops. I got two. And one broke as I tried enchanting it. So I got one in the end.
Deep Scaled Goggles (uncommon) Level 1 headgear equipment Durability 9/9 Armor Rating: 2 Speed Modifier: 1x Light Resistance +5% Slash Resistance +10% Pierce Resistance -15% Description: Goggles made out of Deep Worm scales, the deep worm''s scales special properties made the goggles highly resistant to slash attacks but highly vulnerable to piercing attacks. They aren''t shaded but still protect the wearer from light attacks.
I was going to wear them nevertheless but still, looking at the first uncommon piece of gear that dropped for me was like looking at a real piece of beef after eating only monster meat for a few days. Chapter 4.1 - Town of Insignia Wearing the goggles that covered half of her face and reminded her more of a mask than anything else she sat down on the floor and recapped what she was supposed to be doing with her quest. That was me, Cam. The quest that the monkey had given be was weirdly easy for all the fuss about the difficulty of the first ten floors I''ve been hearing.
Find a crystal
You''ve been given the assignment to find any crystal and bring it back to the quest giver monkey. Depending on the quality and type of crystal you will receive an appropriate reward.
Surely enough it was easy. I just had to find any crystal. The various games of my former world, Earth, have taught me that ores of any kind are always in caves. Not like common sense helped with that either. Sorry, I''ve been getting off topic a lot more lately. I strolled through the forest and looked for whatever looked like it could hold crystals. I''ve encountered a few giant rocks that towered above me and I was unable to break them open so I just marked them and went on to search for some that I could actually break. Not long after I picked up random stones and started crushing them one after another. Most of them were empty or just plain rocks. One had a silvery mineral called Mythril. I think I heard about this stuff back on Earth but I am not sure what it was used for. "You!" A familiar voice called out for I presume myself and I frowned. I guess he had gotten the quest as well. "Yeah?" I turned and saw that ash-kin dude from earlier. A chimera? Did he call himself that? I was not sure. "You got the quest?" "You..." his complexion darkened when he heard me. "Oh, so you didn''t?" I guessed. "You need to share it." He answered like it was a matter of fact. "Do I now?" I smiled and looked through the various stones I broke for any other minerals that seemed useful. "Oh yeah, you better share the mission with me or I''ll make sure none of us clear this floor!" I stared at him as though he was an idiot and thought about it for a moment. Did I need any companions at the time? Not really, he would only slow me down even more than I slowed myself down. I looked at him for a good minute or two without speaking much and then opened my mouth to tell him something but I was interrupted by a white light that burst from a stone I broke open. "What?" He and I asked ourselves as we looked at the pure white crystal that was embedded inside the stone. Since it was technically mine I could identify it using the system. "Arcanium Crystal..." I thought about the name and then stored it inside my inventory while the ash-kin was looking at me with dumbfound curiosity. "So? What was that?" "Arcanium," I answered shortly and went to the monkey without bothering to listen to what the man had to say.
"I see you''ve finished the quest. You may enter the next town now. Here''s a little bonus reward for bringing me this big of a crystal." the monkey with scales instead of fur smiled as he held the palm-sized crystal in his hand. His other hand was holding three different gems that I guessed had skills in them. "You may choose one. You in the back as well!" he waved at someone behind me.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. I shouldn''t have said someone but that one. That ash-kin. "Do I pass as well?" "You''re together so yes." "Wait, wait, I never formed a party with him!" I answered. "You''re in a party formed by the gods." the monkey answered. "Oh, sure, whatever, just give me that green gem, I can''t get any more reds or a blue one." I grabbed the green gem and went through the portal to the level 1 town.
You have entered the level 1 town of Insignia. From level 1 to level 100 each town has a class altar. You may change your [Class] now.
"Insignia. Nice name." I muttered and looked where I appeared. It seemed to be a church and I was standing before a white marble altar with a red palm print on. Behind the altar was a white-haired and golden eyes old man wearing priest robes. He smiled at me and opened his mouth. "Are you ready to choose your class?" He asked me with his old raspy but a somewhat appealing voice. "I-I, yeah!" I stuttered before him. His magnificence had blinded me for a moment. I didn''t even notice the screen with different class options that appeared before me. There were the usual few like ranger, warrior, mage, and others but then there were the ones that I unlocked from my first two floors.
[Vitality Enchanter], [Spectral Archer], [Researcher of Spectrals], [Arcana]
"The only one I know the information of is the first one," I commented and pressed the others to get more knowledge about them. From what I could figure out the one that I was most suitable for was actually the researcher of spectrals. It gave a +1 bonus to all stats and a +2 to wisdom as well. But the Arcana class had no description other than that it gives a random growth skill. So I took [Arcana] because I damn well knew from Ak''li''s example what those types of growth skills could achieve if you were hard working and patient. I had all the time in the world so I had no problem with whatever skill I was given.
You''ve chosen the [Arcana] class. Please wait until we generate the most suitable skill and growth class for yourself.
"A class as well? Wait no, how did I even gain access to this class?" I pondered on the question for a while before another screen appeared.
[Arcana] turned into [Risen], gain +1 towards all variable stats every level. Gain another +2 to Dexterity. Skill [Spectral Nurture - Initiate Rank 1], the color of the skill has been changed to black.
Detected a black slotted skill. Do you wish to activate adjustment? Y/N?
"Yes?" I was confused but just let it do whatever.
[Spectral Nurture - Initiate Rank 1] turned into [Spectral''s Enchantment - Initiate Rank 0] Skill retains all former abilities and unlocks the variable stat SPIRIT. Your spirit stat starts at 5, to increase it you have to train.
"Uh... Sure." I looked at my status.
Spectra Level 1 99% towards level 2
Class: Risen (R-1) Risen class bonuses: +1 to all stats per level, +2 to DEX every level
Stats HP 100/100 OE 100/100
VIT:14 STA:5 STR:10
DEX:10 INT:10 WIS:4
SP: 5
"Farming experience was damn worth it. Anyway, one more thing to do before I get a room in an inn." I took out the green skill gem that I got as a quest reward and absorbed it.
[Magic Missile Lv.0] - Add a +1-5 arcane damage modifier while active to any projectile fired.
"Damn, screens galore." I frowned at the number of screens I''ve seen today and sighed. At least I won''t be seeing them any time soon. Since I wasn''t planning on going to the next floor for a week or so. I needed to improve my equipment as much as possible until then. "Let''s see, a new bow, quiver, boots, gloves and probably new pants as well." I took count of all the materials I had and thought of what I should sell and what to use for myself. It was obvious I was planning on using the scales to create some gloves since they were actually pretty flexible for the durability they had. "I''ll start by finding an inn." I was forced to yawn due to my tiredness and went outside the church after saying goodbye to the priest standing at the altar. Finding an inn was a top priority then. Chapter 4.2 - Town of Insignia Insignia was a city covered in pure white snow that sparkled under the high risen sun. I was amazed and irritated by the shine. My eyes hurt when I came out and I barely managed to find my way even with the 5% light resistance I got from the shaded goggles. I know I was still calling them goggles but that''s only because the item called itself goggles and not me. If I had a say in this, I would''ve changed the name to a half-mask or something similar. Anyway, the city was bright and irritating. I thought it was bright enough in the church but damn this was even brighter. I found a way to the nearest inn and bought a room for a week. With breakfast and dinner included. I had to sell almost all of my useless junk items to get enough money for the whole week. I was sitting in the lobby of the inn and waiting for my breakfast when I saw the silhouette of a familiar pair of people. I smiled and waved them over. They were the bird couple from earlier, Vastay''s, I think their race was called. The girl was indifferent when she saw me but the guy behind her was obviously thinking I was a pain in the ass. "Hey there, what''s up?" she greeted me. The name was Eve I thought. "Hey, nice seeing you here again. Could I ask for some help?" I got straight to the point. No sane person would want to interact with people she angered. "Ugh, Eve, she''s here just to leech of us. Let''s leave." the guy cut himself into our conversation and urged his girlfriend to leave. "Shut it." she said with a deadpan look and turned to me. "I''ll help you." She was a nice person after all. "From one ranger to another." Oh so she was a ranger as well. Well, I wasn''t one anymore. "Right, well, let''s just go with that." I laughed it off and continued. "It looks like you were here for a day longer than I, do you perhaps know where I could find a place to learn some crafting skills," I asked. "Gem skills or passive ones? Got any on your particular craft on your mind?" She took a seat and so did the irritating guy. "Is there a difference?" I asked when I already knew half of the answer. "Gem skills take up a slot of course so that''s that. Knowing you''re a ranger I doubt you''ll find a slot free for a crafting skill any time soon. Passive ones are harder to learn and may take from weeks to years to learn to do correctly. I recommend going for an easier craft like woodworking or tailoring if you''re really interested in stuff like that." Eve explained. She was such a nice girl, what had she seen in that guy then for her to be his girlfriend? "I was thinking something along the lines of woodworking as well, but I think wooden bows might not make the cut with damage outputs in the long run." "You''re still thinking of wood as the run of the mill stuff you had in your world right?" She smiled. "Oh god, you''re right." I held my palms together in realization. A habit I should''ve been ridden of in elementary school. "So..." "So, you can find trees that are quite more durable or flexible in the towers. Also, there''s a whole load of enchantments that people could make on your weapon as well. I already see your bow has an enchantment so I guess you found someone to enchant your bow in the meantime." She pointed at my bow with a smile. Oh god she''s amazing. I had to find a way to get her in my party. I lost myself in thought and was brought back with a grunt from that guy. "Is that all? We need to get going Eve, our clan told us to reach floor 10 at least and we can return." "You''re not competing to be rankers?" "Why would we want to have a deathwish? Rankers can be challenged by anyone above floor 25 and they could die during those challenges. Being a ranker means that you either try to rise as much as possible so the hunters can''t win or to bury your own grave." I almost choked due to the pressure his words threw at me. Rankers were amazing and scary. As I was lost in thought again he continued. "Most rankers are psychopaths that have only killing on their mind, most forgot about climbing the tower a long time ago. We had someone in our clan lose his sanity after joining the rankers during his Grace Ceremony-" Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. "Right, it was nice hearing that and all but can I get to know where I can find a woodworker''s union?" I cut him off and asked Eve. "Right down the street here is the Crafter''s Union. You could try asking there. But Insignia is mostly a adventure center so the quality of the work might be a bit worse than you''re used to if you come from a crafter family." "My family is mostly architects so I have no right to judge the craftsmanship of such people." "Oh, you''re an architect? So you''re a ranger, wannabe-tailor and an architect. Talk about a jack of all trades." "Would you please stop talking? I am trying to make a friend here." Eve frowned at him and shut him up. "Go to-" He opened his mouth wanting to finish his sentence but a claw hand covered his mouth and grabbed him by the collar. "Nope, we''re going now." Eve stood up and smiled wryly. "I''m extremely sorry about his attitude, he''s in a hurry to finish this ceremony we are going through so he can return home." "It''s alright I understand." I waved my hand at her and watched her leave. "[Skill List]."
[Barrage Lv.1] - 10% towards level 2, fires a barrage of 3 spectrals projectiles after usage.
[Spectral Enchant Lv.0] - 5% towards level 1, Enchants an item with a random enchantment.
[Magic Missile Lv.0] - Add a +1-5 arcane damage modifier while active to any projectile fired.
Empty Green Slot
Empty Blue Slot
- Each succesful enchant gives you a temporary buff, buff lasts longer depending on the SP stat
"Aight, time to find some gems as well." I stood up and went outside. I was temporarily blinded by the lights of the city which were even stronger in the morning than the afternoon. I first went to the Crafter''s Union and spoke with the person working on the counter at the entrance and asked her or him or it whatever it was where I can learn how to make bows. I was sent down one of the least populated paths in the building and reached a tree garden with three people working on different items. One tatooed bulky man was working on a piece of furniture and the other two working together on a piece of black colored wood. I greeted them by saying: "Hi." really shyly and waited for them to notice me. The bulky man noticed me first and he came up to me and said : "Comission or looking for a job?" "Latter." "Guys we have another victim!" He yelled at the other two and I finally caught sight of their faces. They were...satyrs? Brothers I assumed. "I want to learn how to make bows. Could you teach me?" "It''s going to cost you." "I have no money, but I can enchant things. Not very reliable but it is an enchantment nevertheless." I tried my first plan. I already expected him to decline the offer but he smirked and threw a silver colored bow at me. "Enchant. Right here." he sat down and...waited? "R-Right!" I sat down and used my enchantment skill without even taking a breath. A burst of white light came upon the item and I checked its stats.
Silverwood Thaumatic Bow (rare] level 5 short bow weapon Durability:100/100 Attack Power:1-98 Crit Chance:0.1% Crit Multiplier:10x Traits: [Thaumaturgy lv.1] [Growth lv.0] [Thaumaturgy lv.1] - You can cast the lv.0 spells [Life Channel] and [Identify] from the thaumatic spell book [Growth. lv.0] - Other traits have a miniscule chance to level up with usage.
"I-I did it! First try!" I stared at the short bow in my hand and was shocked by the enchantment. "Let me see." the bow was grabbed from my hands by one of the satyrs. "Aye, this is decent for a beginner. But ultimately worthless for a bow." "W-What?!" I thought I did good though. "Spells are affected by spell damage and not physical damage. That''s why you don''t see rangers hurling fireballs around girly. Anyway, The damage was lowered by 2 so I guess the penalty is not too bad." What about the growth trait though? Was it there before? I should''ve checked the bow before enchanting... "Anyway now we have a decent product to sell to those weirdos that go with a spell slinger ranger build. Haha, my mates over here will teach you how to craft bows and some other stuff using some of the common wood types. Doubt you''ll ever work with silverwood though, that material costed us a fortune already, you''re lucky you didn''t break the bow. We would''ve sent assasins after you girly." the other satyr which was holding the black bow from earlier explained. "Does that mean I can become an apprentice here?" "Yeah sure mate. First job is to cut down that tree. You''ll enchant one item a day for us. Nothing too expensive though, I saw the worry you had in ya'' eye when you were told that you had to enchant an item. Not really confident in your skills are ya?" He grinned. "It''s still level 0 so yeah, not really." "That explains a lot, but not like levelling the skill would help the success rate a lot. Enchanting is different, no matter if learnt or from a gem, you need to understand the fundementals to guide the energy inside the item." The satyr explained. "What are you talking ''bout you have no idea how to enchant." The burly man remarked from the sides. "I read a few books here and there, at least we can read and not just go and fight like your race." the satyr glued his eyes on the burly man and said in a sarcastic tone. "Aight. Break time over now, bring the girl a change of clothes will ya? Brother, you might go and get her an ax or something sharp, I''ll be the first one to teach her the basics of woodworking and bowmanship." the other satyr cut in their little fight and ordered them around. I looked at him in awe of his social skills. And that''s how my temporary job as an assistant of two satyrs and a burly man whose race I didn''t know started.