《Summoned to another world, but I'm a coward!》 Chapter 1 - God already kidnapped so many people that he created a cheat shop! Summoned to another world,but I''m a coward! Chapter 1 -God already kidnapped so many people that he created a cheat shop!
Ricardo "Rick" McDonald woke up and screamed as he remembered the pain he suffered moments earlier. It took a long time for him to claw at his body senselessly before he noticed the lack of blood and broken limbs. ''What happened? I remember crashing into a truck, but afterwards...'' Slowly regaining his senses, Rick pushed away his messy black bangs and looked at his surroundings. A grey, smoky expanse surrounded him like fog enveloping an island. A majestic musical tone sounded out, instantly creating an empty expanse a few lengths around Rick. Before he could wonder what was happening, a glowing, gentle angel appeared before his bewildered eyes. "Motherfucker! Am I dead? Is this heaven?" "Welcome to the Space In Between." The Angel spoke, her gentle tone somehow calming Rick down from his post-death anxieties. Her long blond hair radiated mystically as if they were snakes, further entrancing the bewildered young man. "To answer your question, you have died, but instead of letting your immortal soul move to the next stage, you have been given an opportunity by God few others have been presented." This gave Rick some pause. He felt as if he should be tormented by the wounds of his crash, the regrets of not living a full life and leaving behind his family and girlfriend.''There''s some kind of freaky mind control going on. Still, I admit its helpful. There''s no use dwelling on my past life. Besides, this scenario seems oddly familiar...'' "Let me guess." Rick spoke slowly. "I''ll be transported or reincarnated to another world by God?" The angel smiled and nodded appreciatively. "That is correct Rick. Like you, God has become enamored with the new ''Isekai'' genre of fictional media. So much that he has implemented his own version, even creating a special world of magic and mysticism for people like you to fulfill your dreams." "People like me.. so I''m not the first?" "Indeed. God does not wish for a single person to destabilize an entire world without competition and adversity. It would be too ''boring''. Several mortals from your Earth have been chosen to live their lives in the new world over the years, either through reincarnation or transportation.Many of these individuals have become heroes, villains or other figures of renown with the gifts granted by God." This caused Rick to release a laugh. "Can''t do without the obligatory OP cheats, right?" "God deems this as an essential part of the Isekai genre and has granted his chosen mortals a choice of powers to take advantage of in the new world." The angel matched his laugh. "This initially led to chaos as several individuals picked overwhelmingly strong powers, or powers that seemed weak initially but started a chain reaction where they quickly grew out of control when let loose in the new world. By now, God has organized his gifts into a Point Shop for convenience and prevent other unforseen issues. Let me give you access to the interface." With a wave of her hand, the Angel sent an invisible form of energy that somehow resonated with Rick''s soul. Before he could ponder what those undulations were, a transparant gold window appeared before Rick.
Evaluation of Ricardo McDonald Tallying the karma and achievements of Ricardo McDonald... complete. You have lived for 24 years: 1200 points. You have graduated from high school with honors: 500 points. You have graduated from a moderately renowned university with a bachelor''s degree: 900 points. You have lived virtuously in your society with nothing more offensive than speeding tickets to your record: 947 points. You have donated a total amount of $165 to charity: 50 points. God''s gift to all chosen mortals: 10000 points. Total points available to spend in the Point Shop: 13597 points.
Rick looked at the gold colored window in astonishment and wondered why it wasn''t blue.''Damn, my entire life just amounted to 3597 points? That''s brutal. If I knew my soul would be picked by God and be sent to another world I would have dedicated my entire life to charity.'' Shaking his head at all the missed opportunities, he swiped his hand and let the window disappear. "Now that you have gained your points, you should inspect your status window and plan your approach to power." Rick waited for the window to appear, only to be disappointed when nothing happened. "Is there some kind of bug?" "No. This is something you should be capable of doing yourself. Try it now by thinking or saying Status Window." "Status Window."
Status
Name: Ricardo McDonald Class: None
Age: 24 Subclasses: None
Level: 1 Fame: 0
Race: Earth Human
Health: 100 Mana: 100
Experience: 0/100
Titles
Mortal of Earth: ???. Hidden.
Attributes
Strength: 10 Intelligence: 10
Dexterity: 10 Wisdom: 10
Agility: 10 Perception: 10
Constitution: 10 Luck: 10
Free attribute points: 0
Elemental affinities
Earth: 0 Wind: 0
Water: 0 Fire: 0
Light: 0 Darkness: 0
Traits
None
"So I''ve been turned into a vanilla human I see." Rick nodded, a little disapointed he couldn''t bring his intelligence to bear in the new world. "These attributes seems self-explanatory, but I''d like to be a little more careful. Can I get an explanation on what each attribute means?" "Depending on the level of your general appraisal skill, you will be able to glean more details from the System. However, to answer your question I will temporarily bestow you with intermediate appraisal mastery so you can inspect them yourself. Take your time. If you want more detail, then I suggest you raise your appraisal mastery in the new world or buy it directly in the Point Shop." The angel sent a small ray of light between Rick''s eyes, and he somehow felt an instinct take over his eyes. He concentrated on the words, which resulted in a new window popping from the status window.
Strength
Strength affects your ability to exert force with your physical body. This includes physical strength, resistance to knockdowns, physical endurance, inventory weight capacity and more.
Dexterity
Dexterity affects your physical precision and control of your physical body. It affects the chance of achieving critical hits, the success rate of crafting delicate components, your ranged accuracy and more.
Agility
Agility affects your physical speed and how well you can move your entire body. It raises the nimbleness of your footwork,reduces the amount of stamina spent, increase your melee accuracy and more.
Constitution
Constition affects how durable your physical body is and determines how well you recover from damage. It affects your total health, your natural healing rate, the depth of your stamina and more.
Intelligence
Intelligence affects your magical capacity and your thinking ability. It affects your memory, your internal calculation rate, your total mana and more.
Wisdom
Wisdom affects your problem solving capability and your affinity with magic. It affects your attunement toelemental affinities, your mana regeneration, your resistance to mental compulsion and more.
Perception
Perception affects the way you perceive the world both physically and magically. It affects how succesfully you perceive hidden threats, the accuracy of future predictions, your ranged accuracy and more.
Luck
Luck minutely affects random chance and the ability to turn chaos in your favor. It marginally affects the success rate of all your actions, amplifies the positive effects of titles, increases your interactions with Gods and more.
''These stats seem inclusive, though a bit too slanted towards combat. I have a feeling what I''m seeing right now doesn''t scratch the surface of what the System is really capable of doing.'' Rick nodded carefully to himself.''I need more information.'' "Can you give me some more information on the world I''m about to enter and some advice on common builds others have chosen?" Sadly, the angel shook her head. "God does not permit us or any summoned companions to aid you in your choices. You must utilize your own wits and follow your own path to power." "That sucks... but it makes sense, I guess." Rick shrugged. While he really liked to learn more about the world so he could make more educated guesses, he had no choice but to go blindly and hope things go well. "Then let''s move on. Can you call up the Point Shop?" "Certainly Rick." The Angel waved her hand, wiping away all the blue boxes in order to make room for the new golden box. "I cannot advise you anymore from this point on. I can only warn you that the Point Shop is only available to you now. Make the most of the opportunity and spend all your points, for you will not be able to spend your remaining points elsewhere."
Point Shop
Races Titles
Skills Traits
Classes Items
Attributes Reincarnation
Companions Knowledge
Total Points: 13597
Just seeing the main categories of the Point Shop cleared a few things up, but introduced many other questions.''Why are titles a seperate category? And it seems like if I want to know more about the new world and how it works, I have to buy the knowledge seperately.'' Curious, Rick mentally clicked the first category and checked the first page of this seemingly endless list.
Races
You may spend points to change your base race, mix races or introduce a racial bloodline of varying power. Races affect your physical and magical properties, which includes your physical length, your attribute growth rate and your trait and skill acquisition. If you do not spend any points in this category, your race will remain as an Earth Human.
Race Points Description
Native Human 1 Native humans of the world of Avandis differ from humans of Earth in many subtle ways.Like magic and stuff.
Elf 300 Hippies, treehuggers and archery students love this race. They have a high affinity to Life and Earth magic and live much longer than many other races.
Dwarf 250 Dwarves are good miners, smiths and beer lovers. When they are not drunk, they are master craftsmen and sturdy warriors.
Vampire 2000 Not the sparkly kind. Sunlight is lethal to vampires and almost nothing provides any mitigation to it. In turn, they can live forever and enjoy powerful attribute and skill bonuses.
House Cat 10 Meow.
Dragon 30000 Dragons are the most powerful race of Avandis. They enjoy a wealth of attributes, infinite lifespan and are masters of different kinds of magic depending on their subrace. Dragons can shapeshift easily upon reaching their adult stage.
Dungeon Core 10000 Sentient Dungeon Cores are fixed emplacements that sacrifice much in order to gain power. They can claim territories, create monsters and feed on the suffering of mortals that enter.
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"Some of these descriptions are less than helpful." Rick politely pointed out.''Also, some of these race choices are crazy. Who in the world would have enough points to pick Dragon? And why in the world would you be crazy enough to turn into a dungeon core?'' "I believe one of my colleagues grew rather lazy when God assigned him the task of filling out the information on races in the Point Shop." The Angel sighed. "But there is a reason why knowledge is a category in the Point Shop." "Right, if I want to know something about this world of ''Avandis'', I gotta pay for it out of my own pocket. Let me see the other stuff first." Rick waved away the Races category and switched to Titles.
Titles
Titles are formally bestowed acknowlegements by Gods or the System in response to a notable achievement or action. Almost all titles are visible to everyone, even individuals who do not possess appraisal skills. Unlike traits, titles and their bonuses cannot be removed or negated by anything else than the original entity unless they are stronger. The titles of the Point Shop are bestowed by the Penultimate God and thus have priority over any other source, including the System. Also, certain titles that have special properties or have no context in the world of Avendis are allowed to be hidden.
Title Points Description
Prodigy 10000 You are a prodigy rarely seen in Avendis. You learn skills and obtain traits two times faster or easier.
Blessed by Gods 4000 You have gained the attention of the Gods and are gifted with several favors. You gain random blessings by at least two Gods of Avendis in addition to their continued attention.
Immortal 20000 You cannot die and will live forever unless you beseech the Penultimate God to end your life. However, this does not provide you with a way to escape traps that last forever. This title can be hidden.
Master Craftsman 4000 You are a master of many crafts that all other crafting has become familiarto you. Any skills related to crafting improve two times faster. Drastically reduces the failure rate of difficult works.
Casanova 2500 You are a master of seduction and a proficient lover. You are able to gain experience with each successful seduction. Anyone you are attracted to will become more amenable to your seduction. You gain complete control over the conception of offspring.
Limit Breaker 15000 Ordinary limitations by the System cannot oppose your destiny. You gain the capability to exceed the maximum limitations of any skills you possess, resulting in further mastery or the creation of new (sub)skills.
Anime Protagonist 9999 You are destined to live an interesting life. You are destined to be a hero/anti-hero/villain protagonist, with a healthy serving of plot armor and harem love interests. You have a compulsion to loudly shout out your skill activation and talk dramatically to every opponent you battle. This title can be hidden.
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Many of the titles boggled Rick''s mind even further. The prices of at least half of the titles were beyond Rick''s means, which gave further hints that many other Earthlings must have been dragged here by God that achieved much more in their lives than graduating from university. Unless there was a way to gain more points by sacrificing some stuff or gain some negative trait, there was simply no way for Rick to gain all those drool-worthy titles. ''It''s interesting that titles are both highly visible and not easy to remove. The fact that the page explicitly states that titles are very difficult to counteract means that there are plenty of threats in the world that can defeat you other than bashing your head in. I have to remember this and come back to this page once I finalize my strategy.'' Rick already had something in mind for his strategy, but he dilligently browsed the rest of the pages.
Skills
Skills are certain active or passive proficiencies that improve certain actions or activities. Skill mastery is divided into four stages: beginner, apprentice, journeyman, master. Skills can lead to the introduction of variations or subskills upon extensive use. Many skills can be taught to others upon reaching journeyman and master stage. You may purchase skills of varying mastery in the Point Shop.
Skill Points Description
Sword Mastery 10/200/3500/7000 You become more proficient in wielding any weapon that are categorized as swords. This skill allows you to bond with any special or legendary swords depending on mastery.
Wind Magic 300/600/5000/8000 You become proficient in using wind magic. This skill provides a large boost to wind affinity depending on mastery.
Persuasion 150/300/3000/6000 You are more capable of persuading other mortals to your point of view. Others will pay more attention to your words and you can unlock the charisma attribute depending on mastery.
Woodworking 400/800/4000/10000 You become proficient in using tools or magic to craft general objects from wood. You can gain the assistance of the System when crafting with wood. This skill boosts other (sub)skills related to woodworking depending on mastery.
Art 600/1200/5000/8000 You are able to appreciate any kind of general art, allowing you to gain minor benefits from any secrets you discover as well as improve your appraisal.
Leadership 400/1000/4000/7000 You are capable of leading others effectively, whether in administration or battle. You are able to reduce complex plans into simple instructions and convince large groups into following your orders depending on mastery.
Sprinting 200/900/1800/5000 You will be able to run faster in short distances with the assistance of mana and System-assisted footwork. You will be able to convert mana more efficiently into speed and utilize more profound footwork effectively depending on mastery.
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The skills varied wildly in costs depending on mastery.''It seems like getting a beginner mastery in any skill takes some effort, but not too much. Probably somewhere between hours and months depending on the specific skill. Getting to the Master stage is something most humans will work towards in their lifetimes considering the jawdropping point costs at the end. It''s probably worth it as well if you are willing to pay that much.''
Traits
Traits are special, solitary bonuses that provide a specific modifier. Traits are most often gained through the completion of quests and performing certain actions within your class. Some traits can stack, counteract or combine with other traits. A very rare amount of traits are hereditary upon gaining sufficient strength. Traits can be removed through completing very rare quests.
Trait Points Description
Inquisitive 400 Youhave a habit of digging deeper. You are more successful in unearthing secrets the more time you spend your time investigating.
Paranoid 700 You are afraid that ''they'' are coming to get you. You are much more sensitive to hidden threats, though this may occasionally result in false alarms.
Battle Hardened 500 You have walked many battlefields and have become familiar with blood and death. You will gain a large amount of mental resistance in combat and act as a beacon of morale.
Calm 300 You can remain calm in unusual or frightening situations. You gain a moderate amount of resistance to mental influences and will not easily grow scared or angered.
Shadow-touched 2000 You are touched by shadows, allowing you to gain a large amount of affinity to darkness. You are able to perform special interactions with shadows even without the use of mana.
One with Nature 3000 You have gained enlightement and have the ability to become one with nature. You have gained a large amount of life affinity and you are able to perform special interactions with plants and animals.
Pious 500 You have sincerely devoted much of your life to a God or Gods. You gain a large amount of affinity with the relevant God(s) and gain resistance to the influence of hostile Gods.
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The traits seemed much simpler than titles. They were probably much easier to obtain as well. Rick didn''t bother too much with this page except take note of a couple of interesting ones he might want to work towards in the future. Considering the cost of his future purchases, he couldn''t waste his points in this category.
Classes
Classes are System-recognized jobs or classifications that affect your growth potential and skill acquisition. In general, classes have no level limitations, butmany sophisticated classes can be difficult to acquire alone. Many of the most advanced classes are acquired by developing and evolving from more basic classes. Individuals may choose only one main class and a maximum of two subclasses (depending on traits). Subclasses do not affect attribute growth and have inferior trait and skill development. Classes can be changed or removed through the intervention by Gods. This service is provided bymany temples at high prices.
Class Points Description
Warrior 100 Warriors are basic and sturdy fighters capable of using many weapons to the battlefield. Warriors gain accelerated proficiency in learning how to utilize weapons and armor more effectively. Most warriors focus on developing their strength and constitution. Warriors are able to evolve into one of many specialized classes with moderate effort.
Wizard 700 Wizards are knowledge-based magicians who develop their magic by studying it extensively in order to understand their underlying mechanics. Wizards have extreme requirements for intelligence and wisdom, but are able to perform spells with utmost mastery and make their own variants with ease.
Blacksmith 400 Blacksmiths are general crafters able to create a wide variety of objects with metal. They can craft anything based primarily on metal such as weapons, armor tools and horseshoes, though not with exceptional quality and precision. They are able to absorb teachings, learn recipes and develop relevant skills faster than others. Blacksmiths are able to evolve in a wide variety of specialized classes with moderate effort.
Wolf Runner 2000 Wolf Runners are skirmishers who can bond with a pack of canine animals or monsters. Though weak without their pack, in the wilderness they are master scouts, harassers and ambush predators. Wolf Runners focus their attributes in many directions but agility and perception in particular.
Crossbow Sniper 1750 Crossbow Snipers are masters of long-ranged single-shot shooting with any ranged weapon, but crossbows especially. They are able to gain many specialized skills in the maintenance and use of a wide variety of crossbows. Crossbow Snipers focus mainly on Dexterity and Perception, but are also able to gain Precision if they do not already have access to this extra attribute.
Qi Refiner Cultivator 13000 Cultivators are a new, exotic kind of classes that utlize modified elemental mana in unusual, profound ways that resonate strongly with the existing laws of reality. Qi Refiners are the magicians of cultivators, able to use flying swords in formation or shape their Qi in profound elements that achieve strong and exotic effects. Qi Refiners rely heavily on perception and wisdom to advance, but cannot neglect other attributes.
Divine Singer 19000 Divine Singers are touched by a God or Gods the moment they acquire this class. Divine Singers are able to enchant and entrance others down to their very souls when they sing. This enhanced Singer class gain a large amount of attributes related to charisma and singing at the cost of giving up on free attribute points. Upon achieving their maximum level, they are granted a Pinnacle Quest which grants them an enormous amount of Divinity upon completing it succesfully, potentially letting them evolve into Gods.
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The classes varied from basic RPG staples like warrior or priest, to modern professions like Navy Seal or nuclear physisist, to ridiculously weird jobs like cultivator or grandtown crier.''There''s probably a few Chinese who have read too many Xianxia novelswho have started a cultivation sect in Avandis.''
Items
Items are objects such as weapons, armor, skill manuals, medicine, food and more. The Point Shop provides many items of power and convenience. Consider the storage of items when buying in bulk, as a System inventory is not provided by default. Unless stated otherwise, items are not soulbound and can be lost, destroyed, stolen or corrupted by others.
Items Points Description
Rusted Spear 5000 This is a mysterious, rusty spear. It looks old and useless, but there might be secrets hidden within this weapon. Perhaps it is a cursed weapon. Perhaps it is connected to a God. Perhaps it is a legendary weapon waiting to repaired. Or it might just be a piece of junk.
Spirex G63 Black Edition 2500 The latest Spirex smartphone, adapted to Avendis. This state-of-the-art consumer product has been strengthened significantly to resist damage and contains minor adaptations to make it work practically. This includes an automatic mapping function, a mana-rechargeable battery and connectivity to several of the most popular magical networks.
Everwine Gourd 8000 This ancient gourd is a practically indistructible source of endless wine. It hides a vast hidden plane regulated by a highly ingenious set of structures and mechanisms for the sole purpose of producing endless wine, as much as can be poured out by a typical gourd at a time.
Dimensional Ring 3000 This is a rare functional dimensional ring that hides a ten cubic meter miniature dimension. Any user can bind this ring and use minute amounts of mana to store and retrieve any object that fits within the space until there is no room left. No weight concerns are necessary with this high quality ring.
Unlimited Northridge Tooth Paste 50 Those with extreme dental hygiene concerns may purchase this tooth paste of the renowned Northridge brand to relieve themselves of rotting teeth. Advanced bacteria will naturally replicate more tooth paste from ambient mana, making it unlikely for the tooth paste to run out if used by a single person or a small group.
Chinese Zither 150 This is a high quality Chinese zither built with modern craftsmanship and tools. Though it lacks magical enhancements, it is open to any enchantment and further modification.
Full Plate Knight Armor 500 This set of heavy full-plated knight armor is optimized for horseback combat. Made out of modern steel and leather, this set is meticulously tailored to you and will fit like a glove. The armor lacks magical enhancements, but it is open to any enchantment and further modification.
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Like the previous category, Rick encountered a large amount of magical fantasy and modern items in seemingly random order. Fortunately, his sanity was saved by the filtering options. He could narrow his search to modern items only, or even cut off items above a certain cost.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Attributes
Additional attributes can affect you in ways that the basic attributes cannot or do so only weakly. Many extra attributes can be gained or learned by performing very specific actions, upon switching to a new class or gained by obtaining a blessing from a God. Once gained, attributes can be raised by training, assigning free attribute points or the completion of rare quests. Many mortals can only acquire a limited number of extra attributes and cannot be removed by anyone other than the Penultimate God.
Attribute Points Description
Precision 150 Youbecome more precise in your ranged attacks or by performing delicate work.
Charisma 200 You can gain an easier impression from other mortals, monsters and even Gods.
Disease Resistance 1000 Your body becomes more resilient to physical and some magical diseases.
Patience 400 Your mind becomes more patient, allowing you to complete monotonous work with more success. High patience allows you slim chances to gain enlightenment.
Aura 5000 You radiate an invisible aura that affects others depending on your fame/infamy. This aura can provide a substantial boost to morale and can pass off the benefits of a single, basic skillto your allies.
Divinity 20000 An attribute exclusive to Demigods (offspring of Gods) and Gods, this skill affects the strength at which you can bend reality and the System to your will. You can evolve into a full God upon gaining sufficient Divinity.
Dimensional Fluidity 7000 This exotic attribute allows you to phase your physical body in or out of your current dimension in reality.
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Attributes are not easy to obtain apparently. Unless your class specifically develops it, you have to spend many years to develop it specifically. There were many more interesting choices here, though the cost of some were just ridiculous. Still, some of the cheaper attributes might be worth a purchase, as Rick reckoned most other mortals didn''t start with these attributes and were at a disadvantage compared to him if he picked it immediately.
Companions
Companions are living, sometimes sentient lifeforms that may accompany you in your adventures. Any companions bought in this shop have complete loyalty to you when bought, but may lose it due to unfavorable actions or intervention by others. Companions can be removed or given up voluntarily through the System. Companions in this Point Shop can be turned immortal and soul-bound by paying double unless stated otherwise.
Companion Points Description
Millenial Cat 300 A millenial cat is a fairly common familiar for magicians. They can grow stronger and gain limited sentience over a long period of time by feeding it with elemental mana. They assist their masters with rodent extermination and detection of hidden magic.
Animated Plushy 100 Animated plushes are fairly common toys for the offspring of nobles. They possess limited magical sentience and can teach language, common sense and offer simple advice to many children (and older).
Ancient Magician Spirit 10000 A random, long-deceased magician of advanced class will be resurrected to spirit form and will become your companion for a long period of years. Depending on many factors, the spirit magician can provide advice, spot hidden objects, teach you many skills and even occasionally assist you in battle by sacrificing its spirit lifetime.
A.I. Chip 5000 A futuristic A.I. chip will be implanted in the back of your skull. This A.I. chip will possess a modern artificial personality and can grow alongside the master as it gains more interaction. The A.I. chip can share and help analyze any data it gains from its master''s senses and is capable of performing many complex calculations. The A.I. chip grows more capablewhen its master grows in levels.
Random Familiar Summoning 4000 You gain the ability to perform a complex summoning ritual that is aimed at providing you with an appropriate familiar that can assist you with your circumstances. You have no control over what type of familiar is summoned. This summoning can only happen once.
LivingSword 9000 You are accompanied by a sentient sword that can grow stronger and more capable as you gain in levels. This sword will start weak but can choose to evolve certain aspects when harvesting experience for its master, eventually growing into a legendary weapon. This sword cannot be broken easily but can be lost when dropped.
Twin Rockclaw Eagles 1000 Rockclaw eagles are highly capable birds native to Avandis that are not easily tamed. Each Rockclaw eagle is a rare companion to nobles, but they can hunt many quick and stealthy prey smaller than them with ease. These twins are spiritually connected, allowing them to coordinate and share their senses no matter the distance and dimension.
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Right. The companions tab rounded out the craziness of the Point Shop. Rick even recognized several of them as straight ripoffs of other anime and novels.''C''mon, I bet my ass I''ll summon a regular human if I do the random familiar summoning. Yeah no thanks, I don''t want to drag anyone else in my mess.'' "Have you gained an overview of what is available in the Point Shop?" The angel asked. When Rick nodded, she warned, "Then I must remind you not to take too long in making your purchases. You have less than an hour to spend your points. All of your purchases except for knowledge will take effect when you are deposited in the new world." The one hour time-limit instantly jolted Rick''s sense of urgency for the first time since he died. He felt as if he was back in university, doing an exam for a subject he spent only two nights to cram.''That''s probably on purpose. God doesn''t want us lazy bums to min-max each and every detail to the extreme. I''m guessing he wants us all to go on our gut feeling when making our purchases.'' The horrible interface and lack of extensive filtering and sorting also reinforced his hunch. Despite the endless choices, he couldn''t spend too much time searching for optimal things to purchase. Remembering the things he learned from university, he got his mind back on track and set a couple of goals and priorities. First, Rick considered his aspiration. He couldn''t buy everything in the Point Shop, so he had to make a few purchases that would best let him achieve his dreams. ''What do I want to become?'' He asked, and took a few minutes to consider this question. If he wanted to follow in the vein of smart anime protagonist, he''d pick a couple of weak and expensive skills and classes that start weak but gain a surprising amount of power when he reached higher mastery and levels.''It''s too bad God has taken that into account. Most scalable skills and items cost at least as much as their midgrade equivalents, if not more.'' A simple sword that scaled to his level cost many thousands of points, while the very valuable Prodigy title already cost him an armful with 10000 points alone. There was absolutely no cheating possible there. If he wanted to create a character with ideal conditions of growth, he''d have to sacrifice immediate power and safety.''Considering the descriptions of many of these things, Avandis seems like a crazy world that is already affected by many transmigrated Earthlings. Considering Gods wants us all to compete with each other, I don''t think I can behave as a regular prodigy without coming into attention to one of those freaks.'' A twenty-four year old like Rick also lacked the points to make a strong foundation. If he had the rotten luck in encountering some old, billionaire green energy investor and philantropist, he''d lose his head so fast he couldn''t even croak a plea. Considering those circumstances, Rick had to find an aspiration to work towards without getting offed like a red shirt in a bad sci-fi movie.''What am I even thinking about? Do I need to become a supreme knight, tanking blast after blast of firebombs? Is there any bone in my body that screams that I have to become a master magician, able to teleport to moons without effort? I bet loads of others have picked those flashy paths. They don''t need anyone else joining their club. Let them play with each other. I''ll be off in the corner doing my own thing.'' He decided right there that he''d forgo pursuing the pinnacle of combat, whether physically or magically. Instead, he''d choose a more down-to-Earth choice of becoming a crafter.''Hm, and I don''t want to become anything attention-grabbing either. I don''t want to become a rotten blacksmith chained to a single location, but I don''t think it''s a good idea to become a gunsmith whose inventions are immediately apparent to any former Earthling.'' Rick wanted to avoid entangling himself with politics, debt, location and other difficulties. He was afraid of getting in too deep with anyone. He wanted to preserve his life and freedom while making a reasonable living by crafting things he''d enjoy making in the first place. "I''ll become a crafter - doens''t matter what. I''ll just pick a bunch of crafting skills that don''t require a lot of heavy tools and go from there. Specializing comes later." However, becoming a succesful free craftman was only a secondary goal. His first, and most important goal of all was to stay safe. What was the best way to stay safe?''Not getting noticed in the first place. I won''t make enemies if they don''t know I exist in the first place. Even if they do target me, I''ll just run away.'' Ever since Rick had been bullied in high school did he shy away from getting entangled with others. He planned to adopt his scaredy cat mentality to the new world. He needed to acquire some good hiding and running skills and maybe a defensive skill or two. Considering he would not bother with acquiring any offensive skills, he can purchase much better skills devoted to staying alive.''I''m a coward, I admit it. I absolutely do not want to kill anyone, not even a rat.'' Ultimately, Rick realized that these two goals slightly ran against each other. In order to remain unnoticed by anyone dangerous, Rick needed to avoid making a reputation. However, successful craftsmen heavily relied on their reputation as their personal brand. Without a brand, how could Rick gain acknowldgement for his work and sell them for a high price? He''d need a way to remain both recognizable and anonymous at the same time.''I need to figure this out. The shop should have something to help me.'' On a whim, Rick added a whim to his final strategy and finalized his thoughts. "My goal is to become a wandering, luck-basedcraftsman." He did not misspeak. Ever since he read the description, Rick somehow felt an attraction to the oft-neglected attribute of Luck. He already felt as if his previous death was nothing more than a bad throw of the dice. Who would have thought he died at twenty-four, not even a real man and no wife and kids to grieve in front of his grave? He felt bitter about it even with God''s mysterious emotional suppression.''I don''t care if it''s an inefficient stat. I''ll focus most of my points on Luck and see where the winds will blow me. I might be making the biggest mistake of my second life, but I won''t regret a thing.'' With that choice made, he started to browse the Point Shop for his first purchases to fill his shopping cart. He started with Titles and Companions first. The former due to its strong effects and difficulty in counter-acting it, the latter due to Rick''s essential need for companionship.''Just because I''m a coward whose afraid of befriending anyone dangerous doesn''t mean I want to stay as a hermit my entire life.'' Companions also provided a second view to things. Rick read enough light novels to understand that he''d miss loads of things if he was left to his own devices. Some companions even specialized in augmenting Rick''s weakpoints, though they''d cost most of his points if he contemplated buying them.''Sigh, I can''t get them all.'' Rick didn''t dare take too long or spend all his points, but due to their fundemental value he spend at least half in one go.
Title: Forgotten Nerd
Some nerds are obnoxious in showing off their intellects. Others just plainly repel most potential love interests. You just sit in the corner, forgotten by everyone but your teachers and your mom. 1.25x increased rate of skill acquisition and learning. You gain one additional intellect point per level up. Gain fame/infamy 2x slower. Fame/infamy decays over time. Your charisma never exceeds 9 no matter what. The total sum of your physical attributes can never exceed the total sum of your non-physical attributes. You gain a moderate bonus to all stealth-related actions. You gain a moderate penalty to all melee combat-related actions. Mortals have trouble remembering your name. Provides a moderate boost to skills and traits that hide, obfuscate and disguise certain aspects of your status window to outside appraisals. This title can be hidden.
4000 points.
Companion: Possessed Chronicle
A possessed chronicle is an empty journal that gained semi-sentience by allowing a dead monster soul possess its body. The soul inherits certain book instincts and are ideal journals and record keepers as long as its pages last. They can hide their mana and soul undulations to a moderate extent and can impersonate a regular book with ease. Possesed chronicles need to feed on their master''s mana, but will eventually be able to grow to a minor extent by allowing free flying movement within a certain radius. Certain sophisticated upgrades can improve the chronicle''s physical appearance, record-keepingfunctions and more. The possessing soul is a random monster native to Avandis.This influences their actions, affinities and personality. The chronicle can be upgraded mainly with magical engineering but can also accept other improvements so long they are compatible. Possessed chronicles are classified both as objects and lifeforms. Possessed chronicles aid their masters in defending against spiritual and soul attacks. Possessed chronicles will grow dormant upon departure or death of its possessed soul. It may accept other souls for possession, though the new souls will not be as proficient as the old one and may grow in a different direction.
750 points.
Okay, he admitted that those choices were plagiarized from other works, but hey, if it ain''t broken, don''t fix it.''No one''s going to sue me anyway.'' The possessed chronicle was basically a poor man''s A.I. chip. Rick mainly planned to keep his crafting recipes and ideas in one place, and also allow it to help with keeping track of his daily life. He was worried he didn''t make his Possessed Chronicle immortal and soul-bound. Rick really couldn''t afford to lose this companion, especially if he invested a lot of knowledge and upgrades into it. He was so worried in fact that he considered changing his mind in order to relieve his worries of risking it getting lost. But then he shook his head.''I can''t let this fear take over my rational choices. I already have a plan in mind forstoring my valuables.'' As for the title Forgotten Nerd, it was the best choice he could make that was within his budget. Some titles provided stronger boosts to his skills, others allowed him to hide much better. He still cringed at the disadvantages, especially the one that drove a stake in his dreams of reaching 100 charisma.''Well, I won''t miss what I never had in the first place.'' Next he needed to fill out the basics and choose his class and skills. He decided right then and there that he''d limit himself to purchasing the beginner version of skills.''I don''t want or need immediate mastery. I just need to get my foot in the door for skills that my class won''t allow access to. I''ll grow in my own way with my own effort.''
Class: Artisan
Artisans are rare craftsmen who have pride in their work more as art rather than a product. They are skilled in creating unique products by hand. They benefit from imagination and an unhindered mentality in their drive to turn products into artwork, and artwork into products. Artisans can evolve into one of several possible subclasses with the completion of several difficult class quests. Artisans are able to gain experience when performing crafting-related actions, especially when producing items. Artisans gain an additional two dexterity points and one free attribute point with each level up. Artisans gain a moderate bonus from crafting unique works that they have not duplicated before. Artisans gain a large bonus in modifying standard crafting recipes. Artisans gain a large penalty in crafting standard or mass-produced works. Artisans are able to work towards unlocking the Creativity and Precision attributes. Artisans can sign their works with their name or an alias upon succesful completion of a high quality work. This signature is recognized by the System and is included within any appraisal of a certain mastery.
3000 Points
Artisan was an interesting specialization of general craftsman. It was highly expensive in points even though it wasn''t an advanced class, and that drew Rick''s attention.A lot of the details appealed to him. The extra attribute points was generous. He didn''t want to get tied down and produce a thousand horseshoes in a single winter. He longed to travel the new world, see new sights, get inspired and create a few interesting works as appreciation of what he experienced. This class seemed to resonate with him, and though 3000 points was a very painful dent in his limited budget, he still bit the bullet and put it in his shopping cart.
Skill: Strict Contract-Making
This skill allows for the formation of contracts that are acknowledged and enforced by the System. This skill has been modified to be strict in the enforcement of its clauses, allowing for less room for interpretation. In exchange, the System allows the contractor and contractee to offer any material and nonmaterial collatoral/rewards to be offered to a specialized storage dimension formed by the System beforehand at the formal signing of the contract. Strict Contract-Making is highly resistant to unauthorized modifications and covert breaches to its clauses. The strength of this skills'' contract enforcement is highly dependent on the Wisdom, Willpower and Faith attributes. Contracts can be formed from pure System notes but achieve the best strength when the contract is readable in full physical form in languages both the contractor and contractee understands. Ad-hoc contracts that are sloppy formed will not allow this skill to take in effect. Contracts cannot be signed with minors or individuals who not sentient or are mentally impaired.
1000 Points
Skill: Beginner Woodworking
You become proficient in using tools or magic to craft general objects from wood. You can gain the assistance of the System when crafting with wood. This skill boosts other (sub)skills related to woodworking depending on mastery.
400 Points
Skill: Beginner Blacksmithing
You become proficient in shaping metal using many tools or by using magic. You can gain the assistance of the System when crafting with metal. This skill boosts other (sub)skills related to blacksmithing dependent on mastery.
400 Points
In addition to these basic skills, he also bought the beginner masteries of haggling, drawing and its subskill drafting, painting, alchemy and its subskill pill refining, mana engraving, mana perception, stealth and sprinting. Fortunately, most of the skills were substantially cheaper except for pill refining.''Considering how little equipment I need to generate a tiny pill, its worth the convenience if I want to keep mobile.'' He also bought a few minor spells for convenience such as fire generation and water generation to aid in crafting and his daily life. Rick needed to limit himself from choosing too many household spells. Too much would turn into a luxury and might make him too lazy.''All those little points added up.'' He spent 4750 points on his title and companion. He spent a further painful 6650 points on his class and many skills and spells. That left... 2847 points for items, traits, attributes and knowledge. Rick really cringed at his lavish spending. "Traits huh... let''s get this over with quickly. I''ll just take a look and pick the first one that fits."
Trait: Vagabond
You are a solitary traveller whose only home is the roads. When travelling or in the wilderness, you are able to make the best out of limited resources. You tire less quickly when walking, but grow restless if you stay in one location for too long at a time.
300 Points.
Luckily, he didn''t need to browse far to get a bargain. Well, the trait wasn''t exactly flattering, but it would help him a lot in his travels. Really, a trait for 300 points was so cheap. He skipped knowledge, instead moved on to attributes if he could see if he could get relevant attributes for a cheap price. Rick really felt he turned into a miser counting his cents while standing in line at a discount supermarket.
Attribute: Seclusion
You can hide your presence relative to other people, making you much less noticeable without the active use of mana or aid from the System. You are much less noticeable when you do not wish to be noticed and you can bestow this benefit to the items in your hand at higher values of the attribute.
250 Points.
Attribute: Mental Resistance
You can remain clear-headed and are able to resist all manner of mental and spiritual compulsions. High mental resistance allows you to break illusions cast by Gods and make very minor changes in the fields of the System.
400 Points.
The two attributes mainly related to his survival.Seclusion was ideal in supplementing his wishes to hide in the crowd. It was surprisingly cheap due to the fact that it didn''t really help in combat. Mental resistance on the other hand was worth the higher price. Rick had read quite a few novels that allowed the protagonist to end up in slavery or gets fooled by a pretty face. There was no way Rick wanted to leave such an obscure but lethal vulnerability behind.''I bet most Earthlings don''t even think about this problem. Heh.'' That left a grand total of 1897to splurge on his items. That sounded a lot, but then he reminded himself that he needed to reserve a lot of them for basic crafting tools and a way to store them without overloading him. Fortunately, most tools for the main crafting skills only cost 100 points, though they were extremely primitive and wouldn''t allow the crafting of larger or finer products. He still needed a wagon to transport all of his tools, especially for blacksmithing. ''A wagon... I can''t let myself be weighted down by something so large and easily stealable. I need some kind of container dedicated to storing crafting tools and materials. I also need to buy a smaller, but much more secure container to store my Possessed Chronicle and my wealth.''
Item: Journeyman Crafter''s Backpack
This simple, rugged crafting backpack is a popular investment to many crafters that have recently graduated from their apprenticeships. The need for an affordable, but dependable method of transporting their crafting tools, materials and endwork necessitates these young, hard-working men and women to carry all of this weight without spending many years of profits. This Leatherworker Guild-approved Journeyman Crafter''s Backpack is able to store a wagon-load of objects while reducing their weight to 120 times. The Enchanter Guild guarantees that the spatial enchantments will last up to 150 years if it remains undamaged. (Please note that heavy use and frequent travel may reduce the lifespan of the spatial enchantments. We request that you urgently deliver this backpack to any member of the Enchanter Guild if the thin strip at the back turns red.)
600 Points.
Item:Lucky Coin Pouch
This moderately-sized coin pouch can store a number of small objects and an unlimited amount of System-recognized currency. Each day, this coin pouch will sometimes contain a coin extra or less depending on luck. This coin pouch will become increasingly harder to lose or be destroyed depending on luck. Storing other luck-based items within this pouch may substantially affect its luck.
350Points.
In the end, he spent 1450 points just for the bare necessities of his professions. That left 447 Points for his remaining purchases. More than he thought, but not enough to let him leave a comfortable life once he left the Point Shop. He needed to think about buying some provisions, books and some starting capital with the remainder of his points. With just fifteen minutes left on the clock, Rick hurriedly browsed the menus. First he went to find some useful books. He threw in an up-to-date atlas, a couple of biographies of famous master craftsmen and a kid''s book introducing the common kingdoms and races in his shopping cart. Then he spent an extravagant sum of 200 Points for self-replicating bread that was apparantly popular in prisons in a certain kingdom. The amount of bread it produced daily would barelystave off starvation for an average human and had an awful, moldy taste. He only really bought it because it was the cheapest replicating food he could buy. That it could fit in his lucky coin pouch was a bonus.''Though I hope the pouch won''t mess with the bread and vica versa.'' That left... a basic iron dagger for daily use and 17gold coins stamped by various kingdoms. It didn''t sound much, but without really understanding the value of gold, Rick had no idea if he was sitting on a minor fortune or some pocket change.''I don''t believe gold is worth so little. It''s certainly not worth 24 cents in my old country. It''s unlikely to be worth $24000, but definitely not $24 either considering silver and copper coins also exist.'' Right now Rick wanted to check his shopping cart and finalize his purchases. He turned to the angel who had been floating silently while Rick made his decisions. "I''m almost ready. Can you please show me my status window if I had made all of these purchases?" "Certainly Rick." She made another minute wave with her hand. "You can check your modified condition now. Just say Status Window, Inventory, Skill List and Spell List." "Status Window."
Status
Name: Ricardo McDonald Class:Artisan
Age: 24 Subclasses: None
Level: 1 Fame: 0
Race: Human
Health: 100 Mana: 100
Experience: 0/100
Titles
Mortal of Earth: ???. Hidden.
Forgotten Nerd:Some nerds are obnoxious in showing off their intellects. Others just plainly repel most potential love interests. You just sit in the corner, forgotten by everyone but your teachers and your mom. Hidden.
Attributes
Strength: 10 Intelligence: 10
Dexterity: 10 Wisdom: 10
Agility: 10 Perception: 10
Constitution: 10 Luck: 10
Seclusion: 1 Mental Resistance: 1
Free attribute points: 0
Elemental affinities
Earth: 0 Wind: 0
Water: 0 Fire: 0
Light: 0 Darkness: 0
Traits
Vagabond:You are a solitary traveller whose only home is the roads. When travelling or in the wilderness, you are able to make the best out of limited resources. You tire less quickly when walking, but grow restless if you stay in one location for too long at a time.
"Goddammit. I forgot something. I need to change my name." The angel smiled at that. "You are one of the few who are even aware that you can ask to change your name. Fortunately, God allows you to change your name in exchange for one point." Rick quickly released a point from his shopping cart by removing one gold coin, then opened the prompt to change his name. He didn''t have a lot of time left to choose a new name, which was a big problem considering he had no idea what the typical names of the new world sounded like. His eyes darted back and forth until his attention turned to the titles of the biographies he haphazardly added to his shopping cart earlier. "My new name will be..." "Skill List."
Skill List
Skill Mastery
Strict Contract-Making Beginner 1
Woodworking Beginner 1
Blacksmithing Beginner 1
Alchemy Beginner 1
-Pill Refining Beginner 1
Drawing Beginner 1
-Drafting Beginner 1
Painting Beginner 1
Haggling Beginner 1
Mana Perception Beginner 1
Mana Engraving Beginner 1
Stealth Beginner 1
Sprinting Beginner 1
"Spell List."
Spell List
Skill Mastery
Alchemical Fire Beginner 1
Condense Water Beginner 1
"Inventory."
Inventory
Journeyman Crafter''s Backpack
Portable Apprentice Blacksmithing Tools Portable Apprentice Woodsmithing Tools Portable Apprentice Alchemy Tools Apprentice Pill Furnace
Rough Paper Sheets x100 Apprentice Drawing Pencil Set Apprentice Painting Set Empty Gourd x5
... ... ... ...
Lucky Coin Pouch
0 Copper Coins 0 Silver Coins 16 Gold Coins Possessed Chronicle
Self-replicating Bread x1
Equipped
Journeyman Crafter''s Backpack Lucky Coin Pouch Basic Villager Summer Outfit Basic Iron Dagger
Now that''s more like it. Though I remained pitiful at level 1, I would start off with a moderately powerful crafting class that already provided me with three additional attribute points per level up. Combined with the extra point in intelligence due to my title, I''d easily be able to grow stronger than my competitors at the same level. I''m not going to be able to craft legendary weapons left and right unlike others who might have used the Point Shop to specialize in crafting a specific field, but I''d have the flexibility to dabble in everything whenever I feel like it depending on the resources available. For a single moment before my I mentally click the ''buy'' option, I questioned my judgement in following the path of a cowardly crafter. If someone manages to corner me, I''d could be done in by a single thug. Of all the 13597 points he spent, he hadn''t dedicated one whit of attention to skills and items that helped him in fights. ''I may have made a terrible mistake... but I don''t regret it at all. Let the big boys topple each other''s sand castles. I''ll just be the invisible cockroach scurrying between their feet.'' Chapter 2 - I bought so many cheats but Im still weaker than a villager! Summoned to another world, but I''m a coward! Chapter 2 - I bought so many cheats butI''m still weaker than a villager!
Rick''s first steps in the world of Avendis ended up with him collapsing in a narrow, dirty alleyway. Just as he wanted to get up on his feet, a wave of disorientation hit him.''This body... it''s not my old body. Fuck..'' His discomfort grew as he explored his body more. Not only had he changed his race to the native human population of this new magical world, he also had all of his basic stats normalized to a value of 10. This resulted in abrupt changes to the way he needed to exert his muscles in order to move smoothly. Luckily, he hadn''t taken long before getting enough control over his body that he could stand and walk slowly. Further adaptation would take at least a couple of days.''This actually doesn''t feel quite bad. I never felt as fit as before. My old body definitely had inferior physical stats. It''s too bad my intelligence probably got dumbed down a lot. I need to get some quick level ups to get my mind back in top condition.''
Status
Name: Mondayle of Huntington Class:Artisan
Age: 24 Subclasses: None
Level: 1 Fame: 0
Race: Human
Health: 100/100 Mana: 100/100
Experience: 0/100
Titles
Mortal of Earth: ???. Hidden.
Forgotten Nerd:Some nerds are obnoxious in showing off their intellects. Others just plainly repel most potential love interests. You just sit in the corner, forgotten by everyone but your teachers and your mom. Hidden.
Attributes
Strength: 10 Intelligence: 10
Dexterity: 10 Wisdom: 10
Agility: 10 Perception: 10
Constitution: 10 Luck: 10
Seclusion: 1 Mental Resistance: 1
Free attribute points: 0
Elemental affinities
Earth: 0 Wind: 0
Water: 0 Fire: 0
Light: 0 Darkness: 0
Traits
Vagabond:You are a solitary traveller whose only home is the roads. When travelling or in the wilderness, you are able to make the best out of limited resources. You tire less quickly when walking, but grow restless if you stay in one location for too long at a time.
Everything looked good for a newbie, even his new name. He really had no idea if it sounded strange in this part of the world, but he hoped plagiaring the name famous craftsman would just make people think he was a wannabe and that many other children were named after those great men. After looking around in the alleyway and noticing there''s no thugs waiting to rob him of his goods, he sat down and checked his belongings. His Lucky Coin Pouch hung from a braided string around his neck. Opening the lip, he could see an illogically large space from within.''Heh, so that''s what spacial magic looks like.'' The first thing he retrieved was his Possessed Chronicle. The cover was rough and old and bound by leather. Its size was small, like a diary more fit for a tween than an adult. Still, having something small might make it harder to scribble his notes, nevertheless it was easy to carry and fit just right through his Pouch if he stretched its lip. First things first, he needed to wake up his Chronicle. "So, how do I do this? Hello, are you there buddy?" The book remained remarkedly inert to Rick''s prodding. He opened the book and browsed a few pages, only to encounter empty yellow contents.''Perhaps it needs something to eat. I remember that this book lives off its owner''s mana. I need to pump my mana into the book somehow.'' This presented a little challenge. How could I pump energy I never felt or grasped before in my life into an inanimate book? Then he remembered he picked mana perception as a skill. Even though he only got his foot in the door with a mastery of just a measly beginner 1, just having a skill recognized by the System meant that he should gain some instincts or knowledge on how the skill worked. He started to look around, trying to see with his eyes and other senses if there was anything unusual about. It took longer than he thought. More than ten minutes went past without spotting anything magical. Just as his eyes grew moist and weary did he detect a thin, black stream of.. foggy something. Rick jumped to his feet and followed the stream further into the alley until he flipped away a rotten plank of wood. An explosion of smells and rot greeted his nose. Rick had to keep in his rebelling stomach as he beheld a dead rat. Already a couple of insects were crawling over the little corpse, chewing it apart. He forced himself to keep watching, ignoring the dead animal and the crawling insects and follow the black stream of gas.''This should probably be some kind of death energy.'' His deduction was confirmed when he got a blue popup.
Your Mana Perception has increased to Beginner 2.
He already noticed the thin stream of black becoming easier to see. It hadn''t become brighter or more distinctive. Rick just felt like his ''mana eyes'' had grown a little more accustomed to distinguishing mana from other things. Elated with his small success, Rick tried to find other sources of mana, only to find the alley to be devoid of any other energies. Even when he tried looking at his own body he hadn''t been able to see a wisp of mana. Without knowing how his mana looked or felt like, he had no idea how to summon his mana and feed it to his book.''Perhaps I should have bought the mana manipulation skill. But no, I just had to be confident I could bumble into the skill so easily.'' He''d shelve this problem for later. Right now he checked his belongings and made sure they were all in place. His Journeyman Crafter''s Backpack was rather hefty, and he wouldn''t be jogging with all that weight any time soon. Luckily, with his beefed up strength and constitution, his body was robust enough to carry around the pack without getting dead tired. Summoning up his meager courage, Rick patted his villager clothes and stepped out of the alleyway and into the busy street beyond. His eyes opened widely as he took in the sights. He appeared to have landed into a fairly substantially sized town right beside the main street. From all the wooden shops and other structures, this town didn''t look too new or too developed. A few stone buildings including some mansions could be seen further in the distance. The rest pretty much consisted of poorly built shacks and mud houses. Rick turned his head up ahead to a small plaza where some merchants have set up their stalls and wagons. He carefully made his way closer, trying his best to keep from bumping into other villagers and rickety carts barreling in the middle of the cobblestone street. Unfortunately, his sandals bumped into too much stone and junk.''I need to get some better footware. Medieval fantasy streets are evidently pure crap, sometimes literally.'' Nevertheless, the smell wasn''t that bad. Most of the bad smells came from the horses and other animals pulling the carts, carriages and wagons. Curious, Rick spotted a rather clean drain along the sides.''This town has a sewer, and by the looks of it the construction hadn''t finished too long ago.'' Sewers and hygiene were a relatively modern invention in his old Earth. That he could find something as sophisticated as a sewer in this bustling town meant that his fellow Earthlings already influenced the technological development of Avandis. "Kosha fruits, freshly picked, 3 silvers a piece, you can''t get any better than this price!" "Selling repair services! I can fix up any kind of metal weapon. Name your price." Besides the small crowd and stalls, two things stood out in the plaza. The first was a marble statue of some heroic warrior at the center. The second was a small fenced portal that had a number of town guards patrolling it. After Rick sat down on a bench next to some greenery he started to focus on being unobtrusive while listening to the conversation. There was so much to learn just by eavesdropping. Rick realized that he had no problem interpreting the language, though he had to jump through a few mental hoops to stop mentally thinking in English.''It''s a good thing God gave me comprehension of the local language of this kingdom as a freebie. I need to adapt to the local language. Nothing good will come from blurting out some old Earth words.'' Instead of jumping around and potentially making tons of blunders, Rick found it prudent to just take a step back and learn about his surroundings. He watched the town guards keep a respectable amount of presence. He listened to the shopkeepers hawking their wares while their customers tried to haggle down the price. He spotted a number of kids running around or munching on the sweets their parents bought. Overall, the town called Greenwall was a prosperous place. That was fortunate, because Rick could see many townsmen and other working people performing beyond regular human limits. One laborer was lifting a log even five men on Earth couldn''t carry. A female courier whose clothes clearly signified that she was a low earner nevertheless darted through the crowd like an olympic sprinter on crack. From the large amount of people who were able to perform so dazzlingly, it seemed that most adults had already accumulated plenty of attribute points. ''Only kids and teenagers behave within normal limits. It seems the System only showers grown ups with level ups and attribute points. Even though these guys might not have a lot of levels, in a simple brawl just one punch might be enough to crunch his brains.'' The System profoundly influenced the lives of even the poorest of citizens. Such an accessible RPG-like progression system made it easy to pile on a few specialized stats once they were able to accumulate a few experience points. While non-combat activities greatly reduced how muchexperience they could gain, it was enough to make a person five times stronger or faster than the norm after a decade of hard work. Luckily, Rick possessed the intermediate Artisan class, which from what he could gather would usually be gained upon level 20 through class evolution. An intermediate crafting class, especially a rare one like his, provided plenty of benefits to make up for the ardouous journey to obtain it. In particular, Rick was looking forward to the experience boost he would receive when he started crafting. ''All of the combat classes that cost more than 2000 points in the Point Shop were already strong. Even though they couldn''t compare to the extravagant choices like the divine classes, they still made my heart palpitate. A 3000 point crafting class should not be any weaker in that regard. I shouldn''t envy these townsmen who likely only adopted simple classes with shallow potential.'' If Rick wanted to, he could have opted to pick an advanced class. It would have been outright abusive if he started entering Avendis with an Advanced class at level 1. His massively enhanced attribute gains alone would even cause prodigies to weep. Still, those classes represented paths at the end of one''s class development, so they held no potential for evolution. Rick wasn''t willing to give up the flexibility of class evolution so he settled for an intermediate class. In any case, Greenwall seemed to be a relatively settled frontier town, built first as an outpost by the Elswick Kingdom. When their war against the Orcs over the mountains had ended, the Kingdom developed the town properly under the leadership of their new King whose statue adorned the plaza. "King Matt Demonbane, huh." Rick smiled crookedly at the oblique homage to a certain movie star. "I guess he''s the reason why this town has sewers." A couple of other observations made it clear that Earthlings have introduced other technological concepts to this virgin fantasy world. The book seller right at the other end of the plaza boasted that his books were printed by the latest iteration of the so-called ''prentice press''. Some street preacher was loudly ranting about how there was only one God and that the other Gods like the God of War and the God of Fire were all fake and didn''t exist. Most people just gave a wide berth to that fellow. Rick honestly felt a little disappointed that others already made their mark on this world. Somehow, this contamination of Earth-based ideas and inventions already marred his wonder of Avendis. It was like going on a trip to see the ancient Coliseum in Rome, only to find out some random people had renovated the ruins with modern construction methods. Putting those thoughts out of his mind, Rick focused instead on learning the customs of this kingdom. To relieve his stiffness, he opened his Backpack and retrieved the children''s book that introduced the basic geography and peoples of Avendis. ''Hmm.. Avendis is far larger than Earth, and only a couple of continents have been discovered, at least by the kingdoms of the current continent.'' The Elswick Kingdom was a predominantly human kingdom, but was open to other races. Rick confirmed that with his own eyes when he saw that at least a quarter of the people in town were dwarves, elves, lizardmen and of more exotic origin. It wasn''t entirely harmonious, but it could have been much worse. The book already stated that many other kingdoms in the temperate continent of Oarwa were ruled by a small group of races, with everyone else being reduced to second-class citizens or outright slaves. Fortunately, humans were the most prevalent race in the Oarwa continent, and had a presence in most other discovered continents. Though weak and unremarkable, as prolific breeders they settled everywhere like rats. Rick settled down and alternated between devouring the rest of the book and listening to the conversations around him. He especially took note of the prices being bandied around. He learned that coppers were enough to buy a single bite of bread, while silvers could be spent on most basic goods and services. A single gold coin could be exchanged for a decent weapon or a tumble with a high-class courtesan.''Seems like my gold can last me quite a while. It should be since it was worth some actual points.'' If he thought of coppers as cents, silvers as dollars and gold as hundred dollar bills, the prices started to make a little more sense to him now, though price inflation was much less severe compared to his old world. ''Right now my first goal is to learn more about the world while making enough of an earning to offset my stay at an inn.'' He learned there were several kinds of places he could bunk in. The traditional inns offered security, privacy and decent stew. Most well-to-do merchants and high ranked adventurers stayed in those places. For day laborers and the other poor people without high quality skills and classes, they stayed in hostels where a bunch of beds were propped together in as tight a space as possible. Rick didn''t feel comfortable leaving his Backpack full of belongings in a room of dubious people. There was also the adventurer''s guild. They provided a range of services, including cheap rooms for beginners. Unfortunately, registering at the guild came with a lot of obligations, such as following combat training and completing a quota of missions. From what Rick heard, while the names of high ranked Adventurers and their groups were bandied around like sport stars, the low ranked Adventurers were treated as barely anything better than beggars. At least that answered his unspoken question why there were so few bums and other homeless people on the streets. It seems like living in a world where the System existed made it easy to teach basic combat skills to even the most untalented villagers. Those second and thirdborn sons with nothing to inherent from the farm and some frustrated women running away from rotten marriages could all easily join the Adventurer''s Guild if they didn''t have any other ways to make a living. Unlike Rick''s image of adventurers as a noble and couragous calling, adventurers were treated like lowborn cannon fodder keeping the surrounding forest clear from rampaging monsters. The story might have been different if the region hosted a profitable dungeon, but at this time adventurers mostly had too much fighting potential and not enough brains. ''Kind of like rednecks toating their guns in public.'' The only reason why they weren''t treated worse was that the region was prosperous in herbs, wood and other special materials. The monsters that made their lairs in the surroundings were also good sources of hides, horns and other reagants. Seeing that most adventurers had to risk their lives outside the town walls for even the lowest ranked gathering quest, Rick gave up registering at the Adventurer''s Guild. He sat around until the end of the day when the sun started to dip below the horizon.
Your Seclusion attribute has increased by 1.
''Well that confirms my suspicion that I can train up attributes outside of level ups.'' Rick smiled happily, relieved that his hours of sitting while occasionally trying toavoid getting noticed was not in vain. Besides his quality Backpack, nothing else about Rick drew any special attention. He tried to make the pack less conspicuous by rubbing some dirt over its surface, making it seem it had survived a long trek in the woods. Then, he stepped up and trudged to find an inn. He dodged busy laborers heading back to their little shacks and weary townsmen heading to the taverns for a drink. He finally found a decently nestled establishment just off the main street that catered to merchants. Opening the door and heading inside, Rick found the atmosphere to be neat and cozy. Not a lot of customers were at the table eating dinner, but those that did wore clothes that even to Rick''s untrained eyes looked upscale. "Hail to Demonbane, mister." A middle-aged matron greeted him behind the counter. Her eyes glanced a little disdainfully at his poor clothes but took a good look at his Journeyman Crafter''s Backpack.''Yes, yes, I have money, don''t worry about it lady.'' "Hail to Demonbane. How much for a seven-day?" Rick offered the obligatory greeting of Elswick that he''d heard a thousand times already. The hero worship he''d heard about Matt Demonbane had already driven him crazy in his first day in Avendis.''This guy has such a hard-on for himself that he''s resorted to plagiarizing Hitler.'' "Ten silvers for a single person room, fifty silvers for a seven-day. Your stay comes with free breakfast but you''ll have to pay for lunch and dinner. Parking for wagons and carriages is free for the first day, but you''ll have to pay extra for the care and feeding of your animals." Rick smiled wrily as he opened his Lucky Pouch and retrieved a gold coin. "No wagon. I''ve got everything I need on my back. Can I also have some stew brought to my room?" "Of course mister. I''ll bring it up to you later and retrieve the bowl in the morning." After returning his change, the proprietess led him up two stairs and passed him his inn key in front of a small door. "Have a good night." For the price, the room was passable, as large as a poor college student''s dorm room. It had a bed with a decent stuffed mattrass and some sheets, which was the important thing, and included a table and a seat, a closet, shutters and some kind of magelight that lit up automatically when he entered. Putting down his pack in front of his bed, Rick sat down in front of the table and retrieved his Chronicle, still sleeping as ever. "How am I going to wake you up?" How could he channel mana when he didn''t have any experience with magic? Then he slapped his head. "I frigging forgot that I bought two spells." It should really count for something when he had to spend Points to gain the knowledge on how to cast two minor spells. He first focused on casting Alchemical Fire. As soon as he put his mind into it, he felt as if he vaguely remembered some feelings and concepts that he already knew, but just remembered.''This is really weird.'' Ignoring his confusion and discomfort, Rick mechanically tried to follow the instructions his instincts and vague knowledge told him. He feltsomething move underneath the skin of his arms. A narrow, hot channel of something strange creeped upward and ended at his fingertips. Pressure built up underneath the tips until suddenly a small fire erupted between his hand. Rick stared with fascination at the pure display of magic. He reveled in the feeling of exercizing his new magic muscles and senses. Now that he looked closer, he could vaguely spot a purple thread of mana underneath his veins, following the countours of his body until it transformed into red at the end before turning into fire.
Your Alchemical Fire spell has increased to Beginner 2.
Now that he knew what to look for and how to squeeze it out of his body, Rick ended the spell before he spent all of his mana. He took hold of his Chronicle and gently imitated the Alchemical Fire spell, skipping the complicated process of turning the mana into fire. It went remarkably easy, and through Rick''s Mana Perception he could see that the small book was eagerly gobbling up his injection of mana.
Your Mana Perception skill has increased to Beginner 3.
After draining half his mana, the book stopped its gulping. The Chronicle vibrated before humming to life. Its cover pulled back as if ready for Rick to start writing. He waited a few moments longer, only to grow a little disappointed not much else happened. ''I thought it would immediately behave like a pet, but it seems I need to nurture this Chronicle over a longer time.'' Sighing, Rick retrieved a pencil and started organizing his thoughts. He started writing the first day of his diary, taking an extra long time to detail as much as he could remember from the Point Shop while his memory still last. He gobbled up the stew a waitress had delivered in the meantime, and condensed a mug of water when his throat started parching.
When Rick finally woke up next morning, he didn''t even remember when he finally went to bed. After getting downstairs for a quick breakfast of last night''s stew, the budding Artisan planned out his next moves. He pulled out his squirming Chronicle and opened an empty page.
My goals for today 1: Read one of the books I bought from the Point Shop 2: Try to gain easy experience and level up a bunch of times 3: Craft something that can sell
Rick planned to read one of the biographies while figuring out his solution to his money and level situation. Fortunately, Artisans like most crafters gained experience and could level up simply by crafting. The problem was that he couldn''t wastefully experiment with all of his crafting disciplines if he wanted to recoup his losses. His eavesdropping at the markets had made it clear to him that he couldn''t just hammer a few planks into a chair and put a price tag on his creation. "It''s all about the guilds, huh. Every fucking profession has a guild." If he tried to use his woodworking skills to make furniture, the Woodworking Guild would disapprove. At the very least they would go make trouble and test how easy it was to break his work. The only way to avoid their wrath is to register at the guild, but that wouldn''t solve anything as all the crafting guilds were strict on skill masteries. The way things usually went was that aspiring crafters would apprentice themselves to a senior journeyman or master craftsman. This way, they not only built up their skill masteries, they also learned a wide variety of recipes or blueprints and gained connections in the craftsmen community. They were all rather insular institutions that disdained outsiders without any references from notable patrons. And this applied to pretty much any field of crafting, whether it was blacksmithing or enchanting.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ''What I need to do is try to create a product that won''t make the guilds shit all over me. That doesn''t leave much... except for pill refining, maybe.'' Technically, pill refining was a subbranch of alchemy. It was a relatively new field that hadn''t really spread to this part of the continent yet. There was a chance to corner a market that nobody else could fulfill.''Potions are too big and cumbersome, let alone fragile in many combat situations. Dimensional storage items like my Pouch and Backpack cost too many gold so hardly anyone can really carry a lot of potions in the first place.'' The region around Greenwall was a dangerous area filled with dangerous monsters and poisonous plants. Adventurers nevertheless braved the dangers in order to harvest the valuable bounties from nature. Rick can easily imagine how he could take advantage of these environmental conditions. ''There is an abundance of poor adventurers who might be willing to buy cheap pills. It doesn''t matter if my products are crappy with my beginner mastery, a single quick pill might mean the life or death of a wounded warrior. I can produce the pills from buying the materials the adventurers harvest. The Adventurer''s Guild is buying them at rock-bottom prices anyway, so if I offer to buy them with a slightly higher price I''d get enough materials.'' Considering the substantial death rate of low-ranked adventurers, the entire system the Adventurer''s Guild was maintaining differed little from slavery. Still, that wasn''t any of Rick''s business. He just needed to buy low and sell high. Just enough until he got bored of the place.''I''ve got the Vagabond trait to keep in mind. I can''t stay here forever and slowly grind all my skills like a turtle.'' With a pretty good plan in mind, Rick left the inn and stepped outside to a fresh new start. First, he walked around the markets, carefully inspecting each product or service for sale in order to get a further sense of the local economy. He then visited the local apothecary, but found the shopkeeper to be remarkably unhelpful once Rick expressed a little interest in crafting medicines himself.''Well, I can see how it would piss him off if a competitors walks up to him and asks for tips.'' He actually received the most help from the Adventurer''s Guild. Despite not being an adventurer himself, the receptionist was open to another source of life-saving medicines and recommended buying a book on local monsters and herbs. Though the price of a gold coin was an extravagant price, Rick hardly hesitated opening his pouch to toss out the coin.''Hm, interesting. It seems my luck isn''t that bad. I definitely remember I had one silver coin less yesterday.'' With a valuable source of information at hand, Rick waved the receptionist goodbye and went back at the busy plaza. For the rest of the day, besides taking a break to eat he spent his time devouring the regional guide and the biography of some famous dwarven weaponsmith.
You have gained the passive skill Herb Lore! You have gained the passive skill Appraisal!
The regional guide was definitely worth the coin. While Rick still had to figure out the pill recipe by trial and error, he already had a vague idea which ingredients constituted a minor health potion. With this new Herblore skill he could spot the ingredients he studied in the wild and it would also help him in their appraisal now that he finally learned that essential skill.''The appraisal skills were cheap in the Point Shop, but it''s just so elementary that I getting it with own effort was a no-brainer.'' Only the biography lowered his mood. While a lot of the things he read were too unique to dwarven culture to apply to his situation, he nonetheless felt as if he was too naive until now. The various crafting guilds did a lot more than collecting dues and making sure their standards were met. Sabotage, blackmail and hiring assassins were the ways in which craftsmen fought against each other. When the only regulatory authority in your field are your fellow crafters, things could potentially get dangerous.
Your Seclusion attribute has increased by 1.
''It''s actually more dangerous not being a part of a guild.'' But Rick had made his choice at the start. He would not tie himself down to any organisation and rely on his nonconfrontational plans and stealth skills to avoid attention.''I''m still a level 1 newbie for now, but I''m not going to bow my head forever when I get my masteries up.'' Like yesterday, Rick ended his evening by writing down his thoughts in his Possessed Chronicle. He also dedicated another section with a summary of ingredients and potential pill recipes. Naturally he also hadn''t forgotten to feed the Chronicle with mana. From the way the Chronicle purred happily at the end, Rick had a feeling he was going in the right direction.''This little thing will be a lot of help once he''s awake.''
The small pill furnace belched a filthy cloud of black smoke.
Your experiment has failed to produce a pill. You have gained 1 experience.
Rick sighed as he opened the lid and threw away the gunk. He then condensed some water with his household spell in order to clean the insides. The trash bin already stored fifteen previous failed attempts. He went back to his Chronicle laying on top of his portable work table and noted down the results of this latest experiment.
Your Condense Water skill has increased to Beginner 2.
At least he got a bonus out of this work. "Hah, I gotta tell you kid, you should stop fooling around with that fancy pill refining shit. None of them new cultivator skills make any sense." A drunkard sitting in the dirt said while taking another swig of his jug of wine. "Just go back to the Alchemy Guild and rent a workspace and make some real medicine for a change, not some quack counterfeit." Annoyed, Rick didn''t bother responding. For some reason this retired drunk was perceptive enough to ignore Rick''s attempts at hiding in plain sight.''He must be a retired soldier or adventurer with his scars and all. It''s never a good idea to mess with a veteran. Who knows how many friends owes him favors.'' Rick prepared another batch of ingredients and cast his alchemical fire spell yet again. All Rick needed to do was follow his plan. When he spent 1000 points to acquire pill refining as a skill, he knew the price would be worth it somehow. And when he started making his pills, he could feel it somehow. Compared to other crafts like woodworking or blacksmithing, pill refining had a light and ethereal quality, as if it wasn''t quite real. It made sense in a way, as the old crafts used very established tools and methods to work wood or metal. Pill refining on the other hand tried to do the job of alchemy, but with mana as an active ingredient, catalyst and fuel source. Regular alchemists were accustomed to creating potions, salves and powders through the use of various processes and tools. Pill refiners merely prepared their raw ingredients and inserted them into a pill furnance with specific timing and order and utilized their mana, or ''qi'', to transform, react and merge the disparate ingredients in a single coherent whole. Naturally, to replace all of the different processes of regular alchemy and make it all fit in a single pill furnace required exceptionally delicate mana control. That was where the 1000 point purchase came in. Just by possessing the beginner mastery, Rick was able to use his newly found pill refining skill and fumble his way through most of the tedious parts. In other words, Rick possessed a rudimentary but solid foundation to develop his skill. His only problem was that he lacked pill recipes. Due to his Artisan class, he won''t have any big successes when following a standard recipe, but it would have helped if he had a guideline. By fumbling around with the ingredients of the most simplest health potion that can be mixed with the local ingredients available, Rick felt as if he was reinventing the wheel.
Your experiment has failed to produce a pill. Your Alchemical Fire spell has increased to Beginner 3. You have gained 1 experience.
Rick released another curse as this latest attempt ended up in another slurry of black pudding. He knew he was getting closer to success, though. He felt it when the experiment neared the end. It felt like the ingredients started to merge, only to fail halfway. For his next attempt, he could try to follow his previous steps, only to take another direction just before he would usually fail. ''Perhaps it was not a bad idea to start as an Artisan without any recipes. I get the feeling that Artisans thrive in this sort of exploration. At least in the field of alchemy, it''s not about finding the best medicine or the most efficient processes. It''s about enjoying the endless possibilities and trying to grasp hold of the more elusive ones.'' If he was a xianxia protagonist, he would currently be obliged to spout philosophies of how his Dao of Alchemy was about making the impossible possible while other alchemists and pill refiners pursued more limited visions. Still, Rick had to admit it was a good way to look at his current outlook on pill refining. ''You could say that my personal Dao is the Grand Dao of Flight. I yearn to fly free in the skies, unbound by any tethers to the worlds above and below. My wings beatfaster than my pursuers. I hide deep within the most obscuring clouds. I may occasionally land and make my presence known with my droppings, but I will always take flight after a rest. Swift! silent! Soaring! All of creation rests beneath my wings and none of the heavens above are any wiser!'' "Mondayle, be careful of that! Don''t throw it away!" His thoughts painted a grand image, so much that he almost threw out the contents of his furnace reflexively if not for the drunkard''s warning. Rick''s eyes turned round as he beheld the new System message.
Your experiment has succesfully produced a new, unique pill. As the inventor of this pill, you have gained the right to name this pill and influence its description. As an Artisan, you gain increased experience when refining the next ten successful pills, and they will provide additional bonus effects. When refining more than hundred of the same pills, you will suffer escalating penalties to success rate and experience gain. Your Pill Refining subskill has increased to Beginner 2. Your Wisdom attribute has increased by 1. You have gained 150 experience. Level up! You have achieved level 2.
"Well fuck. I guess all that melodramatic Xianxia shit does help with this kind of crafting." Rick had a minor understanding of how this time his attempts at refining a pill became successful. Other than modifying his refining methodsto avoid the obvious pitfalls from his previous experiments, he also maintained a different mentality throughout the crafting process. His mood mattered. If he kept being depressed and thought constantly of failure, then it was no surprise his pills turned into pudding. "C''mon kid, upon up and lemme see if you cooked up anything decent." The drunkard urged him, almost sloshing his jug of wine when he bumped it against Rick''s shoulder. Sighing, the young Artisan picked up a tweezer, opened the lid and carefully retrieved the pill. At first glance, it looked rather dull. The pill appeared as a solid, light brown capsule, as if it was a tiny failed cookie. He utilized his recently gained Appraisal skill to obtain more details.
Type: Medicine Pill Quality: Uncommon
Effects upon consumption: +40 Health Regenerate 1 Health per second for 10seconds +7Agility for 10 seconds Accumulate 50% healing fatique
Description: This pill is an artisanal variant of a lesser healing pill that not only heals but also aids in escaping dangers. The desires of its creator has been infused into the refining process in such a manner that it has elevated a small portion of the medicinal potentialthat rested in the ingredients used.
"That''s a mighty fine little pill you have there." The old man commented appreciatively. "It doesn''t heal as much as a minor health potion though, what a pity." Healing forty health was a respectable result for a pill refined by someone with only Beginner 1 mastery. Minor health potions usually fluctuated from healing 50 to 80 health depending on the quality. The most important thing to Rick right now was that he was the only supplier of these pills that also boosted agility. A boost of seven agility was not much to experienced adventurers, but it might make a difference to those low level dredges. As for healing fatique, it was a standard mechanic that made the next source of healing within a minute half as effective. Certain Alchemy Masters were famed for concocting supreme medicines that boasted lower healing fatigue, but Rick couldn''t even dream of achieving thatkind of performance. The only other way to counteract healing fatigue was to obtain special traits or raise your constitution to very high levels. Right now, Rick staked his hopes on this little brown pill. If the budding Artisan was smart in selling the pills, he might easily recoup not only the raw materials he wasted getting this far, but also replenish his slowly dwindling gold. First, he needed to give this pill a name. Since it was his very first successful crafting, Rick wasn''t hurried and carefully contemplated its name.''I could give it a simple name like Emergency Pill, but I feel like that would be a disservice. No matter what, I have infused my emotions in the creation of this pill, so in accordance with Xianxia conventions it needs a flamboyantly exaggerated name to pay homage to its mystical creation.'' "This is my first successful pill. I shall name it.. the Swift Crane Rebirth Pill!"
You have successfully named your new creation as the Swift Crane Rebirth Pill. The recipe of the Swift Crane Rebirth Pill has been registered in the System. Subsequent creations that greatly resemble this recipe will adopt this name by default. You have gained 1 fame. Do you wish to sign your new creation with your Artisan''s mark?
Rick declined to sign his pill even with an alias. He was just a Beginner Pill Refiner, after all. It took an enormous amount of conceit to take pride in inventing and refining a Beginner level recipe. Besides, he wanted to avoid grabbing attention.''Once these pills are circulated in Greenwall, I''ll probably attract the attention of the local Alchemist Guild. They pretty much have an oligopoly on healing potions here and don''t appreciate outsiders intruding their comfortable arrangements.'' Greenwall was a frontier town connected to only a handful oftrade routes to larger towns and cities. A few merchants trying to get rid of their potions here wouldn''t raise the ire of the Alchemy Guild, but once someone floods the market with thousands of specimens, they might attract calamity if they hadn''t made any arrangements beforehand. "Hey, how about you sell this to me. I still have a couple of silvers in my pouch." Rick''s eyebrows rose in surprise. "I thought you''re already retired. Do you even need this kind of pill? I''m planning to charge a lot more for this pill than a normal potion." The drunkard lazily waves his hand. "Nonsense. What''s your price?" "Seventy-five silvers." "Great Gods! That''s more than I used to earn in three days back in my younger years!" The price Rick quoted was three times more expensive than the minor healing potionsthe local apothecary sold. He had carefully considered the pricing and thought the final amount to be reasonable to a certain segment of the market. After all, this pill not only combined instantaneous healing, it also provided a small but potentially lifesaving boost to agility. He also had to consider the economics of his business model.His low mastery resulted in a lot of failed refining and waste. He had to recoup his investment and running costs, so Rick dared to be greedy in quoting such a high price. The drunkard grumbled some more, but after he heard that Rick would charge this price for the common quality pills, the man relented and forked out the silvers. Rick eagerly received the silvers before the old man left for the nearest tavern. "Good luck to you Mondayle. I hope to hear your name again when you make a career out of this shit. Hail to Demonbane!" ''I hope that never happens because that''s when people will start to hound me. Luckily, my Forgotten Nerd title automatically decays my fame. Finally left with some peace and quiet, Rick wrote down the recipe along with his thoughts before resuming his production. He spent the rest of the afternoon using up his dwindling ingredients, eventually resulting in producing ten uncommon and fifteen common quality pills.
Swift Crane Rebirth Pill
Type: Medicine Pill Quality: Uncommon
Effects upon consumption: +40 Health Regenerate 1 Health per second for 10seconds +7Agility for 10 seconds Accumulate 50% healing fatique
Description: The Swift Crane Rebirth Pill is an artisanal variant of a lesser healing pill that not only heals but also aids in escaping dangers. The desires of its creator has been infused into the refining process in such a manner that it has elevated a small portion of the medicinal potentialthat rested in the ingredients used.
Swift Crane Rebirth Pill
Type: Medicine Pill Quality: Common
Effects upon consumption: +35Health Regenerate 1 Health per second for 10seconds +5 Agility for 10 seconds Accumulate 50% healing fatique
Description: The Swift Crane Rebirth Pillis an artisanal variant of a lesser healing pill that not only heals but also aids in escaping dangers. The desires of its creator has been infused into the refining process in such a manner that it has elevated a small portion of the medicinal potentialthat rested in the ingredients used.
Not only did he produce plenty of pills, he also gained a large amount of experience. The production of uncommon pills netted him a large amount of experience, though not as much as the first pill. For the common pills, he only gained a pitiful 5-10 experience points, just enough to bump him up to level 4. Furthermore, he was easily able to advance his skills due to the fact that they sat at the starting threshold. Rick just needed a way to use them effectively in order to advance his mastery.
Your Alchemical Fire spell has increased to Beginner 5. Frequent use of Fire spells has increased your Fire Affinity by 1.
Your Condense Water spell has increased to Beginner 4.
Your Pill Refining subskill has increased to Beginner 3. As a parent skill of Pill Refining, Your Alchemy skill has also increased to Beginner 2.
Through the use and complex manipulation of various types of mana, you have gained the Mana Manipulation skill. Your Mana Manipulation skill has increased to Beginner 2. Your Intelligence attribute has increased by 1.
All in all, not bad for a day''s work. He savored the gains while he could, since it was unlikely he''d make such quick gains again as his masteries required vastly more experience the further they advanced. "I think it''s time to level up. Status Window."
Status
Name: Mondayle of Huntington Class:Artisan
Age: 24 Subclasses: None
Level:4 Fame:1
Race: Human
Health: 100/100 Mana: 70/140
Experience: 23/2000
Titles
Mortal of Earth: ???. Hidden.
Forgotten Nerd:Some nerds are obnoxious in showing off their intellects. Others just plainly repel most potential love interests. You just sit in the corner, forgotten by everyone but your teachers and your mom. Hidden.
Attributes
Strength: 10 Intelligence: 14
Dexterity: 16 Wisdom: 11
Agility: 10 Perception: 10
Constitution: 10 Luck: 10
Seclusion: 3 Mental Resistance: 1
Free attribute points:18
Elemental affinities
Earth: 0 Wind: 0
Water: 0 Fire:1
Light: 0 Darkness: 0
Traits
Vagabond:You are a solitary traveller whose only home is the roads. When travelling or in the wilderness, you are able to make the best out of limited resources. You tire less quickly when walking, but grow restless if you stay in one location for too long at a time.
His Forgotten Nerd title and Artisan class already provided free intelligence and dexterity attributes upon level up. Rick had felt the difference every single point had made. The attributes didn''t scale linearly, meaning that his 16 dexterity wasn''t 1.6 times nimbler than someone who had 10 dexterity. He actually felt the difference should be no more than about 20%, though his measurements were too vague to be certain.''At the very least this doesn''t mean someone can totally dominate someone else when they are just a couple of levels apart.'' Nevertheless, 18 attribute points represented a vast bounty that could change his fortunes. The question was where to put them. If he raised his intelligence, wisdom and perhaps perception, his success rate when crafting would substantially be improved. Yet his thoughts turned into a different direction.''Most low level crap don''t require high attributes when I want to craft them. At this stage, it''s more dependent on mastery and luck. The synthesis of my Swift Crane Rebirth Pill could be attributed to preparation and luck in equal measures. I can always build up my preparation, but raising luck is impossible no matter what I do.'' He could raise the attributes related to crafting when he performed any crafting related actions. This was no secret. People also commonly knew that it was easier to raise their attributes when they were at a lower value. If Rick wanted to plan for the long term and make the most out of each free attribute point, he''d have to spend them all on the qualities that were hard to train. "I''m going to do something stupid. I''ll dump my remaining sixteen points into luck."
Status
Name: Mondayle of Huntington Class:Artisan
Age: 24 Subclasses: None
Level:4 Fame:1
Race: Human
Health: 100/100 Mana: 70/140
Experience: 23/2000
Titles
Mortal of Earth: ???. Hidden.
Forgotten Nerd:Some nerds are obnoxious in showing off their intellects. Others just plainly repel most potential love interests. You just sit in the corner, forgotten by everyone but your teachers and your mom. Hidden.
Attributes
Strength: 12 Intelligence: 14
Dexterity: 16 Wisdom: 11
Agility: 10 Perception: 10
Constitution: 10 Luck:26
Seclusion: 3 Mental Resistance: 1
Free attribute points: 0
Elemental affinities
Earth: 0 Wind: 0
Water: 0 Fire:1
Light: 0 Darkness: 0
Traits
Vagabond:You are a solitary traveller whose only home is the roads. When travelling or in the wilderness, you are able to make the best out of limited resources. You tire less quickly when walking, but grow restless if you stay in one location for too long at a time.
Just seeing that gigantic 26 luck already made Rick laugh. Unlike when he raised his strength, he felt nothing in his body had changed or transformed. Luck was something he still couldn''t grasp even though he likely had more luck than 90% of the people in Avandis.He might very well be right in thinking that nobody would dare squander 16 precious attribute points on luck when all the other ones provided immediate and clearly defined benefits. ''I''m not one to follow the crowd. I need to make the most out of the 3000 points I spent on acquiring the Artisan class. While dexterity and intelligence and other basic attributes are important when crafting normal things, to create something really unique requires serendipity.'' Rick had the feeling the more he built up his luck, the more his Artisan class allowed him to fudge the strict requirements of existing recipes or stumble upon completely new creations.''I''m like a gambler in Vegas putting all my chips on a single bet. Time will tell whether I''ll win big.'' At that moment, a loud bell rung in the distance. Other bells followed that single sound, obviously starting a town-wide alarm. The merchants at the plaza hastily packed up their goods while the shoppers simply ran towards their homes. "A Great Bloodneedle migration is flying past our settlement!"
Event Quest: Great Bloodneedle Migration
Quest Description A rare migration of predatory monsters has crossed the path of Greenwall. These vicious bird monsters number in the thousands and are all attracted to easy sources of blood. Greenwall''s population needs the protection of every able man and woman to withstand a large loss of life. Contribute to the defense of Greenwall by providing aid in any way you can. Any significant action that helps resist the onslaught of Bloodneedles will earn you Greenwall Merit, a temporary currency that can be redeemed for various rewards after the attack ends. Killing Bloodneedles earns 1 Merit. Otheractions such as healing wounded guardsmen or rescueing beleagered townsmen also rewards Merit. Do your best to save Greenwall!
Quest Progress 0 Merit earned.
Success Conditions Earn at least 1 Merit.
Failure Conditions Do not earn Merit.
Event Quest Rewards Redeem Merit for various rewards. Merit can be exchanged at the guard headquarters up to fourteen days after the attack ends.
"Fuck!" Rick cursed as he regretted not choosing a defensive skill or two to weather this sudden storm. Feeling the urgency, Rick clumsily dismanted his portable pill furnace and stuffed all his gear in his Backpack. He had no idea what kind of monster a bloodneedle was, but from the mere fact that they could fly sent him to shivers. The town walls provided no obstacle to flying animals. Occasionally, he had already seen expert archers shooting down solitary flying monsters. These marksmen might be able to handle a small flock, but even they could be drowned when hundreds of birds came at the same time. "Hold your positions!Buy time for the Great Lord and Ice Master Feyer''s return!" While most locals appeared to have found shelter with practiced ease, many confused visitors and foreign merchants were stuck outside.All of the inns, taverns, bars and shops had closed shut their doors, unwilling to admit any distressed people inside the safety of their walls. "The first wave is coming!" "Ahhh help me!" Flashes of needle-thin red dove from the air and into the streets of Greenwall. Many guardsmen met the wave with upraised shields, but others had their bodies pierced. Rick only avoided getting hit himself by huddling behind the statue of Matt Demonbane. Screams echoed everywhere as the wounded had their blood sucked out by the cat-sizedbirds embedded in their bodies. It was an excrutiating way to die and Rick positively turned paralyzed at the threat of death.''How the fuck could this have happened right after I upgraded my luck?'' Luck worked in mysterious ways. Evidently,even his 26 luck failed to prevent such a calamity from befalling him. Right now, all he could do is find some overhead shelter and rely on his hiding skills to ride out this storm. Chapter 3 - Im a coward, so what? Summoned to another world, but I''m a coward! Chapter 3 - I''m a coward, so what?
It took more than a minute for Rick to get a grip on his panic. Just seeing all those men and women pierced by vicious birds only to get drained to a husk reminded him of the trauma when he died on Earth.
Your Mental Resistance attribute has increased by 1.
Violence, blood and death absolutely frightened Rick even in this new world. As a modern man brought up in a civilized society, how could he have the stomach to pick up a weapon and bravely charge against the bloodneedles raining from the sky? "Keep up your shields!" A guardsman sergeant yelled at his cohort of troops. "Let your partner besides you poke them to death." Of course, if he chose to, Rick could have pimped out plenty of overwhelming battle powers in the Point Shop. Yet he resolutely refused that approach.''I''m not a fighting man. If I suddenly get the powers to blast a hole in the sky, I don''t know how that will change my outlook on life.'' Power corrupts, he believed. Rick wanted to avoid a fate where his powers made him arrogant and overconfident to the point of constantly looking for trouble. When presented with the Point Shop, some might chose to become a dazzling knight, a devious necromancer or something else with the potential to crush adversity. The chance to relive their fantasies and become legendary figures of myth was a dream come true.
Your Stealth skill has increased to Beginner 2.
Most would have been crazy to resist that temptation. Perhaps one of the intentions of God for running this kind of scheme was to see what ordinary mortals did when given earthshattering power. It felt galling to be treated like a lab rat even as Rick himself took advantage of the powers afforded by the shop. At the very least Rick picked his powers to fit his temperament rather than let himself be redefined by the gifts that could have fallen in his lap.
Your Seclusion attribute has increased by 1.
Some might not have the intention to become a hero after they arrived in Avandis. Yet how could anyone, when granted supreme power, not be tempted to use it? Even if they started out weak by picking titles like Prodigy that accelerated learning and skill acquisition, they''d all be tempted to flex their new muscles and make a mess out of things my stomping all over the status quo. "We''re running out of arrows! Why hasn''t the delivery from the armory arrived yet?!" Rick had overheard a few harrowing adventures of King Matt Demonbane. Tales where his comrades betrayed him, of how a sorcerer ripped away the life of his girlfriend, of how he massacred an entire city during the war for the throne. The king might enjoy an exhalted position now, but no one could deny the rivers of blood he spilled to get to his position in his second chance of life.
Your Stealth skill has increased to Beginner 3.
Maybe most people would call him a fool to refuse any offensive and defensive skill. Rick cared little for the opinions of others. To live a free life, to explore the world withoutattachments and to take pride in his own small works were already sufficient blessings to satisfy a normal mortal like him. Even if he skipped the chance to grow immortal or become a God, he had no regrets for his choice. This exact crisis could have broken him and made him reconsider his choices. Yet the former Earthling only felt more resolve in the correctness of his path. He had his own Dao, and while it might not be as flashy as others, it fit his convictions like no other beliefs.
Your Mental Resistance attribute has increased by 1.
''I don''t need the fucking System to tell me right and wrong.'' Rick grumbled a little as the rain of bloodneedles lulled a bit. Wounded guardsmen, punctured merchants and plenty of splattered monsters cried out in pain in the open streets. A few enterprising adventurers even took advantage of the pause to finish off the wounded Bloodneedles for easy Merit. Rick glanced at his sheathed dagger before discarding the idea to do the same.''I''m not going to risk my life to earn a few paltry rewards.'' The next wave of Bloodneedles chose to dive down shortly afterwards, cruelly savaging the slower and more greedy adventurers. This torrent had grown thicker than the first wave, so much that a few even splattered against the marble statue of Matt Demonbane, whose proud stature was the only obstacle between the Bloodneedles and Rick''s defenseless body. Strangely enough, even the hardened beaks of the monsters couldn''t damage the statue at all. Perhaps his 26 luck did count for something as the statue turned into a pretty good shield. Faint blue lines appeared on its surface which not only repelled the Bloodneedles, but also blew away the blood and dirt that splattered on its surface. It was an extraordinary sight that momentarily mesmerized Rick.
Your Mana Perception skill has increased to Beginner 4.
The statue was enchanted! Rick could faintly see brilliant webs of mana that had somehow been engraved into the statue. With his pitiful skill in mana engraving, he could only faintly discern the purpose of a few peripheral patterns. The majority of the patterns remained vastly out of reach. No matter, the protection it afforded was enough for Rick to remain still and keep utilizing his stealth skills. Among all the death and killings, heroes emerged from the crisis. Famous adventurer groups organized themselves and protected critical junctures, allowing the townsmen to prepare their shields and bows to resist the Bloodneedles more effectively. A few groups even sought out-of-place townsmen and other bystanders, feeding them potions if they needed before dragging them off to shelter.
Your Stealth skill has increased to Beginner 4.
Yet somehow none of the rescuers even glanced at Rick even as he huddled underneath the imposing statue of their king. The confusion, the string of bodies and the constantly diving Bloodneedles somehow caused everyone to overlook the hiding Artisan. Even at his low level he was being overlooked. Not that Rick blamed them. Now that his panic receded a little with the strengthening of his mind, he figured he might as well stay and grind his skills. A huge wave of formless energy then stretched across the air. It swept a thin but unstoppable line across any Bloodneedle it encountered. "The Great Lord is back! Ice Master Feyer is with him as well!" Next, a series of flat ice planes shimmered into existence over the town. The Bloodneedles that crashed against the surface instantly froze into icicles before they could even attempt to free their beaks. It was if the Gods had descended. The Great Lord jumped into Rick''s view. He must be the person in charge of Greenwall as an extravagant red cape adorned his exquisitely armored form. With a single strike of his sword he shot out beams filled with compressed mana, cutting apart any Bloodneedle in its way. Just the aftershocks of those attacks posed enough of a threat to blow him away. With tearing eyes Rick narrowed his eyes and tried to appraise the seemingly invincible figure. To his surprise, the appraisal felt remarkably easy, as if the grand warrior in question was giving it a little push.
Name:???
Title: The Great Lord of Greenwall
Level124
''The fuck! Even the system thinks he''s a beast!'' The Ice magician meanwhile stuck to the south of the town, as all kinds of ice walls shimmied in and out like a show of entertainment. Perhaps it was just as well he couldn''t appraise another monster in human form. With the help of these two exemplars, the town guards and adventurers focused less on shielding themselves and more on rescuing the heavily wounded. Only a couple of adventurers behaved unscrupulous enough to loot the fallen of their belongings. "Get lost you trash!" "I''ll remember your face!" Rick felt tempted to make a quick run before stopping himself. It wasn''t as if he needed the wealth at this moment. He stayed put until the wave of Bloodneedles slacked and puttered out entirely after half an hour. Sadly for him, besides another level of Stealth, he hadn''t gained any more upgrades.''Now that my masteries are a little higher, they aren''t easy to raise, especially considering I''m not in a fight for my live anymore.'' The guardsmen secured the streets, keeping order, preventing adventurers from looting the dead and directing brave townsmen to drag away the remaining wounded. Enterprising adventurers could be seen scouring the streets for any wounded but still living Bloodneedles to squeeze off a little more Merit.
Event Quest: Great Bloodneedle Migration
Quest Update Since you have been unable to earn Merit, you have failed this event quest. Please strive to fight harder the next time Greenwall is in danger!
Seeing the sky had cleared, Rick finally emerged from his hiding spot. Seeing that some people were gathering the Bloodneedle corpses for some reason or another, Rick decided he at least wanted to get some materials of his own to work with. Already having an idea in mind, he unsheathed his dagger and went to the nearest stain on the ground. With a bit of fumbling due to his lack of skill and low strength, he finally managed to wrest away a thin beak. He moved on to the next corpse, and slowly worked his way up until he managed to gather fourteenbeaks in good condition. "Hey you! Stop that!" A guardsman officer shouted to him, somehow managing to pierce through Rick''s thin veil of obscurity. "It''s not safe here. Scram and let the big boys work." The impromptu scavenger sighed and obediently turned in the direction of his inn. His harvests for today hadn''t been bad. At least he came out of the ordeal much better than the dead and wounded. He actually didn''t know how to feel about that.Should he blame his luck for finding a statue that could act as his wind screen. Somehow he felt no survivor''s guilt.''Is this mental resistance and willpower at work? Or just due to the fact I''m not a native to this world?'' It hadn''t been apparent in his first day in Avandis, but Rick felt less attached to this new and exciting world.''I think my mind is still treating this life as a game. It''s impossible to for me to become fully immersed in this world when I have the mindset of treating this opportunity as a source of entertainment and fulfillment.'' That bothered Rick a little, but considering he escaped a lot of death without turning into a shellshocked mess, he stopped thinking about it. After all, he wasn''t a shrink. Let someone else figure out this philosophical stuff. Only after he reassured the worried innkeeper that he was fine did enter his room and collapse on his bed. Despite his mental resistance, the stress of surviving a battlefield remained harrowing to someone used to the leisure of old Earth. He considered his actions during the last fight and found it amazing that he hadn''t sought out rescue.''Fortunately, these Bloodneedles don''t seem to be high leveled enough to sniff me out.'' The threat that the Great Bloodneedle Migration posed came from their immense numbers. If it had been just a few formidable monsters, Rick might not have been able to escape unscathed. Rick reminded to himself that Avandis remained a world filled with danger. In fact, of the entire continent of Oarwa alone, humans and other civilized races only really occupied 10-20% of the landmass. Even as the Elswick Kingdomtried to beat back the tide of monsters and set up frontier towns like Greenwall, the fight against monsters remained fraught with peril where random deaths loomed close. Still, the risks matched the rewards. Loads of adventurers brought back valuable raw materials that made it easy for Rick to get his hands on. The various production guilds only sent a couple of less valuable members to oversee the market so Rick didn''t expect any trouble from them as long as he kept his nose out of their core businesses.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Furthermore, the Great Lord that ruled the town was desperate for commerce. Greenwall''s rich forests and exotic monsters provided valuable streams of wood, herbs, monster parts and more. However, its inability to expand the safety cordon outside the walls meant the town had a shortage of ore and metals. In order to encourage merchants come and trade and therefore keep the coins flowing, taxes were kept low and the collectors usually didn''t cause any trouble. All of this meant that Rick could enjoy favorable conditions in the month he planned to remain in town. Considering the local specialties, he decided he would commit to leveling pill refining and woodworking. Having processed the deadly situation he had the fortune to escape unscathed, Rick summoned the remainder of his energy to feed his Possessed Chronicle before writing down everything in his logs.
Despite the casualties that numbered in the hundreds, life went on and people resumed their lives. The Great Bloodneedle Migration was just another rare event that reminded the townsmen they were pioneers. Perhaps a few generations later, their descendants could enjoy a generous amount of land and wealth. It was only with that thought that the Greenwallers gritted their teeth and resumed work on building up the settlement. As for Rick, he came back to the less populated plaza and sat down near the statue of the king. He chuckled as he fist-bumped the statue''s feet.''You''re my lucky charm, old buddy.'' For the next days, he had a plan. The deadly migration had reminded the people that danger could come at any time. In such situations, having one of Rick''s Swift Crane Rebirth Pill wouldn''t hurt. Therefore, after Rick setup his table as an impromptu stall, he immediately hawked his pills without shame. He even jacked up the price of common pills to eighty silvers while charging an extravagant hundred-and-twenty silvers for an uncommon quality pill! "Are you fucking crazy? What is it with these stupid pills! Not even 80 silvers, I wouldn''t even spend 10 silvers for this piece of lizard dung!" "Hahaha, even if you managed to craft a few uncommon quality medicines, if the recipe is shit the end product remains shit." Anyone would ordinarily spit blood upon seeing such extravagants price for pills that healed only about 30-40 health. With that money, plenty of people would opt to buy a lesser health potion that healed about a 120 health in a couple of gulps. Yet despite the ridicule, Rick steadily received some business during the day. First to arrive was surprisingly the drunkard who bought Rick''s first pill. He came with a friend who was obviously an off-duty guardsman. "Heya pal." The drunk greeted Rick with an amiable smile that didn''t reek of alcohol for once. "Lotsa merchants returned to the Gods.I''m glad to see you''re still in this world. I''m actually here for another of dem cultivator pills. The one you gave me... well let''s say it helped more than I thought yesterday." "I''m glad to hear it." And Rick really was glad. In a way, he warmed his heart after hearing something he made by his own hands could make a difference in the world. "I''ve got plenty of pills here and I''m planning on making about a hundred more. I have to warn you that I raised my prices though..." The drunkard laughed at that bold declaration, though his guardsman friend widened his eyes. "I''ll take two uncommon ones. How about two gold for old time''s sake, eh?" As Rick prepared two small sacksfor the pills, he nodded and smiled, agreeing to the price without a hassle.''That''s about a half week''s worth of stay at the inn I''m slipping through my fingers, but... ah fuck it, it''s not even worth raising the level of my haggling.'' It proved to be a fortunate decision, for as soon as Rick waved them goodbye, a trickle of other guardsmen started to show up. Naturally Rick wouldn''t allow any more easy discounts and haggled as if his life depended upon it. In a way, it actually did, as Rick would no doubt land in dire straits if he ran out coins. Even with that restriction, the steady sales attracted a number of curious adventurers and townsmen. A few, flush with exchanging their Merit for coins, bought a pill or two for emergencies.
Your Haggling skill has increased to Beginner 4.
Just like his other skills, the mastery of his haggling increased fairly quickly by the time Rick exhausted his current supply of pills. After that, he spent the next three days in a small cycle of buying ingredients, concocting pills and selling the products to worried guardsmen and adventurers. With a satisfied smile, Rick softly said, "Skill List."
Skill List
Skill Mastery
Strict Contract-Making Beginner 1
Woodworking Beginner 1
Blacksmithing Beginner 1
Alchemy Beginner2
-Pill Refining Beginner4
Drawing Beginner 1
-Drafting Beginner 1
Painting Beginner 1
Haggling Beginner5
Mana Perception Beginner4
Mana Engraving Beginner 1
Mana Manipulation Beginner3
Stealth Beginner5
Sprinting Beginner 1
Herb Lore Beginner2
Appraisal Beginner2
Though he crafted a hundred pills, Rick actually hadn''t been able to raise the mastery of his skill by much.''It makes some sense though. Just repetitively doing the same things over and over won''t expand my horizons. Even my level gain has stalled to halfway to level five.'' And after refining his pills after the first hundred, he started to produce poor quality pills that were so awful that Rick threw them away. "Inventory: Lucky Coin Pouch."
Inventory
Lucky Coin Pouch
20Copper Coins 38Silver Coins 75 Gold Coins Possessed Chronicle
Self-replicating Bread x1
At the very least, Rick''s coin pouch grew a little fatterwith all of the sales. Sadly, he had to hand over about twenty gold as ''tax'' to the guards. And inexplicably, Rick lost a whopping nine gold coins from the effects of his Lucky Coin Pouch in an extraordinary instance of misfortune. Evidently, twenty-six points in luck might not always prove to be a benefit. Despite all that, Rick remained happy with the end result. Due to the high prices, the Artisan easily earned five times the cost of ingredients, enough to earn the envy of plenty of Alchemists. In fact, if Rick stayed and sold any more pills, the local Alchemist Guild might pay him a ''friendly'' visit. With regards to the experience gain that his Artisan class granted him, while his first couple of successful crafting might earn him boat loads. Yet after that, the experience gain dropped off sharply, as if the System was telling him to stop bothering with the same recipe and move on to something more exciting. That made him sigh a bit.''I''ve already established a small but solid market. If I keep refining these pills and sell them once a week, I''ll definitely be able to earn a steady income.'' His heart wasn''t in it. Rick was an Artisan, a Forgotten Nerd and a Vagabond. All of these combined stirred within his heart a spirit of adventure. He only experienced a tiny bit of what the vast world had to offer. Having decided to stop selling the Swift Crane Rebirth Pill, he nevertheless wanted to try and milk a few more coins out of his invention. Thus, after packing up his gear, he walked towards the guild district. After glancing at the entrance of the Alchemist Guild, he shook his head and made his way towards the Adventurer''s Guild. Business seemed to be at a lull so a cute catkin receptionist quickly greeted him. "Ah, welcome sir. You''re the apprentice pill refiner, right? How many I be of assistance?" Actually, Rick was only a beginner in pill refining, but he wasn''t in a hurry to correct her assumptions. "I''d like to sell my recipe for the Swift Crane Rebirth Pill to the Adventurer''s Guild." He retrieved his Chronicle and opened his very slim recipe section. He put the book down on the counter and made sure to press his palm against the surface, preventing anyone from reading the detailed recipe. However, it didn''t block any appraisals, allowing the receptionist to appraise the displayed recipe without actually instructing her how to make the pills on her own. The catkin worker twitched her furry ears. Rick swore that she did it on purpose. "It looks like you are offering a genuine recipe, but this request his highly unusual. Not that we don''t have an interest in it, seeing that it''s the first medicine made out of local herbs we''ve seen that''s in the form of pills. But isn''t it more appropriate to offer this recipe to the Alchemist Guild? I''m sure they''d reward you handsomely to such an offer even if pill refining isn''t exactly popular in the Elswick Kingdom." He could only smile wrily at those words. "I''m not a member of the Alchemist Guild. For my own reasons I don''t want to involve myself with them. So does your guild have any interest in the recipe?" "I''ll need to bring this up to my superior. Can you wait a moment please?" After a brief wait, the receptionist returned with a modest smile. "The guildmaster says this recipe isn''t very sophisticated, but we''re willing to spare some silvers to save other Alchemists the trouble." "Just a few silvers!" Rick slammed his fist down the counter with an aggrieved expression. "I wasted a lot of herbs figuring out the right proportions alone. You should pay me at least ten gold for this valuable recipe!" An intense round of haggling erupted. Unfortunately, a novice like Rick was no match to someone who could be trusted to man the counters of the most important guild in Greenwall. With only three gold and forty silvers, Rick left the guild with a grumbling expression.''I''m never going to be able to get good deals with my nonexistent charisma.'' This was an unfortunate flaw in his aspiration to become a self-sufficient craftsman. Even if he slowly grinded his Haggling skill, without the corresponding attributes to support his trades he''d always be taken advantage of by dedicated merchants.''Oh well, it''s not like that piece of paper had much value to start with. I should be happy with what I got.''
Your experiment has failed to produce a weapon. You have gained 1 experience.
Sighing, Rick dismantled the piece of crap he called a spear and retrieved the Bloodneedle beak he painstakingly tried to affix to a spear shaft. Woodworking had not gone as well as Rick had hoped. While timber had not been too difficult to acquire, it was a pain in the arse to work it down to a functional shaft. With his meager strength, he could only barely saw down the much stronger wood that had been nourished with life mana for its entire existence. It took an enormous amount of labor to slim down the wood into rectangular shafts, that further needed to be worked in a cilindrical shape. The work was monotonous and devoid of any opportunities for improvements, at least with his current mastery. Not only that, Rick had to work with inadequate tools. The portable woodworking kit he bought from the Point Shop all came in smaller than usual sizes. This made it harder for anyone to work with them unless they possessed higher than usual strength, dexterity and precision. Someone stupid like himself who dumped most of his points into luck naturally had no qualifications to wield these tools effectively. ''I think I''m going at this the wrong way. An Artisan with beginner masteries shouldn''t be producing masterpieces at the get go. I should work on my fundementals instead. If I give up my goal to make a spear that''s good enough to sell... then I should be able to slim down the size and complexity of my work. These thin beaks... they''re suitable for puncturing.'' A minor epiphany hit Rick. He took a spare block of wood and split them up into a series of narrow shafts. Compared to the previous shafts, they looked smaller and shorter. This made it more difficult to attach the beaks to the end of the shaft, but Rick merely rushed this procedure and used some twine to wrap it all together. After a final check, the Artisan beheld his latest work.
Your experiment has succesfully produced aCrude Bloodneedle Javelin. Due to its poor quality, you are not permitted to name this weapon. Due to its poor quality, as an Artisan, you do not receive additional experience when crafting your next ten copies of this weapon.When crafting the next hundred weapons, you will suffer escalating penalties to success rate and experience gain. Your Woodworking skill has increased to Beginner 2. You have gained 50 experience.
He pretty much expected such a result. The javelin deserved to be named as a crude weapon. He didn''t even dare appraising it out of shame. Looking at this sorry excuse for a throwing weapon and the large pile of junk next to his work table, Rick already had a premonition that he had no talent in woodworking. Come to think of it, the time pressure of picking skills during his shopping at the Point Shop had perhaps pushed him into making some questionable decisions. He never had an aptitude for heavy manual work. At least the difficulty in pill refining lay in figuring out the order of ingredients and the manner in which you manipulated mana. ''I''ll have to try blacksmithing once I travel to a city with plenty of mines. If it''s as trouble some as woodworking, I don''t think I''ll fall in love with it. Such a shame if that becomes true.'' If he had a clearer plan, then Rick might have chosen other skill in place of woodworking and blacksmithing. Cooking, tailoring, leatherworking... any of those choices were a better fit for him. Right now, he couldn''t even dream on acquiring those skills. Even reaching a mastery of Beginner 1 in tailoring meant he needed to study about all kinds of fabrics, as well as getting hands-on experience learning the basic fundementals of the craft. The only way to do that in less than a year was if he chose to become an apprentice to a Master Tailor, not that anyone of them would accept someone of Rick''s age. What he lacked the most was passion. He knew very little what woodworking and blacksmithing was capable of. If he gained a lot of attributes, received a few pointers from some old masters or got hold of a valuable skill book, then he might still not figure out what to do with these troublesome crafts.With his low level and low attributes, his chances of encountering something inspirational enough to ignite his passions for the crafts were too slim. Then again, the advantage of picking too many crafting skills was he could always choose for himself which ones he''d like to develop further. He had no mom to yell at him to eat his veggies. He could just eat the meat every day! One of the reasons why he chose a general crafting class was to leave room for further specialization. Once he tried a bit of everything, he could pick and choose his preferred professions and match his future direction. ''Let''s see what the future holds. For now I''ll just finish processing the other beaks in order to grind a few experience points.'' Rick turned back into the drudgery of crafting crappy javelins. In the end, hecobbled together a dozen of these weapons. Too ashamed to sell them here where even kids would laugh at what he created, he could only store them in his Backpack and try to get rid of them in a different town. He learned a lesson today. Crafting was more difficult than he thought. Not even luck could compensate for lack of knowledge and rudimentary skill. Rick lack the fundementals to truly embody a craft. He needed to take a step back and try another approach. Since he had the gold to spare, he could spend some of it to buy what he needed.