《New Reality Online(legacy) ***DROPPED***》 001 If only i was a little slower Ren Taylor opened his eyes and was immediately confused. He was lying on a soft bed inside a world of pure white. He looked down at himself and saw that he was wearing a shirt and pair of pants that matched the color of the room. He slowly pushed himself up off the bed and looked around. All around him was a world of pure white devoid of anything but the single bed he was currently lying on. Ren swung his legs over side of the bed and stood up, stretching a little before walking around the room. At first it was a little difficult and he had a hard time keeping his balance but after some time walking it began to feel normal again. Ren began pacing around the room, not wanting to sit. After what could have been minutes, or hours, someone else appeared in the room. The newcomer was an old man wearing a knee-length white coat, carrying a clipboard, and with a stethoscope draped around his neck. The old man just stood there watching Ren, who just kept walking around while looking at him, for a few minutes before speaking. "My name is Dr. Avery, You are currently in the Paradise Valley Medical Center. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" Ren stopped walking and thought for a moment before speaking "I¡¯m Ren Taylor, nice to meet you." He said "Good, good. Now can you tell me what you last remember?" Dr. Avery asked Ren thought for a moment, his expression one of confused concentration. He knew he had memories, a lifetime¡¯s worth, but he just couldn''t seem to reach any but the basic ones, like his name. He continued reaching out to the rest, feeling that they were there but just out of reach. Every time he thought he had them they slipped out of his grasp. He kept reaching out to grab it over and over again until finally, he caught them. The moment he grasped them, memories flooded into Ren. First he was waking up and getting ready for school. Then he was leaving his house to start his walk to his high school. Next he remembered taking a short cut through an alley near his house. He remembered seeing a little kid run out into the street to retrieve this brightly colored ball they were playing with. He remembered seeing a truck, moving way too fast for the area it was driving through. He remembered dropping his school bag running towards the kid, faster than he had ever run before. He remembered shoving the kid out of the way and looking up the see the truck right in his face, it¡¯s horn blaring and brakes screeching and then...nothing. Ren walked over and sat down on the bed. Dr. Avery saw the change in Ren''s face, saw Ren¡¯s skin pale and body start to tremble. He reached out a strong, comforting hand, placed it on Ren¡¯s shoulder, and spoke. "You¡¯re not dead if that¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about, though it was a very near thing.¡± Dr. Avery crouched down to Ren¡¯s level. ¡°You¡¯re a hero son. Witnesses say they saw you dash out from an alley like an Olympic sprinter and practically tackle the kid out of the way. The kid his parents came by earlier to thank you, though you were still unconscious at the time, and offered to help with your medical bills, though theirs was no need for that but I¡¯ll explain more about that in a minute. The kid even left his ball here hoping that it¡¯ll help you recover.¡± Dr. Avery laughed a little at that and Ren gave a small smile. The Dr. Avery then went on and explained to Ren that he is currently inside a small virtual reality world and that he was hit by a runaway truck. Amazingly he didn''t suffer all that much external damage but truck had thrown Ren several feet down the road and he had hit his head on the ground several times, fracturing his spine and causing him to become completely paralyzed from the neck down. The bouncing had also damaged his optical cortex, the sight center of the brain, and damaged the nerves connected to his ear, causing him to become blind and deaf. The doctor explained that they had confidence that they could restore at least some function to his sight and there were some promising trials going on right now to restore movement to the paralyzed, though they were a least a few years away from human trials. As for his hearing, unless something came along that would allow them to repair the nerves, there was nothing they could do. Ren placed his head in his hands and did he best to try and process everything he was told but it was just too much too fast and he was having a hard time coming to terms with how much his life was going to change "There is one thing you might find interesting," the Dr. Avery said after a few minutes, "Have you heard of the upcoming game Second Awakening?" Ren lifts his head at this. Who hasn''t heard of it? The most advanced vrmmorpg. A place where it''s said you can do almost anything. It supposed to be coming out in just a few days. Seeing that he had Ren''s interest the Dr. Avery continued "The company, Moonlight Arts, owns the truck that hit you and volunteered to pay your medical bills and would like to give you a copy of their game. The pod you¡¯re in right now is also from them. When they hear of the accident and the damaged it caused they had their engineers modify one for your use here in the hospital. They know that it¡¯s not nearly enough to compensate you for what happened but they said they¡¯re going to try and make things right.¡± Dr. Avery paused to let Ren digest what he said. ¡°This place we''re in right now is a sort of rest area, in case you want to take a break from the game. It your own world, you can customize it however you want. The pod also came loaded with hundreds of books, movies, and other games and you can always request more if you want. Second Awakening unofficially starts in six days to warm-up the servers and work out any last bugs in the system. The Official game launch is in a week so you can be the first player in the game if you want.¡± The doctor stops talking when he sees Ren deep in thought. After several minuets Ren lifts his head and announces ¡°I want to play Second Awakening¡± _______________________________________________________________________________ *Six days later Ren¡¯s POV* It''s been six days since the accident. Over those days I''ve spent my time customizing my room, giving myself dark blue walls, a bookshelf on one wall, a large flat-screen TV above the bookshelf, a couch and some posters scattered around my room. I also spoke to my family through a video chat system in the VR pod. It was good to see and speak with them and it help me come to terms with my situation. The family of the kid I saved also came by again. His parents alternated between thanking me and apologizing. I told them that it¡¯s nowhere near their fault and I would do it again in a heartbeat, and I do actually mean that. Everybody left, the kid and his parents had things to do and my family knows that I don¡¯t want them just hanging around the hospital. Now I¡¯m just waiting for the green light to enter Second Awakening, what will be where I spend the majority of my time, my new reality, for the foreseeable future. As the timer I set hit zero an arched doorway appeared along one wall with the words ''Second Awakening'' carved above it. Taking a deep breath, I open the door and step through. At first there is only a black void. This only last for a few moments before there was flash of light. When the light passed and I opened my eyes I found myself standing in a large, semi-circular, stone hall. In the hall were seven alcoves lit by torches. Inside each of the alcoves was a statue. There was one statue for each of the six different races in the game (Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Halflings, and Draconian) and one that keeps changing that represents the different half breeds available to players. Every player starts with the same number of stat points, that they can distribute themselves or at random, and he same equipment so players can choose what race they want instead of which one is the strongest. Please pick a race. The voice is female but sounds too robotic to be natural. After a few moments of thinking I pick human, since I¡¯ll be spending all of my time in the game I might as well pick something I¡¯m comfortable with. The default appearance is how you currently look. Would you like to change it? "No" Would you like to allocate your stat point yourself or have them assigned at random? "Random" Please pick a name "Krono" Are you sure you want your name to be Krono? It cannot be change later. "Yes" Please choose your starting location A map of the starting continent appears in front of me with glowing dots at the places where the starting town are located. I see one town near the frontier in the kingdom of Eroven. It looks interesting so I decide to go with that one. "I choose the village of Jona in the kingdom of Eroven" Are you sure you with to start in Jona Village? This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. "Yes" Transferring you to Jona Village in 5...4...3...2...1 There''s a flash of light and I appear in the middle of a village. I look around me and take everything in. The level of detail is just mind blowing. If I didn''t know better I would think that I was transported to a completely different world instead of being inside a video game. Not only does it look real I can smell the scent of fresh bread coming from the backers shop, the sound of the blacksmith in the forge, taste the sweetness of fresh, unpolluted air. I just stand there taking it all in for a several minutes before moving on. "I should take a look at my stats"
Status Window
Name Krono Alignment Neutral
Gender Male Race Human
Level 1 Class None
Sub-Class None
Fame 0
Titles
None
Health 110 Mana 160
Stamina 110 Defense 1
Strength 17 Endurance 11
Agility 6 Dexterity 16
Intelligence 9 Wisdom 16
Charisma 13 Luck 7
Status Effects
None
Skills
Active Passive Life Skills
Elemental Affinities
None
[/b] Elemental Resistance [/b]
None
"Nothing all that exciting. What about my inventory?" Ren searches his inventory "Let''s see, a sword, clothes, 10 bread, and 10 copper. Again nothing all that exciting. I guess I should look around a bit" Ren started walking around the village, thinking about what he should do. Since the game runs five time faster than the real world Ren has a little under five days until the official launch and more players start showing up. As he walked around Ren thought about how he wanted to do with his life in the game. Ren split his potential options into four categories: Combat, Support, Specialist, and manufacturing. Combat would include anything that focused on fighting, whether it was melee combat, ranged combat, or magic. Support would be the ones that don¡¯t take an active part in combat but still contribute to their side¡¯s success. They would be the healers, the priests, and the shamans. The specialists are the ones that, though they could also fall under the combat or support categories, have another skill set that they work around. They would be the rouges, spies, and thieves. Manufacturing includes the people that support everyone else with the equipment, food, and potions that they need to stay alive. They are the craftsmen, merchants, and gatherers. Ren thought as he wandered around the village. Picking a combat role would be the easiest to do and he could play in a party or go solo but fighting endless waves of monsters didn¡¯t really appeal to him. While Ren was determined to not become a weak player he really didn¡¯t want fighting to be his focus. As for support, Ren barely even thought about it. Support players were basically locked into playing with a party because they had almost no combat skills. That means that if their party ever abandons them or gets wiped out their screwed. Specialists were interesting and could greatly help a party or make a decent living by themselves but it took a certain type of person to play one effectively and Ren knew that he would probably be only average at best. That left manufacturing. Thinking about what he could do as a craftsmen in a high-fantasy setting got Ren¡¯s blood boiling. For as long as he could remember Ren loved making thing. When he was three he was given his first Lego kit, a simple castle kit. It only him about an hour to put it together and he loved every minute of it. By age five Ren had moved on to the more advanced kits, things like architectural models and replica vehicles. His mother also started teaching him to sew. At ten his parents introduced him to a master carpenter one of their friends knew when he expressed interest in it. Ren learned from him until he entered high school and his instructor moved to a different state. While Ren was disappointed he found something else to occupy hid free time. Robotics. His high school had competitive robotics team. He was introduced to it by his science teacher who also acted as the coach. Throughout his high school career he made his way through all of the various positions on the team, from just a normal builder to lead designer to programmer to lead programmer. Now entering his senior year, Ren was gunning for team captain and he probably would have gotten it too if he hadn¡¯t been in the accident. Now Ren was trapped inside his own body but thanks to virtual reality he could still continue to do what he loved and even try new things. Ren smiled as he walked. He had found what he was going to do. After about another half hour of wandering around Ren found himself in front of the village tailor¡¯s workshop. Ren thought that it was kind of funny that the first real skill he learned in real life was also the first one that he found a potential trainer for. Ren opened the door and walked into the small store. There''s a counter at the back with some shelves holding different pieces of clothing and leather armor placed along the walls and shelves of various materials placed around the shop. Ren walked to the counter and rang a small bell. "Just a minute" Ren heard from the back. After a few moments a bearded old man wearing a plain leather apron walked out from the workshop in the back of the store. He walked up to the counter and looked Ren over for a moment before speaking. "I haven''t seen you around before so you must be new right? My name¡¯s Jason. I take care of all of this villages clothing and soft armor needs and am the owner of this fine establishment. If it¡¯s related to clothe, leather, or sewing I¡¯m your man. So what can I help you with?" the old man, Jason, asked ¡°Nice to meet you, I go by the name Krono. I actually came here wondering if you could teach me tailoring.¡± Ren said. "Polite fellow aren¡¯t you?¡± Jason said, stocking he beard in thought. ¡°How about this¡± he said after a moment ¡°if you bring me 10 rabbit pelts and 10 fox pelts I¡¯ll teach tailoring." Ding!
System Message
You''ve received a quest! Jason the tailor has asked you retrieve rabbit pelts x10 and fox pelts x10 Difficulty - F Reward - Jason teaches you tailoring Time Limit - None Failure - None Will you except(y/n)?
"I¡¯ll get the pelts for you" Ding!
System Message
Quest Accepted!
002 My First Adventure Ding!
System Message
Quest Accepted!
Yes my first quest! I yell in my head, pumping my fist and almost shouting out load in excitement. I turned around and was about to rush off and go get the pelts when Jason calls out from behind me, "It''s great that that you''re excited, but do you know how to harvest the pelts without damaging them?" He asks. I stop in my tracks and turn around a little sheepishly. I let my excitement get the better of me and was a bit embarrassed. I walk back to the counter and ask, "Could please teach me how to harvest the pelts correctly?" Jason stays silent for a moment, trying to look like he''s thinking about it though he has a slight smile on his face. "Well since you asked so nicely I suppose I could." Jason said. He then proceeds to explain to Ren how to harvest various materials from animals with damaging them Ding!
System Message
You have learned a new skill! Harvesting - Life Skill (Beginner lvl 1 - 0%) You have learned how to not only how skin animals and beasts for their pelts, but how to completely disassemble them for all of their materials. As this skill advances in level you will be able to harvest higher quality ingredients and fail less often
After thanking Jason for the skill, Ren dashes out of the village to a nearby field filled with low-level monsters for the new players to fight. Ren approaches the field and takes out his sword and examines it.
Novice sword
Type Blade QualityNormal
Damage 1-5 Durability 30/30
A weak sword for a beginner player
*sigh* It well it could definitely be worse. I should make sure to get a better weapon as soon as I can. Ren looks around and spots a rabbit hopping about. "Info"
Status Window
Name Rabbit Level 1
Health 100/100
Attack 5[/b] Defence [/b]0
A Normal Rabbit
"This should be simple enough" Ren said. He charged forward and swung his sword at the Rabbit,
Delivered 18 damage
"Yes!" Ren shouts when the sword connects "looks like I got a bonus from running." Ren swings the sword again but this time the rabbit didn''t sit still and charged at Ren, doging his sword in the process.
Received 5 damage
"Gah" Ren shouted as the rabbit bit his arm. While the pain is dialed down by the system it still stung. "Stupid rabbit" Ren started wildly swinging his sword at the rabbit again.
Delivered 22 damage
Delivered 20 damage
Delivered 22 damage
Delivered 18 damage
Ding!
System Message
You Have Successfully killed a Rabbit! You have gain 10xp!
Ding!
System Message
You have created a new skill! Flurry Strike - Active (Beginner lvl 1 - 0%) By not caring about defense you attack the enemy with flurry of strikes in an attempt to beat them down with sheer ferocity. Higher levels decrease the defense penalty and increase speed and damage. -cost: 50 stamina -Increase attack speed by 10% -Increase damage by 10% -decrease defense by 50%
"Oh a new skill. Hmmm, the defense penalty is pretty high, though if I level it up the penalty will decrease and the bonuses will get better" Ren sat on the grass next to the Rabbit he just killed and said a quick prayer for the Rabbit before disassembling him. He may be in a game but he still believes that you should show respect to something you killed.
System Message
You successfully disassemble a Rabbit! You receive Rabbit Pelt(normal) x1 and Rabbit Meat(normal) x1
"One down and nine more to go, though I wouldn''t mind having extras." with that Ren got up and went to find more Rabbits. Ren spent the rest of the day hunting Rabbits, killing 30 of them though he only got 18 pelts and 22 meat because he failed several times while harvesting them. During his hunt Ren gained one level, elevating him to level 2. Every time a player levels up they get 10 stat points to distribute however they want. Ren didn¡¯t use his just yet, he wanted to think about what he would use them for first. Ren made his way back to the village to spend the night as more powerful monsters come out during that time. Ren was thinking about what kind of character he want to be. He already knows he wants to become a craftsmen but he has no idea what he should put his stat points into. As he makes his my towards the center of the village, the setting sun painting the sky orange and red. He passes the blacksmith¡¯s shop, the sound of metal being hammered into shape still coming from within, Ren is struck with a bolt of inspiration. Of course! Why didn''t I think of it sooner? While I know I¡¯ll need strength, what more important is precision! With that thought Ren immediately opens his stats and puts 3 points into Strength and 7 into Dexterity. As he increases his strength he feels himself grow slightly stronger. Ren continues to make his way to the center of the village to find a place to spend the night. Not wanting to spend any of the money he has on an inn Ren opts to sleep beneath the stars. _________________________________________________________________________________ *Next Day* Ren wakes up as the sun just starts to peak over the horizon and light up the village. He spent the night under one of the trees in the village center. Standing up and stretching, Ren makes his way to the field he was at the day before. Today his goal is to hunt foxes. Ren spends several hours scouring the field outside the village for foxes. Though he finds plenty, the foxes are quick and run away when they get low on health. Ren chases after them and gets closer to the forest a short distance away from the village. He eventually reaches the edge of the forest but doesn''t enter. While he doesn¡¯t have any evidence to support it, Ren''s certain that the monster in there are much stronger than him. Ren stands outside for a few minutes working up the courage to enter. They monsters may be stronger but Ren¡¯s determined to finish the quest. Taking a deep breath Ren steps into the forest and starts walking deeper, searching for the damaged foxes. The sun is directly overhead as Ren sits down on a fallen log to rest and eat a piece of bread, thanks to all of the fighting yesterday and all of the walking today, he''s down to only 3 pieces of bread. After spending a little more than an hour in the forest he only managed to obtain two fox pelts and some meat and got lost in the process. While the sun won''t set for several hours I probably only have a few hours until it starts getting dark in the forest. I need to find a place to stay the night before it starts getting too dangerous. Ren stands up and starts moving in a direction he hopes leads to the village, not knowing that he''s actually heading opposite direction and moving deeper into the forest. The hours pass and Ren is desperate. The forest has started getting dark and he can hear an increasing number of monsters moving around in the forest. Ren has been wandering around for a while with no luck finding the village or a safe place to hole up for the night and was starting to give up, thinking that he''ll be attacked and killed soon by whatever beast gets to him first. Just when he starts thinking about going and finding a monster to speed up the process, Ren stumbles into a small clearing and finds a small, old, rundown looking hut in the middle. Ren sprints to the hut and tries the door, to his relief it''s unlocked. He opens the door and steps inside, finding the hut empty of anything but a few broken shelves, a large cabinet, some scattered pieces of wood, and a small stone stove. Ren closes the door and slides the wooden bar across it, locking the door against anything that might want entry. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. I¡¯m safe for now. He leans against the wall next to the door and slides down, binging his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them when he reach the floor. What should I do now? I don''t want to die but I don''t know how to get back to the village. As Ren is pondering his dilemma he hears the sound of rain hitting the roof, first slowly and gently but quickly picking up speed and intensity. Soon it''s a full downpour. Lightning flashes and thunder roars, sometime with the power to shake the small hut. Amidst all of this commotion, Ren finally succumbs to the exhaustion caused by the day¡¯s events and falls into a fitful sleep. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Next Day* Ren''s sleep was far from restful. He was woken up constantly by the howls of beasts and the roar thunder and he was still tired when he got up but he couldn''t get back to sleep anymore. It was still raining relatively hard and, all though the thunder and lightning had abated, he was still trapped inside the hut for now as the rainclouds blocked out the sun and caused the forest to become pretty dark gloomy. He briefly thought about logging off and waiting for the rain to stop but ultimately decided against it. He only had four more days, including today, by himself and wanted to make the most of it. The hut had become cold as Ren slept, and he was thankful that there were no leaks, and he started shivering. He got up and gathered the broken shelves and scattered pieces of wood and dropped them on the floor by the stove. Crouching down, Ren was about to try making a fire when he realized he didn''t have anything to start it with. Starting to get depressed again, he suddenly remembered one place he hadn''t looked yet. "The cabinet!" Ren shouts and rushes over to the cabinet and throws open the doors. The dim light in the hut makes it hard to see inside and the cabinet is deep enough that Ren has to crawl halfway into it to be able to search for anything. He feels around the cabinet and finds nothing but dust on the top and middle shelves. Ren moves to search the floor of the cabinet and almost his entire upper body disappears into the structure. The wood of the cabinet floor creaks as he shifts his weight around on his hands. Ren take his weight off one hand to feel around and... *CRACK* The floor gives way under his weight and he falls Ren looks down and, in the dim light that filtered down from above, he see what looks like a solid black mass raising to meet him from the shadows and then... Ren Taylor died... Or that''s what Ren though would happen
Received 100 damage
It took a moment for Ren to realize what had happened I didn''t die? Ren thought, staring up at his only source of light tens of feet above him. Falling that far head first, I definitely should have died. Ding!
System Message
You have created a new skill! Fall Damage Reduction - Passive (Beginner lvl 1 - 0%) You have learned through experience that to increase the odds of surviving a fall You have to keep your body relaxed, allowing it to absorb some of the damage -Fall damage reduced by 5% -chance of injury from falling reduced by 5%
So that''s the reason Ren slowly stands up, dusts himself off, and looks around. There was an old wooden ladder set against one side of the shaft leading back up the hut and a dark passageway leading off into the distance. It''ll probably collapse and trap me down here. Ren thinks, looking at the ladder. Ren gathers up the broken pieces of wood that fell with him and starts his climb back up to the surface. Surprisingly the ladder held, and Ren was able to make it back up to the hut without incident. Climbing out the cabinet, Ren finds that it¡¯s still dark and raining hasn¡¯t let up even a little. He immediately walks over to the stove and gets to work on building a fire by rubbing two stick together. He saw how to do it on TV once and tried to remember what he needed to do. First he carefully used his sword to split some of the wood into smaller pieces, almost cutting off a few fingers in the process. Next Ren takes another piece and shapes it into a crude rod shape with a rounded tip. Finally he uses his sword tip to drill a small depression into a flat piece of wood. Ren cuts the sleeves off of his tunic to use as fuel and starts spinning the rod in between his hands as fast as he could while pushing it into the flat piece of wood. One minute... Five minutes¡­ Ten minutes... Ren feels like his hands are rubbed raw and his arms felling like they could fall off at any moment but Ren kept at it, not wanting to stay inside the cold hut any longer than nessesary. Ding!
System Message
By pushing your limits your Endurance increased by 1
Ren ignored the message and continued until finally he saw smoke and then flames. He did it! But Ren can''t celebrate yet, he has to keep the fire from going out first. Ren feeds the small fire his ripped up sleeves first than the large wood shavings to build it up before carefully transferring to the stove. After tending to the fire as if he was taking care of a small child for several minutes it finally started burning the larger pieces of wood and Ren let out a sigh of relief and fell on his back, laughing with relief as the small hut started to warm up little by little. I did! I actually did it! I created a fire! Ding!
System Message
You have created a new skill! Primitive Fire Creation - Life Skill (Beginner lvl 1 - 0%) Cost: 5 Stamina/minute You can start fire by rubbing two sticks together! While not useful under most circumstances If you need to use it could save your life -Primitive fire making becomes easier and more likely to succeed
Ren smiles at this, though he hoped he''d never have to use it, knows he¡¯ll probably have to again. He has enough wood to keep it going for a little while but he would need to break apart the cabinet soon if he wanted the fire to last for more than an hour or two. He reached into his bag to pull out some of his remaining bread when he remembers the rabbit and fox meat he has and pulls that out instead. Ren used to help his family cook meals so he¡¯s reasonably confident in his cooking skills, though he had no idea if this would work. He placed some of the meat on top of the stone stove proceed to try and cook it. After failing a few times Ren got the hang of it and cooked up the rest of the meat. He took a piece, bit into it, and almost spitting it out. "Damn that nasty!" Ren said as he struggled to finish the whole piece. It was dry and tasked wood smoke stone, and dirt. While tasty it was not, it was still food and it helped him recover some health. Ding!
System Message
You have created a new skill! Survival Cooking - Life Skill (Beginner lvl 1 - 0%) You know the importance of food when trying to survive and Developed cooking methods to suit your needs cooked on a hot stone and seasoned with dirt, the food you cook with this method might not taste the best but it will keep you alive for a while -You can use the resources around you to cook food when necessary, though it probably won''t taste the good and might have odd effects
"They even have a skill like this? Seriously?" Ren says to the empty hut. Ren finishes up another piece of the truly dreadful cooked meat before getting up and walking over to the cabinet. He looks at it for a moment before winding up and giving it a solid kick. The wood cracks but doesn''t break so Ren continues to kick it until it does. After few minutes of kicking the cabinet is reduced to a pile of broken wood. Ren sits down painting and waits for his stamina to regenerate. When he got his stamina back, Ren piles the wood near the stove and adds some to keep the fire going. He than takes a few pieces and puts them in his bag. He takes another and wraps it with some cloth soaked in the fat from the meat he cooked and lights it, making a crude torch. Ren then makes his way to the hole in the floor were the cabinet used to be and climbs down the ladder to the hidden passage. Reaching the bottom he looks around. It was a rough passage, dug by hand, a little taller than he was and about a foot wider, making it easy to walk though. Fallowing the passage took some time, he had to change torches twice, but he finally saw the end. Exiting the passage, he entered a small underground room that had a few sparsely populated bookshelves along one wall, an old half rotten wooden bench and a pile of collapsed stone with an extremely rusty anvil sitting in front of it along another wall and a second ladder leading up directly opposite the passage. "This place must have been someone''s workshop a long time ago." Ren muttered to himself as he walks around the underground chamber. Ren checks the bookshelves but only finds a few books that are too faded and decayed to be of any use. He then makes his way over to the wall opposite the passage and carefully climbs the ladder to the floor above. After climbing maybe fifty or sixty feet, his hand hit something solid. Thinking it might be like the cabinet in the hut Ren tries to first push than slide whatever was above him. After some struggling with the thing above him, and nearly losing his grip on the ladder a few times, Ren finally manages to move the object above him to find that he indeed was indeed inside another cabinet. Opening the cabinet door and climbing out Ren found himself in yet another hut, though this one was in better condition. It had stopped rain while he was in the tunnel and the sun now shone brightly though the window. He left the hut to see where he was and, to his surprise, saw that he was currently standing at the edge of the forest and could see the village off in the distance. Seeing as he still had a few hours left until nightfall, Ren decided to continue to hunt foxes for his quest. The sun was setting on Ren''s third day in the game. He had finally gathered all of the pelts he needed and planned on turning them in to Jason the next day. 003 Tailoring Trials The next morning Ren walks over the tailoring shop and find Jason sitting behind the counter sewing. He calls out to him as he approaches "Old man, I''ve returned with the pelts you asked for." Ren says as he pulls the requested pelts out of his bag, dropping them on the counter in front of Jason. Jason looks up from his work and counts the pelts. "Good, they¡¯re all here. I guess I should give you your reward.¡± Jason says.
System Message
Congratulations! You completed Jason''s quest! Rewards: Learn the Life Skill Tailoring
He reaches under the counter and pulls up a book, placing it on the counter between him and Ren and looks at Ren hard. "Krono," he said in a surprisingly serious tone, "I''ll give you a choice, you could take this book, which contains all you need to know to learn the basics of tailoring. Or you could also forego the book and learn from me. Because you seem to be serious about learning tailoring I¡¯m giving you a chance I¡¯ve never given anyone else. It''ll take longer learning it from me and if you fail any of my trials you will not learn my Art of Tailoring but, if you succeed, you¡¯ll be able to make thing beyond you¡¯re wildest dreams. It''s your choice." Jason takes his hand off the book leans back against the wall, crossing his arms and waiting for Ren''s answer. Ren thinks for a moment, I could take the book and learn the skill immediately or learning from him, which would take longer and has a chance of failure but seems to have greater benefit. I don¡¯t even need to think about this. Ren thinks for a few minutes before placing his hand on the skill book, which causes Jason to frown, and pushes it back towards Jason with a smile. Jason''s face, which seemed to fall in disappointment, lit up with a huge smile instantly. With more energy than you''d think someone his age possessed, Jason almost sprinted into the backroom of the shop, calling out for Ren to fallow him. Ding!
System Message
Quest Accepted! You have accepted the hidden quest The Secret of Tailoring Difficulty: ??? Reward: Life Skill: Art of Tailoring Failure: Fail any of Jason''s trials Failure Penalty: -Intimacy with Tailoring Master Jason lowered -Cannot attempt learn Life Skill: Art of Tailoring (Life Skill: Tailoring can still be learned) This quest cannot be abandoned.
Jason stuck his head out and call to Ren, who still hadn¡¯t followed him. "Why are you standing around? Come, come, there''s work to do!" before disappearing again. Ren quickly followed Jason¡¯s instruction and entered the backroom, a little surprised by the quest notification and Jason''s sudden enthusiasm. When Ren enters he sees a large room with long tables along all of the walls and a few large tables in the center of the room, one of which Jason was cleaning off. Covering some of the table along the wall were piles of varying sizes the held different leathers and fabrics. Project in varying stages of completion took up the rest of the tables with some actually hanging from the ceiling. Jason had finished clearing one of the large tables in the in the middle of the room and was beckoning to Ren to come and take a seat at it. Once Ren was seated the old man began his lesson. "The first thing that you want to remember is that every piece of leather and fabric has a flaw and it''s important to learn how work around it or even use it to your advantage, you can do this by......" and so the lesson began. __________________________________________________________________ *That evening* Ren was exhausted. Jason had spent the entire day lecturing him about Tailoring while he desperately tried to pay attention and remember everything. Sure some of it was interesting, like how different parts of the pelts are good for different applications and how the placement of the stitches and seams can affect the durability of the final product, and some of it was not, like the importance of taking care of your needles and different ways to store them. Overall it was just way too much information for Ren to take in at one time. The high point of the day were two notifications he had received towards the end of the lecture. Ding!
System Message
Congratulations! You have created a new stat! Concentration By forcing yourself to focus on a specific action you have gained the ability to assign more of your attention to a single task -Chance of spell failure due to an attack reduced -Any skill that can benefit by concentrating receives a bonus from this stat while the user is concentrating Current Concentration: 5
Ding!
System Message
By actively memorizing new information your Intelligence increased by 2
Not only had one of his stat increased he actually got a new one! After the lecture Ren got up and started walking toward the door to the shop but was stopped by Jason. "Where are your going?" Jason asked "Too find a place to sleep" Ren said still walking towards the door "nonono, you can stay here until I¡¯m done teaching you." Jason said, catching up to Ren and steering him towards a set of stairs, "a good night¡¯s sleep will help you learn better. You can use the guest room." Ren tried to refuse but Jason would have none of that and Ren eventually gave up and let Jason guide him to the guest room. The guest room was small but cozy. It had a single bed, a small bedside table, a dresser and a small desk. Jason lit a lamp that was sitting on the bedside table before leaving. Ren lay down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling for several minutes, thinking about the events of the day before blowing out the lamp and falling asleep _____________________________________________________________________ *Next Day* Tomorrow at 10:00am in the real word Second Awakening would launch. That meant Ren would only have the game to himself for maybe one or two games days, after which the game will be inundated with new players. Ren didn¡¯t care about that though, he just wanted to play the game and more people would just make it more interesting. Today Jason would start the hands on training and Ren would have the first of his trials. Jason said that it should take a total of four to five days to complete the trials and training of all goes well. Ren walks downstairs to the workshop and found Jason preparing for the day''s trials and training. He looked up as Ren approached. "Good morning Krono, did you sleep well?" Jason asks "Yes I did thank you." Ren replies. "Good, you''re going to need it," Jason says, "Today you''ll start learning the hands-on training so prepare yourself because I won''t go easy on you." Jason starts of the lessons by showing Ren how to cut cloth and leather to maximize yield while avoiding flaws. After showing how to do it once Jason had Ren practice it for an hour, after which will began his first trial. Ren makes numerous mistakes at the beginning but quickly gets better thanks to his natural talent and the concentration stat giving him a slight boost. After the hour is up Jason has Ren rest for a few minutes and Ren notice several notifications he didn¡¯t realize he had gotten.
Your Concentration has increased by 1
Your Concentration has increased by 1
Your Concentration has increased by 1
Your Concentration has increased by 1
Your Concentration has increased by 1
System Message
Congratulations! You have created a new stat! Perception: You have become accustomed to looking for irregularities around you. Because of this you can not only perceive flaws in objects but can also see openings while fighting an opponent. You also have a chance of locating hidden traps, enemies, doors, etc.. Current Perception: 5
While Ren was resting Jason brought out the pelt he was going to use for his trial. It was at least three times the size of the largest pelts and pieces of fabric Ren had been practicing on and its dark color made spotting flaws on it was more difficult. Ren took a deep breath to try and calm his nerve. He had an hour to process the pelt into the fewest number of pieces he could while not letting any of the flaws decreases the strength and quality of the pieces. Needless to say but it was going to be a challenge though Ren was determined to beat it. Stepping up to the table Ren began his first trial. Ren stepped up to the table and ran his hand across the pelt, using both his sight and sense of touch to find the flaws in the pelt. Ren quickly found one of the more obvious ones. It was a small hole near were the heart would be on a live animal. It had clean edges so Ren assumed that it was made by an arrow, though he doubted that a single arrow could bring something this big so he continued his search. Ren spent around 20 minutes exploring every inch of the large pelt, finding old scars the beast had accumulated over its life and a few more well-placed holes. This beast had to have been brought down by a skilled hunter or it wouldn¡¯t be in this great a shape. Ren spent the fallowing 15 or so minutes planning out his cuts. He was trying to get the least amount of flaws per piece while also trying to get the least amount of pieces. Once all of his cuts were planned Ren picked up the knife lying on the table and began his cuts. Ren followed his plan to the letter, making slow, precise cuts in the think hide and not deviating even a millimeter from his plan. It took Ren the rest of the allotted time to finish. When he was done Ren collapsed onto the stool behind him exhausted. All of the practice earlier plus the trial sapped his strength, both physically and mentally and causing him to strain his eyes by looking for flaws in the pelts and fabric. Jason was going over his work, counting the number of pieces and gauging their quality. After several minutes had passed Jason turned around with a smile on his face and clapped Ren on the shoulders "Congratulations boy, you passed the first trial!" Jason said beaming, "now go get some food and rest, the next trial will be tomorrow." Ren makes his way upstairs to the room he''s borrowing and lies down on the bed, pulling out a piece of cooked meat snack on. Tomorrow at 10am in the real world Second Awakening officially opens and the servers will be flooded with players eager to make their mark on this new world. That means I have one to two days in game before people start showing up. He thought as he closed his eyes. Ren was soon fast asleep, dreaming of his old life and what was to become of his new one. __________________________________________________________________________________ *Next day* Ren got up and went downstairs to the work shop, eager to continue his training. Jason was again waiting for Ren when he entered the workshop. On the table behind Jason were various cloth and leather parts, as well as sewing supplies. Ren was a little happy at seeing this, his mother had taught him how to sew at an early age, saying that it was an important skill to have. When Ren reached the table he turned to Jason and asked if he could do two trials today. Jason was shocked and it took a couple moments for him to recover. "How about this," Jason said, "if you can pass the second trial within three hours I¡¯ll let you take the third one today. Deal?" "Deal." replied Ren. Jason preceded to show Ren what he wanted sewn. Afterwards Ren picked up his needle and thread started sewing. He set a pace that both fast and allowed him to keep his accuracy with his stitches, all of his experience from sewing in the real world coming back to him, making the needle look like it was dancing across the materials. He finished the first one, the stitches were good but Ren knew that they weren''t good enough so he picked up the pieces for the next practice piece and started again, concentrating on everything from the placement of the stitches to the tension of the thread. It took Him two hours to get to a point where he was confident he could pass the Second trial. Ren took a break to rest and get something to eat and drink while Jason set everything up for the trial. When he got back to the workshop Jason had finished laying everything out on the table. Ren sat down and Jason proceeded to explain how he wanted it done. Ren would have one hour to complete it. Ren took a deep breath and began the second trial. What Jason wanted sewn was a pair of leather pants and a leather vest that were for the son of one on the local hunters. Ren looked down at the raw materials and quickly planned his cuts. Ren moved fast as he accurately cut out the pieces he would need. Next Ren lined up the pieces and took an awl and punched holes in the leather where the stiches would. Next Ren sat down and pick up a needle and the thread he was going to use, which in this case was very thing leather strips. Ren began my sewing the vest first since it would be the easiest to do. Once he was done with that Ren picked up the pieces for the pants and set about sewing them together. The needle in Ren¡¯s hand looked like it was dancing. All of the stiches were perfectly placed and the tension was just right. Time was running out when he finished the sewing. Ren quickly picked up a nearby mallet and hammer the seams flat so that they wouldn¡¯t irritate the wearer. Time ran out just as Ren finished, Ren stepped back and allowed Jason to examine his work. He had put all of his skill and concentration into it. He was tired but confident as he watch Jason examine his work. After several minutes Jason put down the trial piece and smiled. "Well done boy, you pass the second trial with flying colors." Jason exclaimed, "Now why don''t you go take a nap or do something restful while I set up for the part." Ren wearily nods his head and makes his way upstairs the room he''s staying in and collapses on the bed. Ren sleeps for a couple hours before waking up refreshed and ready to continue. Jason''s working on one of his own project when Ren arrives back in the workshop. "Ready to continue?" He asks Ren, who nods, "Very well than, we''ll begin. This time you''ll be learning embroidery. Now before you say or think anything about embroidery being useless let me tell you it''s not. While most people are willing to pay a little more for equipment that looks nice, well placed embroidery can also reinforce existing stitches and reinforce the armor itself if there are multiple layers. Now to begin first you''ll need to..." and so began the lesson. The lesson and embroidery practice lasted for several hours and it was starting to get dark by the time they finished. There was a lot to learn and Ren struggled a little at the beginning but had gotten the hang of it by the end of the practice. Best of all he got some stat increases while practicing.
Your Dexterity has increased by 1
Your Dexterity has increased by 1
Your Dexterity has increased by 1
Your Concentration has increased by 1
Your Concentration has increased by 1
Now it was time for the third trial. For this trial Ren has to Design and create an embroidery pattern that both looks good and strengthens clothing it''s put on. He has six hours to do it. Ren grabs a pair of leather gloves as the object he has to improve. He started sketching an enlarged version of the design he wants to use on the worktable with a piece of charcoal. After about an hour Ren start working on the embroidery for the gloves. He moves slowly, putting all of his skill and concentration into each stitch, determined to make the gloves functional pieces of art. As Ren works he gradually loses track of his surroundings, his whole world eventually revolving around the pair of gloves he''s working on, nothing else exists for him. Around three and a half hours pass like this and Ren finishes the embroidery. He looks up and hands the gloves to Jason to examine. The design he choose has that of lightning bolts, starting on the back of the hand and branching out to the fingers. The workmanship is between that of a novice and someone experienced in the craft. Jason takes almost half an hour examining the gloves before putting them down and looking at Ren. "You passed the third trial." He said, "While you could have done more, it was better than I was expecting considering your earlier attempts. You''re going to need to practice embroidery more but good job none the less." Jason let out a slight smile. ¡°Now go get some sleep, starting tomorrow you have two days to finish the final trial. I''ll explain more tomorrow now off you go." When Ren got upstairs he turned notifications back on, he had turned them off during the trial so he wouldn''t get distracted. Ding!
System Message
Congratulation! You created a new stat! Art you have uncovered your hidden potential as an artist! This stat represents your skill as an artist and will give a small bonus to any work of art or any art related skill. This stat can only be raised by viewing pieces of art made with more skill than you currently possess, visiting beautiful places , and by creating works of art or adding an artistic touch to any object. Current art: 10
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Ding
System Message
Congratulations! You created a new skill! Extreme Focus - Active (Beginner - lvl 1 - 0%) While this skill is active you receive a bonus towards any crafting or art based skill but your awareness of your surroundings is reduced to the absolute minimum cost: 5 mp/min
Ren looked at them and, while they were good, he was too tired to express and emotion over them. He was asleep the moment he touched the bed. ______________________________________________________________________________ *Next Day* When Ren woke up the sun was streaming through the windows, indicating he had slept longer than usual. He got out of bed and walked to the workshop, still a little tired from the day before. This time when he entered the work shop he just saw Jason working on a project. There was nothing on the table. Jason looked up as Ren entered the room. "You¡¯re finally awake. I was beginning to think I¡¯d have to go wake you up myself." Jason said as he put down what he was working on. He waited for Ren to sit down before continuing. "The last trial I have for you is different from the others. This one is a culmination of all that you have learned so far. For this trial you will design and create something of your choosing, using all of the skill I''ve taught you over the past few days. You¡¯re free to use anything in the workshop for your creation. You have, at most, two days to do it. At the end you''ll be able to keep what you make regardless of whether or not you pass. Good luck." with that Jason leaves the workshop to give Ren all of the space he needs. Ren was thinking about what he wanted to make. Since he can keep it, it should be something that would actually be useful to him, like a set of armor. He sat there for close to an hour thinking about what would be useful to him before deciding on three things. As a craftsman, he''ll be using his hands a lot so he decided to make glove to protect his hands. He''ll also be working with or near rough or dangerous materials and tools so Ren decided to make a good pair of pants and a long coat to protect his arms, legs, and torso. He started picking the materials he would need. He decided to go with a layered design for the pieces as it would make them more durable and more comfortable to wear. For the materials he chose a moderately durable but very supple leather for the outside of the gloves and some light, breathable cloth that could be layered for the inside. The coat and pants would have an outer layer of durable leather while the inside would be layers of cloth and thin pieces of leather for reinforcement. The joints on all of the were also given extra padding and the coat have more leather over Ren vital areas and metal rings sewn inside the coat for extra protection without adding to much weight. After picking his materials and finalizing his design, which took a few hours, Ren was finally able to begin. Ren took his time so not to make any mistakes. After cutting out the numerous pieces he started sewing them together, carefully placing each stitch, closely watch the thread tension, making sure the material didn''t slip as he worked with it. He did the coat first, and then the pants. He had a little trouble with the fingers on the gloves but it turned out fine. The sun was starting to set by the time Ren started the embroidery. He would do the glove tonight as they were small and wouldn''t take too much time. Ren activated Extreme Focus and started working on the design he thought of earlier. Ren worked for around an hour and a half, his mana ran out within the first half hour so he had to wait for it to regen before continuing. In the end he finished his design, it was a simple dragon holding a hammer in one hand and a chisel in the other. There was a piece of thread attached to a needle circling the dragon. On each of the gloves a small dragon did a short spiraled out from the crest and and let lose a breath of their color that flowed down the fingers. The left dragon was colored with thread of white and off-white while the right dragon with black and dark grey. Ren puts down the gloves and head off to the guest room for some rest. ___________________________________________________________________________________ *Next Day - Launch Day* Ren got up early and continued to work on the final trial. For the pants he embroidered a simple design of what looked like roots crawling up the legs. The color of the the thread was close to the color of the pants so the design was a little hard to see but once you noticed it you could tell that, while it wasn''t expert work, it was a a well done design. After finishing the the pants Ren moved onto the final piece, the coat. For the coat Ren put a larger version of the crest on the gloves on the back as well as one on the front in a position wear it would rest over his heart.
Your Concentration has increased by 10
Your Dexterity has increased by 10
Your perception has increased by 7
Your Art has increased by 30
System Message
Congratulations! As one of the first people in Second Awakening you get to choose one of three unique skills. Skills Supreme Taunt - Active (Beginner - lvl 1 - 0%) Make it impossible for enemies within a certain distance to attack anyone but you. Higher levels increase duration, defense bonus, and range. -100% increase in defense while active -Duration: 1 minute -Range: 10 feet -Cost: 50mp Glamour - Active (Beginner - lvl 1 - 0%) Temporarily increase charisma by 100% and make people around you only think and say good things about you. Glamour is broken if actions contradict expected behavior. Increase minimum duration, decrease cost and raise the threshold to break it. Duration: minimum 1 minute Cost: 50mp + 10mp/minute Sage Eye - Active (Beginner - lvl 1 - 0%) Similar to the Identify skill, Sage Eye allows you to identify items but it can also tell you what materials were used to make an item, who made it, when it was made, and at the highest levels how it was made. It can also be used to apprise enemies as well as having a few other funtions you¡¯ll just have to discover for your self Cost: 5mp
hmmmm.....well i''m not going to be a fighter so Supreme Taunt is automatically out, only some kind of narcissist would choose Glamour, so I guess Sage Eye it is.
System Message
You selected Sage Eye
Ren closed all of the notifications and looked back of Jason who was just finishing up is examination of the pieces Ren made. Jason put the armor down a turned to Ren and breaking out into a huge smile. "Congratulations boy, you passed!" Jason practically yelled.
System Message
Congratulations! You completed The Secret of Tailoring quest! Reward: Life Skill - Art of Tailoring
"These clothes are very well made for a beginner," Jason continued, grasping Ren''s hands, "you have proven yourself capable enough, so I wish to pass to you my Art of Tailoring, which I have been perfecting my entire life.
System Message
You have gained a skill! Art of Tailoring - Life Skill (Intermediate - lvl 1 - 0%) This skill, while similar to the Tailoring skill, is much better because it has been perfected over decades by a master of the tailoring skill. Clothes and Armor made with this skill are of better quality than those made with the standard Tailoring skill and the highest quality pieces can be considered pieces of art. You have advance to intermediate in this skill do to your performance during the trials
Ren''s eyes went wide. Not only was the skill better than Tailoring but he also skipped an entire rank. Jason removed his hands and picked up the armor Ren made. "Here, these are yours." Jason said, handing the armor to Ren, "I''m curious though, what made you put that crest on there?" "I see dragon as paragons of knowledge and wisdom. As some of the oldest beings, their crafts men would have forgotten many more time what even one of the elves can possibly learn. To me they represent truly mastering a craft and I wish to follow in their footstep in that regard" Ren replied with hesitation, taking the armor from Jason, examining it, then putting it on.
Gloves of Darkness and Light- Rare
Type Hand Quality Good
Defense 5 Durability 150/150
Gloves created by a talented novice tailor to aid him in his future endeavors. -2% increase in crafted objects quality
[align=center]
Coat of the Craftsmen - Rare
Type Coat Quality Good
Defense 20 Durability 200/200
A sturdy coat created by a talented novice tailor that can stand its own with armor of higher quality made protect him during his travels. -2% increase in crafting quality
Pants of the Craftsmen - Rare
Type legs Quality Good
Defense 15 Durability 180/180
A pair of pants created by a talented novice tailor to protect him during his travels. -2% increase in crafting quality
When Ren finished putting on the last piece armor he got surprised by a notification. Ding!
System Message
You have completed the Craftsman armor set! ~additional 4% increase in crafting quality ~additional 10 defense
Ren was shocked, he didn''t expect to create an armor set and was very pleased with the all of the effects his armor had. Ren looked around for Jason to say good bye but he had disappeared. Shrugging his shoulders Ren walked out to the shop to leave. "Krono wait a moment." a voice called out behind him. Ren turned to find Jason walking up holing a small leather bag. "I would like to give you one last thing before you leave." Jason said, pulling something out of the bag, "Here, take this pendent, it''s my final gift to you." Jason gave the pendent to Ren. It was a small circle of some black metal with a strange character a language Ren didn¡¯t know in the middle. Ren looked up after examining it but Jason has disappeared again. Ren walked out of the shop and examined the pendent with Sage Eye.
Unknown Pendent
TypeNeckQualityUnknown
Material Unknown
A pendent carved with an unknown symbol given by Master Tailor Jason
Looks like Sage Eye isn''t at a high enough level yet and I had no idea Jason was actually a master tailor! Ren put the pendent around his neck and looked around. There were a lot of new people on the village and it took Ren a minute to remember that today was the official launch day of Second Awakening. He quickly ducked behind a bush and put on his novice armor, he didn''t want to stand out to much, and went to the fields to hunting rabbits and foxes with the rest of the newbies. When a player starts they have to spend 30 in game days within 2km of their starting town. Ren already spent a week in Jona so he only has to stay a little over 20 more days there though he was going to stay longer so he didn¡¯t stand out.. Ren almost broke his sword after the first few days of hunting and had to pay to get it repaired. After that incident Ren decided to learn smithing so he could repair his weapons but the town smith refused, saying that he would be better off learn from a master smith in a city. A little disheartened, Ren went back to hunting. For the next four weeks Ren would hunt in the morning and sew in the afternoon. By the time the other players started leaving the village Ren had leveled up to level 13, leveled up a few skills, and even learned some new ones. Ren checked his stats.
Status Window
Name Krono Alignment Neutral
Gender Male Race Human
Level 13 Class None
Fame 0
Titles None
Health 210 Mana 300
Stamina 340 Defense 6(+5)
Strength 30 Endurance 34
Agility 40 Dexterity 40
Intelligence 30 Wisdom 30
Charisma 13 Luck 10
Concentration22Perception12
Art40
Status Effects
None
Skills
Active Flurry Strike: Beginner lvl 4 - 36% Extreme Focus: Beginner lvl 4 - 92% Dash: Beginner lvl 2 - 32% Sage Eye: Beginner lvl 1 - 0% Passive Fall Damage Reduction: Beginner lvl 1 - 0% Life Skills Harvesting: Beginner lvl 5 - 23% Primative Fire Creation: Beginner lvl 1 - 10% Survival Cooking: Beginner lvl 1 - 0% Art of Tailoring: Intermediate lvl 3 - 2% Sewing: Intermediate lvl 4 - 14% Embroidery: Intermediate lvl 2 - 46% Blade Mastery: Beginner lvl 3 - 22% Sword Mastery: Beginner lvl 5 - 12%
Elemental Affinities [/b[
None
None
Elemental Resistance
Satisfied with his stats Ren put on his craftsmen armor and left the village of Jona. His first destination is the nearby city of Crale in the city-state of Crale. His target? The craftsmen Guild. [/align] 004 And Then There Were Four Ren has been walking for a few hours. He left Jona village the previous day and has yet to see anyone else on the road. As he walked around a bend, Ren began to hear arguing coming from up ahead. "We should go back to the village before we go any further. We''ll be back there anyway when we die of hunger if we continue. By taking a few days to go back and collect supplies we''ll save ourselves from losing a level." (Male voice) "But we''d be losing so much time if we went back! We can just gather food as we walk. That way we don''t have to carry any." (Female voice) "Well do you know how to hunt? How about what plants we can eat? Can you cook? I know we can''t and I''ve heard that it''s not that easy to learn either" (Male voice) Ren had finished walking around the bend at this point and saw a party of three people standing in the middle of the road in front of him. There was one male, one female, and one person wearing a robe so Ren couldn''t tell their gender. The male looked to be about 5''11" and was dressed as a warrior. He wore a breastplate, arm guards, greaves, and a helmet, all of which were made of iron. He also had a shield across his back and a short sword at his waist. The warrior looked to be arguing with the girl who''s about 5''8" with brown hair that reached down to the upper portion of her back. She wore leather armor and arm guards, had a quiver on her back, and a bow over one shoulder marking her as an archer. The third person was small, about 4''8, and was wearing a long robe with a hood so Ren couldn''t tell what they looked like nor could he see any weapons. Ren guessed that they were some kind of specialist or a healer of some sort. Ren caught sight of the trio at the same time they saw him. The shortest one interrupted the warrior and the archer and pointed in his direction. The warrior looked a little surprised to see someone else on the road but the archer looked ecstatic and energetically motioned for Ren to approach. Ren walked towards them but readied himself to run away if it came to a fight. The archer who was beckoning moved right up close to Ren, stuck her face close to his, opened her mouth, took a deep breath and said, "Can you cook?" she asked Ren¡¯s was stunned into silence by the random question, he was extremely confused by her. After a few moments of silence the archer started pouting as she was getting a little impatient by Ren''s lack of answer. She opened her mouth say something but it was quickly covered by the hand of the warrior and she was pulled back. "Sorry about that, all she thinks about is food." said the warrior. "I do not!" the archer said indignantly, shoving the warriors hand away. "Right," said the warrior, giving the archer a look that said he didn''t believe her. "Are you by any chance heading to Crale?¡± He asked ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m looking to join the Craftsmen Guild. You?¡± Ren said ¡°We¡¯re looking to join the academy there. It¡¯s supposed to one of the best in the area.¡± The male said. ¡°Why do you want to join an academy?¡± Ren asked ¡®Academies can help you level up faster and teach you skills that you otherwise wouldn¡¯t know. They teach all kinds of thing from normal combat to magic. They probably teach crafting too.¡± He said. ¡°Interesting. Maybe I¡¯ll look into it.¡± Ren said ¡®Anyway, maybe I¡¯ll see you guys around.¡± Ren said as he started walking away. ¡°Please wait a moment.¡± The male said, reaching out to grab Ren¡¯s shoulder but stopping just short of doing so. ¡°Since we¡¯re traveling in the same direction, why don¡¯t we party up and travel together? There¡¯s safety in number after all and traveling by yourself will be rather lonely.¡± ¡°No offence, but we just met. How do you know I¡¯m not a bandit player? How do I know you¡¯re not one?¡± Ren said. ¡°I can assure you we¡¯re not bandits. If we were, we would have already taken you¡¯re stuff by now. As for if you were one, unless you¡¯re a much higher level than us I doubt you could fight three on one. My name¡¯s Powell by the way. I¡¯m a level 16 Human Warrior though I want to be a Guardian at some point. These are my teammates.¡± "I¡¯m Lixiss," the archer said, "I''m a level 15 elf archer. Nice to meet you." she said, pulling back her hair with one hand to show her pointed ears while shaking Ren¡¯s hand with the other. "The quite one is Azriel," Lixiss said pointing at the shortest member, "She''s a level 15 human Rogue. Don''t expect her to say much. She¡¯s pretty shy." Lixiss did a circuit around Ren, examining him, before suddenly stopping and leaning closer "so can you cook? And what¡¯s your name? Your class? Where did you get that armor? Did you make it? Are you a craftsman? Are you any good at figh..mmfffh." the flood of questions was once again stopped by Powell''s hand. "Sorry again, she not very good people." Powell said, it earned him a glare, which he ignored. Ren just ignored their antics and introduced himself "My name is Krono, I¡¯m a human. I''m level 13 and I don''t have a class yet." Ren replied, ¡°and yes I can cook, but I wouldn''t say that it the food I make is all that good." When he mentioned that he could cook Lixiss'' eyes light up. She pushed Powell''s hand away and asked, "Can you join our party? Please?" Lixiss was practically begging him to join. "You won''t have to fight if you don''t want to, you can just do the cooking and stay in the back." Powell added "Ummm..." Ren didn''t know how to reply. While traveling with a party would be safer, Ren didn''t know these people, they could be player killers for all he knew. "Well since you''re not agreeing yet you leave me no choice but to use our secret weapon!" Lixiss said and she moved behind Azriel. "Feast your eyes on this!" she yelled as she removes Azriel''s hood. When the hood was removed Ren saw shoulder length silver gray hair framing a cute face with silver gray eyes that matched the hair. Azriel was trying to cover her face while attempting to pull her hood back up, though Lixiss wasn''t letting that happen. All together there was only one word that could describe what Ren was seeing, adorable. Eventually Azriel won the battle for her hood and pulled it back up, though not as far as she had previously. "So do you want to join now?" asked Lixiss. "ummm...I don''t know," Ren began when he felt a tug on his coat, "hmm?" he looked down Azriel, who had walked up to Ren and tugged on his coat, was now looking up at him. When she had his attention she said one word, "...food..." Ren sighed. He couldn''t take anymore. Lixiss was begging, Azriel was gazing up at him in a slightly hopeful expression, and Powell was just laughing at his predicament. "Fine!" Ren said loudly, "I''ll join your party." "Yes!" Lixiss yelled out happily, throwing both of her arms up in victory. "Welcome to the party." Powell said Ding!
System Message
You have been invited to the party ''Lost Brigade'' would you like to accept?
"Yes" Ding!
System Message
You have joined the party ''Lost Brigade''
_______________________________________________________________________ *Later that day* The sun was just starting to set when the party stopped for the day to make camp. They had traveled for several more hours after Ren had joined the party and they hadn''t yet run into any monsters or bandits so they made good time. It didn''t take long to set up camp and Ren soon had a fire going thanks to [Primitive Fire Creation], which seemed to impress the others. Ren pulled out a small metal cooking pot and pan and started preparing the food. In real life Ren wasn''t that great a cook but he knew enough to get by. Ren filled the pot with water set it to boil. While the water was heating up, Ren cut up some rabbit meat he had collected earlier and set about cooking it in the pan with some vegetables and spices. After a few minutes the water in the pot was boiling so Ren took it off and dropped some herbs in it in an attempt to make something like tea. The rabbit was almost done and was emitting such a delicious smell that it was causing Powell, Lixiss, and Azriel to drool. Ren was concentrating on cooking so he didn''t notice. When the food and tea were done the only sounds that could be heard were that of food being shoveled into mouths, tea being slurped, and plates being scraped clean. When all of the food was eaten and the tea drunk, the party just relaxed around the fire, enjoying each other¡¯s company and the peaceful atmosphere. Powell was the first one to break the silence that surrounded them. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "While we''re waiting for the sun to raise I¡¯m going to log off and take care of a few things. See you all in a few hours." with that Powell logged off "I think I will as well." Lixiss said, Azriel nodded in agreement, "Cya in a bit." They both logged off, leaving Ren by himself, though he wasn''t worried In Second Awakening people don''t usually travel alone, as that makes them an easier target for monster, raiders, and player killers. The reason Ren wasn''t worried about being alone was because of the camp. In Second Awakening when people are traveling from town to town they can set up something called a camp. A camp is a temporary safe haven that can be setup by anyone, npc''s included. While inside the area of the camp monster attack are less frequent, health, mana, and stamina regeneration is improved, and the residents of the camp get a defensive buff, though the buff is only active if they get attacked first, not if they attack first. After the other three left Ren tried to think of something to do. After a few minutes of thinking he remembered something he¡¯d seen in Jona a lot but never really gave much thought to until now. In Jona Ren had seen people sitting on the ground, legs crossed and eyes closed, with a look of intense concentration on their face. Ren was bored so he thought that he¡¯d give it a shot. Sitting down with his legs crossed, Ren put his hands on his knees and closed his eyes, trying to copy what he had seen people doing. Not knowing what to concentrate on he didn''t focus on anything. After several minutes Ren was thinking about stopping and doing something else. It was boring just sitting there and not doing anything. He almost gave up but decided that since so many people were doing it so it must be useful in some way and kept at it. Ren had been sitting and breathing for around 30 minutes when a message notification had broken his concentration. Slightly annoyed because he had just started to relax and the feeling of calmness and peace he had briefly felt had felt good, Ren open his eyes to read the message.
System Message
Concentration has increased by 1
Ren sighed at the unimportant message before dismissing it and disabling notifications and going back to what he was doing, wanting to get back to that feeling of peace. Ren closed his eyes and placed his hands in his lap and reached out the feeling. It only took a few minutes to get there this time and Ren let the calmness slowly fill his body. As the calmness fill him, Ren began feeling like he was slowly sinking into a sea of peace. He kept sinking for what could have been minutes or hours but he didn''t care, all Ren cared about right now was how deep into this sea he could get, feeling like he was being called to go deeper. Heeding this call Ren went as deep as he could, the peace and calm staying throughout but something new joining in. This something new felt powerful and fierce but controlled, like a storm inside a bottle. Just as Ren was about to cross into this realm of calm but fierce energy he felt himself blocked by a barrier and, try as he might, he could not breakthrough. After time Ren gave up and left his sea of tranquility, as he had come to call it, and opened his eyes. Than immediately closed them to protect his sight. The sun had risen while he was relaxing and it hurt to open his eyes. Ren tried again but used his hand to shield his eyes from the worst of it while they adjusted. When he could see Ren looked around but didn''t see any sign of the trio being back. Ren check his friends list to see how long it had been since they had logged in to see that it had been 16 in game hours, or a little over three ours in the real world. He then turned on notifications to see what had happened.
System Message
Concentration increased by 32
System Message
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill! Mediation - Active (Beginner - lvl 1 - 0%) A skill usually used by practitioners of martial arts or by mages, meditation allows one to calm their mind. It can relax a person as well as increase their Concentration. Meditation can also sometimes lead to the discovery of one¡¯s inner energy or even access to one¡¯s soul. -Increases regeneration of mana and ki -removes the [fear] and [confusion] statuses -improves concentration
System Message
Mediation increased a level x8
While Ren wasn''t surprised by the new skill he was extremely surprised about the large increase in concentration and dumbfounded about the fact that [meditation] had leveled up 8 times! Interested about how far he was from a rank up in [meditation]. "Statues window [meditation]"
System Message
Mediation - Active (Beginner - lvl 9 - 99%) A skill usually used by practitioners of martial arts or by mages, meditation allows one to calm their mind. It can relax a person as well as increase their Concentration. Meditation can also sometimes lead to the discovery of one¡¯s inner energy or even access to one¡¯s soul. -Increases regeneration of mana and ki -Removes the [fear] and [confusion] statuses -Improves concentration
Ren was shocked again. He had just gotten [meditation] and it was almost at the rank of intermediate! As he thought Ren noticed something else odd, while the rate of advancement for extremely rapid, it was even weirder that it would just stop at 99%. It¡¯s almost like there''s a barrier between the different ranks, he thought. At that moment Ren felt as though he was struck by lightning. A barrier! Of course! If I can break through it [meditation] can rank up! Ren was thinking of the barrier he had felt while meditating. Ren was just about to try to break the barrier again when Powell logged in, followed by Lixiss and Azriel a few minutes later. Not wanting to waste any time, they packed up the camp and started traveling towards Crale once again. 005 The City of Crale It had been two weeks since Ren and the party had meet and they had finally reached their destination. During that time the four of them had slowly came together as a group and eventually friends. Two weeks of traveling together, far from and town or city and battling monsters and beast along the way can bring a group together or break it apart, game or not. Though talks around the campfire and just conversation on the road Ren learned a bit more about his three companions. According to Lixiss, she and Azriel are childhood friends. They became friends with Powell in the game but they¡¯re all seniors at the same high school, though they never said were it was. Ren also told them more about himself, he left out the fact that he was in the hospital of course. During their trip the other three told Ren more about why they were going to an academy in a game. They said that by going to you can learn thing about the world that otherwise be harder to learned and you might even pick up some skills and a quest or two. The best part was that you could stay as long as you wanted to and could leave whenever you wanted. The more they talked about it the more interested Ren became, though he still didn¡¯t think that it was for him. It was late in the morning on their 16th day of travel when Lost Brigade reached to top of a hill and saw the neutral city-state of Crale, home to various guilds like the craftsmen''s guild, and home to the Medonia Academy of Combat, Magic, and Adventuring Arts, the number one magic school on the Igane continent. Crale was a large city. It was in fact one of the largest cities on the continent. Crale had four gates, one for each cardinal direction, and was split into five districts: The Military district, the Industrial District, the Commercial District, the Residential District, and the Academy District, which was at the center of the city. In Crale there are no nobles or royal family controlling the city. Instead it is run by a council of administrators from the cities districts with the academy¡¯s headmaster having the final say on decisions. Ren and the rest of the party stopped at the top of the hill to admire the view of the city and surrounding landscape. Ding!
System Message
Because you stopped and admired a beautiful view Art has increase by 1
Ren waved the message away as he didn''t really care about it. The party made their way down to one of the gates and got in line to enter the city. They waited in line for almost an hour before reaching the gate. There was a guard sitting at a table next to the gate with a stack of paper on one side of him and a money box on the other. Copying those before them, the party stepped up to the table. "Names" the guard asked "Krono" "Powell" "Lixiss" "Azriel" "What''s your business in the city?" the guard asked next "I wish to find master craftsmen to learn from." Ren Replied "What craft do you have in mind?" the guards asked, a little curious "Any of them and as many as I can manage." Ren said. The guard, who hadn''t looked up at them yet, looked at Ren and examined him with an interesting expression on his face. After a moment he turned to the others. "And you three?" he asked them. "We wish to enroll in the academy." Powell told him ¡°You¡¯re all together right?¡± The guard asked "Yes." They answered. ¡°Alright. That¡¯ll be 5 copper each.¡± The guard said, pushing forward the money box. They each payed the toll and were about to leave when the guard stopped them. ¡°Wait a moment.¡± The guard said He takes a piece of paper from the stack next to him and writes something on it before folding it and sealing it with wax, than handing it to Ren. "The academy entrance exams are tomorrow morning, if you take the main road to the edge of the Academy District you''ll find an inn called Lazy Angel. Give this letter to inn keeper, she''ll set you up for the night. The party of shocked by the guards generosity but didn''t want to question it in case he decide against it. They thanked the guard and entered the city. They walked through the massive gate into the city and were awed by what they saw. The main street was as wide as a six lane highway and was lined with shops and colorful stalls selling all sort of merchandise, the stall owners yelling out prices and deals to those passing by. Merchants were everywhere. Selling wares, trading with other merchants, and buying good to sell at other cities. The largest number of people in were adventures and the city residents browsing the stalls and shops for various items. It took a while for the party to reach the Lazy Angel Inn as the inn was a good distance from the gate and, even though the roads were wide, the crowds made it hard to navigate. They entered the Inn and saw that, while it was on the smaller side, it had a clean and welcoming appearance and a friendly atmosphere. As they walked through the door they were approached by a rather tall, and still fairly attractive woman. She was probably around 5''10" or 5''11", had light brown skin, long and curly, brown hair, and she carried herself with confidence. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "What can I help you with?" She said when she reached them. "Would you be the innkeeper?" Ren asked "Yeah," She said, "Why?" "I was told to give you this letter." Ren said, passing her the letter the guard at the gate had wrote The innkeeper took the letter and read it quickly before folding it back up and putting it in a pocket and examining them before speaking "Welcome to the Lazy Angel, I''m, Rione, The owner of this inn." She said, "I understand you four will be taking the Medonia Academy entrance exam tomorrow?" Rione asked. Powell, Lixiss, and Azriel said yes but Ren asked a question instead. "Not to be rude but what''s so good about this academy?¡± Ren asked. While the others had told him about on their way here, Ren still wanted to hear about it from someone that lived in the city. ¡°Oh?¡± Rione said, ¡°Did you not come here to attend he academy?¡± "I came here for the craftsman''s guild. I''m trying to find masters to learn from." Ren replied "You''re better off going to the academy if that''s your goal. The guild has masters sure but, while they are skilled and deserve their titles, the ones at the academy have been handpicked by the headmaster himself from all of the masters on the continent for being the best in their craft. I don¡¯t know why the headmaster went through all of that trouble though, there aren¡¯t many people how attend that care about making things." Rione said "That''s good to know and all but you¡¯ve yet to tell me anything about it. If I¡¯m going to attend I doubt they¡¯ll let me just spend my days crafting so knowing more would be help full." Ren said, slightly annoyed about not having his question answered. "Well the academy -" Rione started "I believe I¡¯d be more suited to answer that." said someone, interrupting her. "No offence intended." they said as they walked towards the group. The person walking towards them looked was a human male of average height with lightly tanned skin, short brown hair, and brown eyes. He was wearing a knee length black jacket that had a portion in the front from the waist down removed and a slit of the same length was cut in the back to allow easy movement. The edges of the cuffs and collar were lined with gold trim. The Jacket had a breast pocket and two pockets at the waist. On the breast pocket and both shoulders was an emblem of an orange sun set on a field of yellow, black, and red. He was wearing black pants and you could see the collar of a dark crimson shirt peeking out from behind the collar of the jacket. He had a saber at his hip. "My name is Leonardo Bartlett though please just call me Leo, I don''t really care for formalities." He said, introducing himself, "I''m a second year combat arts student at Medonia Academy. To answer your earlier question, Medonia Academy is a school that teaches its students how to survive in the world, whether they''re exploring dungeons or navigating politics. They offer a wide variety of subjects for their students to learn and the only restriction on age is that you must be over 10 years old. There''s also no restriction on social class or wealth. You could get the child of a poor farmer working with the crown prince of a country on a project for one of their classes." he said, "Is there anything specific you want to know?" "Yeah," replied Ren, "Can I just learn crafting skills there?" "No I don¡¯t believe so. From what I know, all students have to study either the magic or a combat arts. The crafting classes are seen as a way to learn a hobby or to take care of your equipment though if you asked I¡¯m sure the instructor would teach you more." "How expensive is it?" Ren asked. He was a little disheartened hearing that he couldn''t just learn crafting skills but if it was cheap enough he might still consider entering the academy if the crafting masters were as good as he was told. "For a new student that depends on how well you do during the entrance exam, for current students it depends on how well you do in your classes. The academy recives many donations in the form of money and materials so they can get away with allowing some students to attend for free. If you do well enough you could be one of them, of course if you fail the entrance exam or fail any of your classes no amount of money can get you a spot at the academy. They really do only want the best they can get their hands on" "What do you have to do during the entrance exam?" Ren asked "It can change from person to person but you''ll usually have to spar with an instructor or cast some spells." Leo replied Ren fell silent, thinking about what he wanted to do. After a couple minutes Lixiss spoke up. "You should go for it if you''re not sure. If you get accepted to don''t have to go and you can leave at any time if you don''t like there so it couldn¡¯t hurt to try" Ren thought for a moment before deciding. "Alright,¡± Ren said, ¡°I¡¯ll give it a try.¡± "YES!" Lixiss shouted, jumping up and down. ¡°I look forward to seeing you around.¡± Leo said as he left the inn. "Remember, the exam is tomorrow morning. You don''t want to be late." Rione told them before going back to serve the other customers. 006 The Academy The courtyard of the academy was crowded, so much so that you could hardly breathe, and more people just kept coming. Ren, Powell, Lixiss, and Azriel were glad they woke up early to register for the exam and enter the courtyard when there weren''t as many people. It was around mid-morning and they had been waiting in the courtyard for hours. The courtyard had long since been filled to capacity but that didn''t stop people from trying to get in. A old man with a long white beard that reached down to his stomach and dressed in a purple robe trimmed in gold flashed into existence on top of the steps of the main hall in front of the crowd. "Ladies and Gentlemen," the robed figure began, causing the courtyard to quiet down in an instant, "I am Elirin Erozil, the Headmaster of this academy, and I would like welcome each and every one of you to this school. Now before we begin I would like to ask everyone who isn''t participating in the admissions process to please leave and those of you who are participating to please organize yourself into three groups. Those doing martial studies gather on the left side of the courtyard, those doing magic studies gather on the right, and those of you who are undecided, don''t know, or are without preference gather in the middle." At the Headmasters direction people began leaving or going to their designated spot. It took roughly half an hour for people to leave and for everyone else to find in their groups. Ren bid farewell to Powell, Lixiss, and Azriel as they were going to the martial studies group while he was staying where he was in the center. By the time they it was done the courtyard had emptied by half and there were three distinct groups. "Good," the Headmaster said," Now that everyone''s together, if the martial students could fallow Master Riker to the training fields for their tests and the mage students fallow Madam Nizel to the practice hall from their tests. Those of you in the middle please follow me." With that groups left for their respective tests. Ren and his group followed the Headmaster through a set of large doors into the main hall. Entering the hall the participants were amazed by how enormous it was. It had a large, vaulted ceiling that soared above their head and large statues of impressive individuals set in alcoves lined the walls. On one side were figures in armor carrying swords, bows, and daggers and on the other were figures dress in robes surrounded by strange symbols. The group followed the Headmaster through the hall for several minutes before they reached their destination. Going through another door they were lead into a large auditorium. "Everyone take a seat please," the Headmaster said. He waited until everyone had found a seat before he spoke again. "From here on out you will be facing individual trials to best determine where you should be placed. This may take a while so I suggest you find some way to occupy yourselves. Exit the hall when your name is called and you will be lead to the testing area." with that the Headmaster left. Within a few minutes the first person was called and left the room. Throughout the day names were called and the crowd slowly but steadily got smaller and smaller. After the first hour Ren found a quiet corner, took out some sewing supplies, and started repairing his equipment that got damaged by the journey over. The repairs only took an hour or so and Ren was getting hungry so he pulled out a piece of bread to munch on. As he ate Ren began work on another small project. This time he was creating a coin purse, though it was really only for the practice and for something to do. Time went on and it approached evening. Ren still hadn''t been called and by now the room was almost empty. While he was waiting Ren had made finished the coin purse than spent the rest of the time in a light meditation, keeping an ear out for when his name is called. The room emptied until he was the last one left. By now Ren was a little worried. Did they forget about him? Did he forget to do something when he registered? So many thoughts were swirling through his head that he almost missed his name being called. Jumping up from where he sat, he dismissed a window informing him that his concentration went up again left the room. When he left the auditorium Ren was met by a student in a uniform similar to Leo''s except it was white and they were wearing a cloak instead of a jacket. Without saying anything the student quickly led Ren through the main hall before stopping at a class room. They motioned him inside and closed the door. Inside the room five people sat at a long table set up at the front of the room. The man in the middle, who was the Headmaster, motioned for Ren to stand in front of them. The people at the table looked at Ren for several minutes without saying anything, either because they were waiting for him to say something or because they were sizing him up "Why have you come here?" Asked a women sitting to the left of the Headmaster "I wish to become a master craftsmen and I hear that this academy recruits the best for their instructors." Ren replied The five people in front of Ren were stunned into silence by his answer. They had heard many different answers to that question. Some had come here for the prestige, others for connections, and still others because of family obligations. People have said they came here for power, glory, knowledge, or for the potential to become rich. Up until this day no one had said they had come here to be a craftsmen. The expressions on their faces went from shocked to incredulity, even the Headmaster had a curious look on his face. After a few minutes the women sitting on the far right of the table recovered enough from here shock to ask Ren a question. "What craft to you wish to learn?" she asked "As many as I can.¡± Ren said, looking at her with a serious face. ¡°I don¡¯t the point of limiting myself to one.¡± The men and women in front of Ren were shocked into silence a second time "Ridicules!" the man on the far left exclaimed as he stood up, "Boy!" he said, point a finger threateningly at Ren, "If you''re not going to take this seariously then leave. Who¡¯s ever heard of someone coming to the school to learn crafting? We take this academy very seriously and I won''t stand anyone mocking this school." Ren turned to look at him. "I can assure you that I¡¯m being quite serious." Ren said with a slight look of annoyance on his face "How can you be serious?" the man half yelled, "We turn out some of the best warriors and mages on the continent! As I said before, no one has ever come here seeking to become a craftsmen! Furthermore-" "Regulus be quite!" yelled the man sitting on the right side of the headmaster, "You can obviously see that he''s serious by his tone and the way he holds himself. And also, just because something has never happened doesn''t mean that it won''t! I don''t see a problem with coming here to be a craftsmen, though I don''t know about trying to learn more than one of them, but it wouldn''t hurt us to let him try." The man on the left, Regulus, was about to yell back when the Headmaster held up his hand "Regulus, Gilan, that''s enough," He said, "We''re nor hear to debate our personal opinion about this young man and his reason for coming here. We''re here to decide if he should move onto the next stage of testing." The headmaster look at the other sitting at the table before turning to Ren and continuing. "Young man, why do you wish to become a craftsmen instead a warrior or a mage like your peers?" ¡°I could become a strong warrior that known throughout the continent by fighting all sorts of beast and monsters or I could become a mage with no equal that capable of reshaping the land as I see fit but no matter how strong I would get I would still be reliant on craftsmen to provide me with the food I eat, the potions I would use, the armor and weapons I would wield. I wish to become a craftsmen who can forge the strongest weapons, craft the sturdiest armors, brew the most potent of potions, and imbue objects with the most powerful of enchantment. I wish to cook food that would make the gods jealous, create works of art that could bring light even to the darkest of hearts, and design and build fortresses that are impervious to all but time. You asked me why I want to become a craftsmen, the reason is simple: To me there is no greater thrill and no greater joy than creating something that surpasses everything made before it, that causes other to look at it with awe. I wish to become a craftsmen because in my heart I¡¯ve always like making thing more than destroying them. I¡¯m sure you can understand that.¡± Ren said, looking at all of them. With his short speech Ren had stunned them for a third time that evening with his passion and commitment. After a short moment the Headmaster smiled from ear to ear. "Good!" He said, "Good! That is the type of attitude we want to see at this academy!" The Headmaster exclaimed, "Return here tomorrow for the second part of the test. I look forward to see what you can do." With that Ren was dismissed. When Ren got back to the inn the others bombarded him with questions so Ren told them about that day¡¯s events. Asking some of his own questions Ren found out that everybody had to take multiple tests as each one weeded out those who weren''t ready or those who were not wanted. Finished with their stories, everyone prepared for the following day and went to sleep.
Ren and the rest woke up early and made their way to the academy. At the entrance to the courtyard they were again split up into their groups, Ren going back to the auditorium and the others going back to the training field. Over the next couple of hours people trickled in. Even before the last of the people had arrived Ren could see that his group had shrunk by at least half. Ren assumed that the other groups fared little better. After everyone had arrived the repeated the same process as the day before, though it was a longer time between names. Ren again spent his time meditating while keeping an ear out for when he was called. As with the previous day, the room gradually emptied out until Ren was the last one. When his name was called Ren was lead to a different room than the day before, this time it was a large stone room that had tables lining the walls with a moderately sized raised stone platform taking up the center of the room. There were also more people than the day before, at least three time as many. Ren was motioned to stand on the raised platform. "Today you''ll be put through tests that will determine your aptitude," the Headmaster said, "because your path is different than the rest you''ll be put through tests that not only test your aptitude for martial combat and magic but tests that will test your aptitude for crafting as well. The first test will be for martial combat, your opponent will be Master Riker, the academy''s weapons master." As the Headmaster was talking a large man with a slightly intimidating aura walked onto the raised platform with two swords, he tossed one of them to Ren. "There is only one rule for this test." master Riker said, "and that is to give it your all. The purpose of this test is not just to see how well you can fight but also to gauge how much potential you have. There is no time limit. This test will go on for however long it needs to. We will begin when you are ready." Riker held his sword in a ready position and waited for Ren, who also held is sword in the ready position and nodded to Riker. The two of them stood like statues, waiting for the other to make the first move. After a few minutes of just waiting Ren made the first move. Ren pointed his sword straight ahead of him and used [Dash], speeding towards Riker. Riker easily avoids the attack and slashes at Ren who just barely manages to deflect the attack before using [Dash] again, getting inside Riker reach, and thrusts the pommel of the sword into Riker gut. Riker jumps back and avoids the strike but Ren doesn''t give him time to rest and uses [Dash] to get close before using [Flurry Strike] to try and overwhelm him. Riker blocks all of the blows with ease and slashing at Ren, forcing him back. Riker than goes on the offensive, lunging at Ren. Ren throws himself to the side to avoid the sword, losing his balance in the process. Riker take advantage of this and starts slashing at him, keeping him off balance. Riker pushes Ren further and further towards the edge of the platform. When they get close to the edge Riker slashes at Ren one last time with a strike stronger than the previous ones. Ren manages to block the strike but he force causes him to be push over the edge fall off the platform. Ren lands on his back with a thud, the sword clanging to the ground next to him. Riker jumps down and offers Ren a hand, which Ren accepts, and helps him up. Ren offers the sword back to Riker. "Keep it." he says, as he waves Ren away, "we have plenty." Riker than motions for Ren return to the platform and returns to his place with the rest of the teachers. "The next test will test your aptitude for magic. It will actually consist of multiple parts which will be explained by your next examiner Madam Nizel." "The test will be split into four parts," said Madam Nizel, who was walking up to the platform, "They will consist of testing your innate affinity, testing your concentration, testing your comprehension, and testing your aptitude." Madam Nizel walked up to Ren and pulled out a square stone tablet about the size of a dinner plate. "First is testing your innate affinity. Do you know about affinities?" Ren shook his head to indicate he hadn''t. "Very well then I''ll explain." She began, "An affinity is how closely you are tied to or can relate to a certain aspect of this world. There are many different affinities but the only ones that people are born with are the affinities of seven basic elements that make up this world: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Lightning, Light, and Dark. Affinities is broken up into eleven ranks, from lowest to highest they are: Nonexistent, Very Low, Low, Commoner, Novice, Apprentice, Expert, Master, King, Saint, and Deity. Each rank also has a corresponding letter designation from H to SSS. The higher the rank the better your affinity." She said, "Do you understand so far?" "Yes." Ren replied "Then I''ll continue." She said, "Being at least King rank can grant you a bonus to you natural resistance to that element and starting at novice you will get a boost to a certain aspect like speed or strength. Most people have an innate affinity of apprentice in at least one element though it''s possible to have an innate affinity in more than on. About 30% of people have more than one affinity and about half of those people have more than two. If you want an affinity to a certain element but you don''t have an innate affinity for it you have to spend time with that element, receive a blessing, or find an Affinity Gem for that element which, although they can give you King ranked affinity in that element, I wouldn''t bother with, as they count as legendary class treasures and people would go to war to obtain one of them." Ren''s eyes widened at this and Madam Nizel smiled slightly at his reaction. "Finally, you can raise the rank of your affinity through training but you first have to have an affinity with that element. Getting from one rank to a higher one is easy at first but gets more difficult very quickly. It take the same amount of effort to go from Nonexistent to Very Low to Low but it takes twice as much to go from Low to novice, three times as much effort as Low to Novice for Novice to Commoner, five times as much to go from Commoner to Apprentice, and so on and so on. Besides all of the time and effort needed to go up a rank, at once you get close to breaking through to a new rank you''ll reach a bottle neck. To pass these bottlenecks you''ll need to deepen your understanding about that element. You can''t just read about it in a book either, you have to personally understand it as it''s different for everyone. Some elements will be easier for you to understand than others and, like the rank ups, every bottleneck gets more difficult to pass. I have yet to hear about anyone getting to King rank unless it''s innate and those people are exceedingly rare, maybe 1 in a 100,000,000 at best. There has never been anyone in the last several thousand years recorded to be at a rank higher than King, though it been said that in the past there were people that were only a step away from becoming gods themselves." Madam Nizel said. "Now it''s time to find out your affinity. This tablet will awaken and show only the most dominant element, so if you have more than one you''ll have to discover that yourself. Now put your hand on the tablet." Ren placed his hand on the stone tablet and waited. Nizel muttered something and touched her finder to a small circle in a corner of the tablet. Immediately after the tablet began to glow with a faint blue light. This lasted for several seconds before fading. Immediately after the light faded Ren felt like he was being lightly shocked. Ren removed his hand from the tablet and Nizel looked at the result, almost dropping it, extreme shock evident on her face as she tried to articulate the result. "I-it''s...h-he''s...b-but...how? Nizel said, stuttering several times. "Well what the result?" The Headmaster asked, confused by her reaction. Madam Nizel slowly walked over to the Headmaster to show him, having given up on saying it, holding the tablet like some important artifact. When the Headmaster saw the tablet he, and the two next to him, also had a look of deep shock. The headmaster''s mouth moved for several seconds before he managed to say just one word. "S-Saint." Everyone in the room had a look disbelief on their face. Several were looking between Ren and the Headmaster, a few were just staring at Ren. Ren just looked confused and was about to say something when a window popped up. Ding!
System Message
Congratulations! You are the first person to awaken a Saint Ranked affinity! You have gained the title of [First Saint], 1000 Fame and the Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.Unique skill [Aura of the First Saint]!
Aura of the First Saint
Unique - Active Beginner lvl 1 - 0% As the First Saint your strength is legendary. You can release your powerful saintly aura to sow terror in your enemies while bolstering your allies strength and moral. -Enemies greater than 20 levels below yours have a 100% chance to get the [Fear] statues effect. -Enemies less than 20 levels below yours have an 80% chance to get the [Fear] statues effect -Enemies equal to your level have a 60% chance to get the [Fear] statues effect -Enemies less than 20 levels above yours have a 40% chance to the [Fear] statues effect -Enemies greater than 20 level above yours have a 20% chance to get the [Fear] statues effect -[Fear] lasts for a minimum for 1 minute. The longer the aura is active the higher the chance enemies get affected and the higher the chance of the [Fear] statues stacking to increase its power and duration -you and your allies get a 10% increase in stats; HP, MP, SP, and Ki Regen, and are Immune to the [Charmed] and [Fear] statues effects. Higher levels increase Effectiveness and cost. -cost: 200mp + 10mp/sec
[First Saint] As the first person recognized to have awakened a Saint Ranked affinity you will go down in history as a legend. Should you reveal your identity you will gain instant prestige and be shown the respect deserved of a king and will gain instant access to Kings, Popes, and Emperors. You will get steep discounts and even be given things for free. You will also have you name on the leader board. Should you decide to keep this a secret you will not revive the above bonuses except with the faction or factions that discovered it if there was one. Your name will not be appear on the leader board and instead will be replaced with ''anonymous''. You can reveal you name at any time to receive the benefits Would you like to reveal you identity? (y/n)
"No" Ding!
System Message
Congratulations! By being they first person to reach the rank of Saint in the element of lightning you have been given the title of [First Saint of Lightning],1000 Fame, and the unique skill [Lightning Cataclysm]
[Lightning Cataclysm]-Active (Beginner - lvl 1 - 0%) Saints are recognized as masters of their elements and as such are closer than most people can imagine to them. Saints receive a powerful legendary ranked [Saintly Storm] skill upon reaching that level. As the first Saint of you element you have been gifted the powerful unique ranked [Saintly Cataclysm] skill which is an upgraded version of the [Saintly Storm] skill. [Lightning Cataclysm] is an Area of Effect attack skill that causes a devastating lighting storm to form and strike your enemies with powerful lighting. At higher levels [Saintly Cataclysm] skills can reshape continents. The effectiveness and base cost increase with level cost: 100mp-MaxMP
[/split]
Ding!
System Message
Congratulations to ''Anonymous'' for being the first person to awaken a Saint Ranked affinity and has become both the first Saint to appear and the first Lightning Saint to appear.
As Ren read the announcements the examiners in the room had gotten over most of their shock and were now looking at Ren. "On the next part of the test." Nizel Said, breaking the silence, "Now we will test your concentration. Please sit or stand in a comfortable position." Madam Nizel waited for Ren to get situated before reaching into her robes and pulling out a smooth white stone about the size of a fist. The stones surface was fill with intricate runes that glowed slightly. Madam Nizel handed the stone to Ren. "This stone will float while you¡¯re concentrating on it. As time goes on it will become harder and harder to keep this stone floating. The test it to keep this stone floating for as long as you can. This test has no time limit and will only end when the stone stops floating. You can begin when you are ready." Nizel finish and walked of the platform, joining the other examiners. Ren took several deep breathes to calm himself before turning his focus to the stone in his hands. Almost immediately the stone began to glow strongly and lifted about a foot out of his hand where it stayed. Just like the examiner said, after a few minutes the stone started to drift down causing Ren to turn more of his attention to the stone. As time slipped by the stone got harder and harder to keep in the air and Ren''s eyes began to hurt from staring at the stone for who know how long. Ren took a risk and blinked and, to his surprise, when he blinked the stone was momentarily easier to manage. Armed with this knowledge Ren took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The effect was immediate, the stone seemed to have become lighter. With his eyes closed all Ren could see was the stone floating within his mind. The heavier the stone got the deeper into his consciousness Ren sank. After some time Ren began to feel a sense of peace flowing through him. Ren realized that he had arrived at the place within his mind where he spent his time meditating. While Ren found this interesting he quickly returned his attention to the stone. Ren and the stone sank deeper and deeper into the sea within Ren''s mind, eventually coming to the barrier that Ren had felt the first time he tried meditating. Ren was too busy keeping the stone floating to pay attention to his surroundings and didn''t notice that he had reached the barrier. What Ren did notice was that the stone started to get heavier faster than he could keep up. Ren poured all of his attention into the stone, closing himself off from the world until it was only him and the stone. Slowly he managed to regain control of the stone and, together, they continued to sink deeper into the sea of Ren''s mind. Outside of Ren''s awareness things had been happening. First of all the barrier that had blocked Ren for so long was gone, shattered by Ren''s will. Outside of his body a few hours had already passed and the time was moving later and later into the night. The examiners were amazed by the sight in front of them. While they were expecting something different thanks to the events before they weren''t expecting this mysterious boy to last for so long. They weren''t even sure THEY could last this long. Earlier when it looked like Ren had reached his limit the stone''s glow had suddenly changed to a dark orange and shot back up to float one foot above Ren''s hands. It had been six hours since Ren had started the second part of the magic test and the stone had finally touched Ren''s hands and stopped glowing. Ren opened his eyes and was greeted by a few notifications.
System Message
Concentration has increased by 25 points
System Message
The skill [Meditation] had raised in level and is now intermediate lvl 2
System Message
Congratulations! You have unlocked the Ki stat! Ki is and energy that is generated by life itself and can be used for both healing and combat. The amount of Ki one has is related to one''s own vitality while how easy it is to use and control is determined by one''s wisdom. Ki is recovered naturally by resting or meditation.
Ren dismissed the first two messages but raised an eyebrow at the last one. He was definitely looking into the one later. Ren returned his attention to the room and saw Madam Nizel walking towards him. Ren got and, feeling how sore his muscles were, wondered how long he had been sitting there. He hand the stone back the Madam Nizel who put it back into her robe before speaking. "The next part of the test will test your comprehension and will also lead into the last part of the test which test your aptitude. We will supply you with a spell which you are to study and then cast when you are ready. If you cannot understand the spell than please say so and the test will end. There is no time limit for these next two tests." With that she produced a Small book and handed it to Ren. The title of the book was Static Blitz and, according to the description on the first page, it was a spell that shot small amount of lightning bolts at a single target. Ren looked through the book and found that most of it was dedicated to telling the reader about how the spell worked. Quickly reading through it Ren realized that he somehow already knew a lot of what was in the book so he skipped to the back part of the book that actually held the instructions to cast it. In the back was an incantation one would have to say in order invoke the spell. As Ren silently read the incantation he could feel a strange energy flow through him. Ren stopped reading the incantation and the flow stopped and the feeling faded away. Ren glanced around and spotted a wooden training dummy had been set on the platform. Ren stood up and faced the dummy, causing the examiners to look at him. Ren looked at the incantation one last time before reciting it out loud. I command the lightning to come and strike down my foes, [Static Blitz]! Ren felt the energy flow through his body and build up in his hands. The energy built up until Ren reached the end of the incantation when it was released in the direction his hand was pointing, which was at the training dummy. Ren was surprised to see lightning bolts leap from his finger and sail towards the dummy. After the spell was completed a notification window popped up informing him that he had learned a new spell. Looking at it Ren was surprised that it only cost 10mp to cast. Ren went to return the book but was refused. The Headmaster stepped forward and addressed Ren "Since you wish to become a craftsmen your final test will be to craft some of your choosing. We will provide the materials and you''ll be able to keep what you make. The materials are on the table at the back of the room as well as any tools you may need. If you don''t see something you need we will get it for you if we can. You have 1 hour from the moment you start. You may begin when you are ready." The headmaster stepped back to his previous position and Ren when to gather materials. Ren brought the tools and materials to the platform, activated [Extreme Focus], and began working. Ren had decided he was going to make himself a pair of bracers to help augment his defense. He first began by measuring his forearms and drawing a pattern on a piece of cloth that would be the inner most layer. He did the same with the other materials than began sewing them together. After the initial joining Ren checked the fit and made some adjustments before sewing everything firmly together. Next came the embroidery, which took the longest. The design Ren went with was flames rising from the wrist meeting icicles descending from the elbow. In the middle was the same symbol that was on his other pieces. Before Ren knew it an hour had passed and he had finished the pair of bracers. Standing up, Ren walked to the Headmaster and handed over his work. The Headmaster walked over to a group of men standing near edge of the room. After several minutes the Headmaster returned the bracers, thanking Ren, and told him to return the following day for their answer. Ren walked back to the inn and realized how late it was. Powell and the girls had logged off for the day so Ren was alone for now. Once he got back Ren examined the bracers he had made.
Craftsmen Bracers - Rare
Type Arm Armor Quality Great
Defense 10 Durability 230/230
Bracer crafted by a skilled craftsmen and marked by their personal symbol Provides defense as well as a small boost to crafting +1% to crafting
After examining the bracers Ren put them in his inventory and went to bed. 007 School of Magic Ren woke up just as the sun started to rise and slowly made his way the academy. Reaching the gate he was directed back to the auditorium. During this time Ren was thinking about the events from the day before, especially about him being a Saint. What was a Saint anyway? All Ren knew about Saint''s was that they were people with a very high affinity for a specific element and that for him it was lightning. Does that mean he could control lightning or does it just boost effects or damage? Ren decided to explore this but at a later date. Right now he was more curious about the Ki stat he unlocked. "Statues Window"
Status Window
Name Krono Alignment Neutral
Gender Male Race Human
Level 15 Class None
Sub-Class None
Fame 2000
Titles
First Saint, First Saint of Lightning
Health 340 Mana 400
Stamina 340 Ki 34
Strength 30 Defense 6(+5)
Agility 40 Endurance 34
Intelligence 30 Dexterity 40
Charisma 13 Wisdom 40
Concentration 100 Luck 10
Art 26 Perception 12
Status Effects
crafting quality increase 13.5%
Skills
Active Cataclysm of the First Lighting Saint: Beginner lvl 1 - 0% Aura of the First Saint: Beginner lvl 1 - 0% Flurry Strike: Beginner lvl 4 - 36% Extreme Focus: Beginner lvl 4 - 92% Dash: Beginner lvl 2 - 32% Sage Eye: Beginner lvl 1 - 10% Meditation: Intermediate lvl 2 - 53% Passive Fall Damage Reduction: Beginner lvl 1 - 0% Life Skills Harvesting: Beginner lvl 5 - 36% Primitive Fire Creation: Beginner lvl 1 - 20% Wilderness Cooking: Beginner lvl 9 - 87% Art of Tailoring: Intermediate lvl 3 - 46% Sewing: Intermediate lvl 4 - 32% Embroidery: Intermediate lvl 2 - 57% Blade Mastery: Beginner lvl 3 - 22% Sword Mastery: Beginner lvl 5 - 12%
Spells
Lightning: -Static Blitz Mastery: Beginner lvl 1 - 10%
Elemental Affinities
Affinity Rank
Lightning Saint (SS)
[tr]
Resistances
Lightning 10%
When Ren opened his statues window he was surprised to see that his concentration had reached 100! It was by far his highest stat and was likely one of the highest in the game so far. Ren looked over his stats and, beside a new window for spells, nothing else really changed. It was brighter outside now and people were slowly coming filing into the auditorium but it was much less than they day before. By mid-morning they started to call name but this time it was at a much faster rate, only a few minutes in between each person. Like the last two days Ren was last but this time it had only been an hour this time. Ren entered the same rom he was in the first day of the entrance exam but this time there were twelve people waiting for him, sitting at an arch shaped table at the font of the room. At the table were the Headmaster and the original four examiners and seven others, four men and three women. Ren walked to the front of the room, stood in front of the twelve people, and waited. After several minutes the Headmaster broke the silence. "Before we get to the reason for this meeting, Krono, I would like to personally congratulate you on being accepted in the Medonia Academy of Combat, Magic, and Adventuring Arts and, on behalf of the school, welcome you as promising student here." Ren couldn''t help but smile at the news. "Now onto the purpose of this meeting." the Headmaster continued, ¡°At this academy we tailor each students schedule to them. While most students need little, if any, change to the base schedule you are going to need a completely new schedule because of your focus on crafting. The other seven people here with us are out master craftsmen. This is our Master Blacksmith Yurbek." He said, pointing to a dwarf with a reddish brown hair and eyes that seemed with the fire from his forge. "Next we have Inel Aethed our Alchemy Mistress." The second person was an aging women with wrinkled skin and a look that suggested she had inhaled too many fumes. "Next to her is Ered Arlers our Master Tailor" This one was a wizened old man with a kind face but piercing eyes. "We have or Mistress of Carpentry Vonraillis" The headmaster was pointing at an elf silver-blonde hair and green eyes who seemed to have a somewhat proud demeanor. "On the other side we have put Enchantress Shael." This one was also and elf but, strangely, she had dark purple hair and red eyes that seem to see through everything. "Beside her we have our Master Chef Alard Rewis" the Headmaster nodded to a rather intimidating man that gave off an aura that seemed to say that he wouldn''t tolerate less than 100%. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "The last one is our Anurt, our master Engineer." The last one was a bald dwarf with a black beard that reach his waist and a look on his face that said that he was expecting something from Ren. "Only six of these people will be your instructors. Master Arlers feels that, with your skills, it would be a waste of your time to have him teach you anything and that the only thing you need right now is experience. As you have to participate in either martial studies or magic studies you will be registered as a student of the School of Magic and take classes there." The Headmaster said, "You''ll only be allowed to learn one craft for now so choose carefully when you pick your classes. Our schedule is split into seven one hour blocks. Six are for classes and one is reserved for lunch. You''ll be in you magic studies for the first three hours and learning you craft for the last three. You can go longer than that if you and you instructor both agree to do so. Just then the door opened and a servant walked in carrying a few items in their arms. The headmaster motioned for them to come forward. "These items are yours," He said as the servant reached Ren. The pile consisted of several books, a shoulder bag, and a badge. Ren took the books and put them in the bag and put the badge in a pocket. "Those books are to help you get started with magic." The Headmaster said, "The thin one contains a list of classes as well as some other information about this academy. The badge acts as your schedule, your guide around school, and as your identification. You don''t have to wear it but make sure to keep it on you at all times. When you want to pick you classes just hold your badge, say "Class selection" than the class name and the time block you want to take it. The servant here will show you to your room and, once again, welcome to Medonia Academy." The servant leads Ren out of the Main Hall and to the back of the campus where the student dorms are. There are four dorms on campus. The dorm are split by both gender and what you''re studying. The dorms for the magic students are behind the main hall and to the west, which is closer to the School of Magic. The martial dorms are behind the school and to the east, closer to the School of Combat. The servant leads Ren up to the fifth floor down the hall, the doors on this floor were space pretty far apart, to one of the doors near the end. They open the door for Ren before handing him the key and leaving. Ren walks in and is immediately astonished. Right inside the rood was an entryway with hooks for cloaks and jackets and spots for shoes. The room is made of fine wood and stone and decked in fine fabrics and art. Ren took his boots off at the door, but down the bag, and explored the room. Right after the entryway was a sitting room with a low table surrounded by two couches and two chairs. The floors was wood and the portion under the table and chairs was covered with a fine carpet. The wall opposite the entryway had several large windows, with the curtains currently tied to the side to let in the natural light. To the right of the sitting room was the bed room. In the middle of the room was a four poster bed that had be at least queen size. The bedroom had a large dresser already filled with a few uniforms and cloaks, some cabinets and shelving, and a desk. The floor of this room was covered entirely by a carpet. To the right side of the bedroom was a door that lead to the bathroom. The entire room was made of fine stone and tile. Ren was curious about how the bathtub worked since there obviously was no faucet so his stuck head in and looked around. After a few moments of looking around Ren found a pair of runes on one side and a duplicate set on the ceiling above the tube. It was a shower! The game designers really went all out for this game. Ren would need to look up how to use the runes later. Ren walked back to the sitting room and over to the last room, which was opposite the bedroom. Opening the door Ren was a little confused to find a very plain looking stone room. The only thing on the wall was a place for a torch or lantern. Ren walked back to the entryway to collect the back of books then returned to the sitting room. Ren dumped the bag out on the table and sorted through the books. One was a book on the basics magic, another on elements and affinities, and another the history of magic. Strangely there was a book of legends. The last book Ren looked at was the school handbook. Ren flipped through it to the section that had the class list for magic students. The subjects available to Ren included various classes to strengthen ones affinity with an element, classes about using various elements, spell casting, runes, mana control, history, crafting, conjuration, and illusion magic. There were several other pages of classes but the one that caught Ren''s eye the most was title ''Ancient Languages and Runes''. Ren had a tough decision since he could only take three classes because he was focusing on crafting. After almost an hour Ren finally figured out what classes he wanted to pick. He would start the day with ''Mana Control'', followed by ''Ancient Languages and Runes, and finishing off the morning with ''Conjuration''. After lunch Ren would then move on to study blacksmithing. Ren registered his classes with his badge which caused it to glow briefly. Classes would start the fallowing week so Ren had a week to get settled and become familiar with the campus layout. Ren put all of the book away on a self in his bedroom and changed into his school uniform. His uniform was a white robe edged with yellow with the academy crest over his heart and on both shoulders. The robe had pockets at wait level on either side. The robe came with a tunic, belt, and a pair of pants to wear under it. Ren left his room and locked it before making his way to the dining hall for some food. The Dining Hall was at the rear of the Main Hall and was just as grand as the rest of the buildings. The inside of the Dining hall was split into two levels of seating with various food stalls lining the walls of the first level, kind of like a food court. Ren went to a stall selling different kinds of roasted foods. Ren picked out some roast boar with some kind of roasted greens and found himself a table. The food here is paid for by the school and any that doesn''t get eaten is sent to the slum so the poor don''t starve. After eating Ren continued to explore the campus. First Ren explored the many levels of the Main Hall. In the Main Hall there are class¡¯s rooms, meeting rooms, practice rooms, and various offices. On the first floor was the enclosed walkway that lead to the General Library. This is one of two libraries that the school owns, the other being in the School of Magic. The General Library has six floors and was massive. It holds all of the books not directly related to magic. Ren spent some time wondering the stacks, which were tall enough to need ladders, looking at all of the books. Ren would go up and down floors and just explore what the library had to offer. Through his wondering Ren found himself in the dark dusty corners of the library. Here Ren found books that looked like they haven''t been touched in years, maybe even decades. Ren would brush the dust off some to see if they had an interesting title. It was getting late and the magic lights were turning on all over the library. Ren was also getting hungry so he decided to explore just a little more heading to dinner. Ren walked deeper into the library and after a little while found a stack just labeled ''stories''. Intrigued, Ren walked down the row looking at the book titles. Ren had almost reached the end of the row when he spotted a book titled ''Master of none''. Curious, Ren took the book off the shelf and read the description on the first page. It was a story about the journey, and failure, of a man who wished to master all of the arts. It seemed to be a cautionary tale about wasting your time doing more than can possibly be done. Ren checked out the book and headed to dinner, curious about the story contained in the book. 008 New Developments Authors Note: It''s been really busy at work and it''ll still be really busy for the next couple of weeks so new chapters will be slower than usual. i''ll try to do a chapter a week but that may not happen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Long ago there was a man who couldn''t do a single thing well, no matter what he tried. He would try and fail over and over and over and still not give up. While nothing good could be said about his skill in any of the thing he tried people couldn''t say anything bad about the man himself because of his determination and drive to find the one thing he was good at. After years and years the man finally came to term with his inability to do anything. He had tried hundreds, if not thousands, of thing but he was only mediocre at best in any one thing. As the man thought about what he should do with his life from that point on an idea hit him. If he couldn''t skilled in any one thing why not become average in many things? The man worked hard for many years before his effort finally bore fruit. The man was middle-aged now but he had accomplished his goal, he had an average level of skill in dozens, if not hundreds, of skill. While the level of skill he possessed was nothing special, the large number of skills he could use at even an average level of impressive. The man was content for several years but in the back of his mind he still had the wish to become better. The man eventually set out on a journey to better his skills further. He wasn''t conceited enough to believe that he could master any of the skills he possessed but he was determined to become at least moderately skilled in at least one skill before he died. The man travels all over the continent practicing his skills. Decades passed and the man was nearing death but he didn''t give up. During one leg of his journey around the continent the man disappeared. Some say that he was killed by bandits, others say he got lost, and others that his age caught up with while traveling but one of the most curious rumors say that he discovered a secret related to skills that could wreak havoc if people found out about it. While it''s unknown where he was headed to, it¡¯s agreed upon that the most likely place was the then dwarven capitol, Dur Tharum. Ren closed the book ''Master of None''. The book was a collection of stories that cautioned the reader about trying to do too much. The book was names after the last story in the book about a man who journeyed to become skilled in many skills but ultimately died not fulfilling his wish. Or at least that''s what most people would think. Ren found it weird that the author mentioned the city Dur Tharum if the tale was meant to caution people against fallowing what the man did. Ren knew he could be over thinking it but it piqued his interest. Ren lay back against the and thought about what he wanted to do. He still had a few days until classes started so right now he had nothing but time. Ren though about it for a few minutes and decided he was going to pick a skill or two to train. "Status"
Status Window
Name Krono Alignment Neutral
Gender Male Race Human
Level 15 Class None
Sub-Class None
Fame 2000
Titles
First Saint, First Saint of Lightning
Health 340 Mana 400
Stamina 340 Ki 34
Strength 30 Defense 6(+5)
Agility 40 Endurance 34
Intelligence 30 Dexterity 40
Charisma 13 Wisdom 40
Concentration 100 Luck 10
Art 26 Perception 12
Status Effects
crafting quality increase 10%
Skills
Active Cataclysm of the First Lighting Saint: Beginner lvl 1 - 0% Aura of the First Saint: Beginner lvl 1 - 0% Flurry Strike: Beginner lvl 4 - 36% Extreme Focus: Beginner lvl 4 - 92% Dash: Beginner lvl 2 - 32% Sage Eye: Beginner lvl 1 - 10% Meditation: Intermediate lvl 2 - 12% Passive Fall Damage Reduction: Beginner lvl 1 - 0% Life Skills Harvesting: Beginner lvl 5 - 36% Primitive Fire Creation: Beginner lvl 1 - 20% Wilderness Cooking: Beginner lvl 9 - 87% Art of Tailoring: Intermediate lvl 3 - 46% -Sewing: Intermediate lvl 4 - 32% -Embroidery: Intermediate lvl 2 - 57% Blade Mastery: Beginner lvl 3 - 22% Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.-Sword Mastery: Beginner lvl 5 - 12%
Spells
Lightning: -Static Blitz Mastery: Beginner lvl 1 - 10%
Elemental Affinities
Affinity Rank
Lightning Saint (SS)
Elemental Affinities
Earth - Air -
Fire - Water -
Lightning 10% Dark -
Light - Poison -
Looking at his skills Ren immediately threw away the notion of training his saint skill right now as they would draw to much attention. It took Ren a couple minutes to narrow down his choices but he finally got down to three. [Sage Eye], [Meditation], and [Fall Damage Reduction] were the ones he wanted to focus on right now. To train, Ren decided he would use [Sage Eye] and examine everything he saw until his mana ran out, than he would use [Meditation] to speed up the mana regen. Finally for [Fall Damage Reduction] Ren would just have to fall a lot from a height he would take damage from. Ren walked around his room examining objects. None of them were special in any way, shape, or form but they still experience. Ren found out that you get the most experience from examining something new and that once you examine something with the skill the information would stay when you looked at it without the skill. Ren could only examine 20 objects with [Sage Eye] before he ran out of mana. Nine objects in [Sage Eye] leveled up and was now beginner level 2. When his mana was used up Ren sat down and started to meditate. Normally it would take Ren over 16 minutes to fill up his mana from zero but this time it took him a little under 15 minutes. While it''s not a major increase it''s still faster than before. When his mana was full Ren went right back to examining objects. This Ren repeated this cycle for 10 hours straight. When he ran out of new things to examine he walked around the school. During the 10 hours of training, the level of [Sage Eye] shot up a full 10 ranks to intermediate lvl 2. Right now if he examined an object Ren could see what material it was made of if he knew about that material. If it was something he wasn''t familiar with it was only show question marks. Meditation also ranked up but only to intermediate lvl 4, though 2 intermediate ranks in 10 hours is still impressive, many would be envious of that kind of progress. Ren decided that he had practice [Sage Eye] more than enough today and decided that from now on he would just examine a few object every day in raise its level. Meditation he would have to work at a lot more to raise its level and he might run into obstacles like the one in between beginner and intermediate. It was now mid-afternoon and Ren was in the library looking through old maps in an attempt to find where Dur Tharum might have been. The maps Ren qas looking though became older and older but still nothing showed up. "Do you need help with anything?" a voice said above Ren Ren looked up from the map to look at the speaker. The speaker was an old man in a long brown and green robe with a pure white beard that reached his chest. This man was the librarian who was in charge of the general library. "Yes actually," Ren said, "I''m looking for an ancient dwarven city called Dur Tharum. Have you heard of it?" The man thought for a minute. "Can''t say I have." He said, "Could you tell me where you heard of it? I might be able to help you narrow down its location." "It was mentioned in a book titled ''Master of None''. I found it in the back of this library." Ren said "By the way, what¡¯s your name?" "Krono" The old man nodded then moved on and left Ren to his searching. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Later that night in the headmasters office* *Knock Knock* "Come in." the headmaster called out. The door to his office opened to reveal an old man in a green and brown robe. It was the librarian from the General Library. The Librarian walked in clutching a book to his chest. ''Ah Phineus, what brings you here?" the Headmaster asked. "It seems we missed one." the librarian, Phineus, said. "One what?" asked the Headmaster. "Dur Tharum" Phineus answered The Headmaster''s expression immediately turned serious. "Has anyone seen it?" He asked "Only one that i know off." the Librarian said, "A student by the name of Krono. I found him looking through maps, trying to locate the city." "Do you think he''ll succeed in finding it? "If he doesn''t give up than it''s only a matter of time." "Do you think he''ll give up?" "I don''t know. He seems quite interested in finding the city." The headmaster nodded than waved his hand and a book flew from one of the many shelves landed on his desk, and opened to the desired page. The top of the page had the name ''Krono''. The Headmaster picked up a quill, wrote something on the page, than closed the book and returned it to its shelf. "We''ll have to watch him for now. Luckily one of his instructors this term is Yurbek. Make sure to inform him of the change and tell him that I don''t care what he does, he just has to keep an eye on the boy." The Headmaster said "Yes sit, it will be done. "Phineus replied, "For the good of the people." "For the good of all" Both of the men raised their left hand and the symbol of an eye like sun floating above an open book surrounded by a ring of runes appeared briefly on their palms. 009 Even in a Game Im Going to School Authors note: I''m going to be trying doing shorter chapters but releasing 2-3 time per week. I work so we''ll just have to see how this goes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today was the start of the new term at Medonia Academy. The sun was just starting to rise when Ren woke up. Ren got up, got dressed, and went to get breakfast. Over the past week Ren had spent time training some of his skills. Most of the time was spent training [Meditation] and [Fall Damage Reduction]. He managed to get [Meditation] up a level and [Fall Damage Reduction] up 2 levels. After eating, Ren collected his book and headed off to his first class, Mana Control. Ren arrived at the Mana Control classroom. The classroom wasn''t really like what Ren was expecting. It was a circular room with wide tiered stone benches that had large cushions placed on the benches. Stairs lead from the center of the room up to the top of the tiered seating. In the center of the room there was a painted statue of an old man sitting like he was meditating. There were already some students that had arrived and chosen seats. Ren Chose one that was about half way up and sat down. There was still a decent amount of time left before class started so Ren decided to do some light meditation, he found that he quite enjoyed it. More and more students trickled in as time went one until every seat was taken, now all they had to do was wait for the teacher. They wait first for 5 minutes, then 10, than 20. By the 30 minute mark almost all of the students were getting restless. Finally one of the students got up and "screw this, I¡¯m leaving" and started walking to the door. He had almost reached the door when a voice called out. "I haven''t dismissed you yet." The student turned around and stared at what everyone thought was a statue slowly standing up. He wasn''t the only one, most of the students were staring at him. The figure was, obviously, the teacher that everyone was waiting for. The teacher watched the student who was about to leave sheepishly make his way back to his seat. The Teacher gazed around the room at all of the students. "Patience is the most important skill a mage can have. Even more so for a student." the teacher tells the class. "My name is Nix Tobis. All of you will address me as either Instructor or Instructor Tobis." Instructor Tobis looked around the room, his eyes lingering slightly on Ren, who had come out of his meditation when instructor Tobis had first started speaking. "For most of you," Tobis continued, "This will be the single most boring class you will ever take. There will be no Incantations, or spell casting. No lectures on magic history or theory. In this class I will attempt to teach you how to better control your mana. Even if you only develop a low degree of control, which is what will happen to most of you, it''ll help you immensely. By being able to control mana you''ll be able to control a spells damage, area of effect, duration, and much more. Legends say that masters of mana control can directly manipulate pure mana itself. I don¡¯t know how true that is as there are no records of anyone being able to do that, but it''s a nice goal to have." Tobis walked back to his cushion in the center of the room and sat down. "In class will primarily be composed of meditation in the beginning than practice controlling the mana in you bodies for those of you who reach that level. That is all we will be doing. In higher level mana control classes you would be learn how to influence you spells and the mana around you. We have about 20 minutes left. You can stay and try meditation now or leave and start tomorrow, I don''t care which." A lot of the students made their way to the door and left the room. Out of the 50 to 60 or so people that were in the room, only about a dozen decided to stay, including Ren who was is no hurry to get to his next class as they had a 30 minute break in between classes. "For those of you who stayed, I¡¯ll be guiding you though a short meditation session, for those who need it anyway." Instructor Tobis said after everyone who wanted to leave left. "You can leave at any time, just try not to disturb anyone else. I will now begin." Ren listened for a little bit but decided it wasn''t going to help him any and started to meditate on his own. After some time the teacher called out "That''s enough for today. Make sure you¡¯re not late for your next class." Ren got up and left. His next class was Ancient Languages and Runes and the class room was very far away. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Ren walked into his next class. No one else had arrived yet but that wasn''t surprising, not many people would rush off to their next class. The Ancient Languages and Runes classrooms was a lot smaller than the last one. Instead of holding 50-60 people this could probably only hold a little over a dozen. It was circular as well but it had a long bookcase the circled the room. In the middle of the room there were ordinary tables like the kind you would find in the library. Ren picked a seat and sat down. As the class got closer to starting a few people trickled in until there were a total of eight students, including Ren, in the room. The teacher walked in a few minutes later. Surprisingly Ren knew this women. It was the same one that conducted his magic exam. "Good morning everyone and welcome to Ancient Languages and Runes." She said, "You may address me as Madame Nizel, Instructor Nizel, or Deputy Headmistress. In this class you will be learning about the languages and runes used by past civilizations and extinct races. Because there are so many we will not be covering all of them or anywhere close to all of them. We will be covering the language of the Touwa, a race similar to goblins but smarter and less nasty, in class and you are expected to pick an additional one that you are interested in for self-study." The teacher gave an introductory lecture about languages for the rest of the class period. As they were leaving Madame Nizel told them that they needed to decide on a language by the end of the week. Ren''s last class before lunch was conjuration. Ren walked into the conjuration classroom and was surprised to find it set up like a mini arena. In the center of the arena was a rather well build man watching all of the students file in. The man spoke as soon as the last student sat. "This class is the basics of conjuration. If you are in the wrong class leave now." the man said. When nobody left the man continued. "You will address me as Master Boruk. None of you have earned the right to call me anything else. In this class you will be taught how to conjure weak spirits and magical beasts. Don''t even try to conjure anything else. At best you''d fail. At worst what you conjure could consume you or some else that was unfortunate be too close. Regardless of the outcome, even if you somehow succeed in bringing forth something more powerful, you will be expelled from this school and possibly face criminal charges, depending on the result. Conjuring something is not a game. Failing could very well mean you death. If you do not want to, or think you¡¯re not ready to, face this risk leave now." About a quarter of the class stood up and left, though that still left a good amount of people staying. After they all exited the teacher continued. "For the first have of the term I will be covering the basics and the theory of summoning as well as the differences of summoning and conjuring. You will not be doing either until the second half of the term. Understood?" """Yes Master Boruk""" the entire class said. "Good. Now when you summon or conjure something you are opening a bridge between our plane of existence and another. Planer studies is a higher level class you won''t be taking for a while but i will cover the basics because it''s important for you to know where your summons come from. All of the planes exist together on the Great Cosmic Wheel. The plane we reside in is known as the Martial Plane, the Mortal Plane, or the Earthly Plane. Other planes include the seven elemental planes, the Heavenly Plane, and the Demonic Plane. Of course there are many others and we won''t be dealing with the ones I just mentioned. We''ll be dealing with the Spirit Plane and the Magical Beast Plane, though not for a while yet. Now, the components of a successful summoning..." Master Boruk Lectured the entire time about various things like he was giving us an overview of the course. After the class was over I met Powel, Lixiss, and Azriel for lunch before heading off to my last class of the day. Blacksmithing. 010 Smith Training From Hell After having lunch Ren, Powell, Lixiss, and Azriel separated and went to their respective classes. Ren made his way across the practice field towards the workshops. Ren reached the blacksmiths workshop and entered. The workshop had a stone floor and the walls were lined with hooks, racks, and tables holding tools and materials. In the middle of the workshop there were a few forges and twice as many anvils with barrels and troughs of oil and water scattered about. Standing in middle of the workshop was Master Yurbek. "Good your here, that means we can being." he said, "Don''t get too excited, you won''t be making anything for at least a little while yet. Now follow me." Master Yurbek led Ren to through a door at the back of the workshop that lead to a small room. In the room was a large table that various rocks and metal bars arranged on it. Around the room were also more piles of materials. "This room was meant to be a classroom though it''s used mainly as a storage room now." Yurbek said, "On the table are examples of different metals and their ores that you''ll come across as you become a more skilled smith. I want you to identify them for me. I don''t care if you use magic, intuition, prior knowledge, or anything else. You can begin when you''re ready." Ren stepped up to the table and used [Sage Eye] on the materials. For the ores he managed to identify lead, tin, copper, iron, gold, and silver but there were two that only came up as question marks because the level [Sage Eye] was too low. For the metal bars Ren could identify lead, copper, tin, iron, gold, and silver as well as bronze and steel. This time there were three Ren couldn''t identify. "I''m not surprised you couldn''t tell what those ones are." Said Master Yurbek, "They are pretty rare and very expensive." He pointed to an ore that had shiny black line going through it. "This one is mithril ore. When refined, its metal is silver with a slight purple hue. Mithril is tougher than steel very conductive of magic, making a popular choice for people how use magic in close combat. This next one," he said, pointing at an ore with a dark green tint, "is adamant. When refined, its metal is a greenish gold color. Some of the toughest metal armor can be made from this. In the hands of a master craftsman it can be made nigh-indestructible. Weapons made from this are also very durable. This last metal," Yurbek said, point to a metal bar that was a deep red-gold color, "is orichalcum. No one knows how to make it anymore and what we have it found in ruins and is melted down. It¡¯s durability and defense is only a little below adamant but its sharpness is far superior. There are various other materials that can be work but these are incredibly rare to find or difficult to produce so most people never see even a glimpse of them." Master Yurbek walked out of the room out of the workshop and led Ren over to a partially enclosed secondary building that had a large ceramic crucible hanging by thick chains from the ceiling over a fire pit that was fill with roaring flames. Around the crucible was a stone walkway to you could reach the top. "This is the crucible me use for smelting the ore into metal." Master Yurbek said, "Every metal need a different temperature to melt. Too little and nothing will happen, to high and your wasting fuel and have a chance to damage the material. It''s always better to be too low than to high." Yurbek walked on the walkway and Ren followed. "When smelting the first thing you want to do is obviously heat up the crucible. After that you can just throw in the ore your smelting. You always want to use the appropriate size crucible for the amount that you smelting. It make this process safer and easier. When the ore is melted, which can take a while sometimes, you''ll start skimming the impurities off the top. You can never get a metal that''s 100% pure, not even through magic, so there will always be some impurities left. When you''ve gotten what impurities you can out it time to pour it out into ingot molds. You can see a hole at the bottom front of the crucible that blocked by that ceramic block. When you''re ready you remove that block and pour the metal into the channel that leads to the molds. Some impurities will appear on top of the ingots but these can be removed later." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. They finished the tour of the smelter and Master Yurbek led Ren over to the practice field. "Before you start making anything you need the strength to and endurance to be able to swing a hammer and shape metal. So until I say otherwise every day, from the time you get here until the sun sets, you''ll be exercising. Now start running." When Ren didn''t start immediately Master Yurbek pulled out a whip and cracked it right next to Ren''s ear. Ren jumped to the side, startles by the whip. When he saw Master Yurbek readying the whip again he took off running. "You crazy dwarf, what the hell are you trying to do?" Ren yell behind him "Getting you into shape. Now less talking and more running." Yurbek said, cracking the whip again. Ren was chased around the practice field by master Yurbek for hours. Every time Ren started to slow down Master Yurbek, who didn''t seem to tire at all, would crack the whip again and Ren would speed up. Ren''s stamina long since been depleted by the time they stopped. Ren collapsed onto the ground and didn''t move, he had lost feeling in his legs a while ago. Master Yurbek, who had disappeared after Ren collapsed, had reappeared carrying two dull swords. "Get up. We still have daylight left." He said Ren groaned as he got up, his muscles protesting their abuse, and caught the practice sword that was tossed to him. "Why am I holding a sword?" Ren asked "To be able to properly make a weapon it''s important to know how it''s used. The better you are at using a certain weapon the better you will be able to craft it, to a certain extant anyway. A master swordsman who knows nothing about smithing wouldn''t be able to make a great sword. When two or more skill are reach a certain level they can boost one or more of the skills. This is called skill synergy. This work because as you gain more knowledge in a certain skill you could start applying what you learn to other skills. For instance, a master swordsman would be reasonably skilled with a dagger even if he never used one before or someone who is reasonably skilled in smithing to carpentry, or both, could more easily become a skilled engineer etc... It''s important to try thing out yourself, you never know what could work. Also weapons practice will increase you strength so it''s good exercise. Now copy me." Master Yurbek started slowly going through a set of strikes. When he finished he would start again. After a few time he started speeding up until his sword was a blur. After a few minutes he stopped and motion for Ren to try. Holding the sword in one of his hands Ren began to copy master Yurbek. Vertical downwards slash then back up then a horizontal slash. Diagonal downwards slash then back up. Diagonal from the other side and back then stab and repeat. Master Yurbek began mixing it up. Stab, horizontal slash, upward diagonal slash, stab, vertical slash, stab. Ren stopped copying Master Yurbek and started to move on his own. He activated [Extreme Focus] and started to speed up little by. He was nowhere as fast or as smooth as Master Yurbek but he showed potential. Ren kept it up until he ran out of mana, which took almost an hour and a half. When his mana ran out Ren suddenly felt extremely tired and very sore. Master Yurbek has been watching Ren for the past hour or so and had a large smile plastered across his face. He walked over to Ren and took the sword from him, slapping him across the back and almost sending him to the ground. "Well done lad. You show promise. Every week we''ll add on a new weapon for you to practice. You don¡¯t have to be a master, just proficient. Now go rest up, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow." With that Master Yurbek headed back to the smithing workshop. Ren stumbled back to his room and collapsed onto his bed asleep even before he hit the bed. 011 The Making of a Blade Ren woke up the next morning and quickly showered and got dressed before head down to get breakfast. Ren''s limbs felt like they were made of lead and his muscles were sorer than they had ever been in his entire life. It was a struggle to walk let alone do anything else. The meditation during mana Control helped Ren to recover more and by the end of the class he was only a little sore. Ancient languages and Runes was both boring and intriguing, Ren decided to go with a strange language that''s similar to both modern elven and modern dwarvish but predates both by at least a thousand year conjuring being the same. Before Ren knew it lunch time came and it was time to meet up with his friends. They look as tired as Ren felt when he woke up but they seemed to enjoy their classes. Ren was curious about how they were able to play so much but didn''t think he was close enough to them to warrant and answer. For all he knew they could be in the hospital like him. After lunch was the class Ren was learning to fear. Blacksmithing. What should have been a class about making thing out of metal is actually just a cover to allow a demon disguised as a dwarf named Yurbek to torture the poor students that fall prey to his ploy. That''s what Ren was feeling anyway as he was chased around the practice by said demon yet again. While today felt a tiny bit easier than before it wasn''t enough to make that much of a difference. After the run was more sword practice before Ren dragged himself back to his room and fell asleep. Every day continued like this until, about a month into the term, the long awaited Day had arrived. Ren arrived at the practice field and began running. It had become a habit and he no longer needed Master Yurbek to chase him. After about an hour Yurbek appeared and called Ren over to the rear workshop by the smelter. He had a large smile on his face. "How about it lad. Are you ready to start smithing?" He asked A smile grew on Ren''s face and he nodded vigorously. "Great! You¡¯ll be starting on iron because it''s the cheapest. For now you''ll just be practicing smelting. The crucible is already heated up and there''s a large amount of fuel and iron ore available so feel free to use as much as you want. No one else will be using it. You can do this for as long as you want for the next week." Yurbek said. "What about my other classes?" Ren asked "After every month students get a week long break from classes to relax and assimilate what they''ve learned so if you free for the next week, we can make some uninterrupted progress on teaching smithing. What you say?" Ren smiled before answering. "I think that''s a great idea." Yurbek smiled back at Ren. "Great! Now let¡¯s get that iron smelting." The two of them spent the next several hours smelting up dozens of iron ingots. Master Yurbek helped Ren in the beginning but Ren did most of the work, not only gaining the [Smelting] skill in the process but also leveling it a few times. They worked through the night and managed to smelt almost half of the massive stockpile of iron ore the school had. In the end they made around 300 iron ingots of varying quality. When they were done they parted to rest for a few hours before starting the process of turning that mountain of iron into useful products. After sleeping for a few hours Ren went to the dining hall for lunch and got some extra bead a meat to bring with him so he wouldn¡¯t have to waste time getting food. When he reached the workshop Ren found Master Yurbek heating up one of the forges for their use. ¡°Go grab some of the lowest quality ingots, it doesn¡¯t make sense learning on the high quality stuff.¡± Master Yurbek told Ren Ren quickly grabbed a dozen low quality ingots and hurried back to Master Yurbek, eager to start. ¡°The first thing you have to understand is that there are different styles of smithing. Each race has their own style and even some masters have created their own. For example humans prioritize efficacy and speed over quality most of the time. This makes the style easy to learn and easy to master. Dwarves, on the other hand, feel that if you¡¯re not going to make something to the best of your ability it¡¯s not worth making. This makes the style much harder to learn and master but the quality of the products is vastly superior. The elves think the look of the product is as important as the function and orcs believe function trumps everything else. The beastmen don¡¯t really smith, most of their weapons and armor is made from natural materials and the draconian lost theirs, which is a pity since they used to make some of the best weapons. I¡¯ll be teaching you the human style, if you want to learn other you¡¯ll have to do that yourself.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. As Ren was listening to Yurbek he was surprised to learn that there were different styles. He was under the impression that it was the same throughout the world. Master Yurbek picked up one of the ingots with a pair of ting and placed it in the forge before continuing. ¡°When forging something the color of the metal is very important. The color will tell you the temperature of the metal. From coolest to hottest the colors are no color, red, orange, yellow, and white. The lowest color you want to work the metal is red-orange, after that you want to put it back in the forge to heat up. The goal of this style is to do this as few time as possible because the more you have to heat it, the longer it takes to make. Usually apprentices start out making nails but I think it¡¯s better to start out with something like a dagger so you get used to the whole process from the beginning.¡± Master Yurbek took the now bright yellow ingot out of the forge and moved it to the anvil where he started working on it, talking while doing so. ¡°The first thing you want to do is create the profile of the blade. I¡¯m going to be making a short, single edge, drop-point knife.¡± Master Yurbek said as he started shaping the blade, hitting the ingot with strong, precise hammer strikes. ¡°This knife is relatively easy to make since you don¡¯t have to worry about the point to much.¡± He finished shaping the blade before it cooled down and put it back into the forge. After a few minutes the knife was heated up again and Master Yurbek started working it again. ¡°The next step is to shape the edge. This is done by hitting the edge of the blade with the hammer at an angle. You need to make sure to work both side with the same amount of strikes.¡± Master Yurbek said, flipping the from one side to the other than putting it back into the forge to heat up for a third time. This time it spent less time in the forge. Only heating up to a moderate red color than putting it in a bed of sand. ¡°This last heating and letting it cool slowly is called annealing and reduces the brittleness of the blade making it a bit more flexible. After this is grinding and polishing and adding a handle.¡± Master Yurbek finished. Ren was astounded by the speed at which he made the knife. Ren was thought that smithing took hours, not just a few minutes. Sure it was just a small, simple knife and not some grand sword but the process only took a few minutes from start to finish. At that speed one could turn out dozens of knives a day easily. No wonder Master Yurbek said that the human style emphasized speed. After the knife was done cooling Master Yurbek quickly sharpened and polished the blade. The finished product was a knife a hunter would probably carry. Master Yurbek turned to Ren and asked ¡°Are you ready to try?¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here is a list of knife blade types for those of you who are curious. 012 If At First You Dont Succeeded, Try Try Again. Authors Note: I apologize for the premature release. this is the finished version. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Are you ready to try?" Ren smiled at master Yurbek''s question. Of course he was ready! Ren picked up an iron ingot with a pair of tongs and placed it in the forge. After a few minutes Ren took the ingot out of the forge and brought it over to a nearby anvil. Picking up a hammer smaller than the one Master Yurbek was using Ren began to hit the metal. As expected it was nowhere near as easy as Master Yurbek made it look. It took Ren a few heatings to flatten the metal to the thickness he wanted, after which he began to shape the blade. This took Ren many times longer and more than a few tries to get a semi-even edge. Next up was forming the cutting edge. This produced...mixed...results. Try as he might Ren could not get an even cutting edge and ended it with a somewhat wavy cutting edge than made it look like it had soft serrations. When he was done with the blade Ren annealed it then took it over to the grinding and polishing wheels to finish off his first knife. If it could be called that. Stepping away from the sharpening wheel Ren inspected his knife
Shoddy Knife
TypeKnifeQualitypoor
Damage1Durability10/10
The first knife made by an apprentice blacksmith, this knife whould work better as a decoration to remember the moment than as a functional tool.
Ren wore a wry smile on his face as he looked at the next-to-useless knife he made. Sure it was his first attempt but even the system was mocking him. Master Yurbek chuckled seeing Ren''s expression. "You did well for your first time smithing lad. At least it looks like a knife. I''ve had students who''ve turn an ingot into god knows what when attempting to make nails. You should be proud of yourself. Now as to what you did wrong..." Master Yurbek spent the next half an hour explaining to Ren exactly what he did wrong and how to fix it. He then demonstrated how to make a knife again, at a slower speed. Ren tried again...and failed again. Undeterred, Ren continued to practice, Master Yurbek pointing out his mistake after each attempt. After a couple dozen attempts Master Yurbek lit a second forge and put a small crucible in it. He was using this one to melt down Ren''s failures back into ingots. Ren spent almost the entire day making knives but he was getting very frustrated. While he was making progress, it was much to slow for his liking. With every knife he made it would become a little more even and consistent in shape and a little higher quality but it was very slow progress. Ren put down the got up from the grinding wheel and looked at the knife he had just finished.
Low Quality Knife
Type Knife Quality Normal
Damage 1-3 Durability 15/15
A low quality knife made my an apprentice blacksmith
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Ren sighed. He had been making low quality knives for the past couple hours and they really haven''t shown any kind of improvement. He was about to start yet another knife when a pair of strong, calloused hand land on his shoulders and steered him out of the work shop. "That''s enough lad." Master Yurbek said, "You should go clear your mind, reflect on what you learned, and rest. You won''t become a master in a day and you need time to refocus. We''ll start again tomorrow afternoon." Ren got some food and made his way back to his room. After getting back to his room, Ren entered the stone room that off his sitting room and began to meditate. He still didn''t know what its intended use was but it was quite and dark which made it perfect for meditation. As he was told, Ren spent some time reflecting on what he learned that day before he went to bed. Master Yurbek''s POV: My god that boy''s a monster thought Master Yurbek as he watched Ren walk back to the main building, holding the last knife he made in his hands. To not only be able to make something that even remotely resembles a knife on the first try, but to make that much progress in a single day, if other smiths knew of his ''slow'' progress they''d probably die of envy and disbelief. Master Yurbek thought back to when he first saw Ren during his entrance exam. His sword fighting was unrefined but would be effective against monsters of similar or lower skill level. Just not people. The fact he was Saint was surprising but it didn''t actually mean much unless he developed his skill with that element. What first impressed him was his concentration. He had used that wrenched stone before and only managed to last an hour. To last six was a remarkable achievement. What next impressed him was the amount of care he put into his work while making his trial piece at the end of the exam. The quality was above that of the average tailor and the embroidery was very well done. Master Yurbek was actually very pleased that he was teaching Ren first. While he told Ren the truth when he had him running and practicing with different weapons the primary goal were to test his determination and to comply with the headmaster''s orders to keep Ren under watch. When he told Ren that it was time to start learning smithing Master Yurbek couldn''t help but chuckle to himself seeing Ren''s expression. The smelting went well but smelting iron is easy, the really test is when you smelt something like mithril or adamant. After spending all night watching Ren smelt iron and some rest came the fun part, teaching him how to work metal. Seeing the shock and wonder in Ren''s eyes as he made a knife in a matter of minutes caused him to smile. He never tires of see the on a student¡¯s face watching a master smith at work. From then on he guided Ren in creating a knife. He was expecting it to look like a metal blob but, to his surprise, it actually had the shape of a knife, not that this one would be of much use. As Ren continued to practice Master Yurbek was again surprised by his rate of improvement. While Ren though it was slow, to go from something that could almost be considered a knife to an actual knife in a single was very impressive and Master Yurbek couldn''t wait to see how he would grow over the course of the term. 013 Shocking Revelations Ren was in the library. He''s been there for the past few hours looking through all of the historical documents he could find related to the dwarves. Ren was looking for any mention of Dur Tharum though so far he hadn''t had any luck. Every now and then the librarian would walk past tough Ren was too absorbed in his search to notice. Soon the afternoon came and Ren went to the smithing workshop to continue where he left off. Ren followed this pattern for the rest of the week until classed started up again. Ren walked into his mana control class and sat down, waiting for the class to start. As soon as everyone was seated the teacher spoke up. "As a sufficient amount of you have reach the appropriate level in you meditation today I will start teaching you how to start controlling your mana." said instructor Tobis. "First everyone start meditating." he waited until everyone was in a meditative state. "Now understand that mana is all around us. From the food we eat to the water we drink and the air we breathe there is mana in all of it, though in very small amounts." Tobis paused to let what he said sink in. ''Now realize that there is mana throughout our body. In every muscle, in every organ, in every hair. There is mana in every fiber of our body. Though mana is throughout our bodies that is not where we get the mana for our spells from. Next is the most difficult part. You must find and understand they very source of mana in your body. This is your Mana Core. All of the mana that you collect from the world eventually makes its way here. The Mana Core is not the same for everybody. For some it could take the form of a small crystal somewhere in your body, for others it may be a liquid or even a gas. It could run like veins thought your body or even be infused into organ, bone, or some other part. This is what makes this part so difficult. Most mages never find a trace of their core and the one that do just barley scratch the surface so if you can''t find yours don''t be disheartened, you are among the majority. Class is now dismissed. I suggest that you all that this time to practice." with that the teacher went back to meditating. Everyone was filing out of the class, Ren included. After leaving the room he went straight to the practice field. Getting to the field he found it empty. This was because the martial students that used the field most of the time were in their theory classes in the morning meaning Ren would have the field to himself for the time being. Ren Came here of a reason. Instructor Tobis had said that the Mana Core was the source of the mana for their spells. What Ren was going to try was to follow the mana he used back to its source. Ren sat down and took out his ||Novice Sword||. Sticking the sword in the ground, Ren grasped it with both hands and entered a light meditative state. Taking a deep breath Ren cast the only spell he knew. "[Static Blitz]" As he said the name of the spell power began to build his hand. Ren tried to follow it back but the power had already stopped flowing by the time he started. The spell discharged from his hand, though the sword and into the ground. Ren had done it this way so he doesn''t accidentally hit someone with it. Ren readied himself and cast the spell a second time. Again Ren failed to follow the mana back. Ren tried again several more times but failed each time. He realized that he needed a spell that constantly drew mana but that brought up a new problem. The problem was that first year students weren''t allowed into the School of Magic''s spell library. Sure he could go out and try to find a spell outside of the school but spells cost money and Ren didn''t have a whole lot of that. The only solution Ren could find was turning [Static Blitz] into a continuous spell. Ren cast [Static Blitz] again but this time he was remembering the feeling of casting the spell. When you said the name of a spell the player activated System Assist. With system Assist there was no way of changing the spell so Ren had to be able to cast the spell without it first before he could change it. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Ren concentrated on the feeling of mana building up in his hand. Ren sat there for a while, he was actually skipping his second class but he didn''t care. All Ren cared about right now was trying to gather mana in his hand. After some time mana started to trickle into his hand. Ren was elated and immediately tried to trace it back but lost it as soon as he started. Ren chided himself for being too eager and tried gathering mana in his hand again. This time it only took a few minutes but the pace was the same. It took some time but Ren finally built up enough mana to try casting [Static Blitz]. The hard part about this step was converting the mana into lightning. Ren concentrated on the mana in his hand, willing it to change into lightning. This method didn''t work. Ren was now missing his third class but paid no attention to it, was busy trying various ways to change the mana in his hand into lightning. Nothing was working and Ren was getting frustrated. After a few more tries his frustration had reached its limit. Ren didn''t care what happened anymore and forced that mana out of his hand. While he was doing that a memory of his childhood appeared unbidden in his mind. Ren remembered when he was young and his family had gone on a camping trip. A thunderstorm had strung up suddenly and his parents were running around packing up all of the loose items around the camp site. Ren felt his hair start to stand on end and when he looked around for the cause he saw a lightning bolt strike a tree relatively close him when he was little. He remembered the crack of the lightning forcing its way through the atmosphere, the feeling of his hair standing on end and the sound of the tree blowing apart. The mana in his hand rushed out and into the sword then into the ground. It went through with such power that it caused the sword to heat up a little. Ren was shocked by both the memory that flashed though his head and the result of said memory interacting with the mana he had expelled. Ren quickly calmed himself and tried again, letting the mana build up in his hand then expelling it while remembering what it felt like to be near lightning. Lightning flashed from his hand and into the sword. It lacked the power that the previous one had but Ren was excited all the same. Ren kept practicing for a little while longer before heading off the workshop. It would take some time to gain enough mastery in casting spells without System Assist to start changing them. As Ren collected the ||Novice Sword|| and walk off he was so absorbed in his thoughts that he failed to notice that the sword had a slight blue glow to it and that the ground around him looked like it had black lightning bolts, caused by the burned grass, which radiated out from the hole where the sword was. At the top of the overlooking the practice field a man stood, watching Ren with a complicated expression. This was the grounds keeper and field manager. He had held this position for decades, and been at the school even longer, and he had never seen anyone quite like Ren. He had been alerted to Ren''s presence by the lightning he had been giving off. He watched Ren as he as he skipped all of his classes to practice whet ever it was Ren was doing. He watch as the ground underneath Ren became filled with black trail of lightning passing through the ground. The man watch as Ren finally walked of the field and headed to his next class. An interesting student had appeared he thought though he didn''t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing 014 Gifts Over the next month Ren would skip Mana Control and go to the practice field to try and perfect his control over [Static Blitz] without System Assist. Despite his early successes, learning how to cast a spell without the help of the game was very difficult. The only reason Ren kept at it was because he was because he was it stubborn to give up. He was getting closer but Ren still felt that he had long way to go. As for the rest of his classes, in Ancient Languages and Runes they were each given a book written in the language they chose to study and were expected to finish translating it by the end of the month. As for conjuration they started going over summoning and binding rituals as well as the pros and cons of beasts and spirits. For beast summons, a beast strength was determined as the moment of summoning and would mostly stay at the level of strength. While it is possible to get them stronger, the summoner has to invest a lot of time and effort into training them and getting them experience. Beasts were called active summons because they would take part in the fight themselves. Beast summons could be any kind of magical beat, from a simple horned rabbit to a mighty elder dragon. For spirit summons, the spirit summoned would usually be weak but the spirit would grow stronger as the summoner grew stronger so there was no need to train a spirit. A spirit is a manifestation of some aspect of the world, this means there are spirits for basically anything, from the elements(elemental spirits aren''t elementals) to weather to weapons and normal object, they could be anything. Spirits were called passive summons because they didn''t take part in a fight or interact with the world in an active way. What they do is give their summoner some measure of control over something or boost their summoner in some way. Spirits were looked down on by most because they were viewed as weak and useless. Why have a fire spirit when you could summon a flame salamander? Blacksmithing didn''t change much, Ren still had to run and still had weapons training. Ren''s smithing skills had all risen to intermediate rank and he was now learning how to craft swords and armor and beginning to work with steel. About a week before the second break of the term Powell, followed by Lixiss and Azriel, burst into the smithing workshop were Ren was currently trying to repair some weapons and armor Master Yurbek had given to him to practice on. "Krono guess what!" Powell excitedly cried out as he enter the workshop. Startled by the sudden noise, Ren almost dropped what he was working on. Ren turned and glared at the armored intruder but Powell either didn''t notice or ignored it. "What?" Ren asks "Because of the high number of Goblin attacks recently the city council has decided to put together a subjugation force to deal with them. The best part is that students have be given permission to join and will be excused from all classes to prepare. Registration is open now the force will leave in a week. We''re all going and you should come with us. Even if you can''t fight they''re taking people with skills like healing and cooking and anybody that can help keep equipment in good repair. With your skills you would be a very valuable person to have." Powell said. Ren opened his mouth to refuse but Master Yurbek, knowing what Ren would do, beat him to the punch. "You should go lad," He said, "It''ll be good for you to get some real-world experience." Ren again opened his mouth to refuse but Master Yurbek cut him off "If you really don''t want to go than I suppose that means you don''t think you¡¯re ready," Master Yurbek said. "I guess that means I haven''t been training you enough. I guess I¡¯ll just have to make it harder then." Master Yurbek seemed to have a sinister glint in his eye as him pulled out his whip. Ren glance at the whip and shivered before turning to his friends and accepting their invitation. "Great!" said Powell, oblivious to what just happened, "I picked up a form for you to fill out since you¡¯re busy, I''ll bring it over when we go register." Ren filled out the form and handed it back to Powell. The trio left and Ren got back to work, but this time he had a purpose. Ren walked outside and fired up the smelter. It would take a while for it to heat up so Ren went back inside and started getting together the tools and materials he would need for what he had in mind. Ren paid a visit to the tailoring workshop to pick up some materials before returning and checking the smelter, which still had a while to go. Clearing off a workbench Ren activated [Extreme Focus] got to work. When his friends had showed up earlier he had noticed that they were still using the equipment they got at the beginner village and it was looking a little beat up. Since they were going on the subjugation mission they would need new equipment and he knew that they didn''t have the fund to buy it nor would they be able to raise enough to get some. Ren had been working on armor for Lixiss and Azriel while the smelter was heating up. He want the equipment to be the best he ever made so was going to use all of his skill and take his time while making it. Master Yurbek had noticed the change in Ren and knew not to disturb him. Instead of hovering over Ren, Master Yurbek tended to the smelter and prepared some things that he thought Ren would need and just stayed out of his way. When the smelter was ready he notified Ren. After finishing up his current piece, Ren went to the smelter and started throwing in iron ore and powdered coal. The coal would burn off because of the intense heat of in the crucible and leave behind carbon, producing steel. Ren monitored the smelting process closely, removing as many impurities as possible. When the steel was ready Ren cleaned the ingot molds one last time and, with the help of Master Yurbek, poured the steel. As the ingots were cooling Ren and Master Yurbek went around and removed more impurities. After cooling what was left was some of the purest ingot Ren had ever made and even Master Yurbek was impressed by them. Back inside Ren started forging the three daggers he was making for Azriel. Two of the daggers were going to be single-edged and made for slicing an opponent to pieces* and the third was going to be a stiletto-type* knife made for stabbing that she could hide in a boot or something. The daggers only took a few hours to complete so Ren moved onto the sword he was going to make for Lixiss. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. While Lixiss was an archer she took up the sword as a way to defend herself if the enemy got to close. Since she was an AGL and DEX character Ren decide that a normal sword would only slow her down so he wanted to make her a rapier. A rapier would take advantage of her speed and precision while allowing her to keep an opponent further away. This was Ren''s first time making a sword this thin so he took his time to make sure that the blade wasn''t too weak. After a few hours Ren was happy with the blade and moved onto the most labor intensive part of his project, making gear for Powell. Powell was a warrior that focused on defense so he wore metal plate armor and carried a shield and longsword. The sword was the easy part since he was used to making them. Ren didn''t have the skill or time to make a full suit of armor so he stuck to the essentials. For Powell Ren was making a steel cuirass*, pauldrons*, vambrace*, greaves*, and a helmet*. These would take up most of his time so Ren wanted to make sure he got the weapons done first. Ren worked for five days straight, only getting about 2 hours of sleep a night and he slept in the forge. Ren rested only when he was out of mana and only long enough to get his mana back. Ren was tired but he still had to finish the leather armor he was making Lixiss and Azriel. It was the day before the subjugation force was scheduled to leave and Ren had called his friends over the workshop. Meeting them outside the workshop, Ren told them to close their eyes and he led them inside and in front of a table that had a cloth over it. Ren positioned each of them so they each stood in front of a certain part of the table then had them open their eyes and removed the cloth at the same time. On the table in front of each of them was a complete set of armor and some weapons. Lixiss, Powel, and Azriel were confused for a moment and then it hit them like a ton of bricks. They looked between the pile in front of them and Ren, who was ginning like a fool at them. Ren had told them not to come by the workshop during the week, saying that he need to prepare and he didn''t want to be disturbed. The reality of what he was actually doing hit them. Powell had a large grin on his face and looked like he could start laughing at any moment. Lixiss covering her mouth with both hands and looked like she was about to start crying. Even Azriel had an expression of wonder and amazement on her normally expressionless face. They each took off their old gear and put on the new equipment that Ren had made them, inspecting each piece as they did so. The lowest quality piece of gear was of good quality, though the average was of great quality, while the average rarity was uncommon, though some pieces were rare. While they were donning their new armor Ren took three bundles wrapped in cloth out of his inventory and handed them to his friends when they were done. When they saw what was in them Lixiss started crying, Powell had a look of shock on his face, and even Azriel had her eyes tear up. Inside each the package was a sturdy, light weight cloak Ren had made with the spare time he had after finishing their other gifts. It wasn''t the extra piece of clothing that made them act this way though. The cloaks were folded in a way that showed the design embroidered on them as soon the bundled was opened. The design they had decided for their party. It was that of a chipped sword stabbed into a skull on top a pile of bodies. The sword had a helmet placed on top of it and a ripped piece of cloth flying in the wind behind it. Lixiss ran at Ren and gave him a big hug while Powell slapped him on the back and Azriel gave his arm a quick hug. The four of them put on their matching cloaks and headed off to the encampment that the subjugation force member were meeting at. Master Yurbek had been watching from the shadows and had a large grin on his face from the heartwarming scene. He had been wondering what Ren was going to do with what he had been making and was pleasantly surprised when he saw that they were intended as gifts from his friends. Master Yurbek silently wished them luck and set about cleaning the workshop. 015 The Hunts a Foot The camp for the subjugation force was right outside the walls of Crale and it was massive. In the camp were a few thousand NPC''s and a couple dozen players. When they arrived at the camp they were asked for their papers, Powell had given Ren his on the way there, and directed to their units, meaning they were all split up. Powell went to the 3rd unit of the 1st brigade, they specialized in front-line combat. Lixiss went to the 1st unit of the 2nd brigade, the ranged specialists. Azriel went to the 5th unit of the 3rd brigade, the scouts. Ren made his way to the 2nd unit of the 4th brigade. This was the support unit. It held all of the tradesmen need to keep the force running. Ren found his way to the blacksmith¡¯s tent to report for duty. It wasn''t that hard to find, all he had to do was follow the sound of metal striking metal. Ren arrived at the tent and saw that the place was bustling. People were rushing in and out of the tent carrying arm-loads of weapons and armor. In the middle of the chaos was a rather large man yelling out orders to anybody nearby. Ren made his way over to him. The large man spotted Ren making his way through all of the people and equipment and called out. "This isn¡¯t a place kid¡¯s brat, get out." Ren ignored him and continued walking until he was next to the large man, who looked like he was about to order some on to throw Ren out, and held out his papers. The large man took the papers and read them quickly before throwing them back at Ren and laughing. "Ha, these are some pretty good fakes." He said, "But I told you before this isn''t a place for kids. Erol!" he yelled out. A short, stocky, and very strong looking man appeared, "Get this kid out of here." Erol reached out to grab him but Ren deftly evaded. Erol frowned and tried again to get the same result. Erol chased Ren around the tent. Ren was dodging in between people and plies of equipment and materials. The chase was disrupting the other people¡¯s work and causing even more chaos, though really most of it was Erol''s fault. This had been going on for a few minutes when a man dress as a guard captain walked into the tent and yelled out, "WHAT''S GOING ON HERE?" Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at the new arrival. Erol tried to take this chance to catch Ren but failed once more. "That kid is disrupting every ones work." The large man said, pointing at Ren. "Kid?" the newcomer said, looking where the large man was point and spotting Ren. "What are you doing in here?" He asked Ren. Ren made his way through the crowd and handed his paper to the newcomer, who scanned them before handing them back to Ren. "BERNARD! He called out, "GET OVER HERE." The large man from before walked thought the crowed and over to the newcomer. "Why was he," the newcomer said, point at Erol, "Chasing him?" he finished, pointing at Ren. "He was trying to get the kid out of here Captain" The large man, Bernard, said, looking a little confused. ¡°Why was he trying to kick him out?" The captain askes. "Because he obviously doesn''t belong here." Bernard replied "Did you look at his papers Bernard?" The captain said. "Well...yeah." Was Bernard''s reply "So why doesn''t the kid belong here?" The captain asked "Well... He''s a kid, he can''t possibly be a qualified to work on weapons and armor. He''s probably still making nails!" Bernard said. ¡°So you, with all of your experience and wisdom, decided that you know exactly the boy is what he''s capable off without see him work?" Bernard was silent so the captain continued. "If you actually read his papers you would know that he is a student at Medonia Academy who is currently studying blacksmithing. You should know that the Academy only pick the best for their instructors so why shouldn''t he be here?" "He''s only a first year! He can''t be that much past making nail right now! While I mean no disrespect to the Captain the academies instructor, the boy''ll only hinder us." Bernard said. "Well than why don''t you test him? Have him make the best piece he can and if it''s not good enough than you can kick him out. Is that good with you Krono, Bernard?" The captain said "Yes." the both said "Good. Any questions?" the captain asked Ren. "Is there a limit to the material I can use and can I start now?" Ren asked. "I don''t think there needs to be one and sure, if you want." the captain replied, slightly confused. Ren nodded and walked over to the material stock pile and pick out a few of the higher quality steel ingots. Behind him Bernard was about to complain but the captain stopped him, curious about what Ren was going to do with them. Ren stuck the ingots in a nearby forge that wasn''t being used and begun. After the ingot were heated up Ren forge-welded them together and started to make the shape of a sword. Other people noticed Ren working and stopped to watch, commenting to each other about his mistakes or what impressed them. Pretty soon the entire tent had stopped working and was watch Ren work, though he didn''t notice. One hour past, then two. Ren finished shaping the sword and moved on to sharpening and polishing it. After about three hours Ren was finished and he examined the sword.
Good Steel Sword
Type Blade Quality Good
Damage 40-50 Durability 200/200
A steel sword of decent quality
Stolen novel; please report. It wasn''t his best but he wasn''t trying all that hard either. Ren handed the blade to the captain. The captain examined the sword than handed it to an astonished Bernard. Bernard took his time examining the sword but he couldn''t find any major flaws in it and handed it back to the captain. "I think he should be able to keep it." Said the captain, pointing at Ren Bernard didn''t argue and handed the sword to Ren. "I believe there is something you should be saying to him Bernard." the captain said. Bernard looked like he swallowed something rotten He took a deep breath and looked at Ren. "I apologize for my actions earlier." Bernard said. Ren didn''t answer but held out his hand to Bernard, who took it in his own gigantic hand, and shook. The captain beamed at them and slapped both of their shoulders. "Good. Now that we''re all friends let get back to work shall we?" said the captain, gazing around at the crowd. Everyone dispersed and went back to their jobs and soon the tent was bustling again. "Alright everyone, we have a lot to do and little time to do it!" Yelled Bernard, "We need all of these weapons and armor repaired and ready to go by tonight so we aren''t late packing up tomorrow! Let''s get it done people!" Bernard turned to Ren, "You''ll be sharpening swords over there." he said, pointing to a section of the tent that had grinding wheels set up. "I want them done fast and I want them done right. One of your sword you save a life got it?" Ren nodded, "Good now get to work." Bernard walked off to go supervise the rest of the workers. Ren made his way over to a sharpening wheel and got to work. Ren lost count of all of the sword he worked on by the end of the day. His hands hurt and he was tired. They work in the blacksmith¡¯s tent was completed a little earlier than anticipated so they had packed up the forge that night to be ready for the march in the morning. Ren made his way through the camp to the circle of tents where He and his friends had been assigned. He and Powell were sharing one tent while Lixiss and Azriel were in a tent next to them. When Ren arrived he found his friends sitting around the fire with a few other solders. Lixiss spotted him and waved him over. One of the solders past Ren a bowl of soup, which he accepted, and started chatting with everyone. It seemed that everyone there, except for Ren, was assigned to combat units. They had spent most of their day doing drill and being briefed on what to expect. It seemed that what they were facing was worse than had been originally thought. At first it was believed that a goblin tribe was trying to expand their territory but new Intel this afternoon suggested that a goblin boos was trying to become a goblin king. Ren had no idea what they were talking about so they explained it to him. There were a few types of goblins in the world. First was the normal Goblin. Goblins were weak by themselves and any novice fighter could kill one but if they grew in number they could ransack villages, which they did on occasion. The next type was the Goblin Boss. A goblin boss was the leader of a goblin tribe and was either smarter of stronger than the rest. They usually rose to power after killing the previous goblin boss. A reasonably skill fighter cold kill one by themselves but the hard part lay with their guards. Above the goblin boss was the Goblin King. Goblin king didn''t show up all that often because it required a goblin boss to have conquered at least nine other goblin tribes. When a goblin king appeared all of the surrounding kingdoms and empires would immediately drop what they were doing and move to wipe it out, even if they were at war with someone else. The reason was that a Goblin King controlled at least one Goblin General which controlled ten Goblin Captains which controlled ten Goblin Commanders which control 100 goblins. In total a single goblin general controlled 10,110 goblins. In the past there was a goblin king that controlled 5 generals. That means the king controlled over 50.000 goblins. It took the full might of three kingdoms to eradicate them. If the goblin boss became a king they were in big trouble. Ren was stunned at what he heard. 10,000 goblins! That was more than twice their number! If they ran into that amount the force would wave to retreat and request help from the surrounding nations. Ren shuddered at the thought of the amount of devastation a goblin army could cause. Apparently the commander of the force was expected to make a formal announcement tomorrow morning before the marched. They all talked for a little while longer before everyone, except Ren, headed off to sleep. Ren put out the fire and gazed at the stars. It was a clear night and Ren marveled at the amount of detail that was put into every aspect of the game. Looking at the star always gave him a sense of peace and calmness and that didn''t change inside of Second Awakening. 016 Quick Descent I''ve decided what to do about Ren''s class (With everyone''s help). Both Dragon Artificer and Apprentice of the Crafting God are popular and honestly I really like both classes so I decided to go with an idea suggested by Kilaske990. Ren will first become a Dragon Artificer and after some time developing his skills he''ll become an Apprentice of the Crafting God. As for all of the other classes in the poll, most will be just be dumped. I might take one or two and turn them into a technique but most of them will just be dropped. For the ones suggested by all of you guys, I¡¯ll be using a few of them as techniques, some of your ideas are too good to just drop. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sun rose and the entire camp was packed up. Ren was currently standing in a crowd with his friends looking at the man standing on a wagon in front of them. This man was the commander of the subjugation force and the person Ren had meet the day before. Everyone was waiting from him to speak. After some time everyone was gather and the man cleared his throat. He nodded to a man that Ren couldn''t see and started speaking. "First I would like to thank all of you for volunteering to be part of this subjugation force. Many of you know who I am but for those who don''t I will introduce myself. My name is Xavier Wolfe, First captain and leader of the Crale city guard." Captain Wolfe paused for a moment, "The news that I have to share with all of you this morning is troubling. I''m sure most of you have heard rumors that the goblins we will be fighting might be getting a new king. I''m sorry to say that these rumors are true. ¡°Murmuring broke out among the crowd. The captain raised his hand and everyone quieted down. "I know what many of you must be thinking and I, myself, share some of these thoughts but we must remember that, regardless of the foe we face, we are the one that stand in front of our families, our friends, and countless other innocent lives. Protecting them from the monster that would harm them. Holding torches that drive away the darkness that would consume them. We will not be alone in this fight. Word is being sent to the surrounding nation to warn them of our situation. Our job it to hold back the goblin menace until reinforcements arrive. The first troops should be here in a week. We just need to hold out for seven days. Yes that is a longtime during battle but remember what you are fighting for. We will not let a single goblin through because we cannot afford to. The city officials are their best to protect everyone and we must do our part as well. So are we going run away from some wanna-be king and his ragtag army?" """NO""" the crowd shouts "Are we going to let some dirty monster run over us and destroy our city?" """NO""" "So what we going to do?" """FIGHT""" the crowd yells "Good let¡¯s get moving. We have a full day of marching before we reach the area where we will make camp. Dismissed." Captain Wolfe said. The crowd dispersed and formed up into their units. Ren was assigned the dedicated repairman of the 38th unit of the first brigade because of his smithing skills and that fact that he had some experience with a sword. Ren was no longer wearing his school uniform but instead put on his old outfit he had made back in Jona village. Ren also carried his new steel sword on his belt. The subjugation force arrived at the area that was going hold their main camp a little before sunset and began to set up. Half of the force was setting up tents and equipment while the other half got started on creating the trenches and embankments that would surround the camp with the help of the force¡¯s earth mages. Defense construction was overseen by some of the city¡¯s engineers. Night fell and Ren was sitting around a fire getting to know the people in his unit. There were no other players besides Ren but that wasn''t an issue for him. As everyone was talking Ren collected everyone''s weapons and started sharpening them with a small whetstone. The others were quite pleased with Ren''s actions. Were before they''re attitudes towards Ren were pretty neutral, as the night went on they slowly began to warm up to him. As the others headed off to get some rest, Ren sat by the slowly dying fire, gazing at the stars and finishing up the sword of his unit. The sun rose and the units that made up the vanguard were already heading into the tunnels occupied by the goblins. Ren marched behind the rest of his unit. While his primary job was to keep his unit''s equipment in good shape, Ren was also required to participate in combat, though to a limited degree. His job when fighting was to make sure that any goblins that got past the front lines wouldn''t get past him. They entered the tunnels, which were big enough to allow five solders to walk side-by-side with enough room the swing their swords, and began marching down into the earth. It got darker as they got deeper. At some point a call came from the front. "Lights!" Small glowing balls of light appeared above the heads of the solders and cast a dim red glow that gave everything an eerie look. They continued to march through the winding tunnels for what felt like hours. Ren could hear the occasional sounds of combat but they didn''t last very long. At some point the tunnel started to widen until 30 solders could walk side-by-side. When the tunnel reached its widest point the vanguard found themselves on one side of a massive stone bridge spanning a seemingly bottomless chasm. If Ren had to guess he would say that the bridge looked to be around 150-160 feet wide and probably around 400 feet long and had a slight arch to it. On the other side of the bridge, the goblin forces had arranged themselves in a rough skirmish line facing the oncoming solders. The subjugation force vanguard advanced onto the bridge and readied themselves for combat. A runner with escort was dispatched from the rear to update the main force. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Silence reigned on the bridge as both parties eyed each other. They stood in silence for several minutes before both forces charged forward at the same time, roaring out their challenge to the other. The front runners clashed with the sound of flesh hitting metal as the goblins charged into the armored warriors of the front line. The momentum of both sides was halted and blood began to flow down onto the bridge, Red for force, a greenish colored liquid for the goblins. The air was filled with the yells of the warriors attacking, metal hitting metal, screams of pain, and the desperate wail of goblins that were knocked over the edge and into the void of the chasm. The fighting went on and on, the goblins fiercely attack the subjugation force, giving no quarter, while the solders in the front line would occasionally draw back and allow another solder to take their place, the line never wavering. Ren was in the back, keeping an eye on the battle while doing some quick maintenance to the armor and weapons of the solders getting patched up before being sent back to fight. This lasted for hours, the sear numbers of the goblins preventing any progress forward. At some point reinforcement arrived, allowing the tiered solders of the vanguard to rest briefly. A small mountain of goblin corpses was piled up in the center of the bridge, acting like a wall. The battle had long since reached a stalemate. After a few more hours something started to change within the goblin forces. It wasn''t something that could be seen but sensed. They started pushing harder, attacking for fiercely, and started using the sheer weight of number to start pushing the subjugation force back step by step. First the front line wavered, then it broke and the two forces mixed. It became chaotic. The healers retreated further up the tunnels with their guard. Slowly the goblins began making their way past the main force and into the rear. Ren grabbed his sword and ran to the first goblin he saw, examining it.
Status Window
Name Goblin Warrior Level 10
HP 350 Defence 6
A normal goblin. Weak by itself but vicious in large numbers
Ren smiled to himself seeing the stats of the goblin. At least its weakthought Renas long as I don''t get swarmed I should be ok. Ren fought goblin after goblin, dodging most of their strikes and killing them in a few blows, but more just kept coming. Ren moved around the battle field to avoid getting boxed in. He eventually found himself near the edge of the bridge, several goblins advancing towards him. Ren cursed. He only had about half of his health left and his stamina was low. As the goblins moved in for the kill Ren held out his sword, pointing it at the middle of the goblins, and called out, "Static Blitz!" Ren had practiced casting the spell without system assist to the point where he was faster than the system, though he was nowhere close to turning it into a continuous spell. Lighting ran along the surface of the sword and flew out the tip, slamming into the center goblin. The goblin flew back with a shriek of pain. Something the Ren didn''t expect also happened. The lighting that slammed into the center goblin arced from its body and hit the two on either side, though it caused less damage. Seeing the Ren was elated and charged back into the fight, sword in one hand and magic flying from the other. The amount of goblins near Ren started to lessen but after a few minutes the goblins shrieked and a large number charged Ren, driving him back to the edge of the cliff. Ren fought savagely, casting [Static Blitz] in large crowns of them and even throwing some over the edge. Some surrounding solders tried to help but they were also under attack and couldn''t do much. Ren stumbled on a goblin corpse, losing his balance. Using this opportunity the goblins charge Ren and...Pushed him right over the edge. Ren fell silently. He was to stunned to make an sound as he rushed downward thought he black, the sound of battle quickly growing fainter before vanishing all together. Ren realized after a few seconds that he was still falling. Confused, Ren twisted his body round to face the direction he was falling. Ren closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then...
System Message
You have died. You may log-in again in 24:00:00
017 Family Ties
System Message
You have died. You may log-in again in 24:00:00
Ren looked at the notification for a moment then sighed. He knew he was bound to die at some pint but that didn''t make him feel any better. Ren left the game and returned to his room in the VR pod. While it felt like months since he was last here in actuality it was only a few weeks. Ren lay down on his bed, set up a timer for when he could log back in, and started browsing the internet for Second Awakening related news. Ren checked out some forums, read some articles, and watched videos. Apparently the internet exploded a couple weeks back about some anonymous person becoming a Saint. There were countless articles filled with speculation, forum thread dedicated to finding the person, and many offers from new outlets for the identity of the person, either real-life or in-game. Right now there was a lot of talk about the Goblin King. Ren continued to browse random sites until he heard the sound of a phone ringing. Ren brought up the video chat system and found his family, minus his father, look at him through the camera. Ren was initially shocked but quickly smiled. He and his family talked for a while. He found out that his father, who was software engineer and a pretty good programmer, had been offered a job at Moonlight Arts as one of the lead game developers. The company figured that since not only does he have skills that they''re look for but also his son was basically living in the game that Ren''s father would have more motivation than a normal person to make the game the best it could possibly be. They talked for a little more, his mother Katherine scolding him for not coming out for a few weeks. Ren 12 year old, Matthew, had been fidgeting the whole time there were talking. Seemingly not able to hold what he want to say in any longer he interrupted his mother and said. "Ren. Guess what, guess what!" he excitedly "What?" Ren replied with a slight smile. "Mom says that I can play the game!" Matthew burst out. "She said you can play once summer vacation starts in a month." Ren''s 24 year old sister Nicole said. "I get to start in a few days once finals exams are over." Ren was a bit surprised but also very happy. He and his siblings have always been close. Nicole, while kind and caring, wasn''t someone you wanted to mess with. She was an instructor at a local muay thai and kick-boxing gym as well as being a black belt in kenpo and reasonably skilled in Jujitsu and a Brazilian martial art call capoeria. Overall not someone you want to be on the bad side of. Matthew Jut seemed like a store house of knowledge and was pretty intelligent, though nowhere near enough to be called a genius. What he excelled at was analysis and logical thinking. Ren was different from his siblings in the fact that he was pretty well rounded. Active but not athletic, intelligent but not the special. What Ren really excelled at was hands-on things. Be it sewing to plumbing to rebuilding a small engine, Ren was very good with his hands. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. As Ren and his family caught up various doctor would come in and update Ren about his treatment. The doctor were reasonably confident they could fix Ren''s hearing though his vision and movement would take some time. If they screwed up the procedure it could possibly make things worse. They had a physiologist come in to check his mental state. The psychologist left feeling that Ren was in good mental health. After a couple for hours his family left, though not before Ren¡¯s mother made him promise to come out at least once a week. After they left Ren lay on his virtual bed and though about what he could do to keep himself busy. After some time Ren thought of something he try. Since he was in a virtual world that he could control why not see what he Ren decided to do a little redecorating. Ren stood in the middle of his room and, with a simple thought and a wave of his hand, caused everything to disappear. Next he changed the floor to solid gold, the walls were jade and the ceiling a star filled sky. After that he changed the room into a small apartment. Then an idea struck him. First Ren tried to change the size of the room and, to his surprise, it actually work. Ren played with the room size and layout, He would go from one large room to a labyrinth if rooms a passage ways. After some time Ren finally decided on a layout he wanted. He would have nine rooms. One would be an office/bedroom, the next would be laid out as a forge, complete with smelter and a never ending supply of materials, and the third as a tailor¡¯s workshop, again complete with a storehouse of never ending materials. The forth room would be a dojo filled with different types of weapons from swords and axes to more exotic things like shuriken and claws for Ren to practice with. He left the other five rooms empty for now. Ren walked around his new living space, pleased with himself. He now had a place to practice his skill even if he wasn''t in the game. Ren check the timer he had set and found that there was only a few hours left. Ren went to his bedroom to take a quick nap to pass the time and be ready to dive right back into the game. 018 Is that what i think it is? 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ Welcome to Second Awakening Ren opened his eyes after the log-in process was done and found...nothing. It wasn''t that he was in an empty room or that he was in so deserted location. All round him was just a black nothingness. An endless void without light. Underneath him Ren could feel rough stone. Ren was just starting to get confused when a notification popped up in front of him.
System Message
Because you failed to set a re-spawn point you have been automatically re-spawned at the closest safe area near your point of death.
Ok did I really not set a re-spawn point? Ren thought and if I¡¯m near were I died that means I¡¯m still in the tunnels right? But where exactly am I? This would be so much better if I could see. Ren searched through his bag but he didn''t see anything. He was about to close his inventory when he spotted the novice sword he used to help practice [Static Blitz]. Ren never really paid attention to it before but now when he looked at it he noticed that the name of the sword had changed. Ren took out the sword to examine it and, to his extreme shock, it let out a dim blue glow. Ren quickly used [Sage Eye] on it.
Name
Type Shocking Novice Sword - Rare Quality Normal
Damage 3-8 Durability 50/50
This sword use to be a normal Novice Sword but due to constantly being hit with lightning it absorbed some of it changing its properties. This sword now emits a dim blue glow and has a small chance to paralyze anyone damaged by it. -5% chance to inflict the [paralyzed] statues effect
Ren was very shocked. Not just because of the chance but by how it was changed and what the change gave the sword. Sure it was still a novice sword but right now, if Ren sold it, it would sell for 20-30 gold, or $20-30 since gold was being traded 1:1 ratio right now, might even go more if he sold it on an auction site. People were still joining the game and any newbie with that sword would definitely have an early-game advantage. While the potential for the sword to be worth a lot right now was good, Ren was more excited about the light it produced. Sure it didn''t spread very far, maybe 4 to 5 at the farthest, but he could see! Using the glow of the sword Ren looked around and saw his steel sword that he dropped when he died. This caused Ren''s heart to sink because now he knew where he was. At the bottom of the chasm underneath the bridge he fought on. Ren held the sword up higher to see if he could cast the light further but it didn''t really help. Ren was just about to start exploring to see if he could find a way out when he got a message ||Powell - Hey Ren where are you? We saw that you died yesterday so we sent Azriel back to wait for you in the city but you didn''t show up when you logged back on.|| This was actually the first message Ren has gotten in the game. Sending a message was a way to communicate with some far away. All you had to do was say "Message [insert name]" and say the message you wanted to send. There would be a couple minute delay before the recipient got the message and it couldn''t be used in combat. This was to try to limit the communication advantage that players had to around what the NPC''s could do with magic items. "Message Powell" Ren said, "I forgot to set a re-spawn point to I re-spawned at the safest area near where I died, which just happened to be where I died. At the bottom of the chasm. Send" While He waited for Powell''s reply Ren picked a random direction and started walking, it would do him any good to just stay in one place. Ren walked in what he hoped was a straight line for several minutes when he got a reply from Powell. ||Powell - Seriously? You didn''t set a re-spawn point? Can you get out? Can we help?|| "Message Powell. There are only two ways I can get out of here. One is to walk around until I find an exit, the other is to hope you or I can find some way to teleport me out of here. I thing we both know which ones going to happen. Send." Ren continued walking after sending the message. Ren walked for what felt like hours. He found one of the wall of the chasm and used that as a guide so he didn''t walk in circles. He would occasionally send some lightning into the sword, which Ren found increased the brightness of the sword for a bit of time. Ren was hoping he might find some rare plant or something but nothing came up, all Ren found was barren rock and darkness. At one point Ren thought he saw something shine in the distance so he picked up his pace a bit and...tripped. Not only did he trip he tripped and fell down a slope and proceeded to roll said slope, throwing his glowing sword down the slope in the process. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Ren felt like he rolled for several minutes before he came to a stop by rolling off a small ledge and lading hard. Thanks to Ren''s [Fall Damage Reduction] skill he didn''t receive and damage from the rolling or the fall at the end and to Ren''s surprise, the //Shocking Novice Sword\\ was right in front of him. Ren picked up the sword and looked around. It was still dark but Ren swore he could see a dull red-orange glow coming from in front of him. As Ren walked towards it the glow got brighter until he didn''t need the sword for illumination anymore. The further he went the brighter it got until it was almost as bright as daylight. It was also hot. Very Hot. Ren felt like he was standing in from of a forge but he kept walking. Ren was very curious about what was ahead. After a few more minutes of walking Ren rounded a bend and he saw... An absolutely gigantic cavern with an equal size lake of lava. Not only was there a lake of lave but in the middle was what looked like a huge city. Bridging the gap was a large stone bridge that looked like it shouldn''t be able to stay up but also looked like the most stable structure Ren has seen yet. Ren made his way down towards the bridge and cautiously stepped onto it. After a few steps he jumped a few time but nothing happened so he continued walking, watching out for any cracks and cracking sounds. Eventually Ren made his way to the huge, open, black metal gate of the city. The walls of the city were massive, they soared dozens, if not a couple hundred, feet in height and through the gate Ren could that that they were probably 50-60 feet thick. The walls were made of a rock that looked similar to granite but had a greenish tinge and was laced with red and black veins. Looking closely Ren could see strange symbols carved into every square inch of the walls. Just looking at the walls that surrounded the city made Ren even more excited to see what it was like inside. Ren stepped through the gate and into the city proper and stopped in shock. The City was massive. It looked big from a distance but being inside it made Ren realize just how big it really was. It''s not like it was a city for giants, everything was pretty much human sized but the size of the city itself was beyond what Ren had ever seen before. Also when Ren stepped though the gate he felt an immediate drop in temperature, It''s still wasn''t that cool but now it was at least tolerable. As Ren took in the city he received a notification.
System Message
Congratulations! You are the first person to find the lost city of Aukrokia! You receive 1500 fame and, because it''s been abandoned, the right to claim ownership of the city. To claim ownership of the city you must find and hold the throne for at least one day. By claiming ownership of the city you gain the right to levy taxes on its citizens, both in the city and the surrounding area, the right to raise and army, the right to hand out quests related to the city, and the right to create events related to the city.
Ren was even more shocked than he already was. He could own an entire city? There were just no word to describe what Ren felt at that moment, than he remembered something very important and all of his fantasies came crashing down. What Ren remembered was the location of the city. How would anyone visit a city that was in the middle of a lake of lava situated deep underground in a mountain infested with goblins with no known route to it from the surface? Ren felt depressed. He could have a city but it would be the same as a king ruling over an empty kingdom. Despite his mixed feeling over getting a city Ren made his way through it, checking random buildings on his way to the large palace in the center. It took Ren about an hour to make his way through the deserted streets and to the palace gate. Ren walked through the open gates and into the building and started walking around, searching for the throne room. One would think that it would be easy to fine but it took Ren a few hours to make his way through all of the rooms and corridors before finding the throne room. Ren stood outside its doors, took a deep breath, and opened the doors. The throne room was a grand as one would expect from a city like this, even after who knows how long. It was as long as a football field and about as wide. At the end was a figure sitting on a raise throne. As Ren walked closer, his footsteps echoing in the empty hall, he saw that the figure was a dried-out mummy that look remarkably human but with one major difference, the figure had a pair of large, dried-out wing behind it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I''m just going to head off any complaining out Ren getting a city before it starts. Yes he has a city (well not yet) but the city is in what it probability the most remote place discover yet. How many of you would want a city that was in the middle of Antarctica, the Siberian wilderness, the Sahara, or a volcano that had no modern tech? How many of you would want to live in a city like that? Nothing that big will happen with it for a while yet so it''s not like he gains something that useful. 019 The Dragons Hord Part 1 Authors note: I''ve gotten a few requests to change Ren''s race. While I probably won''t be doing that (it''s still a little early for that I think) I may or may not or may not...Enhance...the current Ren. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ren gazed at the dried up figure sitting on the throne in front of him. The figure was still wearing a, somewhat dusty, blood-red tunic that went to its knees with an ornate belt of some kind, fine black pants underneath, and a pair of ornate black metal boots. On its hand it had a simple yet beautiful ring with a carving of a coiling dragon on it. On its head was the finest crown Ren had ever seen, no that he had seen that many. It was made to look like a small dragon was coiled up on the wearers head. Behind it, the figure had a pair of large dried up wings with dull black scales. Leaning against the side of the throne was a dusty black sword that looked like it had seen better days. As Ren looked at the figure he felt as though he was being beckoned forward. Before Ren realized it he was already standing right in front of the figure. Almost as if it had a mind of its own, Ren''s hand reached out and touched the crown. There was a bright flash of light and Ren felt like his mind was being pulled inside of the crown. The bright light and pulling sensation passed and when Ren opened his eyes he found himself standing on a mountain top made of sharp, black rock and surrounded by a sea of boiling and seething lava on one side and an endless, bitterly cold, snow covered landscape on the other. As Ren looked around he began feeling vibrations in the air, like something massive was moving through it. After a few moments the vibrations got stronger and he started hearing the sound of something massive hitting the air. Then he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. Ren heard the roar of a massive monster off in the distance. Looking in the direction the roar came from he could make out a small black dot coming over the horizon. The black dot was rapidly getting larger and larger until Ren could make out the shape of a massive, black, winged beast coming his way. Ren tried to hide but found that he was now rooted in place. As Ren panicked the beast kept getting larger and larger, seeming to cover the sky as it got closer. It roared again, shaking the ground with its power. The beast landed in front of a terrified Ren, who realized what it was. The beast that land in front of him was a massive black dragon, easily 300-400 feet long and probably 70-80 feet tall at the shoulder. After it landed its figure started to become hazy and insubstantial, almost like smoke. The black smoke dragon started to move at a rapid pack towards the ground. As the smoke began to clear Ren could make out the shape of someone walking towards him. Ren gasped when it cleared the smoke. The figure walking towards him the same as the one sitting on the throne. It wore the same tunic, pants, and boots. Had the same ring and crown and Ren could a black and red hilt poking out over his shoulder. As the figure walked towards Ren he could hear an ancient and powerful force in is head. "I am known as The Dark One, The Blood Dragon, The Scaled War God. I have been called a calamity, a natural disaster, and the bringer of destruction. I have received the titles The Greatest Hero, The Final Defender, and The Lost King. What I am called changes for every person asked. I am called a scourge by my enemies and a saint by my allies. My name is Oroka, Last of the Dragon Kings and the final one of my line remaining in this plane. Upon my death I left a portion of my will fused with my crown. I leave this city and everything left inside it to the one who found this crown. I also leave you my equipment as i have no use for it any more, though I doubt you will be able to use it right now. I have sealed a small portion of my power in each item, which can only be used once you have achieved the requirements I have set. In addition to a part of my power, I have seal all of my memories with the crown, which will reveal themselves at the appropriate time. The ring on my hand is the key to the city treasury, not that there is much left inside of it. To you, the new ruler of my city, whether you found it through luck or though fate, I wish you fair winds and safe travels. By finding this city you have changed your fate. The road ahead of you will not be a smooth one. As I am feeling generous in the final moments of my life I will leave you one more gift, though this one you will have to find out on your own what it is." Just as the voice in Ren''s head fell silent the figure that was walking towards him stopped just an arms-length away. It reached out with one of its hands and touched Ren''s forehead. Ren felt a very short flash of pain and the scene in front of him disappeared in another flash of light. Ren opened his eyes and found himself looking back across the throne room. He looked at himself and found that he was wearing the robe that the mummified figure, King Oroka, was wearing before. He also felt something on his head and when he lifted his hands to see what it was Ren saw the ring with the dragon carving in it on his hand. Lifting the object off his head, Ren was un-surprised to find that it was the dragon crown. Out of the corner of his eye Ren could make out a red and black hilt. Just was Ren began to think about what happened a string of notifications popped up. [
System Message
Congratulations! You have become the ruler of the lost city of Aukrokia! You now have access to the city menu and the powers of a city ruler. You have gained 1000 fame and the title ''Lord of Aukrokia'' by becoming a ruler. To see a complete list of ruler powers go to City Menu>Ruler>Powers. Would you like to reveal this information?
System Message
Congratulations! You are the first player city ruler! You have gained 1000 Fame and the title "First Lord" Would you like to reveal your name?
"No to both"
World Message
Congratulations to {Anonymous} for becoming the first player to gain the right to rule a city!
Why did it have to do that? Thought Ren, sighing when the World message popped up. He had no doubt in his mind that the world outside was going crazy at the moment. Ren sighed again, Guess I should check what the previous king left me.
Black Sword of Oroka - Unique
TypeSwordQualityEpic
Damage450-500Durability2500/2500
This is the sword used by the legendary black dragon king Oroka. It has taken countless lives over its life but has only taken the lives of those who would hurt its master or those it''s master wishes to protect. In the final moments of its masters life it received a small portion of its masters power and awaits the day it will be wielded again by someone who will put their life on the line to defend those they care about. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.Requirements: Level: 120 Strength: 1000 Sword Mastery: Advanced 1
Crown of Aukrokia - Unique
TypeHeadQualityEpic
Defense0Durability1300/1300
Made by one of the finest craftsmen of the city, this crown belonged to the first, and last ruler of the city. Over its lifetime this crown was born witness to countless important decisions and also started to absorb some of its wearer¡¯s knowledge and wisdom. At the end of its original wearer''s life it received a portion of its power and all of its memories along with a portion of its will. This crown will only accept a true leader as it''s master Requirements: Level: 60 Wisdom: 400 Leadership:200 Can be worn without meeting requirements but will not receive any bonuses
Bloody Crimson Tunic - Unique
TypeChestQualityEpic
Defense50Durability2000/2000
Made of cloth woven from the thread of the Crimson Silk Worm and tailored by a master tailor, this is very light and extremely tough for its thickness. This Tunic was repeatedly dyed a deeper red with the blood of its master and his enemies. Upon its masters death it received a portion of it''s powers. It searches for a new master that will continues to dye it a deeper red. Requirements: Level: 100 Endurance: 500 Defense: 60 Can be worn without meeting requirements but will not receive any bonuses
Pants of Darkness - Unique
Type Legs Quality Epic
Defense 20 Durability 2200/2200
Made of the skin of a dark beast and bathed in dark magic, these pants are a true treasure for someone with a high affinity for darkness. Steeped in the shadows cast by it''s master''s enemies as they searched for it''s master''s charges, it waits for someone who will once again allow it to conceal those it''s master wishes to hide. Requirements: Level: 100 Hide: advanced 1 Sneak: advanced 1 Dark affinity: Master Can be worn without meeting requirements but will not receive any bonuses
Swift Sky-Steel Boots - Unique
Type Feet Quality Epic
Defense 20 Durability 1800/1800
Forged out of steel made from a rock that fell from the sky in the middle of a lightning storm, these boots have an unusual natural property of increasing the wearer''s speed. These boots waded through countless bodies, crushed innumerable skulls, and carried to safety, an unknowable amount of allies. They received a small portion of their previous master''s power upon their death. These boots dream of traveling across the and on the feet of a new master. Requirements: Level: 80 Agility: 500 Lightning affinity: Master Can be worn without meeting requirements but will not receive any bonuses
Dragon Ring - Unique
Type Ring Quality Epic
Defense 0 Durability 1250/1250
Cast out of gold, silver, and platinum, this ring was made by a master artisan as a gift to the new king. This ring was carved with a dragon and enchanted with the unlocking charm for the city treasury among other things. This ring received a portion of it''s master''s power upon their death. This Ring had never left the hand of it''s master until long after their death. All it wishes for is a master that will care for it as well as its old one did Requirements: Level: 50 Alignment: Neutral or better Wear the ring for at least one month straight Can be worn without meeting requirements but will not receive any bonuses
Ren''s jaw dropped and he stared at the windows in shock for several minutes. The old king''s equipment, which was now his, would be ranked at the best set of equipment discovered in the game yet by a lot. To the best of Ren''s knowledge the the previous best piece was a Epic ranked sword of Exceptional quality. It sold at auction for several hundred dollars. The [Black Sword of Oroka] was easily the best piece Ren received. 450-500 base damage was impressive but combined with the 1000 strength and the [Sword Mastery] kill at Advanced 1, the damage output of the sword could probably reach around 2000 damage. That was ridiculous already but Ren didn''t know what would happen when he could use whatever power was sealed within it. Ren shook his head to get rid of his out of control thoughts and got up from the throne, he was curious about what was left in the treasury that was mentioned. 020 The Dragons Hord Part 2 It took a few hours but Ren finally found the treasury. He wandered throughout the palace, which combined with the outfit he was wearing made him feel very kingly and didn''t help his ego one bit. He checked every room and went down every corridor before finding some concealed steps leading down into the basement. In the basement was some more rooms and what almost seemed like a labyrinth of corridors. Eventually he found himself in front of a large, circular, stone door that had to be 50 feet in diameter and looked like a large yin-yang symbol made of two dragons with the split going sideways instead of up and down. Ren didn''t know how to open the door, or even how it opened in the first place, so he just held out the hand with the ring on it and walked closer and closer until his hand touched the door. The ring briefly gave off a bright light and then the door started to move. The door started turning slowly, releasing a loud grinding sound. When the door had turned 90 degrees it stopped with a loud bang then began to slowly move backwards with an even louder grinding sound. It took the door several minutes to stop moving backwards, it moved around 30ft backwards, then it started rotating again and after it rotated another 90 degrees the door finally split apart, reveling a long hallway about 50 feet wide behind it with another large door at the end, though it was a normal door made of a black material similar the material the main gates were made of. Ren Walked through the large doorway and entered the hallway. As soon as he stepped into the hallway the ring on his hand briefly glowed before turning back to normal. Ren hesitated for a moment before proceeding slowly down the hallway, ready to sprint back to the safety of the doorway. Ren made it to the other side of the hallway without indecent and stood in front of the large metal doors. There were no handles but Ren had already guess how to open them. He took a deep breath and placed his hand with the ring on the door. The ring glowed and the doors slowly opened outwards. Ren looked inside and saw...dust. Ren walked into the large and looked around but all he could see was dust. Ren stared to walk back and forth across the room, searching for even a single gold coin that might have been forgotten. As he searched, Ren found some piles of rust that were probably weapons and armor at one point but had corroded over the unknown amount of time they rested here. As he walked back and forth Ren actually did find a few gold coins buried in dust. He walked back and forth throughout the desolate treasury looking for anything that survived the ravages of time. When he reached the end and didn''t find anything. He was about to leave when thought he spotted a lump in a pile of dust that sat in the corner of the room. Excited, Ren walked over and cleared the dust for the object and found...a book. This book was bound with a strange leather and had the depiction, in gold, of what looked like a normal ship that had wings and a dragon carved into the prow. Ren gripped the book and stared at it. He had no idea what it was but it had to be special to not only be placed in the treasury but to have survived when items of metal haven''t. Ren walked out of the treasury, which closed by itself, and made his way to what Ren guess was the Royal Library. He had discovered it when he was looking for the treasury earlier. He hadn''t looked at any of the books yet because he was preoccupied with his search. Ren arrive at the library and sat down at a random table. He placed the book down in front of him and closed his eyes as he carefully opened the book, his excitement knowing no bounds. When the book was open Ren opened his eyes, and immediately hit his head on the table in front of him. The book was unreadable. Tee symbols were fine but Ren couldn''t read the language. In his excitement he had forgotten that it was written by a race that lived who know how long ago and obviously wouldn''t be in any language Ren knew. Ren sighed and started looking through the book, trying to see if he could find any starting point to figure out what the book said. As he flipped through the book Ren saw various designs for various devices ranging from what Ren guess what some sort of robot to what looked like a flying ship and even something that looked like an arm. The more Ren looked the more he wanted to be able to read what it said. He went back to the beginning and carefully scanned each page. After a few pages Ren found one symbol that looked oddly familiar. He kept looking and found a second symbol and then a third. By the time he reached the end of the book he had found eight symbols that looked familiar. Ren looked at the symbols, which he had carved into the table, and tried to remember where he saw them before. After a few moment he got it. They were from the language he had pick to study in his Ancient languages and Runes class! This got Ren excited. Sure it was only a few symbols and they could always mean something different than what they mean in the other language but at least he had a starting point. Ren was about to get started when he received a message. ||Powell - How''s it going on finding a way out?|| Ren sighed at Powell''s timing before replying. "Message Powell. That depends on how the fight up top is going. If it''s done or at least gong well I¡¯ll pick up my pace. If it''s not going so well I may just stay down here for a while. I have no interest in sneaking past an army of goblins. End message" After sending the message Ren started looking around the library for some spare paper he could use, flipping through some of the book every so often. All of the book Ren could see were still in great condition which confused Ren as there was almost nothing in the vault that was still around. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. After some time, Ren finally found a bookshelf that held nothing but neat stacks of paper. While he was searching, Powell and him messaged back and forth. According to Powell, reinforcements had arrived the day before, giving the subjugation force a much needed break. New intel also suggested that the Goblin Boss is probably already a king with one general and might have as many as three generals. They''re waiting for the rest of the troops to arrive from the surrounding kingdoms before launching an assault. Hearing this Ren decided to stay where he was, he would probably die again if he tried to go through the goblin army. After sending Powell a message about his plan Ren picked up a piece of paper form the shelf, expecting it to fall apart, but to his surprise it didn''t. The paper seemed to have been preserved like the books. On the self below the paper was a wooden box. Ren pulled the box off the shelf and looked inside. There were some bottles of ink but nothing to write with unfortunately. Ren Took some ink and closed the box and was about to put it back when he noticed something carved into the edge of the shelf. Ren put the box down and ran his fingers over the carving, getting rid of more of the dust that had obscured it. Carved into the edge pf the shelf were more of the weird symbols that he found in the book from the treasury Ren went to some nearby selves and checked their edge as well. The symbols were on them too. In fact every shelf Ren checked had the same symbols carved into the edge. Ren began to think that the symbols had something to do with the preservation of the books and material.
Your Wisdom has increased by 1
Ren looked at the notification in surprise. He had never gotten notification say his wisdom had gone up. He thought it was possible since you could train your physical stats but he had no idea about how to raise ones like wisdom and intelligence. Putting the matter of the symbols to the side for the time being, Ren thought back to what he was doing before. After a few moments Ren got it. He had found the symbols and was curious about what they were so he went around to see if the rest of the selves had the symbols as well. When he found that they did Ren came up with the idea that they were the reason that the books were still around, or at least a factor of it. That was when his wisdom increased. So Wisdom increases by solving problems or mysteries? Ren thought But what does Wisdom actually do? Ren never really cared about actual descriptions of the stats, only what their more obvious functions were, but now Ren thought that it might be useful to know "Help Wisdom" Ren said.
System Message
Basic Stats Help (With tomatos) Strength: How strong your body is. Influences melee damage and can be a requirement for a piece of equipment. Your ability to crush a tomato. Endurance: How tough your body is. Influences Health, Stamina, and Defense. Can make it harder to receive injuries. Can be a requirement for a piece of equipment. Your ability to eat a rotten tomato without getting sick. Agility: Your speed and dodging ability. Influences Defense. Can be a requirement for a piece of equipment. Your ability to dodge or out run a tomato thrown at you. Dexterity: Your hand-eye coordination and how agile your hands and fingers are. Can be a requirement for a piece of equipment. How accurate you can throw a tomato Intelligence: How smart you are. Can increase spell damage and decrease cast time. Can be a requirement for a piece of equipment. Knowing a tomato is a fruit Wisdom: Your ability to apply your knowledge. Knowledge. Influences mana and decreases spell cost. Can be a requirement for a piece of equipment. Knowing not to put a tomato in fruit salad. Charisma: Your influence over others and their perception of you. Can allow you to haggle for better prices. Can be a requirement for a piece of equipment. Your ability to sell someone a rotten tomato. Luck: How much the world wants to help or hurt you (can be negative). Influences critical hit chance and odds of a random encounter. Whether the tomato you just bit into is rotten or not.
The description of the stats helped Ren to understand what they do and how to train them, though he thought the tomato thing was a little weird, and also help Ren realize that his wisdom increased because he used what he know to find out what the symbols did. Armed with this new knowledge, Ren went back to figuring out what the symbols in the book meant, positive that his wisdom stat will grow as he translates the language. 021 Im an army of one part 1 Authors Note: Sorry for being quite. I got distracted by things and just couldn''t work up the motivation or energy to write. Thank you for being patient. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It''s been a week since Ren discovered the city and he hasn''t done much besides trying to translate the weird book he found though he did get a new elemental affinity. He now had the rank of Very Low in the fire element since he''s spent some time surrounded by lava. He also made some progress but is still isn''t close to finishing. He was also bored, very bored. Ren wasn''t a scholar, He preferred to do something active like making something or fighting or even training. Just sitting somewhere trying to translate a long lost language with only a few symbols that look similar was difficult, frustrating, and very dull. At least he got a few points of wisdom out of it. Ren tried to entertain himself by training and wandering around the city but they could only do so much and he was getting restless. By conversing with Powell Ren was kept up to date on the activities and progress of the force assaulting the goblins. It seemed like they were making slow but steady progress through the tunnels. Whenever they talked Ren thought about finding a way to join them but quickly dismissed the idea since he would probably die again but the more restless Ren became the more he actively considered it. By the end of the week Ren felt like if he stayed in the city any longer he would go mad. It was lonely and the entire city being empty compounded with the lava giving off a red-orange glow that lit the whole place up made the city give off a rather eerie feeling. Ren packed up what he wanted to bring with him, he was leaving the items he got from the last king in the treasury since he couldn''t use them and was taking the ring with him. Ren walked through the city and though the massive black gates. Ren had explored the city menu at one point and had found that he could lock the gates, though he had to be near them to do so. This gave Ren some relief since he didn''t want anyone to break in and take it away from him while he was gone. As soon as that was done Ren set off, glowing sword in hand and excitement coursing through his body, Eager to reach the surface again. Ren walked for hours through labyrinthine tunnels, cave, and passage ways. Sometimes going up, other time going down, navigating the twists, turns, and forks along the way. He had yet to find and creatures but he has found various glowing plants, which he stayed away from, and some intriguing rocks, which he collect if he could. Ren passed magma flows and underground rivers and lakes. He saw fascinating rock formations and mind-blowing geological features. He even walked over what looked like an ancient stone bridge crafted by some long forgotten race. As he was walking Ren made sure to write down the directions back and to make parts of the path. Hours stretched into one day then two. He had finally began to ascend towards the surface. Towards the middle of the second half of the second day Ren finally saw a dull glow up ahead. He began to walk faster but stopped abruptly and quickly stored his glowing sword and drew his steel one, crouching low to the ground. Up ahead Ren heard high-pitched, guttural voices. They were fairly faint but it sounded like there were a lot of them. Ren crept forward slowly and as quietly as he could. It took him a few very stressful minutes before what was causing the noise to come into view and when Ren saw it he felt like his heart stopped. Ren was crouching on a ledge high up the wall of a massive cavern. Below him were thousands upon thousands of short, green skinned creatures. Goblins. Ren went cold as he gazed over them. It wasn''t the numbers that terrified him but how they were organized. Instead of standing in a large mass the goblins stood in groups of ten, two columns of five. These groups were organized into blocks of ten groups, again two columns of five, to make up a groups of 100. In turn the groups of 100 were organized into groups of 1000, this time two rows of five. And finally they were organized into large blocks of 10,000, again two rows of five of the groups of 1000. There were five of these large blocks and they were all facing the same direction. With some simple math Ren figured out that there had to be around 50,000 goblins standing in the cavern. 50,000 Ren almost laughed. How were they going to fight a force that size? Sure they may be weak but they cared little for their own lives and would swarm their enemies, taking them down with sheer numbers. A force this size could wipe out cities with ease and threaten entire kingdoms. All of the goblins looked towards a raised stone dais that held a large jet-black throne that held the largest, fattest, and ugliest creature Ren had ever had the misfortune of laying his eyes on. On top of its head was a crude crown of bone and standing around him were five goblins with better armor and weapons then the rest. These must be the Goblin Kings and his generals thought Ren. He quickly backed down the passage he came from and sent a message to Powell, Lixiss, and Azriel, informing them of what he saw. Hopefully they would be able to convince whoever was in charge of the forces to believe them. While Ren put his trust in his friends to do their part Ren started thinking about what he could do on his end. Obviously he couldn''t defeat an army by himself but he still needed a way to delay them. Ren pondered for a bit but couldn''t think of anything he could do to stall an army as large as this one. Ren opened his stats in the hope that maybe looking at them would help somehow.
Status Window
Name Krono Alignment Neutral
Gender Male Race Human
Level 18 Class None
Sub-Class None
Fame 5500
Titles
First Saint, First Saint of Lightning, First Lord, Lord of Aukrokia
Health 1030 Mana 750
Stamina 1030 Ki 103
Strength 72 Defense 17(23)
Agility 67 Endurance 103
Intelligence 33 Dexterity 56
Charisma 13 Wisdom 75
Concentration 100 Luck 10
Art 26 Perception 17
None
Status Effects
Skills
Active Aura of the First Saint: Beginner lvl 1 - 0% Flurry Strike: Beginner lvl 4 - 36% Extreme Focus: Intermediate lvl 5 - 34% Dash: Beginner lvl 8 - 32% Sage Eye: Intermediate lvl 6 - 45% Meditation: Intermediate lvl 6 - 32% Passive Fall Damage Reduction: Beginner lvl 5 - 25% Life Skills Harvesting: Beginner lvl 5 - 36% Primitive Fire Creation: Beginner lvl 1 - 20% Wilderness Cooking: Beginner lvl 9 - 87% Blade Mastery: Beginner lvl 6 - 15% -One-handed Sword Mastery: Intermediate lvl 2 - 25% -Two-handed Sword Mastery: Beginner lvl 3 - 46% -Dagger Mastery: Beginner lvl 3 - 26% This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.Bludgeoning Mastery: -Mace Mastery: Beginner lvl 3 - 60% -Hammer Mastery: Beginner lvl 3 - 30% -Maul Mastery: Beginner lvl 1 - 56% Polearm Mastery: Beginner lvl 2 - 31% -Spear Mastery: Beginner lvl 3 - 53% Dual Wielding Mastery: Beginner lvl 4 - 62% Art of Tailoring: Intermediate lvl 5 - 49% -Sewing: Intermediate lvl 4 - 43% -Embroidery: Intermediate lvl 4 - 16% Blacksmithing: Intermediate lvl 6 - 38% -Smelting: Intermediate lvl 6 - 22% -Forging: Intermediate lvl 4 - 64% -Sharpening/Polishing: Intermediate lvl 4 - 8%
Spells
Lightning: -Cataclysm of the First Lighting Saint: 1st cirsle - 0% -Static Blitz Mastery: 2nd Circle - 1%
Elemental Affinities
Affinity Rank
Lightning Saint (SS)
Fire Very Low (G)
Elemental Resistence
Earth - Air -
Fire 0% Water -
Lightning 15% Dark -
Light - Poison -
Ren looked through his skill for a minute before his eyes came to rest on the skill [Aura of the First Saint] and the spell [Cataclysm of the First Lighting Saint]. These were the skill Ren had gotten when he became a saint and he had completely forgotten about them since he had no interest in using them because of the high mana cost and skills like these were bound to be flashy and bring him know end of trouble. Ren pulled up their descriptions to see what they did. Since he was alone maybe he could use them.
Aura of the First Saint
Unique - Active Beginner lvl 1 - 0% As the First Saint your strength is legendary. You can release your powerful saintly aura to sow terror in your enemies while bolstering your allies strength and moral. -Enemies greater than 20 levels below yours have a 100% chance to get the [Fear] statues effect. -Enemies less than 20 levels below you have an 80% chance to get the [Fear] statues effect -Enemies equal to your level have a 60% chance to get the [Fear] statues effect -Enemies less than 20 levels above yours have a 40% chance to the [Fear] statues effect -Enemies greater than 20 level above yours have a 20% chance to get the [Fear] statues effect -[Fear] lasts for a minimum for 1 minute. The longer the aura is active the higher the chance enemies get affected and the higher the chance of the [Fear] statues stacking to increase its power and duration -you and your allies get a 10% increase in stats; HP, MP, SP, and Ki Regen, and are immune to the [Charmed] and [Fear] statues effects. Higher levels increase effectiveness and cost. -cost: 200mp + 10mp/sec
Cataclysm of the First Saint of Lightning
Unique - Active Beginner lvl 1 - 0% Saints are recognized as masters of their elements and as such are closer than people can imagine to them. Saints receive a powerful legendary ranked [Saintly Storm] skill upon reaching that level. As the first Saint of you element you have been given powerful unique ranked [Saintly Cataclysm] skill which is an upgraded version of the [Saintly Storm] skill. [Cataclysm of the First Saint of Lightning] is an Area of Effect(AOE) attack skill that causes a devastating lighting storm to form and strike your enemies with powerful lighting. At the highest levels [Saintly Cataclysm] skills can even reshape continents. Higher levels increase the strength, Duration, and cost. -cost: 200mp-MaxMP (every 100mp increases the duration by 5 second) -Duration: 10sec minimum -Damage/strike: 400
Ren looked at his saint abilities and was once again awed by their power. If he decided to uses them openly just how powerful could he be? Of course they were also costly and even with his large about of mana he could only cast them three times and they were bound to get extremely expansive as they got more powerful. Ren read the descriptions of both and though of what he could do with them. With the aura I could hold them back for a while but if they¡¯re not affected of a stronger one appears I would still have to fight. If I used the cataclysm spell it could out-right kill the weaker ones and maybe make them hesitate to approach me. I don''t know how strong the captains, commanders, and generals are though it this method could get them to come out quicker. Ren thought. For most people this would be an easy decision to make but Ren''s goal wasn''t to just kill them, it was to keep and many on them here as possible for as long as possible to buy the army up top time to organize. After some internal deliberation he finally came to a decision. He would use his cataclysm spell to hold them back, not because it would thin their number but because it had the highest chance of success. Ren looked around the cavern, looking for an exit the goblins would uses to leave for the surface. After a few minutes he found it. It was one of two tunnels leaving the cavern, the other being the one behind Ren. Unfortunately it was at the back of the cavern. While the ledge Ren was on was situated on one of the side walls, he would still need to avoid the notice of several thousand goblins to make it there. The cavern floor wasn''t all that smooth, especially along the edges which had stalagmites, piles of rocks and trash, and shallow depressions. It was also in shadow. Ren took a few deep breaths, he knew what he had to do though he was nervous because one wrong move would get him killed. Ren slowly and careful climbed down the rough cavern wall, making sure not to make too much noise. The goblins may be loud but he didn''t want to take any chances. Ren reached the floor without any problems but he still had the hardest and most nerve wracking part left. Ren slowly crept from stalagmite to rock pile to depression, staying as close to the shadows as possible. A few time some goblins looked over in his direction and one even walked up the rock pile he was hiding behind, though it was only to relieve itself. This happened a few times and each time Ren''s heart was beating so hard that he was sure that the entire goblin army would hear it. After around half an hour of sneaking, though it felt like an eternity to Ren, he finally made it to the tunnel entrance. Ren ducked into it and hid in a recess in the wall and calmed himself down and waited. He would only act if the goblins moved. Ren had turned off satisfactions while he was sneaking so he turned them back on now that he was relatively safe. Ren got a notification that he had learned the skill [Sneak] and a message from Powell Powell||The three of us finally managed to convince the leaders of the army that the goblins had a force much larger than they had thought. They''re still skeptical but the potential threat is too big to ignore. They''ve all request more troops from their respective kingdoms and they should hopefully around in less than a week. They told me that if I could get a message to you then to tell you to try and delay them if they move before then, I don''t think they''re expecting much though. "Message Powell" Ren said as quietly as he could, "I''m already on it. Send" After sending the message Ren sat down to wait. If all goes well he won''t have to move for a week. 022 Im an army of one part 2 Authors note: First off I apologize for not getting as far as I planned with the re-write, work demanded overtime. Second I¡¯m changing the name of the spell [Cataclysm of the Lightning Saint] to just [Lightning Cataclysm]. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Time passed slowly for Ren. All he was doing was watching the goblins and send updates to Powell, Lixiss, or Azriel who would pass them on to the army commanders. It¡¯s been about four days. Sometimes the goblins would get themselves worked up and it would look like they were going to move out but then they would calm down and return to normal. Ren would also them lugging around this large stone statue of a shockingly beautiful women with a frown on her face sitting on a throne of skulls. As the statue was carried around all of the goblins would kneel down and down to it, making Ren think that this was a statue of some goddess. While see 50,000 goblin worship a statue was a bit weird, the most disturbing thing was that the Goblin King would have the statue placed next to him, almost as if it were his queen, and gaze endlessly at it. As the fourth day came to a close the goblins started to work themselves into a frenzy again. Ren wait a few minutes for it to die down but this time it didn¡¯t. The goblins frenzy kept growing and growing, causing the goblins to become more and more frantic. They were hitting their weapons against the ground, yelling, screaming and jumping. Ren sent a message to his friends telling them that the goblins might be moving out soon and prepared himself to attempt to stall them. By now the goblins had worked themselves into a bloodthirsty horde. It was actually quite terrifying to be near. The gobbling king let out and loud roar and the gobbling horde roared back before and running right towards Ren. Ren¡¯s heart was beating a mile a minute and his body was trembling from a combination of fear, excitement, the virtual adrenalin coursing through his veins, and of course the from the ground shaking from the impacts of 50,000 goblin feet. Ren planted his feet and, for the first time, started casting [Lightning Cataclysm]. The cast time was pretty long for a spell and it had a lengthy chant, which appeared in front of him as glowing words. Oh Chyr lord of lightning, Heed this ones call, Let death to those before me befall, Grant this one you¡¯re heavenly thunder, Give to me you¡¯re lightning sunder, CATACLYSM! The goblins were only 50 feet away from Ren when he finished the chant. They had caught sight of him while he was casting and started running even faster towards him. Ren aimed at the ground 30 feet or so in front of him and when the goblins reached that point he unleashed the spell. Ren felt his upraised arms heat up as all of his mana was rapidly sucked into the spell. Above the point Ren was targeting, near the roof of the cavern, appeared a massive magic circle 20 feet in diameter filled with intricate, bright blue lines that gave off an aura of overwhelming power. Flowing out of the circle was a mass dark, almost black, clouds that flickered with a blueish-gold lightning. There was an earth shattering roar as the dark clouds let loose their deadly contents. Because the roar was so loud, and because it was inside an enclosed space, it damaged everyone within 100 feet, stunned everyone within 500 feet, and deafened everyone with in with 1000 feet. It was even heard by those waiting above ground. Before the sound passed the lightning started descending. Every time a bolt struck it would incinerate a goblin or two and damage the surrounding ones. The lightning bolts also caused more thunder to roar out. Though it wasn''t as powerful as the first one it still stunned those close to it where the lightning bolt struck but weren¡¯t killed. When the first roar of thunder had boomed out Ren was pushed back several steps and took 524 damage. The tunnel he was in had amplified the power of the thunder casing him to take more damage. A notification had also popped up to inform him of the debuffs he had received because of that first roar of thunder.
System Message
You have received the following debuffs: Deaf: Cannot hear and sound. Immune to sonic damage. 10 minutes Disoriented: Get lost more easily. 3 minutes Nausea: Combat effectiveness reduced by 80%. Cannot cast spells. 2 minutes Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.Dizzy: Unsteady on your feet. Evasion increased by 60% due to unpredictable moments. 1 minute.
As Ren read the notification he suddenly had a hard time standing and he felt awful. Ren used the wall to steady himself and retreated down the tunnel. With his hand on the wall he could feel the entire place shaking. Looking back Ren only saw a large mass of dust blocking his view. What Ren didn''t know was that the power of the lightning strikes combined with the power of the thunder in and enclosed space caused the tunnel entrance to collapse and caused many small, and several large, stalactites to fall from the ceiling, killing some and injuring many more. As Ren made his way further from the cavern he received a steady stream of notifications informing him of the goblins dying from the lighting. They lasted for 35 seconds, after which the spell ended. Ren lost count of the number of kills but he did gain three levels. After the spell ended he received a notification. Ding!
System Message
Because you damaged yourself while using [Lightning Cataclysm] and Chyr doesn''t believe you actually knew what you were doing he has restricted your access to [Lightning Cataclysm] until such time that Chyr believes you need it or have proven you are capable of controlling it.
"Seriously?!" Ren shouted out loud, though he couldn''t hear himself, "Do you not think I''ve learned my lesson or something?" he yelled to the tunnels ceiling. Ding!
System Message
Yep
Ren stared at the second notification the just popped up bewildered and stunned into silence. Did a god just answer me? Ren thought. He knew that the gods were just more advanced AI but he was still stunned. After a few moments Ren managed to collect himself and kept moving, making sure to watch out for goblin patrols. He sent a message to Powell explaining what and happened down there, though Ren left out the part of the god contracting him and of him being a saint. It would sound crazy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *ABOVE GROUND* The camp was in chaos. Solders were running around staging supplies and reinforcing their defenses. Just a few minutes ago they had received an order to prepare for a goblin assault and they didn''t know how long they had. Suddenly the ground started shaking. While it wasn''t that strong the tremors were still noticeable and caused the entire camp to stop what they were doing and fall silent. After a moment a muffled roaring came from the mouth of the tunnel. The roaring and tremors lasted for a full 35 seconds before stopping. Once everything fell silent the camp burst into activity again, this time with more energy as they tried to prepare even faster than before. In the command tent all of the commanders looked a very confused Powell, who was their link to Ren. After a few minutes Powell''s look of confused contemplation turned to one of shock as he read the message Ren sent him. What Ren had told him, and what he told the commanders in front of him, was that he had used his lightning spell to cause the tunnel near their cavern to collapse and that he was on his way up. What Ren had told them, while it wasn''t false, obviously wasn''t the whole truth. The commanders sent for the most powerful lighting mage they had, a fourth circle Great Mage, and asked them if it was possible. After the mage thought for a moment he said it was but the caster would need either a lot of raw power or very good accuracy and control and that they would need to be as least a 3rd circle mage. This left the commanders to wonder just who it was in the tunnel. _____________________________________________________________________________________ What do you guys think of the chant? Good or cheesier than a cheese festival? Rens Second Class At level 30 players unlock the ability to take a second class that gets stronger at half the rate of the primary class and isn''t eligible for class advancement. I know Ren doesn''t even have a primary class yet but I promise that he will before he reaches level 30. This class will be more combat oriented and i have a few ideas though you''re more than welcome to suggest your own (actually please do, the ideas I get from you guys are awesome). I''ve split my ideas into two categories: Combat (both melee and ranged) and Support. These aren''t finalized ideas, they''re more like guidelines. This list does include magi-tech guns. None of the gun will be automatics. They will at most be at the revolver and lever/bolt-action rifle level (Think westerns) I''ll pick something from the lest below + whatever you guys give me Combat: Melee: Spellsword: A fighter that prefers killing enemies with spell at a distance but isn''t afraid to get into melee combat. doesn''t get a penalty for using a sword in off-hand while casting a spell. A mage skilled in the used of a sword. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Magic Swordsmen: A fighter that primarily uses a sword but receives no penalty for casting magic with their off-hand in the middle of a fight. A swordsmen that can use magic. Infusion swordsmen: skilled in both the used of magic and sword. Has no long-range spells but can infuse weapon with an element to grant different effects and preform mid-ranged attacks. Support: Golemancer: Someone skilled in the control (and sometimes creation) of magic-powered mechanical beasts that can be used for anything from beasts of burden to machines of war. Combat Engineer: Like the rouge, these people can find and disable traps. They can also deploy magi-tech turrets. are best if used to improve static defences Bloodline and Affinities So here are the results of the polls Racial Ability/Bloodline: Level + Quest + Condition: Players will have to reach level 50 and meet a condition or set of conditions that are unique to them to unlock the quest ''Ancestral Bloodline'' that will allow them to get their bloodline. Bloodline: After completing the ''Ancestral Bloodline'' quest player will have access to powers, abilities, skills, and traits that belonged to their ancestors. Purity: All bloodlines have some level of purity. Purity affects the strength of and number of abilitys gotten fore very level of the bloodline. Pure bloodline will generally give stronger abilities but they will be more focused. The purer the bloodline the more focused it is. On the other side a diffuse bloodline may not have very many strong abilities but there would be more of them and a greater variety of them. A very diffuse bloodline might not have any strong abilities, at least until you get a few tens of generations back, but there would be a large variety of abilities and a much higher chance to get more than one per level of their bloodline. The 5 ranks of purity are Extremely Pure, Pure, Mixed, Diffuse, and Extremely Diffuse. Mixed is the most common purity with Extremely Pure and Extremely Diffuse being the rarest. A bloodline''s purity is influenced by how the bloodline is leveled (See below). Bias: It is possible for a bloodline to have a bias towards a certain types or category or abilities. If the majority of people from a specific bloodline were warriors then the bloodline would be biased towards warrior like abilities. If it produced a majority of mages the bloodline would be biased towards more magical abilities. A bloodline is initially determined semi-randomly so it''s possible for a warrior to get a mage biased bloodline or a mage to get a merchant biased bloodline etc... Rank: Bloodlines have ranks. The ranks are Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Mythical. A bloodline''s rank is determined by factors like where it comes from, how far back it goes, and how many extraordinary people (Heros, Rulers, master craftsmen, master merchants, powerful mages, etc..) it has produced. Rank is not dependent on the purity of the bloodline. Level: A bloodline''s level is equal to how many generations back it goes (a generation is 20 years). to advance the bloodline''s level the player has to meet certain conditions that can include but are not limited to reaching a certain level, completing a certain quest or quests, finding a specific item, having a good relationship with a specific NPC or NPCs, etc... The player will also need a certain level of understanding regarding their bloodline, especially at higher levels. When a bloodline is leveled up the player will get to choose what direction they want it to take. the amount of options depends on the purity of the bloodline at the time of the level up. An Extremely Pure bloodline will have 2 choices, Pure will have three, Mixed will have four, etc... A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. EX1) A draconian with a fire dragon as an ancestor has a bloodline that has produced many skilled smiths throughout the generations could get the ability to breath fire initially and eventually get an ability that would allow them to use their fire breath to forge items. at higher ranks they could get the ability to imbue weapons with fire damage and armor with fire resistance. EX2) A elf has a rare bloodline that give it a high affinity with animals. It turns out that it bloodline has a nature elemental it it somewhere. EX3) a Half-Orc Half-Human has a Very Diffuse mythical bloodline that gives it immense combat strength. After going back many generations they discover that one of their ancestors was the God of War. Elemental Affinities Do Something: Elemental affinities will become more useful and do more things. Also i''m adding more affinities (if you have one you want to see then by all means tell me) but these new ones can''t be granted randomly upon character creation, they can only be gotten from a bloodline advanced understanding of a basic element, attunement (spending time with and understanding that element), or a blessing. Bonuses: Basic: Fire: Increases physical damage Water: Increases magical damage Earth: Increases defense Air: Increases evasion Lightning: Increases speed Light: Increases expendable stat regen (HP, MP, SP, Ki, etc...) Dark: Increases resistance to de-buffs Advanced: Lava: Chance to melt/burn armor (Drace) Ice: Increases magic defense (CrazyDutchGuy) Metal: Increases physical defense (CrazyDutchGuy) Sound: Damage Penetration (Drace, SS20x3) Life: Increases HP (by a small %) Death: Decreases Death penalty (by 1/10''s of a %) Other: Space: ?? Nature: ?? Time?(yes/no): ?? Holy: Buff (Drace) Demonic: De-buff (Drace) Blood: Increases HP regen Spirit: Increases MP regen Chaos: Random Void: ? Appearance: Elemental affinities will also change the appearance of the player once they reach a certain rank (master or king). examples: earth could give the player''s skin a more rocky texture and a harder feel and browner eyes; Fire could make the player heat up, have flames for hair, exhale smoke, and more red colored eyes; Lightning could make the air around the player small a little like ozone, they could have lightning running along their skin/hair, have more light blue/storm grey colored eyes; etc... Sync Mode: after reaching the King rank players can temporarily sync will that element, taking on a form that looks closer to an elemental. In this mode what ever boost they get from that element with increase 10, 50, or 100 fold (king, saint, deity ranks) and they can use spells and active abilities at half the cost. passive abilities connected to that element are 50% more powerful. spells and abilities not connect to that element are 4x more expensive to use or are 50% weaker. time spent in sync mode is determined by how close the player is to that element, how much they under stand that element, and how strong their mind and body are. It is possible to do with more than one element at a time but the player must have an excellent understanding about how they fit together. 023 Done at Last. As Ren approached the mouth of the tunnel he couldn¡¯t help but smile as he saw the sunlight steaming down from above. Standing just inside the tunnel entrance were three silhouettes. These were Ren¡¯s friends of course. Earlier he had sent them a message asking them to meet him at the tunnel¡¯s entrance with a cloak that had a hood. Ren wanted to hide his identity and keep a low profile. His friends had informed that whatever he had done down there had been both heard and felt on the surface and everybody was curious about what had happened. After equipping the cloak and pulling up the hood Ren was led by his friend out of the tunnel and though the camp towards the command tent, it seemed like the commands wanted to meet him. After a few minutes they group arrived at the command tent. Powell told Ren to wait outside while he went in to see if they were ready to meet him. After a moment Powell stepped out and motioned for Ren to enter. When Ren stepped into the command tent he saw a group of men, and a few women, standing around a large table that had a partial map of the tunnels the goblins were in drawn on it. All of the people in the tent were looking at Ren. He walked up to the table and stood in silence, waiting for someone else to speak first. After a few moments an older man, who looked to be of a high rank in his country¡¯s military based on his armor, clears his throat before he speaks. *cough* ¡°Could you remove your hood so that we may know what the person who saved many lives in this camp looks like?¡± He asked politely, though you could sense that it was less of a request more of an order ¡°I¡¯m afraid I must decline.¡± Ren answered politely. He wanted to give them as little information about himself as possible as he believed that do otherwise would bring no end of trouble. The older man looked like he wanted to order Ren to remove his hood but thought better of it. He cleared his though again before speaking. *cough* ¡°Right¡­Well¡­¡± *cough* ¡°My name is Barda Wolf, Field Captain of the Kingdom of Afiet. I have been placed in charge of the goblin extermination and leader of the reinforcements that of recently arrived. On behalf of everyone in this camp I would like to thank you for your efforts in stalling the goblin horde,¡± Captain Wolf motioned to an aid standing on one side of the command tent. The aid walked over to Ren and handed him a moderately sized bag. Ren took the bag and was surprised it¡¯s weight. ¡°You have been awarded the sum of 100 gold pieces for services rendered. You could also receive public acknowledgement, a title, and a small piece of land in one of the surrounding kingdoms if you revealed who you are.¡± Wolf and the surrounding officers looked at Ren for a response ¡°I thank you for the gold,¡± Ren said, putting it in his inventory, ¡°but I must decline the rest. Being in the public¡¯s eye doesn¡¯t suit me. Now if that is all I¡¯d like to me on my way¡± A female officer to Wolf¡¯s right didn¡¯t seem to like Ren¡¯s answer and spoke out ¡°Now wait just a minute you rude little g-¡° She stopped when Wolf held up a hand to silence her ¡°You may leave. I hope we cross paths again in the future¡± He said. Ren bowed at the waist slightly then turned on his heel and left the tent, heading towards the road back to Crale. Ren sent a message to his friend explaining to his friends that he had some things back at the academy to finish up then he was heading back to Jona to meet his sister who would be joining the game soon. Lixiss sent him a message telling him to make himself a Lost Brigade cloak and threatened sever bodily harm if he doesn¡¯t. Back in the tent there was silence for a few moments before the female officer that Wolf had silenced earlier spoke up. ¡°Sir why did you stop me? He was being incredibly rude. From refusing to take off his hood when in the presence of an officer to dismissing himself he should be dragged out and whipped for his insolence.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t do that even if I wanted to, which I don¡¯t.¡± Wolf said, ¡°He¡¯s not actually part of the any of the militaries here. He volunteered for a subjugation force, not an army, so when the mission changed his agreement became void. Plus I respect his decision to remain anonymous.¡± ¡°But sir-¡° the officer started ¡°We are done discussing this, we have more important mature at hand. Like a goblin army.¡± Wolf said, cutting her off. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A day passed and Ren found himself walking through the gate of the academy. Ren¡¯s first stop in Crale was the tailoring supply store. Now that he had money Ren though it was time to upgrade his own equipment and bring it up to the standard of his friends gear. His first stop once was in the academy was his dorm room to change into his school uniform. Just inside the door was a letter addressed to him from the school stating that since he decided to participate in the goblin subjugation and his grades in almost all of his classes were good he wouldn¡¯t have to take the final test to pass the class. The only class Ren had to take the final test for was his conjuration class since he still had to summon a familiar. On the same letter was a list of time that the conjuration professor would be available to do testing. There was also an application for their summer studies program and for the next semester¡¯s classes. Ren picked up his books and note on conjuring and made his way to the mess hall for a bite and to study for a bit. His sister would be joining within the next two in-game weeks and since Ren was planning on buying a horse to travel back to Jona to meet her like they agreed so he had some time until he needed to leave. The mess hall was empty when he got there because most of the students left for the summer months to see family, adventure, and assimilate what they learned. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Ren had been studying in the mess hall for a few hours and it was getting close to dinner. A few students who stayed trickled in to get their food. After a few minutes the Headmaster walked in with a few of the teachers. They were chatting away as they walked past Ren, who had his books and notes spread out over the table. As they walked past the Headmaster stopped. The other teacher stopped as well but left after the Headmaster motioned to them that he''d catch up. He quietly stood next to Ren, who had yet to notice his presence. After a few moments Ren let out a long sigh and looked up from his notes to see the head master standing next to him. Rem moved to stand up but was waved down by the headmaster. The headmaster looked at Ren''s notes, which were about different types of spirits and magical beast, and a small smile appeared on his face. "Trying to decide what your first summon will be?" he said. "Yes sir." Ren said, "I''m just having a little trouble deciding what I want." The headmaster nodded and held out one of his hand, palm up, and softly blew across is. As the headmaster blew across his hand Ren could see tiny embers flickering in and out of existence, quickly growing more numerous before turning into a small flame which quickly grew in size and began to change shape. In the space of a second or two the headmaster went from having an empty hand to have a red-orange cat that gave off a little bit of heat standing on his arms. The cat walked up the headmaster''s arms before giving him a light head butt and walking across his shoulders, purring the whole time. "This is Felix," He said, "he''s a fire cat and was my first summon all those years ago. When I was doing my first summon under my late master I was originally trying for a lightning sparrow but instead I got a fire cat. I was extremely upset and was about to dismiss it and try again when my master stopped me and said to me words that I will never forget. He said to me ''Don''t be upset or disappointed because you didn''t get what you wanted. People say that a mage''s first summon is random and doesn''t reflect the skill or talent of the mage. Personally I don''t believe that. I believe that a mage''s first summon is a gift from fate to help us progress further down of path in life. So don''t be disappointed or upset because, while didn''t get the one you want, you got the one you need.'' I''ve never been more thankful to him in my entire life because he was right. Throughout my days as a student Felix was always beside me. Giving me comfort and support and occupationally inspiration or even a new insight. I don''t know how he does it nor do I care anymore. I''ll just thankful that it was him who appeared instead of the damn swallow. So don''t stress about what summon you want because the right one will find you, even if it doesn''t look like it at the time. Have a good evening and good luck in your studies." With that head master left and joined the other teachers he entered with. Ren sat at his table for a few minutes thinking about what the headmaster had said before cleaning up his notes and books and heading off to his room to get some Rest and prepare for the test the next day. 024 Summoning Ren was currently on his knees in the middle of the conjuration room drawing a summoning circle under the watchful eye of Master Boruk the conjuration teacher. Surprisingly there were several teachers sitting around the room watching Ren and even the headmaster was there. Being watched by so many teachers was making Ren a bit nervous but he didn''t let it show. A summoning circle is a circle made up of runes and complex geometric patterns and required the utmost focus to make correctly because one mistake could be catastrophic. It was common practice for a summoner to have their circle checked by at least one other summoner of similar skill or better to avoid any mistakes. Ren put the finishing touches on his and Master Boruk looked over his work. The circle Ren had drawn was one of the simplest and was used by beginners to summon weaker beings. Ren was very thankful that he only needed a circle for the initial summoning and not to call up his familiar. Ren got the go ahead from master Boruk and started the summoning ritual. Oh endless void, Bearer of the Great Cosmic Wheel, Grant this one passage through the shifting fog, Give me a path to the outer planes, Let me tread the road of the gods, For I seek a sword and a shield to aid me in battle, I seek a companion to share my triumphs and losses, I seek a friend to experience my life with me, Oh endless void I beseech thee to open a path, [PLANAR SUMMONING]! As Ren spoke the summoning chant the magic circle started to glow with a soft white light. About half way into the chant a gray dot appeared in the center of the magic circle and rabidly grew in size until it took up the entire circle. Grey mist that hugged the floor spilled out of what now looked like a flat, grey circle in the middle of the conjuration room. Ren spoke the final words of the summoning chant and all of the grey mist that had flowed into the room quickly flowed back to the center of the circle and solidified into mirror. Images flashed across the surface of the mirror and could have sworn that there were sounds and even smells coming from it. The images moved to fast to really see what they were but some lingered just a little but longer. Ren saw a lush forest full of the largest trees he had ever seen. There was vast grassland that seemed as though it went on for eternity. The mirror showed the jagged peaks of snow covered mountain tops punching through a sea of pure white clouds. The images at last stopped at the image of a fiery hell full of boiling lava and writhing flames that looked to be either deep underground or in the middle of an active volcano. A shadow of undetermined size appeared in the image slowly growing larger and larger until it took up the entire view. The mirror pulsed and the figure disappeared form the image the mirror pulsed second time, sending out waves of grey mist into the room. It pulsed a third time, then a forth, and then a fifth, sending waves of grey mist into the room each time. The mirror keeps pulsing until it reach number ten when a small red light floated out of the mirror and stopped in front of Ren. He held out his hand and the light settled into it and started to coalesce. After a few moments the glow cleared and revealed a small, cute, reptilian creature fast asleep in his hand. Ren examined the sleeping creature.
[
Status Window
Name-RaceBaby Salamander
RankCommonLevel1/30
Attack1Defense1
A baby salamander summoned from the Blazing Abyss of the Endless Beastlands. It''s as dangerous as it is terrifying to look at. Salamanders start weaker and have slower growth compared to other magical beasts but this slow growth allows them to build up an incredibly firm foundation and allows for more evolution opportunities.
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"A baby salamander, while they''re not the best for a novice conjurer they don''t make bad familiars." Maser Boruk said, walking up to Ren and looking at the creature in his hand. "They require a lot of work to raise effectively and take three time longer to grow but if you work with it and don''t become inpatient while raising it they can become one of your best allies. Good job but you¡¯re not done yet. You still have to bond with it." Ren nodded. He may have summoned a creature from another plane but it wouldn''t become his familiar unless he bonded with it. Bonding with a beast was very simple, all you had to do was to get it to enter into a contract with you. There are many ways of doing this and there are several different kinds of contracts. The type on contract used depends on the summoner, the entity summoned, and the relationship between them. The most common type of contract was the master/servant contract. This involved the summoned creature willing agreeing to work for the summoner as long as certain conditions were met. If the summoner goes back on their word the contract is voided and the summoned creature returns to their plane. The other contracts are the equivalent exchange contract, which is more like a mutual agreement to help each other, the partner contract, similar to the equivalent exchange contract but more binding and there must be a layer of trust between the two parties, the life contract, similar the partner contract but lasts until either of the parties die (until canceled for players), and the slave contract, which is similar to the master/servant contract but the summoned creature is forced into it and can only leave if they are strong enough to break the contract. Ren woke up the sleeping salamander by gently poking it. It took a few tries but eventually it woke up, yawning and stretching as it did so. It stood up on its hind legs and looked at Ren, its tiny head cocked to the side slightly in curiosity. It looked at Ren for a few moments and, just as Ren was about to start the contract ceremony, it quickly cut one of its front feet on a tooth, bit Ren''s thumb, and let a drop of its blood fall onto the wound it just gave Ren. As the blood mixed a golden colored magic circle appeared beneath them, glowing brightly. Behind Ren and the Salamander appeared glowing orbs, reddish-orange for the salamander and grayish-blue for Ren. From the circle below them shat a single golden chain made of magic. It pierced through the orb behind the salamander then the orb behind Ren, securing the two together. The orbs, chain, and magic circle faded away but the strange feeling Ren got when the chain touched the orb behind him remained. He felt a sense of trust and comfort coming from what he guessed was the baby salamander, who currently look very tired. The baby salamander climbed Ren¡¯s arm and dropped into the breast pocket of his school robes and feel asleep. Ren was a bit overwhelmed by what just happened and didn''t know how to react. "It seems you have some promise as a conjurer boy. Getting a partner contract right off the bat is impressive even if it''s not all that rare. Congratulations." Master Boruk said, clapping Ren on the back. The other teacher in the room congratulated him as well then left to do their own work. The headmaster just nodded to Ren as he walked out of the room. After spending a few moments to collect his thoughts Ren headed back to his room to pack for his trip to Jona to meet his sister. Along the way a window popped up.
System Message
Would you like to name your familiar?
"Yes," Ren said, "Name it Vulcan"
System Message
Are you sure you want to name your familiar ''Vulcan''? It can''t be changed later.
"Yes," Ren Said. When He confirmed the name Vulcan shifted a little in his sleep before settling down again. 025 A Sibling Adventure Ren was sitting in the middle of Jona Village waiting for his sister. Vulcan was sitting on top of his head looking around at everything and taking in all of the new sights and smells. He had left Crale after making himself a ''Lost Brigade'' cloak. He used the new horse he bought before he left, which was currently in the stable of the town inn, and was very pleased with the speed of travel. It only took Ren a few days to reach Jona instead of two weeks. While he was traveling Moonlight Arts released an update so he had to log off. During that time Ren and Nicole worked out where they were going to meet in Jona. Logging back a Notification popped up informing the players what the update had changed or added. There were a few thing that players would have to find out for themselves but they did tell the players about a change in how affinities worked. The boosts affinities gave were changed affinities now changed the appearance of players based on the rank of the affinity. For Ren the color of his eyes changed to a storm gray and if he wasn''t careful he would let off small lightning bolts and start looking like a walking thunder storm. Ren also got a new skill call [Affinity Sync].
Affinity Sync
Rare - Active Beginner lvl 1 - 0% Because your affinity with an element is above King rank you receive the skill [Affinity Sync]. This skill will allow you take a form similar to that of an elemental for a short period of time. While [Affinity Sync] is active you will receive a 10, 50, or 100 fold increase for king, Saint, and Deity ranks respectively. Active abilities and spells connected to the affinity being synced with cost half as much to use and passive abilities are 50% stronger. Active abilities and spells that are not connected with the synced affinity cost 4x as much as normal and passive ability are 50% weaker. Cost: 50% of mana, Ki, Stamina, or Health Duration: 30 sec + 30 sec/rank above King + affinity comprehension + Endurance/10 + Intelligence/10 Current Duration: 82 seconds Cool Down: 24 hours IRL
Ren was over whelmed by [Affinity Sync]. The new update changed the boost affinities gave so Ren now had a speed boost. In New Reality Online a player''s max speed was equal to their agility divided by 10 plus ten so Ren had a max speed of almost 17 mph normally but with the boost he now had a max speed of 30 mph and that want the limit for him either. If he used [Affinity Sync] his speed, which is already boosted by his affinity with lightning, would get boosted to a mind-melting 680 mph. When Ren did the math he had to sit down for a few minutes. He could go nearly the speed of sound for a short while if he wanted to and it would only increase as he raised his agility. He began to wonder why the Moonlight Arts would include such a game breaking mechanic until he remember that getting one''s affinity that high would be incredibly difficult for most people to get and having a cool down of five days in game would mean that you wouldn''t want to use it unless you had to. After He calmed down Ren continued on, His sister would be arriving in the game soon and he wanted to be there when she started. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Ren didn''t know when his sister would show up nor did he know what she would look like but she had told him last time they talked what the name she was going to use was so all he had to do was look for a new player named Inocri. As he waited Ren worked on some gear for his sister to use instead of the normal starter gear. He was making her gloves, a vest, and arm guards since she was adamant on playing a hand-to-hand combat character and using her martial arts skills in the game. The gear wouldn''t be the highest quality he could make because Nicole said she wouldn''t accept anything he made her that was too far above the standard equipment most players had until she felt like she was good enough to earn it. Ren had already finished the vest and the arm guards since they were relatively simple to make and was currently working on the glove. The vest and arm guards had light-weight metal rings he had got from the town smith sewn into them to increase their defense without increasing the weight too much. For the glove he was putting small iron studs on the knuckles to increase their damage output but he had to be careful not to increase it too much or Nicole wouldn''t take them. Ren had just finished the gloves when a female player still wearing the starter cloths walked up to him. She stood around 5''8", had fiery red hair that reached down to her lower back and was pulled back in a pony-tail. Sticking out of her head was a pair of short, pointed, yellow-gold horns that started just behind the hairline and curved back, following the curve of her skull. She had light tan skin yellow dragon-like eyes. The rest of her was completely human and all together made them look rather attractive. Ren would have been one of the many taken by her looks if not for the fact that he knew who she was. "Hey Bro, were you waiting long?" Nicole asked when got close enough "Not really." Ren answered, "Here, these are for you" he said, handing Nicole the gear he made her. Nicole took the gear and looked it over before nodding her head in approval and donning the equipment and going through a few maneuvers to test them out. After a few minutes Nicole walked back to Ren and sat down next to him. "So what¡¯s the plan?" She asked. "That depends on what you want to do. We could go around looking for quest, go exploring, train for a month. It''s all up to you, we just have to stay within 10 miles of the village for your first month." Ren replied. Nicole though for a few moments before answering. "Let go out and explore the surrounding area. I''d die of boredom if i just ran around doing quests in the village," She said. "Awesome," Ren said, "We''ll just need to go get some supplies then we can head out. I have the perfect place in mind to start" 026 A Sibling Adventure part 2 Authors Note: I''m going to take Levot''s suggestion about summon''s having a bloodline and I¡¯m going to extend it to tamed beasts and animal companions as well. Thanks for the Idea Levot! Also my plan is to release a chapter every Saturday/Sunday with the chance of another chapter during the week.
¡°Why are we starting our exploration here?¡± Nicole asked Ren, a bit confused ¡°You¡¯ll see in a minute.¡± Ren replied with a slight smile. The duo were walking the abandoned cabin a little outside of Jona that Ren had discovered after getting lost in the forest months earlier. They entered the cabin and Ren pulled out a new lantern from his inventory. Ren walked to the cabinet and crouched down before lighting the lantern and opening the door. "What are you doing?" Nicole asked as she walked around the cabin "You''ll see." Ren replied uncovering the ladder down to the old workshop. As Nicole watched, Ren took the lantern and slid into the cabinet and down the hole underneath. Nicole watched with surprise as her brother seemed to just disappear into the cabinet. She walked over and looked inside, amazed to find a hole with a ladder underneath. "Come on." Ren called from the bottom, "and close the cabinet behind you." Nicole cautiously climbed in and close the cabinet before making her way down the ladder to Ren. She was once again amazed. Before her was an old underground workshop that had definitely seen better day and even though it wasn''t very grand or interesting to look at she couldn''t help but feel a little but of excitement. She had just started the game and she had already been to an area most people didn''t know about, even if it wasn¡¯t all that important. As she took another look around Ren called out to her. "Come on. We''re just beginning." He said. Ren lead Nicole down the passage at the back of the room that lead to the broken down cabin in the woods. After some time they arrived at the other end and Ren lead the way up into the old cabin. "This is actually pretty cool." Nicole said, looking around the cabin. "How did you find this place?" "I got lost chasing some foxes and just stumbled across it. It was a life saver." Ren said. ¡°Where to next?" Nicole asked "Pick a direction. I didn''t do much exploring, no one did really, as this area is a little deep into the forest for most newbies to get to and get back without dying or becoming seriously injured." "Ok. Let¡¯s go...this way" Nicole said, walking out the door and turning to go deeper into the forest. As they walked they talked a bit. Sometimes it was about what was happening in the real world, sometimes it was about the game, and sometimes it was just them pointing various thing they saw out to each other. Their family had done some hiking in the past so the two of them exploring the woods reminded them of that. As they explored they attacked any animal they came across to raise Nicole''s level. Ren was using the tutor system the game had to help Nicole level faster. The way the tutor system worked was that the tutor''s damage would be reduced to the average damage of the level that the student was at, though if the student''s health dropped below 20% health that restriction was removed. The tutor would also not receive any xp from killing something and the student would either receive an amount of xp bases upon the damage they dealt or, if they defeated an opponent by themselves, the student would get 50% more xp than normal. These affect would last until the student reached level 10 where the tutor system would be automatically turned off. At some point Ren got the idea to start training his sister by having her run through the forest in an attempt to raise her agility and endurance while they were out exploring. The duo explored, fought, and ran around in the massive forest until the sun started to set. As it got darker they set up camp for the night. Ren made a fire with [Primitive Fire Creation] then took out a small pot and started to boil some water from a nearby river. Once the water was boiling he threw in some rabbit meat from the day''s hunting as well as some herbs and the cut up bits of a potato like plant he got in the village. He looked over at his sister who seemed to be staring off into space with a slightly confused look on her face. Ren knew she was examining her stats. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "Anything wrong with your stats?" Ren asked "No nothing''s wrong, the opposite in fact, I¡¯m just a little confused about how my agility and endurance raised so much without me having to spend any stat points from my two level ups today. Is it an effect of the tutor system or something?" she said "Nope. It''s because I had you running around all day as training." Ren said "But everything I read about trying to train yourself in-game says that you only get a few point every once in a while making it impracticable. Nothing mention anything like this. I mean I gained six points in agility and nine in endurance in one day. It''s ridiculous." "Really?" Ren said, "I thought that how it worked for everybody. Maybe everyone else just didn''t have to have the right...motivation." As Ren said that he thought back to that first month and had to suppress a shudder. "Right. Well I¡¯m going to log off for a bit to get some food and stuff." Nicole said, "See you in a few hours." With that she logged off, leaving Ren by himself. Vulcan crawled out of Ren''s pocket once Nicole left and climbed into the campfire. He burrowed into the coals a little and fell asleep. Ren just shook his head at his familiar and started meditating. Ren was still trying to find his mana core and had actually made some progress recently. He was now certain that his mana core was not in his limbs or the lower half of his torso, which narrowed down the location significantly. Ren meditated for about an hour. During that time he would cast [Static Blitz] into the ground and follow the mana back it''s the source. He didn''t make any major progress but Ren felt like he was slowly getting closer and he will find it soon. After meditating Ren took out the book he took from Aukrokia and continued translating it. Ren felt like he was around halfway to understanding the language and had translated enough to begin to understand what it contained. The book was a crafting manual but depicted things Ren had never seen or heard about in the game. Such as what looked like a flying ship and metal creatures. This made Ren very excited about what was contained in the book. He had never played very many games before this but he had Read a few books that had magic powered constructs and he was beginning to think that what was in the book was similar to that. Ren spent the rest of the time he sister was gone translating the book, earning himself a points of wisdom every time he figured out a new letter or the meaning of few words or phrases. When his sister logged back on about eight hours later he put away the book and they continued with their adventure and his sisters training. After they cleaned up their camp site The duo set off in a random direction again. Ren and Nicole had been wandering around for several hours and, like the day before, attacking any animal they came across. While there were more rabbits and foxes and even a few wolves the hardest one they came across was a level 10 bear. Ren had to step in and help Nicole by distracting the bear and taking most of the damage while Nicole attacked it. It took them close to 15 minutes to kill it but it was worth it. Ren got a great quality bear pelt and Nicole went up a level. Shortly after fighting the bear they stumbled across a small cave set in the forest floor. Ren found it by stepping in the wrong place and falling in. He took some damage but not a whole lot since it wasn''t very deep and he had [Fall Damage Reduction]. The light from the surface cast a dim light on the back of the shallow cave. In that dim light could be seen a skeleton in decaying clothing with a surprisingly intact bag by his side. They walked over to get a better look at it. Ren crouched down by the skeleton and opened the bag by his side. Inside was small coin purse, which he gave to Nicole, some now decayed rations, a small leather bound book, and a ring that had the symbol of a sun like eye floating above an open book surrounded by a circle of runes. 027 The Journal of Arler Unod Author''s Note: there will be specific date in this chapter so I added a section to my Game Guide chapter to explain it a bit. The Date format is: day of the week, day month, year.
Ren took the ring and the book out of the bag and put them inside his inventory to examine later. Ne and Nicole said a short prayer for the skeleton then left to continue exploring the forest. The sun set over the forest and Ren was alone by the fire. Nicole had to leave to sleep because it was approaching evening in the real world and she needed to actually eat something real and sleep in a real bed. Ren pulled out the book he had gotten from the skeleton, opened it up, and began reading. This journal is the property of Arler Unod Torun, 11th of Aleat, 4726 BE I made it! I actually made it! I''ve become an apprentice hunter in the Alliance! After years searching for them and months convincing them I finally made it! This is the best day of my life. Ever since I heard stories about a secret group of people that traveled the continent and beyond looking for powerful artifacts and dangerous locations to keep them out of the wrong hands I was hooked and just knew that I was meant to join them and now that day has come. Tomorrow I start my training and I can''t wait! Sobac, 15th of Beasson, 4726 BE It''s been over a month since training began and it''s a lot tougher than I anticipated but that''s not going to stop me. This past month had all been physical training. I haven''t even been allowed to look at a weapon let alone touch one. At first they had me running around a field all day and when that started getting too easy they tied metal plates to me to increase the difficulty. They also had me doing various other physical exercises to raise my strength and endurance. It''s been hell but they¡¯re not going to drive me away that easily. Kokel, 30th of Draz, 4726 BE I made it through all of the training with flying colors and I''ve been promoted from Apprentice Hunter to Hunter 3rd Class and have been given my first mission. I half to convince the owner of some rare spell book they had found in some cave to give it up. I''ve been told that I''m allowed to use whatever means I deem necessary to accomplish the mission. I head out in two days. Dac, 28th of Araphic, 4726 BE She gave me no choice. I had to kill her. She just wouldn''t give up the book. I tried buying it, intimidating her into selling it or giving it away, stealing it. After a bit she left the city and I followed her several miles away from the city I confronted her one last time but she still wouldn''t give it up so I had no other choice but to take it by force. I wasn''t trying to kill her but the fight just escalated to quickly. After I retrieved the book I glance through it and saw that most of its contents were dark rituals. I guess it was right to kill her but she doesn''t look like the type to use this book. Was killing her really the only way? Abada, 1st of Freck, 4727 BE It''s the first day of a new year. I''ve been on almost a dozen missions by now and I always succeed but someone always dies. Why can''t they just give up the object? Don¡¯t they realize that I¡¯m going this to keep them safe? To keep their family and friends safe? I''m being promoted to Hunter 2nd Class tomorrow. They say it''s because of my good work and my drive to keep the world safe and that I should be proud. Somehow I feel a little ashamed though. Ren skipped ahead a bit. Phedic, 9th of Coron, 4730 BE I''ve been a hunter for the Alliance for almost four years now. I got promoted to hunter 1st Class during my second year and yesterday I got promoted to Master Hunter. With every new rank comes access to more information about the Alliance. I was told yesterday after the ceremony about one of the Alliances biggest secrets. It''s about the existence of a city that rebelled against the gods during the end of the Golden Era and marked the beginning of the Silver Era. I wasn''t given much information about it. I was only given its name, Dur Tharum, and told that all information and everybody that knows about it outside the up ranks of the Alliance must be contained or destroyed. I was told that the secrets the city contained could bring ruin to the continent if not the beyond as well. I wasn''t told its location unfortunately but my job now was to travel the land searching for information about the city. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. At the mention of Dur Tharum Ren stopped reading and stared at the passage for a moment. Ren then scanned trough the book looking for any other mention but there weren''t many and the ones he found were all mostly about dead ends. There were a few about obtaining book that mentioned the city but most of those were burned and rest returned to this Alliance. Soon Ren reached the last few pages of the journal. Holth, 27th of Chesa, 4740 BE I''ve finally made it to Grandmaster Hunter. The information I have access to now starts to paint a bloody, corpse-filled picture of the Alliance. I''ve also learned a bit more of Dur Tharum. They say it was call ''The City of Transmutation'' where everyone knew how to change one object into another though the use of transmutation, some hybrid of alchemy and magic. I wasn''t given the details but it seemed that transmutation also lead to its ultimate demise and its current state. Abada, 14th of Goum, 4752 BE It''s been so long since I last wrote in this journal. I just haven''t been able to bring myself to write down what I''ve been through, all that I''ve done in the name of keeping people safe. I''ve thought about it and I''ve come to a decision. I''m going to leave the Alliance. It won''t be easy. I¡¯ve hunted down plenty of rouge Hunters myself so I know it won''t be easy but I just can''t take any one this anymore. Dac, 4th of Carak, 4753 BE I''ve been on the run for almost a year now. The Alliance just won''t give up until I''m dead or they are. I''ve managed to lose them this time by traveling through a storm but it won''t last long. I''ve hidden myself in a small cave deep in a forest near some small village. Hopefully I can stay here for a little while and rest. Sobac, 11th of Carak, 4753 BE The storm had lasted for a week. I''ve run out of food but at least I won''t run out of water thanks to all of the rain. The only thing I have to do is think and think i have. I''ve reflected on my career and I can''t help but cringe when I think about it. The amount of people, innocent people that I have killed is far more than I can deal with. Oridal, 14th of Carak, 4753 BE I...don''t think I¡¯ll be able to leave this cave. This storm is not something of nature. It''s lasted for far too long. This must be part of my punishment from the god for what I''ve done. Some rocks fell from the ceiling and landed on my legs, breaking both of them. I couldn''t leave here if I wanted to now. I doubt it''ll be long before I die so this will be my last entry. If a member of the Alliance finds this I will only say this. Leave while you still can. If some else finds this journal then i will tell you this. The Alliance my say they stand in the light but the shadows they cast are long and dark and hide many graves. Remember to beware the Alliance of the Tome. Ren closed the journal and just stared off into the distance as he processed everything he just learned. He now knew why it was so hard to find anything on Dur Tharum. He also wondered why he hadn''t been "Contained of Destroyed" yet. Was he not enough of a threat to warrant such actions or had they not found out yet? Ren took out the ring and examined it.
AoT Grandmaster Hunter Ring
Type Ring Quality Good
Defense 0 Durability 110/110
This ring is used to identify a Grandmaster Hunter belonging to the secret organization ''The Alliance of the Tome''
Ren stared at the Ring for a moment before putting it and the journal back into his inventory. He was ow armed with information that he had stuck his found his way into something that had no easy way out. Ren realized that he would need to get stronger so he could defend himself if this ''Alliance'' came after him. A short while later Nicole logged back on and they resumed their exploring. Map Rough map of the continent 028 Brief Reunion Ren and Nicole spent almost all of Nicole''s one month learning period out in the forest surrounding Jona. During the month Ren had Nicole meditate for at least an hour every day to get her on the path to acquire Ki, since it would be useful to a Martial Arts user in the game. Also, because of all of the unarmed fighting Nicole did, they found out that New Reality Online had already included various martial arts into the list of skills in the game. Nicole picked up the skills for Muai Thai and Kick Boxing since they were more useful against all of the animal they had been fighting then the other styles she knew. The duo would returned occasionally to sell the things Ren made with the furs and pelts and to stock up on supplies before heading out again. Towards the end of the learning period Ren was running low on sewing supplied so they stopped by Jason''s shop to pick up more. When they walked into the shop Jason wasn¡¯t in sight so Ren rang the bell and called out. "Jason are you here." "Just a minute!" they heard him call back. After a few moments Jason walked out from the back of the shop. Jason smiled when he saw Ren and quickly walked and grasped his hand. "It''s good to see you again Krono." Jason said, "What brings you back here? And who is this lovely young lady next to you?" "It''s good to see you again as well old man." Ren said, "Jason this is my elder sister Inocri. Jason was the one who taught me tailoring close to half a year ago." "Nice to meet you." Nicole said, reaching out hand "Nice to meet you as well.¡± Jason said, grasping Nicole''s hand and shaking it briefly. "You two don''t really look like siblings, if you don''t mind me saying so." Ren opened his mouth to speak but Nicole beat him to the punch. "That''s because a long time ago a draconian came into the family so now every few generations there¡¯s someone born with more dragon-like features and this time it just happened to be me." She said. "Is that so?" Jason said looking somewhat intrigued, "That''s definitely some interesting ancestry but we¡¯re getting off topic. So what brings you here?" "We''ve been training in the forest for the past few weeks and I''ve started running low on my sewing supplies." Ren said "Well that''s easily fixed. What do you need?" Jason asked "Just some thread and a few more needles will be fine" Ren answered "Alright, just wait a moment while I get them for you." Jason said. After trading some of the items Ren made for the supplies the duo left to the boundary of the area available to new players, what players called the noob line, to wait for the few hours that Nicole still had for the learning period. Nicole had reached level 10 two days before so the tutor system was no longer active, not that she needed it any more now that she was more comfortable with the game. At this point she could use her skills in martial arts to easily take out opponents a few level above her though past that and it would get difficult. Ren purchased Nicole a horse and they left the village and made their way down the road to the edge of the newbie area to wait for the restriction on Nicole to be lifted. As they waited Ren was sewing various things and Nicole was alternating between meditating, practicing her martial arts, and riding around on her horse to get the [Riding] skill. Time past and Nicole''s restriction was finally removed. The duo mounted their horses and set off down the road towards Crale, Ren wanted to introduce Nicole to Powell and the rest. After that Ren didn''t have any plans. It took several days to reach the city, since Nicole had to log off every so often to take care of herself, but overall they made good time. Nicole got the [Riding] skill by the end of the first day which made the rest of the trip easier. Before they reached the city Ren equipped his academy robes. Students and up to two companions were allowed to enter the city without paying the entry fee. Nicole wasn''t allowed to enter the academy so Powell and the rest agreed to meet them at the Lazy Angle. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The two of them were met by Powell when they entered the inn and followed him over to a table in the corner. Once they were seated Rione came and took their order. Once all of that was taken care of Ren was the first to speak. "Everyone, this is my sister Inocri." Ren said, "Inocri, these are the other members of our party ''The Lost Brigade''." After Ren introduced Nicole the other introduced themselves as well. Once the introductions were done Ren asked about the goblins. "It took them a week after you left to clear the rubble. Thanks to that we had more than enough time to clear the goblins that weren''t trapped from the tunnels and set up traps and defense leading from the cavern to the surface. Outside the tunnel''s entrance we set up a kill-zone. Once the goblins broke out we used the traps and defenses to whittle down their numbers before they got to the surface." Powell said, "Once they reached the kill-zone we unleashed hell on them. Boiling oil, boiling water, spells, arrows, rocks, and really anything that could cause damage was used. After a few hours they began retreating and we followed to keep up the pressure. From then on it was really only a matter of time. The only tricky part was when we reached the cavern and the king and his generals joined they fight. They almost turned the tide but Field Captain Wolf and his guard pushed them back. Also, thanks to all of the fighting, the three of us are eligible for class advancement and I can choose my first sub-class." Powell said the last part while looking very proud of himself. "You reached level 30?" Ren asked, surprised. "Yep." Powell answered, "Since I was on the front lines I got more combat time then the other two." "Do you know what you want you¡¯re second class to be?" Ren asked "I haven''t decided yet but right now I¡¯m leaning towards knight." Powell said. "You guys get a class advancement and you get a sub-class while I still don''t have a class yet." Ren said kind of sullenly. "That''s your fault for not liking any of the classes you''ve found so far." Lixiss said. "I know, I know but it still sucks." Ren said. "Well I don''t have a class either." Nicole said. "Yep but you''re only level 10 and you already know what you want to be. All you need to do is find a trainer." Ren said. Nicole just stuck her tongue out at him. At this point their food arrived and Vulcan decided that getting food was a worthy enough goal to show himself. When Vulcan appeared Lixiss let out a loud squeal of excitement. "It''s so cute!" Lixiss said as she leaned down to get a better look. Vulcan hide behind Ren''s hand. "What is it? Where did you get it? Is there more? Can I get one? Can I pet it? Can I have mmmfff..." Lixiss was cut off by Powell''s hand covering her mouth and pulling her back into her seat. "Sorry about that." Powell said "It''s fine." Ren replied "What is that?" Powell asked "This is Vulcan. He my familiar. His race salamander though right now he''s only a baby. He''s a magical beast from the endless beastlands plane. I summoned him as part of my conjuration test before I left for Jona." Ren said The group started eat their food before it got cold. They eat in relative silence for several minutes before Powell spoke. "So what are your plans after this?" he asked as he ate. "I was planning on going to see Master Yurbek then going around to the other instructors to decide what I want to study nest semester." Ren said, "Inocri was going to see if she could find a martial arts trainer in the city. What about your guys?" "Me and Azriel were going to see what we need for our class advancements." Lixiss said. "Powell''s going to and try to get his second class I believe." Lixiss looked over at Powell for confirmation. He nodded and continued eating. They finished eating and parted ways. Ren headed over to the blacksmithing workshop to see master Yurbek. Lore 01: Creation This is a side series that will explain the lore of the world. In this series I will be explaining things like the creation of the world, the gods, history, locations, factions, important figures, unique items, etc... I''m doing this mostly for myself to help flesh out the world but I''m posting it so whoever wants to can read it. This series will not affect the release of normal chapters.If you have something that you want explained or have an idea then by all mean please tell me and I¡¯ll see what I can do.
In the beginning there was only the endless gray fog of The Void and unpredictable, unstable, and often paradoxical energy of Chaos. For eons only The Void and Chaos existed but at one point the energy of Chaos, for the briefest of moments, became ordered and an immense pulse of energy spread out through The Void and something amazing happened. Two entities, mirror images of each other, popped into existence. These two entities would later become the goddesses of light and darkness. Millennia past before the next monumental event occurred. For a second time Chaos became ordered and for the second time an immense pulse of energy spread out through the endless fog of The Void and again this pulse of energy birthed entities, this time five of them. These entities would later become the gods and goddesses of the element Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Lightning. Many more millennia past before the seven entities gain a consciousness and developed their own personality. The first to do so were the entities of light and darkness. The first thing these two entities did was give themselves a name. The entity of light decide to call itself Draz while the entity of darkness decided to call itself Arouz. The two entities, Draz and Arouz, soon discovered each other and immediately felt a deep connection between the two of them and they soon became inseparable. This lead rise to the celestial law that there can be no light that does not cast a shadow of darkness and no darkness that can''t cast a shadow of light. This would lead to the cycle of day and night, the cycle of reincarnation, and the celestial law that states all things must be balanced. A few millennia after the awakening of Draz and Arouz came the awakening of the other five entities. Like with Draz and Arouz the first thing these entities did was give themselves a name. The entity of air chose the name Chesa, the entity of earth chose Aleat, the entity of fire chose Araphic, the entity of water chose Freck, and the entity of lightning chose Chyr. Shortly after their awakening the five entities discovered each other but, unlike Draz and Arouz who found balance, they started fighting each other for the title of the strongest. They fought for decades, then centuries, and finally for several millennia without a victor. Each one of them found that, while they could over power one of their rivals, they were also over powered by one of their other rivals and evenly matched with the other two. No matter how hard they fought this never changed yet they kept on fighting since that was all they knew how to do. Eventually Draz and Arouz came across the other five entities and were very displeased by what they saw. When the five fighting entities saw Draz and Arouz they immediately tried to fight them but were immediately defeated by the two entities that had many millennia of experience with their element and knew how to use them together. Draz and Arouz used their celestial law of balance to suppress the other five and give them order. The two entities of light and darkness ordered the entities of earth, air, fire, water, and lighting into a circle based on who could suppress who and who could be suppressed by who. They were arranged in the order of fire, air, earth, lightning, water, and back to fire. Light and darkness stood above the rest as the balance keepers. Peace reigned for a while as each of the entities started to study their element. Eventually all seven entities obtained complete understanding of their element and even discovered advanced forms of their element. At some point Chesa, the entity of air, suggested that they combine their elements to see what would happen so they did and it turned into a complete mess that almost returned them to Chaos but in that mess was a small bit of something...new. Something that had never existed before and couldn''t be created by Chaos. All seven of them sensed this and tried again. And again. And again. They repeated their experiment over and over for countless millennia before, suddenly, they created what they were after. They had created the first plane of existence, what would come to be called the Martial plane. When the seven entities saw what they had created they became excited and immediately descended to explore their creation. What they found could only be described with one word. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Chaos. They were extremely distraught at the sight of their creation looking like it was going to tear itself apart. The seven entities pooled their power and, with the unstoppable power of the Celestial Law of Balance, brought order to their chaotic creation. This process took tens of millennia because they had to put everything in its proper place. When they were done they looked around and felt pleased with themselves but they also felt like something was missing. It took them a while to figure out what that feeling was. The feeling was that of emptiness. All seven of them set about thinking of ways to fill the world they had created and it was Draz who came up with the first idea. She told everyone to take out a small bit of the elemental essence, into which she imbued her power of life. Thus the first elementals were created. They released their elementals and watched in horror as the world they had created was slowly being destroyed by their creations as each elemental tried to expand the area of their element. The seven worked quickly and used all of the knowledge they had gained when making the first plane to make seven others, each comprised of only one element. They banished the elementals to their appropriate plane and set about fixing the world. When they were done they started thinking of things to fill the world with. It was Draz again who came up with an idea. This time she suggested that they make one being that had an association with all elements but didn''t contain the essence of any of them. For centuries they discussed and argued about what the being before finally coming to an agreement. They combined a small bit of their power together and imbuing it with life. This being became the first dragons. They watched as their creation spread throughout the world they had created. They watched as the dragons built themselves a society and started learning about the world they inhabited. They watched as the dragons found the power of the elements and learned how to harness them becoming the first mages. They watched as the dragons discovered traces of the seven¡¯s existences and started to worship them, calling them by two new names. Gods and Goddess. The seven gods and goddess watched over and cared for the dragons but they never felt like the dragons were their creation and it left them longing to have a race that they themselves had created. The other six gods and goddess beseeched Draz to allow to each have their own race. Draz, who also wanted her own, readily agreed. The first one to make a race was the goddess of air Chesa. Chesa envisioned her race and Draz gave that vision life, giving birth to the Fae or Fairies as they would be called by the other races. They watched the fairies but soon noticed a problem. The Fairies could live for a few thousand years and the seven agreed that this was much too long but they couldn¡¯t shorten their life span with remaking the race so they decided to leave them be. Next to create a race was Arouz, the goddess of darkness. Like with Chesa, Arouz envisioned her race and Draz gave her vison life. As soon as the race was created there was a problem. Because of the Celestial Law of Light and Darkness it seemed like two races appeared. One, the Drow, was a race that thrived in the darkness and the other, the Elves, was a race that thrived in the light. This lead to several decades of arguing before it was agreed upon that they were just two variant of the same race. The second problem was that this race still lived too long, between 700 and 1000 years. Like with the Fairies they couldn¡¯t change it so they left the Elves alone. Next up was Aleat, The god of earth. The process was repeated and the race of the Dwarves was created. The dwarves still lived too long for the god¡¯s liking, around 400-500 years, but they couldn¡¯t change it so they again moved on. After Aleat was Chyr, the god of lightning, who created the race of the Halflings. The Halflings lived for around 150 years. While 150 years was better they still felt like it was too long but let the Halflings be and moved on. The next one to create a race was Freck, the goddess of water. She created the mer-people, a race that live exclusively in water and could live for around 100 year. While it was closer they still felt like it was a little too long. Araphic was second to last and he created the race of the Orcs. The Orcs live for around 80 years which felt just right to the gods so when Draz created her race that was the life span she used. Draz created the race of the Humans and, as with the Orcs, they would live for around 80 years. The gods stepped back and watched as their creation spread across the world they had created and engaged with the other races. Unfortunately and upheaval would soon come and throw this world into chaos. 029 An Unexpected Journey Authors Note: First i want to apologize for not posting a chapter last week. I had to travel for family business and couldn''t upload one. Next i would like to apologize for the length of this chapter. I don''t really have the time right now to write. I''m preparing for a trip that''ll go though next weekend and i won''t be able to upload a chapter then either. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After parting ways with his friends and his sister Ren made his way over to the blacksmithing workshop. As he got closer he heard the sound of arguing voices. After parting ways with his friends and his sister Ren made his way over to the blacksmithing workshop. As he got closer he heard the sound of Master Yurbek arguing with Master Anurt the engineering instructor. (Anurt) "Do you think he''s back yet?" (Yurbek) "He ain''t coming." (Anurt) "Oh? Did you already ask him?" (Yurbek) "Well...no but if I say he ain''t coming then he ain''t coming." (Anurt) "Shouldn''t you at least ask him? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! The things to learn, the experiences to be had. Do you really want to deprive him of that?" (Yurbek) "That¡¯s not a place for him.¡± (Anurt) "Are you ashamed to have him as you student? Is that it?." (Yurbek) ¡°Of course not. He¡¯s one of the most talented craftsmen I¡¯ve ever met. He may still have a long way to go before he can be called a master but will definitely become a master. Who know, he may even go further. (Anurt) ¡°Then why don¡¯t you want him come? You know it would be a great opportunity for him.¡± (Yurbek) "Knowing him he¡¯ll definitely get into something way over his head." (Anurt) ¡°The boy knows his limits do I doubt he¡¯ll do anything rash¡­unless you talking about participating in that? Based on what you told me I could see him wanting to do it.¡± (Yurbek) ¡°That¡¯s the problem.¡± (Anurt) ¡°I don¡¯t see a problem.¡± (Yurbek) ¡°It could crush his confidence in himself.¡± (Anurt) ¡°It could give him the pressure he need to stop just going through the motions and to really improve. Your coddling him is only holding him back. Do you remember what the Headmaster told us he said when asked why he wanted to become a craftsmen?¡± (Yurbek) ¡°Aye¡± (Anurt) ¡°Does that sound like a something someone who needs to be treated like glass would say? I saw what you put him through during his first month. What were you trying to do? Turn him into a Border Guard?¡± At that moment Ren reached the workshop and entered. "Ah Krono, what a surprise, we were just talking about you." Master Anurt said when he saw Ren. "Don''t you dare." Yurbek said, raising his finger and pointing it at Anurt menacingly Anurt ignored him and continued "How would you like to go on an adventure?" He asked Ren. Between the argument he had overheard and Master Anurt¡¯s question Ren was very confused and didn''t know where this was going so he turned around to leave. "I''ll just be going-" Ren started, though he was interrupted by Anurt "Well of course you''ll be going lad. See Yurbek I told you he would want to go. Now lad, do you need to pack anything?" he said "Well I don''t-" Ren started again but again was cut off by Master Anurt. "You don''t? Great! We can get going then. We don''t want to be late now do we Yurbek." Anurt said as he got behind Ren and started pushing him towards a trapdoor that had been hidden under one of the workbenches. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Now just wait a minute-" Ren tried to say but was cut off a third time. "Nope we can''t wait. Got a very limited window to travel." Anurt said as they reached the trap door. He opened it and beckoned to Ren. Ren tried to turn around and leave the building but Anurt would have none of that. "Wrong way lad. What, are you afraid of heights or something? It¡¯s not that big a drop. Here, I¡¯ll even help you down." Anurt grabbed onto Ren and, with more strength than Ren felt he should have, picked him up and dropped him through the trap door and into the darkness below. It was only about a ten foot drop so Ren didn''t take any damage but he still just laid on his back in shock about being thrown down a hole. "Watch out below." Anurt called. Ren barely had enough time to roll out of the way before Master Anurt dropped through the trap door next. After Anurt dropped down Master Yurbek followed suit, closing the trap door as he did so and plunging them into darkness. After a moment Ren thought he heard Master Yurbek mutter something and suddenly a small ball of fire about the size of an apple popped into existence and lit up the room. Ren was a little shocked that Yurbek knew magic, he had never shown that he could use it. Before Ren could ask about it Yurbek nudged past him and grunted something that sounded like ¡®follow me¡¯ though Ren wasn''t sure. What he was sure about was that master Yurbek wasn''t happy about the current situation and he didn''t have any time to fix it. Ren followed Master Yurbek out of the small room underneath the workshop and down a passage. They walked for a few minutes before entering a small, stone room that had a raise dais in the center that was about ten feet across. Master Yurbek lead the way onto the dais where he told Ren to stay put. He dug through is bag for a moment before pulling out what looked like a stone sphere and inserting it into a depression in the middle of the dais. The sphere and the dais started glowing and a domed barrier appeared around them. Then nothing happened. "We''re waiting for our turn." Anurt said, "It shouldn''t be long." Ren was still very confused about what was going on but just sat down and kept quiet since he couldn''t do anything right now. A few minutes later the orb in the center of the dais started glowing brighter and floated up into the air. "Hurry and stand up lab and hold onto the stone." Master Anurt hurriedly said Ren did as he was told and a few moments later there was a bright flash of light and Ren suddenly felt like he was being squeezed and stretched, pushed and pulled, and moving extremely fast and not moving at all, all at the same time. It was very uncomfortable and it lasted for several minutes before there was another bright flash of light and Ren was suddenly assaulted by a wide variety of sounds and smells. Ren opened his eyes, he didn''t relive he had closed them, and looked around. What he saw amazed him. They were in an enormous cavern, bigger than any Ren had ever seen, and all around them was a mass of dwarves with very few other races mixed in. Before Ren could look around more he felt a tug on his arm. "Come on lad lets go." Mater Yurbek said, obviously still upset about Anurt dragging Ren along, as he started pulling Ren through the crowd, "I''ll explain everything once we get somewhere quieter and more private." 030 Bofcral Author''s Note: Took Nevets idea for the competition.
Ren quietly sat across the table from the two dwarven instructors, who were busy downing a few pints of local ale, patiently waiting for the point when they would tell him what was going on. By their fifth pint they seemed to be ready to explain what was going on. "Too understand what¡¯s going right now you first have to know a bit about dwarven culture." Yurbek said. "As a whole, we dwarves like three things; Fighting, Drinking, and Crafting. We are a race of craftsmen and warriors so we put hard work and skill above just about everything and that''s reflected in how we choose our leaders. You humans would say we''re meritocracy or a society where the most skilled are pick as our leaders. The reason why all of us dwarves are here is because one of our leaders has died so we need to pick a new one. Our society has three kings that control various aspects of our society. We have the War King, also known as the Blood King, who is in charge of our military and monitoring external threats. The second king is the Hearth King, who is sometimes called the Saint King, who takes care of all of the internal matters of the kingdom. The last king is the Gold King, who is also called the Trade King, who is oversees anything and everything related to money as well as being in charge of diplomacy and our relations with other races. While some of their powers overlap sometimes, like how the Hearth King can command an army to defend the kingdom or the War King can negotiate peace deals, most of the time they don''t butt-heads. The problem though is that when one of them dies the other two can''t take over the dead one''s position even for a short time. This is what is happening now. The War King has died unexpectedly so we must choose a new one. That''s why all of us are here." Master Yurbek took a long swig from his tankard as soon as he was done. "That great and all but I¡¯m not a dwarf so why am I here?" Ren said, "Also where is here?" "Right now you are underneath the Guardian Mountains," Anurt said, "The Guardian Mountains is a ring of nearly impassable mountains situated in the center of the Igan continent. Inside this ring is a place known as the Valley of Hope, an absolutely enormous area filled with fertile plains and rich woodlands. In the center of the valley is the city of Bofcral, or Ancient Home in old dwarvish, the capital of the dwarven kingdom. As for why your here, I''ll let your teacher here explain why I brought you along." Anurt slapped Master Yurbek on the back as he said the last part causing him to choke a little on his ale. Yurbek glared at Anurt before turning to Ren and speaking. "Every time a new leader is selected there is a grand festival that lasts an entire month. This festival is full of all sorts of things to do, food to eat, and the alcohol flows like water but the main attraction is The Battle of Blood and Iron. This competition is the main reason why Anurt dragged you along. Remember how I told you that the dwarves are a race of craftsmen and warriors? This competition proves that. The Battle of Blood and Iron tests both the competitors¡¯ martial prowess and skill as a craftsmen. This event lasts for three weeks and starts one week after the Selection of the new king. Anurt here wants you to enter it. The competition has six tiers that separate the competitors based on their skill so you don''t have an apprentice going against a grandmaster." Yurbek paused for a moment and looked like he was struggling with something before sighing and speaking again. "If you want to enter I won''t stop you but let me just say that I am against it. This competition is brutal, not because people die or use underhanded methods to win, that doesn''t happen, but because of the wager system that''s in place. For every battle, whether it''s combat or crafting, competitors have to register a wager. These wagers are not money, items, or any material good. Competitors have to wager intangible things that are worth far more then any object you could hope to find. The wagers consist of thing like knowledge, experience, and even things like a persons strength or intelligence. I''ve seen rising stars absolutely crushed and never recovering. Once I even saw a grandmaster fall into despair and kill themselves after losing. This is not a competition for the weak-willed or faint of heart." If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Ren was quite for a moment, mulling over what he had just learned and debating with himself about entering the competition or not. On one hand it would be both exciting and beneficial to compare his skills with those at a similar skill level on the other hand though Ren didn''t have a ton of confidence in his skills right now. Sure he knew he was good when compared to other players but to NPC''s? He had no idea and the thought of the cost of losing didn''t sit very well with him. After a few more moments Ren came to decision. "I''ve decided." Ren said, grabbing the attention of the other two, "I''ve decided that I wo-" "Yurbek? Yurbek Whurlode? Is that you? Ah excuse me, it would be Yurbek Glanvar now wouldn''t it?" A voice called out from across the room. The trio turned to find two dwarves walking towards them. The one in the lead was an older looking dwarf wearing fine clothes and had a beard braided with colored beads that reached his waist. The dwarf behind him wore plain clothing and also had a beard but it was short and unadorned. ¡°Bik Ogal.¡± Yurbek growled, ¡°What are you doing here? Shouldn¡¯t you be off polishing the rear of some upper nobility with that glib tongue of yours? And who¡¯s that poor soul behind you? An unlucky kid you managed to trick into being your servant?¡± ¡°This young lad just happens to be the eldest son of the distinguished Norvral clan.¡± Ogal said, ¡°You would know of them as the clan who have been in charge of making the equipment for the royal guard. He also happens to be one my apprentices. He''s here to enter The Battle of Blood and Iron as a journeyman blacksmith. He''s expected to take first place you know. Well we need to get our rest. Lots of things to do before the competition. I look forward to seeing how your student does. Oh wait, I forgot you have any students. Oh wel-¡° ¡°He does.¡± Ren said, getting out of his seat. ¡°Huh?¡± Ogal said, confused by Ren¡¯s sudden outburst ¡°He does take students.¡± Ren said, towering over Ogal ¡°Does he now. And how would you know that?¡± Ogal asked ¡°Because I¡¯m his student and I would be more than happy to face your apprentice in the competition and take first place away from him¡± Ren said, heart pumping and a feeling of electricity coursing through his body as his lips curled into a small, almost savage, smile. ¡°R-right.¡± Ogal said, taken aback by the energetic, and slightly oppressive, aura he felt coming off Ren. ¡°Well we¡¯ll just have to see about that. Come now Azgalt, It¡¯s time for us to retire for the night.¡± As the duo walked of the feeling of excitement Ren was had gotten diminished but didn¡¯t disappear. The only place Ren had previously felt this excited was at the high school robotics world championship his freshmen year. Ren cracked his knuckles, eager to get started. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing boy?¡± Yurbek said, ¡°This is a matter between me and him. You have no reason to get involved.¡± ¡°I do have a reason though.¡± Ren said, looking Master Yurbek in the eye, ¡°He said you have no students so obviously I had to correct him.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± Yurbek didn¡¯t know what to say. While technically Ren had been his student that relationship had ended when the previous semester had ended, or so he had though. The fact that Ren still considered Yurbek his instructor touched him greatly. After a few moments Yurbek finally got his thoughts in order. ¡°You¡¯ve bitten off more than you can handle this time lad. The Norvral clan is known for producing exceptional craftsmen and, as much as I despise that orc-spawned bastard, he knows his way around a forge. As talented as you are you¡¯re still not at that level yet. Those pieces you made for your friends a while back? That lad could probably turn out a couple of them a day if he was working fast and if he was actually trying? You haven¡¯t touched that level yet. While I appreciate the sentiment you¡¯re just not ready to compete against someone like him.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just have to train some more then.¡± Ren said with an attitude that said backing out wasn¡¯t an option. ¡°If you¡¯re serious about this I know someone in the capitol who owes me a pretty big favor who could help.¡± Yurbek said, ¡°Go get some sleep lad, you going to need it.¡± 031 Grandmaster The trio left early in the morning and joined the already large crowd moving towards the tunnel that led out of the mountain. The tunnel was long and it took the trio the better part of an hour to reach the end. They exited the tunnel and Ren was astonished by the sight before him. Since the tunnel was several hundred feet up the side of one of the many mountains, the travelers were greeted by the view of the forest below them stretching off into the distance and the mountains around them towering thousands of feet above their heads before disappearing into the clouds. The sight took Ren¡¯s breath away. The scenery changed as they made their way down the mountain and entered the forest, but it was no less stunning. The road they walked on was paved stone that had been masterly place and was as wide as a four lane highway in the real world. The trees on the side of the path were obviously old and their trunks were at least 13 feet across and had moss and ivy growing on them. The boughs of the trees stretched across the path, forming an arched roof of woven branches that protected them from the harsh sunlight. All around them was the sounds of life, from the songs and calls of the birds and other beats to the buzzing of insects and other small creatures. Walking through the forest Ren swore that he could feel a strangely invigorating energy permeating the air. The crowd walked through the forest for a few hours, conversing with their fellow travelers and enjoying the scenery. Several people approached their group and talked with Anurt and Yurbek. Ren assumed that they were trading news and talking about choosing a new king and the upcoming festivities but since they were talking in dwarvish Ren couldn¡¯t understand a single word they said. Eventually the forest ended and transitioned to sprawling grasslands that stretched to the horizon. A little ways into the distance the crowd could see something massive jutting out of the gently swaying grass around them. This was the Ancient city of Bofcral, capital of the dwarven kingdom of Morzakvirn, and last of the great dwarven strongholds. It took almost another hour to reach the outer walls of the city. These walls were massive and imposing. Made out of large blocks of dark grey stone the walls towered over everybody at a height of 300 feet and gave everybody who looked at them the feeling that nothing that meant the city or its residents harm would ever make it past them. As they made their way into the city they passed through the large, thick, black gates that reminded Ren of the gates of Aukrokia, though they didn¡¯t feel quite as sturdy as these gates. As they passed through the gates Ren noticed that the walls weren¡¯t actually straight but went up at a slight angle instead. ¡°Why are the walls angled?¡± Ren asked "It''s to make the walls sturdier and greatly reduce the risk of collapse." Anurt said "You''ll learn more once you start studying engineering." They walked down the long tunnel through the outer walls and entered the city. Ren was blown away by what he saw. All of the buildings were made of stone and were at least three stories tall though there were some the reach five to six stories in height. The streets themselves were also a marvel of workmanship and engineering. They looked to be made of the same material as the walls and even had gutters and sidewalks, and were lined with lamp posts. Overall, Ren thought that it looked very¡­ modern¡­ when compared to Crale. The sun was now high in the sky and it was getting very crowded by the gates. Yurbek led them down the first side street they found, which was also relatively crowded, then lead them through a maze of alleyways and side streets for almost two hours before they finally stopped in front of an old, single story, stone building. Yurbek knocked on the door but there was no answer. After a moment Yurbek tried to open the door but found it locked so like any sensible person would do, he kicked it in and stepped inside. ¡°Wait here.¡± He told the other two as they entered and walked deeper into the building. After a few minutes they heard the distinct sound of water being thrown against something and heard someone yell in surprise followed by some loud cursing then more yelling then the sound of more water being thrown against something then silence. After a moment the sound of heavy steps could be heard and soon after Yurbek returned with a rather wet and grumpy looking dwarf in tow. ¡°This sorry excuse for a smith,¡± Yurbek said, ¡°is Dolznik Glanmek, Grandmaster lower level and my former master.¡± If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Former? I¡¯m still your master considering you just up and left and never took my graduation exam.¡± Dolznik said, turning to face Yurbek. "But that''s not important right now. What is important right now is why you''re here. I clearly remember you storming out after I refused to teach you anything else until you had gained a bit more experience and saying that you¡¯d be better off if you just learned everything yourself.¡± ¡°I came here about that favor you owe me.¡± Yurbek said ¡°Fine,¡± Dolznik said, ¡°But let¡¯s not have this conversation here. Also I¡¯m going to need a drink.¡± Dolznik ushered the trio out of his house and closed the door, not seeming to care about the broken lock. They made their way through the maze of streets and arrived at one of the many taverns in the city. Fortunately this particular tavern was a bit out of the way so it wasn¡¯t all that crowded. They managed to find a table at the back on the far side of the tavern from the bar, much to Dolznik¡¯s annoyance. After they all got food, and the three dwarves got drinks, they got down to business. ¡°So what¡¯s this about wanting to use that favor I owe you?¡± Dolznik asked. ¡°Before we get to that I¡¯d like to introduce you to my two companions here.¡± Yurbek said, ¡°This dwarf here is my colleague from the Medonia Academy for Combat, Magic, and Adventuring arts; Anurt Ovzur, Master Engineer. The human is my student from the academy, Krono. He¡¯s an extremely talented young smith, he managed to reach the point where he could work steel in only a few months.¡± Dolznik, who had been taking a drink when Yurbek as talking, almost choked when when Yurbek mentioned he had a student and really did choke when he said how long it took Ren to learn how to work steel. After a few minutes of struggling from breath and Anurt pounding on his back a few times Dolznik finally managed to speak. ¡°I must have drank more than I thought because I swear I just heard you say you had a student and that it only took them a few months to be able to work steel.¡± Dolznik said ¡°You heard right the first time. As for the favor,¡± Yurbek said, ¡°I want you to teach him, at least until the Battle of Blood and Iron. I¡¯ve gotten to the limits of what I can teach him regarding the human style and I was only average with the dwarven style, as you should remember.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why won¡¯t you do it? ¡°Because every single one of my apprentices have all turned out to be disappointments. My first one killed himself after losing during the last Battle for blood and iron. The next one preferred to spend his time with wine and women. Then there was you. You were so god damn arrogant. Thought you were Aleat¡¯s gift to the world and when you thought you weren¡¯t being treated with the respect you deserved you forsook your clan name and abandoned your family. If your mother were here, may her soul pass through the void swiftly, she would be very disappointed with you.¡± Dolznik took a large swig from his tankard when he finished. The entire table was silent for several minutes after that, no one knowing what to say to break the uneasy silence. Finally Yurbek broke the silence. ¡°Look I¡¯m sorry I left. I know it was wrong and I¡¯ve regretted it ever since. I would¡¯ve come back sooner but I just couldn¡¯t work up the courage to come back and face you, not with all of the mistakes I¡¯ve made but right now I would really appreciate your help. He¡¯s the apprentice you¡¯ve sought to have your whole life. You won¡¯t regret it I swear.¡± Silence reigned again as Dolznik thought about what his son had said. It took close to half an hour and two tankards of ale but Dolznik came to a decision. ¡°I won¡¯t agree to help right now but if the boy shows as much promise as you say he does I¡¯ll consider it. We¡¯ll see what he¡¯s capable of tomorrow. You all can rest back at my place for now.¡± They finished up what drink or food they had left, and head back to Dolznik¡¯s home to sleep
If you have an idea for Ren''s second class post it Here and if you have an idea related to affinities or bloodlines post it Here. 032 The Trial Ren, Yurbek, and Dolznik were all down in Dolznik¡¯s basement where he kept his forge. Anurt was wandering around the city doing who knows what. When he saw it Ren was surprised by how simple it was. It was relatively small and only contained two simple forges, a few anvils, a few work tables, and several stacks of different materials. Ren as expecting something a little grander since Dolznik was a grandmaster. ¡°This is the forge you¡¯ll be using.¡± Dolznik said, walking up to the first one. ¡°I only use that other one if I¡¯m making something out of Mithril or Adamantine or the like. It uses fire crystals instead of normal fuel sources since the flame is hotter and more pure.¡± As Dolznik spoke he through some fuel into the forge then point his finger at the forge and, with a single word, fire sprung up in the forge. Yurbek leaned over to Ren and whispered in his ear. ¡°Did I mention that he also a relatively accomplished fire mage?¡± Ren just shook his head but didn¡¯t get a chance to say anything. ¡°Alright boy here are the details for this little trial. I¡¯m not looking for a work of art or something flashy. I don¡¯t care even a little about what you decide to make. My only requirement, as well as your first and hopefully not last lesson, from me is that you put your heart and soul into what you make. From now to the end of time. If you do that everything else will fall into place.¡± Dolznik said with a serious look on his face. ¡°Smithing is more than just hit a piece of metal until it looks right. You have to envision what you want the piece you¡¯re making to accomplish. Is that weapon intended to protect those behind it or kills those in front of it? Is that armor meant for a stalwart defender or a determined attacker? Is what you¡¯re making meant to be used against one of the sentient races or against monster? You need to ask yourself these questions and many more as you craft your desired object. You can begin whenever you want and can use anything you find down here. There¡¯s no time limit.¡± Dolznik moved away from the forge and sat down at a nearby worktable to observe Ren as he worked. Ren walked over to the stacks of ingots. Some of them held ingots of metals Ren knew like bronze, iron, and steels but the rest held metals he hadn¡¯t seen. Using [Sage Eye] Ren identified two of the stacks containing pewter and brass so Ren guessed that the others he couldn¡¯t identify were various alloys Dolznik used. Ren thought about what he wanted to make for a few minutes before deciding on a new weapon. Ren first went back to the forge and place a crucible in the fire then grabbed several ingots of high quality steel and through the in once the crucible was hot enough. While this was happening Vulcan, who was in Ren¡¯s pocket, felt the heat of the forge and decided that it would be more comfortable than Ren¡¯s pocket and was currently napping at the back of the forge. While the steel was melting Ren gathered the other things he was going to need. He first grabbed a rectangular mold that was close to the size he was looking for then found a staff made of a relatively uncommon material called ironwood, a type of wood said to be as hard as iron but had a tenth the weight. Once the steel was molten Ren took a short rod that was just a bit thinner than the ironwood staff made of a soft stone and placed it in the mold before pouring the liquid steel into it. Ren had placed the mold in a box of sand to try and get the steel to cool evenly. After a few hours of waiting the steel had finally cooled enough to be workable so Ren broke it out of the mold and removed the stone rod before placing it in the forge to heat back up. Ren then placed it on the anvil and proceeded activate [Extreme Focus] and started hitting the metal with a large hammer, causing sparks to fly out and the ring of metal on metal filling the building with every hit. As he worked Ren envisioned himself wielding the hammer to strike down his opponents. Slowly the metal block is lengthened while also made thinner and smaller. After a few hours you could see that one side was being drawn out and shaped into a square pyramid shape while the other is slightly rounded. This process of heating and hammering continued late into the night before Ren took a break to rest. After a few hours of rest and some food Ren returned to the forge and continued working on his new weapon, doing his best to put his heart and soul into every strike as he was instructed to do. A couple hours pass and the pyramid shaped part of the block was done being shaped. Ren puts down the large hammer he had been using and starts using smaller and smaller ones to straighten the corners and bring the pyramid¡¯s tip to a sharp point. Hours pass and Ren finally puts down the large metal block he had been working one, which now looks very different then when he started. What had started as a block of steel about the size of a loaf of bread had turned into the head of what would be a large battle hammer. The main striking face had a slight curve to it to dent armor and crush shields while the point on the back could pierce metal and cause devastating injuries. The hole for the shaft was placed in the front third of the head so that the head would be balance on the handle and make it easier to swing. Once the head was done Ren moved on to constructing the handle. The main component would be the Ironwood staff that Ren had found. The first thing Ren did was cut the staff down to size, a task that was easier said than done. Because of Ironwood¡¯s hardness Ren had to use a hot chisel to cut through the staff. After the staff was cut Ren made four steel strips the length as the staff and fastened them wood by pounding steel nail through into both. He then attached steel endcaps to both ends. With the handle just about done there was only a few steps remaining. The next step was attaching the hammer¡¯s handle and head. The sun was starting to set outside as Ren heated up the head until the metal glowed orange before taking it out and placing it on the floor. Ren quickly grabbed the handle and started hammering it into the hole in the head. With the handle attached to the head Ren made a solid steel spike and attached it to the end of the handle. With the final piece attached the head and the spike were both heated up again before the weapon was placed in a pile of sand to slowly cool down. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. With the work done Ren sat down on the floor near the pile of sand exhausted. It had taken a lot of energy to shape that large block of steel into something more useful. Ren lay against the sand and closed his eyes, intending to just take a short nap took a nap while he waited as he waited for the hammer to cool. Ren¡¯s short nap, however, turned into many hours of sleep and he recover both physically and mentally from almost two straight days of hard work. When Ren woke up he found himself lying on the pile of sand that covered the hammer while it was cooling. Ren brushed himself off before grabbing the hammer¡¯s handle and trying to lift it. Ren was surprised by its weight when he picked it up. While he could life the hammer it wasn¡¯t quite as easy as he thought it would. When Ren tries to swing it he almost fell over because he couldn¡¯t control the weight. Curious, Ren inspected the hammer.
Spiked Ironwood Battle Hammer - Uncommon
Type Hammer Quality Great
Damage 70-80 Durability 250/250
A finely crafted battle hammer made of steel and ironwood with a large spike on one side Requirements: Strength: 100
Well I wasn¡¯t expecting that. Ren thought. While he was disappointed that he couldn¡¯t wield it He was also excited that he had made something that had a requirement. Before he could continue down that line of thought though Ren heard people descending the stairs to the forge. Upon entering Dolznik walked straight up to Ren. ¡°Are you done boy?¡± he asked. Ren held of the hammer for him to inspect. Dolznik wordlessly took the hammer with one hand, looking at and feeling every inch of the weapon while muttering to himself. ¡°Solid construction, good choice of materials. Reinforcing the handle is a good idea. Hmmm¡­what about the balance?¡± Dolznik took several steps away from Ren and started swinging the hammer around. Ren watched in amazement as Dolznik swung the hammer around as if it weighed nothing. Dolnik went through many different motion, some of which Ren actually knew from his lessons with Yurbek, though most of them Ren had never seen before. At some points the hammer just became a blur. Dolznik use the hammer for several minutes before stopping and walking back to Ren. ¡°While the balance and choice of materials is good the quality is only fair and it¡¯s a bit light to be a proper battle hammer. The design of the spike on the head also could have been better and the forging process as a whole could have been more efficient. While I could see that you were putting a good amount of effort into your work you don¡¯t seem to understand how to put your heart and soul into it.¡± Dolznik paused to make sure Ren was paying attention to him. ¡°Overall I¡¯d rate you as a barely passable journeymen smith and I won¡¯t accept this level of skill in someone I teach so you have two options here. One, you can just quit now and forget about entering the Battle of Blood and Iron and not waste anyone¡¯s time or two. You can steel yourself and prepare for three of the most miserable weeks of your short life. What¡¯s your choice?¡± As Ren listened to Dolznik he first felt excitement from the compliments the he gave him but his excitement quickly turned to disappointment the more the dwarf talked. By the end Ren was actually pretty depressed and when Dolzik told him the first option Ren, briefly, considered just leaving. That thought was quickly stamped out though. When Ren heard the second option, though he was a little unsure about the description, Ren didn¡¯t just want to give up so he quickly came to a decision. ¡°I choose the second option¡± Ren said to Dolznik. ¡°Good¡± Dolznik said, smiling. ¡°We start now.¡± 033 A Turning Point Dolznik took Ren upstairs and through the house to the back. Behind the house was a small courtyard surrounded by a tall stone wall. In the middle of the courtyard were some smelting crucibles of varying sizes and a few worktables, though only one of them had anything on it. It was this worktable that Dolznik led Ren too. On the worktable were some ores, and some wooden bowls filled with different powers. ¡°We¡¯re going to start your training back at the beginning with smelting. Yurbek assures me that you have the basics down so I¡¯m going to teach you something a bit more advanced. It¡¯s called Alloying. It¡¯s the process of mixing two or more metals or minerals together to make either a new material or an enhanced version of an existing one. What makes alloying so difficult is that you can¡¯t just dump things with the properties you want together. It takes a good amount of knowledge and skill to pull off successfully. You have to not only know what the effect of the material you¡¯re adding will have on the finished product but how it will interact with everything else you add. For example; if you take Ardum,¡± Dolznik held up a bowl of dark orange powder, ¡°and mix it with copper it¡¯ll harden the copper, making it more durable. If you add it to Bronze, which is an alloy between copper and tin, it¡¯ll just change its color to blue. If you add it to pewter, which is a soft alloy made of tin and lead, it will cause it to turn into a very fragile metallic glass-like material. You following so far?¡± Ren nodded his head. He had become instantly intrigued when Dolznik mentioned being able to make a new material or at least enhance an existing one. He was already imagining all of the possibilities. ¡°Before we go any further I want to explain what you¡¯re training schedule is going to be like.¡± Dolznik said, ¡°Every morning you¡¯ll get up before the sun rises and heat up the forge and a crucible. Next you¡¯re going to make an alloy based on the recipe I give you. By the end of the month I¡¯ll only be telling you what properties I want in the alloy and you¡¯ll have to work out what to add. Once the material is made, no matter what quality it is, you¡¯ll have to use it to make what I tell you. After that is combat training. Yurbek tells me that you have a good affinity for lightning and can use lightning magic so I¡¯ll be showing you tricks that will increase your effective combat power. We¡¯re going to be refining your skill with the sword and I¡¯m going to teach you how to wield a war hammer effectively. Any questions so far?¡± Dolznik paused for a moment but continued when Ren stayed silent. ¡°Okay then, then first thing you want to remember about alloying is to control the crucibles temperature¡­¡± Dolznik lectured Ren for hours on Alloying and it was late afternoon by the time they stopped. While most of it had been interesting there were also many parts where Ren had to struggle to stay awake. Besides learning a new skill, Ren also got a few point added to both his intelligence and wisdom from learning something new and asking the right questions. ¡°All right, that¡¯s enough lecturing for today. Now it¡¯s time for your combat training. We¡¯re not going to be using weapons just yet. I¡¯m going to first teach you something called and Aura Skill.¡± Dolznik said, moving away from the worktable and into the middle of the courtyard. ¡°An Aura Skill is a skill that projects energy from the user in the form of an energy field. There are many different types of auras but the kind I¡¯m going to be teaching you are the Elemental Auras. There are many ways to use Elemental Auras but the most common is coating a part or entirety of the body for either offensive of defensive purposes, though with a high enough level of mastery there isn¡¯t really any difference. Are you understanding this so far?¡± Ren nodded. ¡°Good, on we go then.¡± Dolznik said, ¡°The skill I¡¯m going to be teaching you is primarily defensive. It¡¯s called [Elemental Cloak]. The skill is split into five levels of mastery. The first is the Beginner or Energy stage. While at this stage you¡¯ll only be able to project the element¡¯s energy but not the element itself. If we used fire as an example you¡¯d be able to project things like heat or dim light. The second stage is the Intermediate of Element stage. During this stage you gain the ability to manifest the element as a protective cloak around your body. This cloak can only protect you from attacks that use the same element you¡¯re projecting and does nothing against physical attacks. What it can do is be used to damage enemies around you or convince them to not get to close. Stage three is the Advanced or Armor stage. This is when it starts getting powerful. At this stage you can condense the element you¡¯re projecting into solid armor, that you pick the appearance of, that¡¯s made completely out of that element. Not only does it provide good defense it also looks badass and can end most fights before they begin. Watch this.¡± Dolznik motioned Ren back and said ¡°Armor up¡± Immediately dense flames surged out of Dolznik¡¯s body, covering him completely and radiating a lot of heat. The flames started shrinking and a red-orange film seemed to start forming across his skin. As the flames got smaller the film became thicker and started changing shape. In no more than ten seconds Dolznik was standing in front of Ren in red-orange armor that emitted a large amount of heat and looked exactly like the armor worn by the city guards. Ren now understood why it could end fights before they started. No one in their right mind would attack someone with armor made out of an element. Dolznik dismissed the skill and the armor disappeared. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Pretty cool huh?¡± He said, ¡°I¡¯ve only reach the Armor rank and can¡¯t advance. Each stage requires a more advanced understanding of that element. Anyway after the Armor stage is the Expert or Area-of-Effect stage. Up until this stage your aura only affects you but when you reach this stage you can have it affect others within a certain distance, though the effect would be limited so you wouldn¡¯t be able to give anyone elemental armor. The last and most powerful stage is the Master or Domain stage. When you reach this stage you can create an area that¡¯s almost like a mini elemental plane that you have complete control of. Few people have ever reached this stage but those that have are said to have power close to that of the Saints, if only for a short period of time. If you can train this skill up to the Element stage I¡¯ll teach you another aura skill, an offensive one.¡± Dolznik said, smiling. Ren was absolutely amazed by the skill Dolznik would be teaching him. It would have still been awesome if it just went up to the armor but the two stages past that just blew his mind, especially the last one. This surprise trip and turned into something absolutely fantastic and Ren couldn¡¯t wait to start learning the aura skills. ¡°First I want you to start meditating but don¡¯t try to find peace. I want you to that connection you have with lighting. Start now and I¡¯ll guide you as you progress.¡± Ren sat down and began meditating. He immediately found himself in that sea of peace he always went to and began to lose himself in it but, right before he slipped down into it, he remembered that he wasn¡¯t meditating for this and pulled himself out of the trace. He left that area and returned to the normal world. Ren began to search his body for whatever gave him his connection to lighting but he had no idea what he was looking for. He search for what felt like ages. Not finding anything but not wanting to give up. Unknown to Ren, something very peculiar was happening back in the normal world. He had been meditating for a few hours now with Dolznik and Yurbek keeping watch over him. After the first hour had passed dark clouds began to gather in the sky above the city, blocking out the setting sun and causing the residents to look up in wonder and confusion. It wasn¡¯t uncommon to get storms but the never formed at the speed this one did. Soon after the clouds appeared lightning started flashing in the dark sky and rain began to fall. Dolznik and Yurbek erected a large tent above were Ren was to keep out the wind and the rain and continued to watch Ren while wondering about the sudden storm. As time went on the rain fell faster, the wind blew hard enough to create a dull roar, and the lighting in the sky became denser and denser, it¡¯s thunder almost causing the ground to shake. By know everyone knew that this storm was one of unnatural origin but no one hand any idea about who could have caused it. Ren was oblivious to all of this as he searched for that connection. Several hours after he started Ren felt something located at the top of his spine. He directed his will to that spot and was suddenly overcome with a sense of power. The energy surged through his body, filling it to the brim with power and causing Ren no small amount of discomfort. Just as Ren felt like he was going to burst the energy rushed back towards the top of his spine. Ren felt like that was enough for now decided to end that session. Just as he was about to leave He notice something else weird, though this time it was located just below his navel. Ren debated with himself about leaving or investigating and eventually his curiosity won out and he directed his will towards the second location. Upon reaching it Ren felt something akin to static. This must be that connection Master Dolznik was talking about. But if this is that then what was that other thing? Ren thought. He reach out with his mind towards the origin of the static feeling and received a small shock then nothing happened. Ren waited for a bit but left since nothing more happened. Outside the storm had reached its peak and was starting to scare people. The rain sounded like rocks hitting the ground and the wind seemed to want to blow the city away. The sky was covered in a blanket of lightning and the thunder just didn¡¯t end. Just when the storm picked up even more it stopped. The clouds slowly dissipated and the stars shined their light onto the city. Moments later Ren opened his eyes. News Most of you can probably tell by the name change that something''s up. Last week my grandfather passed away and i just didn''t have the motivation to write. During the week since then i''ve been trying to continue with NRO but i can''t. Because of all the problems, inconsistencies, and unfinished/unimplemented idea it just got really hard to write a coherent story while trying to fix the problems so i''ve decide to start the re-write earlier then i planned. I know the this is going to piss off a lot of you and annoy everyone else, especially since i left such a cliff hanger, but it''s something i need to do. NRO has allowed me to work on my writing skills and the feed back from you guys has really help my confidence as a writer and for that i would like to thank you. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The re-write is already up and you can find it Here. It''s title is second awakening and it''s going to follow the same plot as NRO though there will be some changes. I hope you decide to keep reading and thanks again for everything. Mossclaw64, The Penguin Artificer