《Breaking the Mold》 Chapter 0: Prologue Nick was ecstatic. Today was the day! Today Nick would begin his legend as a mighty hero of the continent. Today would be the beginning of his legend. Right after he finished taking notes for class. Nick¡¯s capsule that he ordered to play Royal Road had arrived this morning and he couldn¡¯t sit still. As he half listened to his professor drone on about circuits and variable signal bandwidths as they pass through black box logic gate diagrams, he imagined what he would do first when he made his account. He had been studying up on the available classes and races provided to starting players and had a good idea about what kind of character he wanted to make he just wasn¡¯t sure about what class he should choose to benefit him the most. On one hand the combat classes were always fun. There¡¯s just something refreshing about going home and logging onto a game to brutally slaughter and mutilate virtual enemies that stood in his way. But at the same time he couldn¡¯t neglect the magical classes either. The fact that magic was an entirely new experience that he could feel in Royal Road held a lot of incentive for him to convert to a mage class. But mages weren¡¯t really good for soloing dungeons or becoming lords and they died way too easily. The crafting classes each had their own merits but none of them had the fighting capability to be adventurers which was something he desperately wanted. As the professor made some conclusive sounding statements and asked for questions Nick tensed up in preparation. When the class finally ended Nick was already out the door and racing towards his car in the student lot. It was about 3:30 and he had a twenty minute window to get his car out of the lot, onto the interstate highway, and down the long stretch of 2 lane road that led back towards his apartment before all the commuters, workers, and other students also tried to cram onto the same road. If he missed the window he would be stuck in traffic for hours unable to make any real progress while his beautiful new capsule sat inactive back in his room calling to him like a siren song. So of course the universe conspired to give Nick a very unfortunate surprise in the form of a hooded individual slowly walking towards him. He didn¡¯t look like much but there was something vaguely unpleasant about the man so of course, Nick chose to ignore him. DOPAHNNNN! DOPAHNNNN! Dry explosions sounded. Nick looked up to see the hooded creepy bastard he was trying to ignore holding a black shape that was pointed in his direction. He couldn¡¯t tell what it was exactly the man was holding because the next thing he knew he had tripped and fallen to the ground. Nick tried to get up but was having a hard time breathing and for some reason his chest felt wet. Great¡­ I fell in a puddle of some unknown goo, thought Nick to himself. But as he tried to get up his arms lost strength. ¡­ Okay that¡¯s embarrassing one more time! ¡­ He still couldn¡¯t get up. By now Nick was starting to feel a little worried. Something was off about this situation. DOPAHPAHPAHPAHPAHPAHPAHNNN! AHHH! I recognize that sound! Nick belatedly realized. As he lay there he struggled to look up towards the source of the noise. Gunfire was a rather distinctive sound especially assault rifles. In close quarters the detonation of the gunpowder was a sharp sound that you felt with your skin, not just with your ears. The small shockwaves that hit Nick were what gave it away as gunfire rather than the construction crews working on the library next to the lecture hall on campus. As the sounds continued Nick saw the same black hoodie wearing douche bag standing relatively close to him firing into the crowd of students leaving class. The group started panicking and tried to back into the crowd coming out the doors but the tide of freed students was an immovable wall that trapped them in the doorway. As the situation grew worse and people started dying, everyone began screaming insensibly. FUCK! Just what he needed. Another whacko who couldn¡¯t handle the pressure and decided to take everybody down with him, juuuuuuuuuusssssssssssst great. Thanks a lot universe! As if in response the douche bag walked closer to Nick¡¯s position on the ground while he reloaded his gun with another magazine. The nut clearly didn¡¯t know how to shoot Nick silently commentated to himself; his gun was probably an M4 rifle or something similar that he obtained illegally or stole from his parents. Each magazine should have held about 30 rounds but from what he could tell the guy had wasted most of his bullets on the wall and ceiling although he did manage to hit some of the people coming out since there were some unmistakable forms lying on the ground a short distance away. I never thought I would be one of those bodies on TV after one of those school shootings. I guess when you really think about it it¡¯s not all that uncommon especially with the pressure to do well in school these days this sort of thing is happening more often. I suppose this is the end then¡­ With a nihilistic hope for survival Nick decided to just lay down and accept his fate. He had trained as an EMT a few summers ago and he knew that the chance of getting proper emergency treatment in a firefight like this was rather low. Priority would go to securing the campus and protecting other students and medics wouldn¡¯t be released to aid the wounded until the area was confirmed to be safe or the police contained the situation. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.KYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! Nick heard a scream that pierced through his bleak thoughts. He had managed to turn his head a bit so he could see the entrance to the lecture hall. As he refocused on the situation he saw her. Nick had never managed to actually talk to the girl before since his social skills were average and best and his face made him look perpetually angry. Even his best smile was described by his friends to be smug at best rather than reassuring. His very being radiated antagonism towards others. Well that might be a little exaggerated but the point is Nick did not mingle easily with others. Girls preferred the more ruggedly handsome and confident men that always seemed to sense when he was making any headway with a chick and his other friends tended to be intimidated by him at first until they spent some time with him making it hard to make good first impressions. Even so, every awkward guy has a girl he likes and for Nick that was Mia Takeguchi. Mia was a cute girl of oriental ancestry who had a bubbly personality making her easy to talk to. Nick had done a few projects with her but never managed to get to know her better like he wished he could. Mia had been ejected from the press of bodies crowding the entrance and was now totally exposed to the shooter¡¯s line of fire. Nick felt a pain in his heart knowing what would happen if he didn¡¯t do something. He tried to move his arms again but it was useless. The bullets that had hit him had tore through his chest and shoulders shattering bones and pulverizing muscle tissue. And with the rate of blood loss Nick realized he only had minutes before he went into shock and passed out. Still he had to do something, anything he thought. The shooter had finished reloading and was moving back in position to fire on the crowd, carefully taking aim so he could achieve maximum damage. Mia looked up towards the shooter and seeing her death began to scream and cry for help. The panic in her voice lit Nick¡¯s mind on fire. His eyes clouded over with a pinkish haze as he became enraged at his weakness, at the unfairness, at the cruelty of this fate. ¡°FUUUUUHHHHHHHHH!!!¡± Nick groaned as he strained to move, to save her. The shooter noticing his still moving form quickly turned to put him back down for good, but by this point Nick had gotten his feet back under him and was dashing madly towards the killer. Nick was past feeling pain, his nerves long shut down unable to comprehend the damage to his body. He was living on borrowed time but he remembered talking with his dad about some police officers who managed to take their killers with them. According to some rumors or studies depending on whether you believed it, it was possible for the body to continue functioning even after the heart stops for 10 seconds or so. It was a seemingly random number but there was evidence that some animals continued to rampage even after they received fatal wounds for several minutes unless you took out the brain. Nick chuckled to himself a little thinking over the memory. He had 10 seconds to take out the shooter, 10 seconds to incapacitate him, 10 seconds he could use to save everybody, to save Mia. DOPAHPAHPAHPAHPAHPAH! The shooter fired again and Nick felt the impacts all over his body, but he gritted his teeth and continued his lurching run. Nick rammed into the shooter and fell down on top of him. The guy fought back with his fists trying to push Nick off of him, but he didn¡¯t have the right leverage to do so. Nick was out of time as his vision began to flicker and darken. NONONONOOOOO! I still haven¡¯t stopped the guy yet, I need more time! But time was something he didn¡¯t have. He could still hear the crowd¡¯s screams, her cries for help. Nick knew at this point he wasn¡¯t going to make it. That last stunt had cost him any chance he had at being saved, but his dad¡¯s words still echoed in his mind. 10 seconds to take the other guy with them¡­ Nick tried to palm the knife in the shooters waistband but couldn¡¯t muster the strength to stab the shooter. The man noticing his movements took the knife in his hand and violently stabbed Nick. Nick vomited blood in the killer¡¯s face gaining a moment of respite while he tried to think of something but he lacked any weapons and the strength to fight back. So in a last ditch effort Nick leaned down and bit the man in the throat, tearing at it like a beast. He tasted blood and bit down harder. He wanted to give up, he wanted to lay down and die, he wanted to throw up from the copper taste, but he persevered. The shooter continued to struggle but Nick was losing consciousness, he was finally out of time. As he slipped into the darkness he thought¡­ Not a bad way to die I guess¡­ Chapter 1: Rebirth My name is Nick Kamogawa. You probably already know that I died in a tragic accident. Well calling it an accident is a misnomer since I actually died in a school shooting incident making it more like a murder. Don¡¯t feel too bad for me though, I did take down the shooter with my dying will even going as far as to use my teeth as a weapon when my arms got shot to hell. For what it¡¯s worth, I don¡¯t really regret dying. It was pretty inevitable, just some random confluence of events that resulted in me being at the wrong place at the wrong time. When you look at the statistics of it, it¡¯s actually rather unlikely that such an incident will occur let alone actually happen to you. So what it comes down to is that on that day the universe pulled the lever and came up with all lemons on the slot machine that metaphorically represents my life in this case. I even saved a cute girl in the process so all in all not bad for a day¡¯s work. What really bothers me though is that I always thought death was some black nothingness that sucks the life right out of you and flushes you away to some random after life that¡¯s probably only partially described by religion if they are even remotely accurate at all. Instead I saw a giant white landscape that went on forever. Normally I wouldn¡¯t complain about this, I mean the white landscape could have some spiritual value or symbolism but the picture was ruined by the big green bar in front of me that said LOADING. ¡­ If heaven if patterned after the matrix then I am going to be seriously upset. At that moment a ding sounded and a female computerized voice stated Upload complete. There has to be an excellent tsukomi for this situation but I was too bewildered to think of one at the moment so I just stared off into the distance contemplating the mysteries of death when I heard a cough from behind me. ¡°Ah-em¡± I turned around to see a man in a dark grey business suit standing there where there was nothing before. Seeing as I was dead I wasn¡¯t really concerned about it so I casually asked him [What¡¯s up] ¡°You¡¯re probably wondering who I am Nick.¡± [Not really] ¡°No questions at all?¡± [I¡¯m dead the only questions and answers that matter now are spiritual ones and those can only be found through deep reflection] ¡°Ah, I see then I should probably start by telling you Surprise you¡¯re alive.¡± [Eh¡­] My brain did an imitation of one of those cartoon characters when they try to stop only to fail and step on the trap or fall off the cliff. So to say the least, I was shocked by his words. I tried to say something but my mouth was not cooperating so I settled for staring like an idiot at the business man. ¡°I see this has gotten your attention. You can call me Mr. Smith.¡± [No] ¡°It wasn¡¯t funny?¡± [Not even a little bit] Sigh¡­ ¡°Okay I understand my real name is Dr. Tsutomu Akata and I am a researcher connected to the Unicorn Corporation. I believe you know of the company seeing as records indicate you recently purchased a VR capsule.¡± [That¡¯s correct I was finally going to join Royal Road with some friends, but enough of that Explain what you mean when you say I¡¯m not dead] ¡°Why it¡¯s pretty self-explanatory, you¡¯re still alive. Congratulations!¡± This man was rather irritating but I controlled myself and did not react with violence. [Again what did you mean by that] ¡°Well I¡¯ll start from the beginning so you have a clear understanding of what has happened to you. We¡¯re unsure how much you remember but you were involved in a tragic accident at the university that you attend. One of the students there went on a killing spree with an assault rifle and targeted several different students and staff members. Of the victims you were one of the first ones to be attacked. Miraculously you managed to contain the damage on your own to a minimum number of casualties. The shooter was placed into custody but died after an hour of CPR. You managed to avert what could have been a major catastrophe on your own, regardless of your methods, you are viewed as a hero by many and deserve some kind of reward. So in light of recent events, and with your parents permission, we have successfully managed to artificially resuscitate you and place your mind within a virtual reality that you see around you. Within this space you can customize it however you like. We have uploaded hundreds of different setups and a multitude of cultural entertainment programs that match some of your interests after surveying your recent purchases and internet history.¡± [Wait so I¡¯m alive right? Then can I get out of here and go see my family?] ¡°Unfortunately, No. While you are technically alive your body suffered catastrophic damage and is unable to function properly without life support. We utilized some cutting edge research based on stimulating the brains of coma patients via Virtual Reality signals sent to the brain to revive your cognitive brain functions and basically preserve your mind within this space. Should you attempt to leave and wake up, your brain will receive the input from your body that would immediately shut down your nervous system to protect itself meaning you wouldn¡¯t actually ever wake up. This unfortunately has become your new world.¡± I sat there and mulled over the situation. This was not good. The good Doctor was essentially telling me that my life was over and this virtual reality was the only way for me to continue my existence. It was still better than being dead but not by much. [I¡­understand. I think¡­ Can my body be repaired?] ¡°Actually that was the next thing I was going to tell you. Your parents gave signed permission to enroll you in a highly controversial stem cell research trial in which they are going to attempt to clone your damaged organs and then transplant them back into you to observe if there is a rejection. The process will be independent of your cognitive functions so even if it fails you can still maintain the current state of affairs. But on the off chance it succeeds, you may be able to get your old life back.¡± [That¡­sounds great. So I won¡¯t end up becoming some ultra-lame robo-cop without the cybernetic enhancements¡­ But that doesn¡¯t explain what Unicorn Corp. wants with me.] ¡°I was just getting to that. In addition to the stem cell research trials your parents have accepted our offer to participate in a study on the development and maintenance of cognitive brain functions over time in a virtual environment. Normally the brains of patients that end up in a vegetative state similar to your circumstances will steadily degrade over time. We have hypothesized that this is because the cerebrum where most thought processes occur is inactive and atrophies as a result. So this experiment will test if a virtual reality is enough to stimulate the brain into developing higher order cognitive functions. In other words your mind will stay here in the VR world while your body is slowly repaired in the lab we have you set up in. The basic outline of the plan calls for you to enter Royal Road as a player and stay there until either your body is repaired or your brain degrades and shuts down. Do you accept these terms?¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.[Do I get to play Royal Road for Free?] ¡°Of course, as a participant in our trial you receive unlimited access to Royal Road and all medical bills are paid by us.¡± [Then Sign Me Up! I¡¯m ready to do this.] ¡°Hahahahahahah I like your enthusiasm. Very well then we shall start whenever you are ready. We have also prepared a few bonuses for your enjoyment within the game just to make sure you have a pleasant gaming experience and we have set up a secondary programming loop that sends you back here to Homespace when you die. We have lifted the usual 24 hour restriction to the game because you will experience a different time-space continuum than reality since Royal Road runs at approximately a 4:1 ratio per hour. You will not need to eat since machines take care of that for you but you will need to sleep. Since sleep is mainly a cerebral activity it can be done in game and produce the same effects although you will probably still feel the time difference so you will only need to sleep once every 4 days or so. Anyways enjoy your second chance at life, I encourage you to immerse yourself in Royal Road. Goodbye for now Nick.¡± [Thank you and goodbye Dr.] ¡°Execute start up program code 0010 patient Nicholas Kamogawa, grant full access to the program.¡± Understood Doctor, initiating program. As the doctor disappeared a bright new landscape appeared before me. I was high up in the sky and able to observe the lands below from a bird¡¯s eye view. I also noticed that the Royal Road universe was much larger than the earth judging by the curvature of the landscape, unless they programmed it to be a fantastical realm that is flat instead of spherical or something. Select the name of your Avatar. Nick paused to think about this. What¡¯s a cool name for a game character. It¡¯s hard to come up with a cool hero name when you get older than about 12 but this was a man¡¯s romance so he didn¡¯t give up. [Set name as¡­Krios] Select your gender from male, female, or neutral [What the hell is neutral? No, never mind set gender to male] Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine [Dark Elf] You may alter your appearance. Specify body modifications. [Lets see¡­ make him a little taller. Change hair color to silver. Add dark red highlights. Change eye color to violet. Remove chin cleft. Lengthen fingers slightly. Perfect!] Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road- [Pass] Select a city and kingdom you want to start [Morata] Welcome to Royal Road- [Pass] As the view in front of him vanished Krios wondered if he had made the right decision on his race and starting point. He had seen Weed¡¯s recent conquests on the news and was inspired by the footage on the fight against lich shire. He knew he wanted a mage capable class but didn¡¯t want to just be a human cause where¡¯s the romance in that? Other than the Dark Elf stronghold only Serabourg and Morata were open for Dark elves to start at which was unfortunate but he planned to select one of those cities anyways. He saw online that there was news about the resurgence of war between the Kallamore and Brent Kingdoms so those lands were ill advised and the only other kingdom that he was interested in was the Thor kingdom. But unless he started out as a dwarf he would be excluded from a lot of racial quests and have a disadvantage when training his crafting skills. The Plains of Despair had little to nothing when it came to trade making Morata the best choice despite its low levels of technology. However, since he was a beginner player that would not impact his character growth until he gained a lot more levels. As the view came into focus, Krios marveled at the ¡°realness¡± of the place. Everything he saw, touched, smelled was indistinguishable from real life. [So this is Royal Road, I think I¡¯m going to enjoy myself here. I don¡¯t even think I¡¯ll miss my old life.] Krios began to move around touching everything, moving his body, just getting accustomed to the feeling. He was worried that it would be awkward since the body profile was so different but he got used to the feeling relatively quickly. He noticed that he was standing in the middle of a busy square next to an ornate fountain that had been expertly crafted. Small coins gleamed at the bottom of the deep pool. Then once again the universe gave him a bad hand. SPLASH! Krios had been pushed into the fountain from behind. [Great now I¡¯m all wet! I better not antagonize anyone for now though since I¡¯m a total noob.] He swam back up the short distance and pulled himself clear of the pool. A few people laughed at him as he crawled out of the fountain but the perpetrator was nowhere to be seen. As he climbed out Krios received a notification from the AI. Ding! You have received a rare skill book from ORIGIN. [This must be the bonus that Dr. Arata was talking about] You have learned unique skill Student of the Masters. By acquiring a unique skill intelligence increases by 50. You have gained the title The Eternal Apprentice This developed skill of the ancients has been lost to time but you have rediscovered it! Fame increased by 100. Student of the Masters: Ancient skill of a forgotten race. A hidden skill that increases the mind¡¯s capacity for learning. Allows the user to hold a main and sub class. Lifts restrictions on skills a user can learn. +5% increase to skill acquisition +5% increase to skill training -5% exp gained per battle [WOOOWWWW!] Krios¡¯ shout drew the attention of several passerby. Embarrassed, he quickly walked over to an empty alley. The skill was an incredibly useful one. It allowed the user to learn dual classes and increased the proficiency of skill training. The only downside was that it reduced the amount of exp gained from battling making it slightly harder to level up. But the increases in stats would make up for that in the long run since most people neglected to train them as diligently. [Alright! Something great happened to me right away. I can definitely take advantage of this. Now I just have to find out which classes are for me¡­] Krios walked deeper into the alley pondering what kind of path he would tread in this game and where the road to adventure would eventually take him. Chapter 2: Apprentice Note: I have decided to freely change perspectives from first and third person depending on the situation (since describing internal monologues in third person just gives everyone a headache) so apologies to all the grammar Nazis out there. As I walked away from the square into the darkened alleyway I decided to try and make a plan for my immediate future since in almost all the other rpg games I have played the biggest dilemna I always faced was building a proper skill tree with complementary abilities. Obviously the ultimate goal for every character is to level up to the max and fill up the skill tree, but sometimes its better to concentrate one''s efforts on smaller subsets of skills that have a more immediate usage. For now I decided to check up on my stats.
Character Name: Krios
Level: 1Alignment: Neutral
Class: N/AFame: 0
Health: 100Mana: 650
Stamina: 10
Strength: 10Agility: 10
Intellect: 65Wisdom: 10
Luck: 0Leadership: 0
Magic Resistance
Fire: 0%Water: 0%
Earth: 0%Black Magic: 0%
Everything was average except for my intelligence which I got a boost in for racial characteristics and for my unique skill which I received from the AI. Other than my massive intellect I was just like all the other noobs that start out with base 10 stats. So I decided to head for the library first in order to increase my intellect and wisdom stats. I was aware that new players were trapped in there starting cities for the first in game month before they could even go out to hunt rabbits so I was determined to at least prepare for my first encounter with the enemy by powering up. I wasn''t sure what class to pick just yet but I knew that I wanted to use magic because what''s the point of playing virtual reality games if you don''t do all the more unrealistic things that are available. Those idiots over at the training center swinging around swords are missing out on the more fantastic aspects of the game so they can mundanely swing pieces of iron at each other. Maybe being a warrior has its merits as a front-line melee character but that just wasn''t for me. I walked down the different streets looking for some kind of directory but I couldn''t find anything to guide me to the library. Eventually I gave up on finding it on my own and tried to ask someone for directions. There was a big building nearby that was a few blocks off the main square bustling with activity so I decided to stop and ask someone that was working there for help. A stocky muscular man was outside carrying sacks of what looked like iron ores. The man was relatively short with a bald head and shaved face. His arms were pockmarked with burn scars but corded over with thick muscle making his overall appearance quite fearsome. "Excuse me sir..." "What! You too! Every damn day more a more kids with their heads up their asses come and tell me ''I want to be a blacksmith please teach me.'' but the morons never last more than a week. They all give up and run away in the night. Freya''s Tits! the youth nowadays have no backbone. Before the vampires came and petrified the lot of us I remember when everyone took pride in their work and put in that extra effort to make the finished product perfect. It used to be that..." The man continued his rant as Krios just stood there with a hand up uselessly trying to get the smith''s attention. "Um sir, I''m sorry i just wanted to ask..." "Fine! Fine! I''ll give ya a chance. If you ask me your better off trying to learn from the old spinsters down at the tailors guild what with your scrawny little arms and girly hands." "What! Girly?!" "What are you standing there for? GET INSIDE AND GET TO WORK YA WORTHLESS PILE OF SLAG!"
Apprentice Blacksmithing Complete the tasks assigned to you by the master blacksmith to gain an apprenticeship at the forge. Difficulty Level: F Quest Requirements: None Rewards: Blacksmithing Skill
Unable to mount a counteroffensive Krios was dragged inside to begin work as a laborer for the smith. Inside the air shimmered with heat and the rang with the sound of hammers on hot metal. A symphony of clanks and squeaks accompanied the bustling activity at the forges keeping time with the steady groan of the massive bellows attached to a huge furnace steadily pumping out high quality iron ingots for the mountain of ores piled off to the side. The fire inside the furnace burned brightly with an almost visible aura of heat coming out of the main door. "Ah yes I see you like the great hearth. That right there was gifted to us by the great Lord Weed, praise be his name. The Lord Weed spent his own funds to build us this here large hearth all to help the blacksmith''s guild to advance their craft. ''SNNIFFFFF'' Yes it brings a tear to me eye knowing how much the great lord cares for all us normal folk. Heck! the Lord Weed was the one to free us from our stone prisons, defeat the evil vampire clan, and rebuild this entire city all thanks to the Lord''s generosity. Yes sir, Weed is a great man. And don''t you forget that!" I could only nod dumbly to the sudden outburst as the man continued to speak without taking a break. "Anyways you can start here shoveling the coal into the furnace. Once you finish putting in this whole pile here come see me again and I''ll have something else for you to do. Oh almost forgot, the name''s Ironhand. Just ask around for the dwarf if you can''t find me." "But I thought all dwarves had thick beards?" I dumbly replied. "DUMBASSS! If I came into the forge with me full set of whiskers me face would catch fire just looking at the forge. You oughta trim that stupid girly hair of yours too if you don''t want a case of the boiling brains. Happens to a couple of the newer apprentices that wander through here, mind you they tend to be the dumber ones. Fool kids don''t realize that all that stupid long hair just fuel waiting to catch fire. They end up with a head full of flames for their troubles. Never quite the same afterwards most end up quitting. Now enough talk, GET TO WORK GRUB!" Krios stood there for a little while and then seeing no way to get out of his situation without creating even more problems for himself, he picked up the shovel laying on the ground and began to scoop up the coal into the furnace. Scrape up the coal. Lift up the load. Open the furnace door. Deposit the coal. And Repeat. The work itself was infinitely simple but doing it next to a furnace heat to be more than 3000 degrees Fahrenheit makes each shovelful seem to weigh more and causes the body to sweat even more than normal. Krios was suffering through the worst of it when. DING
Strength rises by 1 point. (+1 STR)
Fire Resistance increases by 1%
"YES! who knew such mundane tasks increases stats." Although It''s not what I was going for all stats are welcome. And the fire resistance is an added bonus that will definitely help out when I learn magic. *** 3 days had passed since Krios began shoveling coal into the furnace. Since there was only one great hearth and such a high demand for beginner swords and equipment, the furnace ran all day 6 days a week. The 7 day was reserve for cleaning out the furnace, a dirty and cramped job used to punish lazy and incompetent apprentices. Krios had long since run out of bread and water. He was reaching the limits of his endurance but at the same time his pile of coal had grown noticeably smaller than before. At his current rate he would finish in another few hours. His satiety was at 30% so it would be a race to see if he starved to death or completed his task first. He was sustained by the knowledge that his labor would soon end and by the pop-ups that had steadily notified him of his progress. So far he had gained +9 STR and +5 STA. He could feel himself growing stronger, but the hunger was slowly weakening him. Each shovelful got smaller as the max load he could carry also got smaller. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "Hahahah, looks like it was harder than I thought it would be. I''m almost there though so don''t give me. fight on!"
Satiety depleted. You will lose 1 health/5 sec.
"Fuck, fuck, FUCK! I did not do all this work just to die from starvation at the finish line!" With renewed vigor Krios continued to shovel in the coal. Finally as he put in the last load of coal Krios received several pop-ups at once.
Quest complete! Apprentice Blacksmithing After showing the master your determination he has agreed to accept you as his student. +5 STR +100 Life +10% Fire Resistance Reward: Return to Master Ironhand to learn the skill
New Stat: Sustenance Sustenance: increased metabolic efficiency allowing you to continue working even after your energy is depleted. Actions require less stamina to complete. You are prohibited from distributing points to this stat.
New Stat: Endurance Endurance: through your actions you have gained increased tolerance for pain. You are able to continue fighting with decreased penalties when low on satiety or health. You are prohibited from distributing points to this stat.
"HAHAHAHAH! I DID IT! TAKE THAT SHOVEL!" As Krios celebrated his success he suddenly was overcome with weakness. "Shit, my health is almost gone, I got lucky thanks to the vitality upgrade as part of the quest but I better hurry and get to Ironhand before it''s too late." He rushed out from the furnace room as fast as he could over to the forges to find the loud dwarf. "Oh it''s you kid, did ya finally give up?" "No I completed the task you assigned me, can you teach me the skill now?" "WHAT! Seriously? I thought I made it big enough this time so that they couldn''t finish " "What was that sir?" "Nothing, don''t worry about it. Actually you don''t look so good kid. Here you can have some of me lunch. Ya look like your about to fall over with the next breeze." "Thank you, thank you so much" Krios proceeded to shamelessly stuff his face with the food. "Alright, come over here boy. I''ll show you some of the basics, the rest is all just practice, practice, practice. Ya got that!?!" "Yes sir!" After spending a little time observing Ironhand work the metal into a blade. [rtr]
Quest Complete! After completing the labor assigned to you by the master smith, you have proven your determination to learn the craft and earned his respect. You have leveled up! You have leveled up! You have leveled up! You have leveled up! Skill: You have acquired a new skill, Blacksmithing. +5% STR +5% STA
"Alright! show skill Blacksmithing." [tr]
  • Repair (Lv. 1 0%): Enables you to repair weapons and armors. Beyond Lv. 5, you can forge new weapons and gears.
  • Identify (Lv. 1 0%):Enables you to investigate the nature of objects. Beyond Lv. 5 you can begin to identify artifacts.
  • Handicraft (Lv. 1 0%): Has extra effects on various types of craft skills, and sword mastery.
  • Metallurgy (Lv. 1 0%): Increases proficiency when handling and refining metallic ores and recycling old scrap metal.
"You''re alright kid. If you ever need some work, come back and find me. The forges need good workers like you. Keep up the effort and someday maybe you can be almost as good as a dwarf!" "Thanks master." "None of that master crap now boy! You sure you don''t want to become a smith full time?"
Class Change! You can convert to the Blacksmith class. If you accept it you can learn skills withheld from the primary classes. Do you want to convert to Blacksmith?
"Sorry Ironhand, I am still searching for what makes me feel passionate about life. Blacksmithing is a noble art, but my heart is still restless and I want to go and seek out more adventures and see what else life has to offer. Maybe I''ll come back after I have experienced a bit more in life." "That''s okay boy I understand. Young people are full of energy and they aren''t ready to settle down and learn the deeper intricacies of the craft. Takes too much patience that only develops with age. HARHARHARHAR! You''ll do well in life boy. Just remember this old smith from time to time and maybe come back and visit if you feel like it." "Thanks Ironhand." "Here boy I''ve got something special for you since you seem determined to go out on adventures. Your gonna need a weapon if you want to survive outside Morata. This here... hmmmmppph...THUD hammer is an old relic that I''ve been holding onto. It''s too big for a dwarf to use and I never would have thought an elf could lift it but I think it will suit you perfectly." "I shall take good care of the gift sir."
You have received Ancient Hammer ???
"Umm, Ironhand I can''t identify this weapon. Is it really high level or something?" "Nah, that old relic is just so bloody ancient nobody could figure out what it really does. Maybe you can unravel its mysteries on your journey, eh boy?"
Secret of the warhammer: You have received a mystery hammer from Ironhand. The ancient relic was unearthed while mining diamonds deep in the earth. The hammer is made of an unknown substance of exquisite durability and has strange markings engraved all along the shaft. Rumor has it that the hammer is an ancient remnant of a people long forgotten in history. Discover the truth behind the relic and report back to Ironhand. Difficulty level: A Unable to refuse quest.
Whoa! an A level quest right away. I have no idea how to complete it though so it''s kind of a pain and now I only have 2 slots left for quests. This is somewhat depressing. "Thank you again for all you have given me. I''ll return someday and show you how much I improved Ironhand. Maybe I''ll even become more famous than you!" "HAHAHAHAH! that''s the spirit boy! Now get out here. Go on an adventure or something." As Krios walked away carrying the war hammer that was a little taller than him he was surprised by its lightness. ''hmm. Maybe I''ve become even stronger than I thought I did. Maybe this thing is actually pretty good...'' Chapter Edits I realized by the end of chapter 2 that the protagonist was shaping up to be one of those overkill OP characters like from Arifureta at level 1, so I decided to ditch the +10 stats for everything. I kept the +50 intelligence as part of the title he received though. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Anyways as a student chapter releases will be sporadic so I apologize for that. Other than that, enjoy the story Chapter 3: Medicine Man From now on, taking a page out of other author''s methods: ** means thoughts "" means dialogue Krios was feeling hungry. Scratch that, he was absolutely starving. Immediately after earning the skill from Ironhand, Krios tried to go and buy more food to fill his stomach only to realize, HE WAS BROKE! "SHIIIIIIIIT!" Krios screamed, attracting the gazes and pity of people passing by. "How could this happen to me, I''m gonna be one of those total noobs that ends up dying from hunger. NONONONONONONONO... I have to fix this." Krios stormed off down the street looking for quests, jobs, anything that would put food in his stomach in the near future. He had heard rumors online about the Lord Weed forming intimate relationships with NPC''s in order to mooch food off of them but he had no idea how to do that himself. He could always go back and work for Ironhand but he didn''t want to pressure the dwarf into helping him (that and his pride wouldn''t allow him to go back after proclaiming he would become a grand adventurer to the dwarf''s face). The dwarf may have a backhanded way of complimenting his workers but that didn''t mean he didn''t care about them. Still relying on Ironhand would be a last resort Krios decided. His satiety was still full so he still had some time left before he needed to eat. In the meantime he would just have to find a job of some kind that would earn him a bit of money or at least some food. Krios searched up and down craftsman lane, he figured that if he was going to get a job he might as well get one that gave him a skill, preferably a lucrative skill since he didn''t want to spend all his time working as a craftsman just to get a few gold. Krios wandered the streets looking for an opportunity to get a new job. Unfortunately it seemed that a lot of people had the same idea and most of the shops had huge lines out the door. Most of those people had to be customers but he knew that at the same time he couldn''t afford to stand around in line just to ask if there was any work for him. The shops with shorter lines all turned him away stating that they didn''t have any open positions and to try his luck elsewhere. Tired and grumpy, Krios continued to search for a job. His stomach growled at him but he had nothing to fill it with. Eventually his gaze was attracted to a tiny hole in the wall shop with dusty windows. As he approached a player burst out from the front door muttering obscenities. He turned around and shouted into the shop. "Screw you old man, your shit isn''t worth the price of the labels you put on them." A potion bottle flew out of the store to smash into the chest of the obnoxious player in front of Krios. As the bottle broke, a noxious green cloud was released that covered the player''s body. A shout issued from the cloud and arms could be seen waving around trying to clear the air around the man. As the disgusting green cloud cleared Krios couldn''t help but stare. The player''s face was now warped into a pig-like visage complete with an upturned nose, beady little eyes, and a thick brow, giving Krios the impression of a rather ugly caveman type creature with a pig face. Noticing his staring, the now transformed woman turned to face him and demanded: "What''s the matter with you? You never seen a girl before piggy?" Krios''s face immediately darkened, but he held in his anger and just pointed to the glass of a nearby window. The woman turned towards where Krios was pointing and let out a shriek that made his ears ring afterwards. Sobbing, the woman ran away into the darkness of a nearby alleyway. With a grim smile, Krios gulped down any inhibitions he had and walked into the store before he could over think this possibly disastrous choice. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" "What do you want sonny, can''t you see I''m busy?" An old wrinkled little man with leathery tanned skin emerged from behind the curtain leading to the rear of the shop. The man moved with surprising vigor given his apparent age Krios thought judging from the shock of wispy white hair that crowned the shopkeeper''s head. "So what do you want? I haven''t got all day. If your just here to look and not buy anything then get out, I have no time to coddle you idiots that can''t tell the difference between quality goods and junk. "Actually sir, I''m here to ask if you have need of an apprentice even if it''s just to clean the shop or something. I don''t mind working hard. All I ask is that you provide meals and maybe a small stipend for living expenses." "Oho! so you think you have what it takes to be my apprentice eh boy? Well then don''t come crying to me later when you can''t do the job. Being an alchemy apprentice is far more dangerous than being a blacksmith boy, so if you don''t want to end up..." "Wait! How did you know I was a blacksmith?" "It''s obvious boy. Your clothes are smudged with soot and you absolutely reek of iron and rust, the logical conclusion is that you have been to the forges recently. And judging by the lack of hair on your arms, I suspected you were a smith or a smith''s apprentice of some kind rather than just a passing adventurer." "Impressive, anyways can I have the job?" "Before that, a little test is called for to see if you have the aptitude for alchemy work. Now then, thoroughly describe the effects of the potion that I used on that bitch and name at least one compound I used in the potion to create such a unique effect." "Ummmm, Gimme a moment..." Krios racked his brains to come up with an answer, this was his last chance afterall so he couldn''t afford to blow it. "I''m waiting." "Wait! I got it, you used pig''s blood in the potion to change her face so the nose looked like a pig-nose." "Well, you got the ingredient right but are you sure about the physical differences? The potion is supposed to make the target turn into a dog beast man character. I invented it for when men need a comedic punchline to comment on their wife cheating on them. You know when you think "what a bitch!'' this was supposed to actually turn them into a bitch." "No, sorry. All I saw was the pig-nose." "Haaaaaaahhhhh, I guess I used to much pigs-blood. I would normally use human blood to attach a human transformation element to the mix but human blood always locks the potion to react to specific individuals according to the blood you use. That means the potion is useless since it can only be made with the target''s blood which would tip off the victim to the user''s intentions." "So did I pass the test?" "Fine you can start here as a temporary worker boy. You better not let me catch you slacking off. Got it?"
Learning to make Medicine The apothecary shopkeeper has asked you to turn the raw herbs he has in storage into usable potion compounds. Prove to the old man you have the skills of a true alchemist! Difficulty Level: E Rewards: Learn Alchemy Skill Quest Restrictions: Failure of quest will negatively affect relationship with shopkeeper.
"Yessir!"
Quest Accepted!
"In the meantime go over to the table and grind up a bunch of those red herbs. Don''t touch the blue or yellow herbs, those are far more expensive and require more skill than your ham hands are capable of. And take this so you don''t mess it up"
Items received: Health potion compounding instructions
Krios made his way over to the small worktable beneath a dusty window in the corner. There was a huge sack full of red tinted leaves sitting next to the table along with several other herbs attached to the ceiling and in pots to dry or preserve in alcohol. The strong medicinal smell that came from the jars suggested the herbs were all very potent in comparison to the wilted reddish leaves he was supposed to take charge of. Krios ignored the smell and got to work right away. He couldn''t afford to mess up this job since if he did, he would starve to death and lose some of his precious levels that he gained after Ironhand''s hellish trial. He picked up the huge bag of herbs and set it down on the work bench next to a large stone mortar. "Identify!"
Red Herbs: medicinal plant species that can be used in potion creation. Grants 1% health generation upon consumption. Alchemical refining can improve the effects of the herb.
Mortar and Pestle: basic tools of the alchemy trade necessary for compounding...
Shoveling a few handfuls of red leaves into the stone bowl, Krios moved to pick up the large stone pestle that lay next to the bowl, only to lose his grip on the damned thing and drop it on his foot.
You have been hit! Lose 10% HP.
"FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHH!" he cursed as he hopped up and down trying to alleviate the pain in his foot. The damn pestle weighed a frickin'' ton! No wonder that old man was so fit if he had to lift this everyday. Regaining his composure, Krios crouched down to examine the heavy stone pestle. The actual item wasn''t all that huge, about the size of a police baton or nightstick with a rounded head to pulverize the ingredients in the bowl. The grip was wrapped with some leather scraps to protect the users hands from the rough texture of the stone. Krios tried to identify the object again to see if he had missed sometihng. "Identify!"
Item identification failed
Frustrated, Krios tried again. "Identify!"
Altheazar''s Granite mortar and pestle: Specialized stone compounding tools used by Master Alchemist Altheazar to create large quantities of medicine. The stone hand tool has a gravity enchantment on it to add weight to the pestle. +25% Potion creation success +5% Potion effectiveness.
"Holy shit! that shabby old man is actually a master alchemist, and what a monster to make an already heavy item even heavier!" "What was that boy!" "Nothing master!" *Crap I said that out loud. Still, the old man is a lot more impressive than I originally thought to have such specialized equipment. He must be really dedicated to become a master alchemist.* Krios began to grind up the herb leaves; he carefully followed the recipe for the potion he was supposed to be making. He meticulously pounded and ground up the red herbs, then he added in a little salt, some numbweed, and water to help extract all the medicinal compounds from the leaves. The ingredients slowly turned into a red-brown mud paste at the bottom of the bowl as Krios continued to pulverize the mixture. He was careful not to add in any ingredients not on the list as well as wash each container out to prevent cross contamination from old potions. Several hours later, Krios was sweating heavily, his muscles felt like jelly and his compounding speed was starting to slow down dramatically. *Almost finished, just have to make this last batch. Fuck this hurts! Why aren''t my stats going up? This sucks!* Krios continued to grind the herbs down into a paste, careful not to add too much water all while bitterly complaining in his mind about the unfairness of the situation.
You are starving! Stamina regeneration will be reduced -30%. Stats will be penalized -10%. If you don''t eat within 2 hours you will die.
"Shit, not again. What''s with this plot development. The hero of the story isn''t supposed to be eternally scrounging for food. This sucks!" Krios continued to persevere despite the stat reduction which slowed his pace to a crawl. Each time he lifted the pestle, his arms trembled and sweat poured from his brow. He had already come this far though so he couldn''t afford to give up here and die! With renewed furor, he viciously ground the herbs into a paste, until finally. "I''m finished!"
Quest Complete! After persevering for many hours, you have successfully compounded the entire stock of herbs into usable medicinal compounds without making any mistakes! +10 Strength +15 Stamina +5 Sustenance +1 Luck Rewards: Return to Altheazar to receive skill
New Stat: Concentration Improves success rate of skills. Applies to magic casting and crafting abilities. You may not distribute points to this stat.
Alright! Nice stat gain! It wasn''t totally useless afterall!
For repeatedly choosing to make your task even more difficult than it should be... New skill: Doing it the hard way (Passive) Why settle for doing things the normal way when you can make your task even more difficult? 5% chance of generating new skills 5% chance of increasing random stat
"Huh?" Krios stared at the window with confusion. What did the system mean by that? He had only done what the old man asked of him so why the new skill? And what''s with this description? Is the AI trying to make him mad? Is a computer even able to make fun of a person? "Oh finally finished are you boy?" "Yes, I did as you asked old man and compounded the red herbs like you asked." "Lets see then how badly you messed things up boy. Where are you, I can''t find you." "Over here master." "Oh there you are Kri...Pbfft. BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!" The ancient old alchemist bent over laughing hysterically at Krios. This made Krios feel angry, he had done the best job he could so why was this stupid scruffy looking geezer laughing at his seriousness? As he stood there simmering, the old man noticed his silence and said: "You.. pfft... really... hehe... don''t realize it... hah... do you?" "What old man, you''re pissing me off so hurry up and tell me what you think is so funny?" "Weeeeeellllll..." "Just say it already!" "Fine but don''t be mad yeah? Anyways when I asked you to grind up the red herbs so I could use them in potions I was talking about this table over here." Krios followed behind the old man as he shuffled over to a hidden alcove near the front of the shop. A small work table stood there with a much smaller mortar and pestle along with a handful red herbs and various other ingredients all laid out in order of the instructions Altheazar had given Krios before he started. As it dawned on him Krios couldn''t help but stand there and stare at the table refusing to accept what he knew to be the truth. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "Actually, I just wanted a small demonstration to see if you had any talent boy. You sure proved me wrong, not only did you compound my entire stock of red herbs for health potions, you also did it while using that old relic that I keep." "What do you mean old man?" "That there giant enchanted monstrosity is something I used back in my younger days as an army medic. Back then I was a young hot head like you and the armsmen all called me ''The Walking Refinery.'' The reason they called me that was cause I could supply potions for an entire legion by myself! The bigger alchemy guilds have huge set ups that can be used to mass produce potions but I did the same amount of work with just be trusty mortar and pestle. Anyways, as I was saying I haven''t used that old thing in years since there isn''t much demand for quality potion work. Nowadays I spend my retirement experimenting with new recipes and doing the odd request here and there for small batches of potions." "EEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Krios couldn''t believe what he was hearing. He was absolutely fuming about the old man''s ambiguous instructions. He had slaved over that damn mortar for nearly the entire day! The amount of work he did was even comparable to the slave labor shoveling quest Ironhand assigned him judging by the amount of stats he gained at the end. On top of that he had compounded the man''s entire stock of herbs for free basically! The only extra reward he received from the whole ordeal was a troll skill he got from the AI that he was tempted to delete because it pissed him off so much. *Calm down me, you can fix this. Just demand for extra compensation or something. It may be your own damn fault for not asking the old man for better directions but still, he wouldn''t try to cheat me out of the labor I did would he?* Despite his anger Krios couldn''t help but respect the old man for his skill. Altheazar may have become a grumpy old man but it was clear that he knew his stuff when it came to alchemy. He wasn''t like normal alchemists either so maybe he could cut the old man some slack (since he probably would get his ass kicked if he tried to fight the geezer). "Right then you proved your worth as an apprentice, come here and I''ll teach you the skill."
Quest Complete: Learning to make Medicine After going above and beyond what the Master Alchemist Altheazar asked of you, he has agreed to teach you the skill and take you on as his apprentice. Rewards: New Skill Alchemy learned You have leveled up! You have leveled up! You have leveled up!
New Skill: Alchemy +10 Wisdom +10 Dexterity
Tiredly Krios accepted the new skill. "Show skill Alchemy!"
  • Herbology (Lv. 1 18%): Ability to identify additional details about plants as well as increase potion effectiveness
  • Herb Gathering (Lv. 1 0%): Increased harvest of ingredient materials in the wild, increased chance of finding rare herbs
  • Potion Creation (Lv. 3 47%) Ability to refine ingredients into potions with varying effects
"Finally, I got something good." Krios muttered to himself darkly. "What''s that sonny?" "Nothing old man Altheazar." "Good then come with me. Since you used up all my herb stock, I''ll show you a few tricks I picked up over the years. Bring the herb paste with you, you haven''t finished creating the potion just yet." "I haven''t?" "No ya moron, does that look like something you can put in a bottle and drink?" "Ohhhhhh..."
You are Starving! Stamina regeneration will be reduced -30%. Stats will be penalized -10%. If you don''t eat within 1 hour you will die.
"Um old man can I have something to eat first?" "Hmmm, oh right here swallow this." Before Krios could react, the alchemist pulled out a black ball from his pocket and shoved it in Krios''s mouth. On reflex Krios swallowed the black ball. Strangely enough immediately after he swallowed it his satiety filled up. "What was that thing you gave me?" Altheazar ignored this though and kept walking. "Right here we are." At the back of the shop behind the curtain, Krios saw a complex network of glass-work and gas burners all positioned in such a way that he couldn''t help but feel like he was standing in the middle a of a mad scientist''s laboratory. However the old alchemist walked past the whole thing over to a much simpler set up on a spotless table top off to the side. On the work bench Krios spotted a simple gas burner, a stand, a few beakers, and some odd looking flasks. "Come here boy! Now put that down and watch." Altheazar proceeded to scoop out a ball of herb paste with a shiny metal spoon. Then he added it to a beaker half full of water and mixed the whole thing up. "Here boy identify this." "Okay. Identify!"
Normal Health Potion Effects: Restores up to 4000 HP for 5 minutes
"Now observe what I do carefully now." After the paste was evenly diffused into the solution, he poured the mixture through a fine cloth strainer. The cloth filtered out all the particulate matter and let a stream of dark red liquid fill up another clean beaker. Altheazar carefully squeezed out the remaining liquid from the cloth and then set the leftover substrate to the side. He picked up the beaker and waved it in front of Krios. "This right here is also a Health Potion. The Basic recipe can be altered to give different effects but the one you learned was the recipe to make a basic potion. By straining out the impurities you get a stronger potion effect afterwards. Here look at it carefully." Krios took the offered potion and examined the beaker. "Identify!"
Fine Health Potion Effects: Restores up to 5000 HP for 5 minutes.
"Now that you know what that does, hand it back to me. Now pay attention here, this is a delicate process unlike what you were doing before. Now the real reason they called me "The Walking Refinery" is because of a trick I developed to save space on potions in the army. Watch closely." Altheazar put the beaker onto the fire and proceeded to carefully reduce the liquid, stirring the mixture occasionally. As the liquid in the flask simmered, it grew thicker and gained a much greater depth of color. "This process is called reduction and it''s very easy to mess up the whole thing, so you have to pay constant attention to the mixture got it?" "Uh yes?" "Good, I discovered this technique while I was hungover and watching the cooks make breakfast. It seems that the army cooks have developed a peculiar technique that allows them to reduce a liquid until it grows so thick that it can be dried and turned into tablets which they pack into sealed boxes and take with them on campaign. Usually the cooks boil down beef stock or herb stock into a slurry which they spread out on a sheet to further bake in the sun and they break the resulting solidified product into cubes to take with them. One tablet or stock cube is enough to make a very basic soup for 100 men. They add other stuff in when reconstituting the cubes of course to give the soup more body but that''s a different matter. The things that are most important when reducing the liquid is careful moderation of the fire so the solution doesn''t burn, and thoroughly stirring the mixture to make sure the edges don''t burn as it reduces. This only works cause we strained out the impurities at the beginning of the process. You probably were thinking that it wasn''t worth the trouble since we lose a small quantity of potion when straining it and it only gives a small boost to the potion quality." Krios couldn''t help but agree with this statement since he felt it was rather wasteful. "Well it is true that you lose some of the potion when processing it so many times but you haven''t seen the full effect of this here secret process. Look at the mixture now and tell me what you see." Krios was still skeptical, but he was also intrigued by the mysterious process before him so he did as the alchemist asked him. "Identify!"
Concentrated Refined Health Syrup This item is a special medicinal ingredient that was produced through the secret refining process created by Master Alchemist Altheazar. Use 1 drop of Refined Health Syrup in water to produce a Normal Health Potion. Use 2 drops of Refined Health Syrup in water to produce a Fine Health Potion Item Restrictions; Overdose of health syrup will result in severe poisoned status.
"WOW! That is amazing!" Krios understood immediately the power of this secret method. The biggest challenge for players when soloing dungeons is running out of potions and items. Usually a player takes as many as 10 health and mana potions with him with additional antidotes and stamina potions depending on the class when exploring a dungeon. This however limits the available space in the inventory. Reducing the potion means each bottle of health syrup equates to around 100 normal health potions. This would lighten the player''s inventory considerably since this game had a weight system that affected a player''s movement speed. "That''s not all either." "What there''s more?" "Yes, there is. Part 2 of my secret method involves using the Health syrup and the leftover paste though so bring it with you." Altheazar shifted over to a different work bench with a flat board, several glass containers, and a small mana-forge strangely enough. "Right give me the health syrup and the paste." "Why do I smell bacon?" "All in good time." Altheazar then took the substrate he had strained out earlier and molded it into a flat layer on the board. Then he reached into the different containers and pulled out a variety of strange materials that all suspiciously smelled like normal food. Then the alchemist combined all the ingredients on the board and began to knead it with his hands. After he was satisfied with the thoroughly mixed paste, he pulled off small balls of the material and placed them on a stone plate spaced apart by a few centimeters. A few he also added some of the health syrup to a few of the balls. The alchemist picked up the now full tray and placed it in the forge. After waiting a few minutes, Altheazar reached back into the forge with a pair of tongs and removed the stone plate. He waved Krios over. "Here boy it''s finished now. Try examining the balls." "Identify!"
Altheazar''s secret food pills By combining a variety of highly nutritious ingredients and baking them dry, the result is a concentrated energy supplement pill. Its effectiveness is limited though and repeated usage reduces the satiety it fills.
"I''m impressed old man." "That''s not all, look at these ones. There a bit special." "Identify!"
Altheazar''s Medicinal food pills By combining nutritious ingredients and medicinal ingredients, the result is a pill with the same effects as medicinal cooking. Its effectiveness is limited though and repeated usage reduces the satiety it fills. +10% health regeneration for 1 hour
You have seen the secret refining method created by the Master Alchemist Altheazar. For being the first to discover this new method +100 fame +5 Wisdom You have learned new subskills:
  • Reduction (Lv. MAX): Allows a skilled alchemist to reduce potions increasing their effectiveness.
  • Pill Creation (Lv. MAX): Allows a skilled alchemist to create pills with various effects
Krios was astounded by the secret medicines Altheazar showed him one after another. Why wasn''t the old man filthy rich then if he had all these great medicines? Did he want to keep it secret for some reason? Krios couldn''t figure out why the alchemist chose to work in this dingy little shop when he could be working for kings and queens with his skills. "I don''t know what to say old man... Thank you for showing me all this." "You''re a good boy Krios. I know you''re an adventurer so this knowledge will serve you well. Maybe when you get famous you''ll remember old Altheazar and come back to visit eh? HAHAHAH!" "Thanks old man." "Now judging by the state of your clothes, you are probably homeless right now. I would offer you a place to stay but it''s rather cramped here. I''ll make you a deal though. I''ll pay you 1 gold for every 10 potions you make. Start with basic mana potions then work your way up as you practice more and become more proficient at it. I hear that the Lord Weed has recently built many shacks for adventurers like yourself to purchase. The price for one was around 25 gold I think. If you make enough, you can even upgrade your shack to a house." "Thank you old man I''ll take you up on that offer." "Alright I''m going upstairs to rest these old bones now, the shop will take care of itself since hardly anyone ever comes here." Altheazar began to walk upstairs seeing as night was closing fast. Krios also decided to take a nap in the shop in a comfy looking armchair that the old alchemist probably sat in while he rested downstairs. "Today was quite productive. I learned a few hidden skills and got a job, a place to crash for now, and a steady source of income. Tomorrow I will go train some combat skills. Blacksmithing and Alchemy are all well and good, but you can''t kill monsters as a craftsman..." As Krios drifted off to sleep, somewhere in the city discontent brewed. A group of shadowy figures met and held a whispered conversation, then quickly moved on. Morata''s night while lit by the amazing sculptures of her lord Weed, still held an intangible darkness to it... Chapter 4: Combat Krios woke to the sound of an explosion the next morning originating from the laboratory in back. -BBOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!- "AAHHHH!" Krios jerked awake and promptly fell out of the chair. Getting up off the floor and picking up the chair, Krios let his rapid heart beat slow down as he called out to check in on the old man. "Hey Altheazar! You okay in there?" "What''s that boy? I can''t bloody hear you! Speak up!" "I SAID, ARE YOU OKAY IN THERE?!" "I''m fine stop shouting ya damn fool." Judging the old man''s grumpy response to be a good sign, Krios dusted himself off and righted the chair he had knocked over when he woke up. Judging by the amount of clanks and whistles that emanated from the laboratory, Krios correctly assumed the old alchemist was busy experimenting again. It had been a week since he had started living at the shop. He had done as Altheazar asked and compounded a bunch more potions from Altheazar''s herb stocks managing to raise his alchemy proficiency by 7 levels. He had also gained a variety of stats thanks to training with the heavy granite compounding set Altheazar let him use. He also had an extra boost from his new skill Doing it the hard way. While the reason he got the skill still pissed him off, the random stat gain effect was too good to pass up and it was his only real way of training his non-distributable stats such as sustenance and endurance. Krios''s alchemy was now beginner Lv. 8, but the experience returns from making basic potions and antidotes had severely dropped off. He suspected that he only managed to increase it this much because creating reductions and pills seemed to be treated as making a new type of potion by the system so when the returns for basic potions dropped off around beginner Lv. 5, he started making concentrated versions and variations on the pills Altheazar had shown him. Some of the recipes for the food pills Altheazar had shown him were extremely strange including all kinds of ordinary and extraordinary ingredients. Usually the old man used a base of ground oats, flour, bone powder, and bacon fat to create most of the pill. The leftover herb substrates that were leftover from the reduction process provided much of the necessary vitamins and proteins the way the old man explained it to Krios. Together with the high energy base, the completed food pill was basically a condensed version of a mid-grade loaf of bread. Adding other ingredients would also upgrade the basic recipe so it gained medicinal properties. The pill''s effects however couldn''t completely compensate for a proper meal and as stated by the alchemist when describing their effects, repeatedly substituting meals with the pill led to diminishing returns. Currently, Krios had produced over 700 potion batches and earned around 70 gold in total, however he had purchased an complete alchemy set from Altheazar for 50 gold and had to pay back the cost of ingredients to the old man so his net profits from all his efforts yielded only 9 gold in the end. This was still a rather tidy sum compared to the average purse size of the newbie player and potion making was extremely profitable compared to hunting rabbits and foxes the way most players ended up trying to build up funds. With about 2 weeks to go till his restriction was lifted, Krios decided it was time to move on. "Old man, I''m heading out now. Did you need anything picked up or delivered today?" "What''s that boy?! I can''t hear you!" "I SAID... ah never mind, see ya old man!" Krios gave up on trying to hold a conversation with the addled alchemist and decided to just leave. Today his goal was to finally train his combat skills. He still didn''t know if he wanted to be a melee fighter, a ranger, or a mage of some kind. His ridiculously high intellect made becoming a mage seem like an easy choice. Still, he had always wanted to become a badass melee fighter like his fictional hero Drizzt that hailed from the city of evil in the Underdark. It was the primary reason why he chose the Dark elf race instead of a high elf even with the penalties on familiarity with a variety of other races that the high elves weren''t affected by. Thanks to his extra stat boosts from Unicorn Corp. he didn''t lose out to the High elves in terms of magic power, but there were still other disadvantages to consider. Walking away from the shop Krios stopped by a few food stalls that had popped up in the fountain square. The Lord of Morata, Weed, was usually absent but when he did come back from adventuring, he always made changes to the city from domestic affairs of the lord. The lunch stalls and new guild houses were proof of that. A few silvers and a sandwich later, Krios finally arrived at guild street. The Lord Weed had managed to erect multiple guild houses in the city all in the same area. Morata had all kinds of classes to choose from including all the crafting classes with a heavy emphasis on art, as well as a variety of combat classes. Morata still lacked proper mage towers, but you could still find a few NPC''s willing to teach you the basics of magic if you knew where to look. Altheazar had told him an old acquaintance made his residence somewhere around the base of the mountain, so Krios began his search there. As he wandered through the streets all kinds of tough looking players passed him. Since the majority of guild houses currently in Morata belonged to the close range figher classes, there were an abundance of burly thug types walking in the streets. Krios was careful to avoid them for now since he had zero combat skills at the time. His bulging purse also made an excellent target for the less savory types. The Paladins of the church of Freya were excellent peace keepers, but there was a limit to there vigilance and with the city constantly growing, the number of thieves had also grown considerably. The Paladins always picked up on any crimes happening in the city and were quick to punish criminals, but they often got there after the fact and meted out justice once it was too late for the victim. So Krios was careful not to offend any of the scary looking warriors and stuck to the main streets. He was never bullied in life and he did have training in a few styles of martial arts, but it always helps to be cautious. After several hours of searching, Krios was tired and irritated. He had not found any trace of the supposed reclusive mage nor had anyone he spoke to known about the mage in question either. At this rate the whole day would be wasted. Krios stopped by the fountain once again to get a drink and purchase a few more snacks from the food stalls there. *This is lame. I''ve been walking around all day with nothing to show for it. Those snacks weren''t cheap either, though they were tasty. If I don''t find someone to teach me then I''ll have wasted the whole day. I could always go to the dojo and train with a sword or something, but I don''t know how to use a sword . I could always go to the rogues guild and try picking up a few skills there, but I don''t really want to use a knife since knife fighting relies on extreme close range combat. There are too many videos showing melee fighter type players getting crushed in boss fights cause all their attacks are melee based and they can''t dodge the heavy attacks while being so close.* Krios contemplated his dilemna as he finished off his snack by the fountain. As he sat there he noticed a bunch of players going by that were carrying two-handed weapons, mostly bastard swords and other heavy weaponry. This all reminded him of the quest that he forgot about, so he took out the great war hammer Ironhand had given him from his inventory to look it over again. *My identify skill has improved quite a bit, though it''s not at the intermediate level yet so lets try examining this thing again.* "Identify!"
Ancient Hammer ??? Attack damage: 10-50 Damage type: Crush Item bound to character, cannot be dropped
"Hmm, not bad. There are obviously some more secrets that I still can''t identify but since I''m able to equip it now it doesn''t really matter I guess." The description still lacked details but it seemed that he could at least equip the weapon in the meantime. He was grateful that it could be used as a weapon despite it being a quest item, which deviated from what he knew about most RPG logic. After resting for a while, Krios made the decision to go to the dojo to get some training in with his hammer. He had intended to take advantage of his increased intellect to become a mage oriented character, but until the Lord Weed came back and added some mage towers to Morata it was simply too difficult to try and learn magic on his own. Krios stood up from the fountain and made his way towards the training hall. As he got closer to the training hall the number of beginners also increased. There seemed to be a lot of players coming here to develop combat skills before they left on quests. Krios knew that for combat based classes weapon style proficiency was crucial to upgrading their damage output. Leveling up skills made the individual attack type have increased damage but leveling up weapon proficiency gave a passive damage boost to all attacks with that weapon type no matter if it was a skill or a normal attack. However it was incredibly difficult to level up weapon proficiency. According to online sites it was possible to level up proficiency much more quickly if you had some real life skills that transferred over such as kendo or fencing. However this only boosted proficiency gain in the lower levels. Unfortunately Krios had zero weapons combat training. He had some hand to hand martial art skills, but unless he wanted to become a monk or a kung fu master his skills were unnecessary. Krios made his way through the crowded streets and into the interior of the training hall. Inside hundreds of people were steadily hacking at practice dummies with a variety of weapons. From what he could see there were short swords, long swords, bastard swords, great swords, rapiers, sabers, daggers, axes, and a few people were even practicing with shurikens and throwing needles. Krios stood there taking in everything for a few minutes. "Hey you! If you''re not here to train then get out of way or leave!" An angry looking bearded barbarian shouted at Krios while coming closer. "Sorry about that sir. I''m new and I''m trying to decide what weapon I should use." "Ohhhhh... Another adventurer then here to learn how to use blade eh? Fine then, but stay out of way else you''re likely to catch flying sword through brain. These weapons may be blunted, but that doesn''t mean can''t kill people who too stupid to get out of way, got that!" "Yessir, I''ll be more careful." Krios hastily moved closer to the weapons racks on the walls. Each rack held an assortment of training weapons, all blunted to make sure no one cut off their own arm. There were hundreds of swords lined up next to one another. To Krios all the swords were the same. Sure he understood on an intellectual level that certain types of swords were for piercing and others for cutting, but in practice since he had absolutely no skills with blades outside of the kitchen, he had no idea how to choose one that suited him. *Honestly what''s the point of all these different swords. In the end, people just hack away at the target with skills so it doesn''t really matter what you choose right?* After giving up trying to select the perfect weapon, Krios randomly grabbed a normal looking short sword. His strength may have been greater than normal thanks to all the training he did while earning money, but he was against the idea of trying to dual wield swords. Using one was more than difficult enough and he wanted the option of equipping a shield to increase his defense. Most elven players chose archery or dual dagger mastery in order to increase their damage rate to accommodate for their decreased strength compared to other races. Thanks to his special skills Krios didn''t have to worry about racial stat penalties but in return he leveled up slower than normal. After getting his weapon, Krios found an unused space and approached the practice dummy. He took a few warm up swings to try and get a feel for the blade but it still felt awkward to him. He persisted though and eventually worked out a comfortable movement that felt somewhat natural to him. *Okay, time to start training. How hard could it really be if everyone is doing it?* Krios took his first swing at the target. THWACK! "FUCK!" He quickly dropped the sword as the vibrations from the blade affected his grip on the handle. The practice dummies were wooden with some basic armor attached to them. This unfortunately did not account for the texture of flesh and bone. Hitting it with a sword only resulted in the kinetic energy of the swing being dispersed into the users hand numbing them in the process. This was why the instructor had warned him about flying weapons. People who used too much strength and lost their grip would inevitably end up throwing their swords across the room. The ricochets off the walls were also deadly if you weren''t on the lookout for random swords flying around. Krios danced around as he attempted to massage feeling back into his fingers. He had not taken any damage from the recoil but it was still painful. *Dammit that hurt! How am I supposed to use this damn thing? Most monsters have particularly tough skin and some even wear armor. If every blow gives feedback like this then I won''t be able to hold on to my sword for the whole battle!* Krios knew that using a sword was more about targeting the weak points in an opponent''s armor. By their nature most swords were too slender and fragile to hack through armor. The only exceptions were bastard swords or great swords that had enough mass to crush as well as slice, and legendary weapons that defied common sense and were able to cut through armor or deliver direct damage to the enemy. Unfortunately Krios was unlikely to find any legendary weapons and two-handed weapons had their own limitations. He sighed as he came to this conclusion. Most warriors simply increased their strength to handle the recoil from attacks and developed armor penetration skills to overcome the enemy''s defense. Speed-type attackers such as rogues and assassins focused on dealing backstab damage to lightly armored or unprotected areas to inflict massive initial damage, then used poisons and rapid attacks to whittle down the enemy''s health till they died. Archers could simply change out arrowhead types to gain armor penetrating properties and mages were unaffected by physical defenses. After recovering from his blunder, Krios picked up his sword and tried to swing with less strength. Even then he still found using the sword to be rather awkward for him. The goal of his training was to use the sword and rapidly target all the weak spots outline on the practice dummy. This included all the joints in the armor and other lightly protected areas. This required both precision and impressive strength since most attacks against the dummy bounced off or skittered to the side depending on what angle he struck at. Feeling frustrated Krios tried slowing down and just striking at one area. Even then his attacks varied in speed and power. He was unable to consistently strike the same area and more often than not his sword would twist in his grip as he couldn''t align his blade to strike at a perpendicular angle to the target. ***** Five hours later, Krios had still not received the sword mastery skill and he was growing frustrated. After striking the dummy repeatedly, his coordination had not gotten any better. There were simply too many variables to account for in a single swing. He had to purposely target a weakness in the armor, then strike decisively and powerfully. His blade had to hit the area at a perpendicular angle or else it would be deflected away instead of cutting into the target. Additionally, when hunting monsters he had to account for the position of bones and joints; otherwise his weapon was likely to become wedged in the monster''s bones or at the very least have a significant loss of durability and sharpness from repeatedly striking such dense objects. Finally, he had to hold on to his weapon the entire time and then repeat the maneuver as quickly as possible to decrease the amount of time he was open to a counter-attack. On top of all this, real opponents would be moving and fighting back making any precision strikes nearly impossible. If any of these factors were lacking, his attack would be ineffective and deliver a minimal amount damage. Normal players simply overcame this by trying to level up rapidly in order to increase their stats and relied on system guided skills to deal damage. Truly skilled players were able to take their real life experience and translate that into correct forms that delivered much greater damage. *dammit... why haven''t I gotten the skill? Even though I trained with the sword for hours... with my special ability it should have already happened so why...* Dusk had arrived and the instructor of the training hall commanded everyone to wrap up their practice sessions so he could go home. Exhausted and hungry, Krios threw his sword down in frustration. Unable to learn the skill for some reason, he had given up on trying to learn swords skills since his coordination was relatively low even with racial dexterity bonuses. Angry at his own incompetence, he stalked back to the weapons rack and stuffed the sword back with the rest of the training weapons. He was feeling depressed and mad and wanted to hit something, anything to let out his intense emotions. As he left the weapons instructor grabbed him. Krios immediately snarled at the barbarian and tried to punch him in the face only to be slammed against the wall with one hand. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. "Control yourself boy!" Upset by his loss of control, Krios immediately calmed down leaving only a feeling of sadness. "Calmed down have we? Good, stop glaring at me. If this wasn''t the training hall I would have killed you for that. Remember that boy." "Haaaahhhh...it''s pointless anyways. You saw how badly I did in practice. Even with all that effort I didn''t learn anything." "Yes, you are inexperienced like everyone else no?" "It''s more than that. I know what I''m supposed to do but I just can''t convince my body to do it right." "Not everyone is meant to be warrior. Once I wanted to be silversmith like my father and his father before him. I watched my father as he worked in the village crafting delicate art work to sell to traders and women of the village. I too wanted to follow in his footsteps and become a silversmith." "Then why didn''t you become one?" "Look at me boy. People cannot do everything. Some things are simply beyond reach. By my tenth nameday I was already taller than my father and by my fourteenth nameday I was the strongest in the village. My father tried to teach me his craft but these hands were never meant for delicate crafting. I could only create mediocre pieces at best and often made mistake because my hands were too big to properly work the tools. So I become warrior." "Why does this matter. Why are you telling me this?" "Because boy, not everyone can become silversmith. Just like not everyone can learn the sword. If you try harder than anyone else than it is possible to learn. But you will lack the skill that others have and only be a normal warrior at best. Sometimes you have to make hard choice and accept what you can and cannot do no?" Seemingly finished with his speech, the barbarian instructor stood up and walked off into the fading sunlight. Krios remained there in front of the training hall contemplating the instructor''s words. It was a difficult truth to swallow but he knew deep down that the barbarian was right. All men are not created equal. Even though parents told their children they could be anything they wanted, it was simply a lie to support children as they pursue their dreams. And he realized that he was untalented at using a sword. Even if he did come back and keep trying till he learned the skill, he would never be as talented as a real swordsman. Perhaps not even as talented as an average swordsman. "haaaaaahhhhhhhh... I forgot to ask what his name was." ***** As the night darkened, Krios slowly made his way back towards the old man''s potion shop. He had been unsuccessful in learning any weapon skills and his funds were reduced to merely 7 gold. He was exhausted, hungry and depressed about his failure. A rowdy commotion could be heard from the nearby taverns and suspicious characters lurked in the shadows of passing alleys. Krios stuck to the main streets to avoid trouble but he increased his pace all the same to get off the streets. Thanks to the influence of the Church of Freya''s paladins and the Light Tower, there were few thieves bold enough to enter the city, but that didn''t mean that the streets at night were completely safe. *CRASSHH* Suddenly, Krios could hear shouting from the closest tavern. As the sound of fighting escalated, a small stocky figure smashed threw the window. The dark blur flew through the air and crashed right into Krios. "BWAARRGGHHH!" "EEEHHHHHHHHHHH!" *THUMP* "GET OFF OF ME!" "BWAHAHAH! YOU WANT TO FIGHT? COME GET M... oh it''s you boy." "Ironhand?" "Bwahahah, haven''t seen ya in a while boy. Blacksmithing too much work for you?" "No it''s not that..." "Ohhh, why the long face boy?" "It''s nothing, just having a bit of trouble. I was trying to learn how to fight but..." "Fighting is it eh boy? Then leave it to ole Ironhand here. I''ll teach ya how to fight! I used to be a champion fighter! I fought every day and every night. I slayed monsters from dawn till dusk with me bare hands. I..." "Nonono, I was trying to learn how to use a sword." "Pbbtt. Swords are just bits of metal with a pointy end. They ain''t no good against the bigger monsters with tougher hides so don''t you go worrying about that." "But I have to learn how to use a weapon, otherwise how else am I supposed to defend myself..." "Boy ya sure are dumb aren''t ya. What about that big hammer I gave ya before you left to go adventuring?" "I still have it but I don''t know how to use it." "Hhaaaaaaaaaaahh... I guess that be rightly my fault for not teaching ya. Fine then, I spent all me money on ale already so come with me." "Right now?" "Yes right now boy!" As the dwarf marched off with a slight wobble to his step, Krios followed closely behind. Eventually, the dwarf arrived at the forges and quickly walked inside. At this late hour, few smiths were still working at their forges, steadily pounding away at the glowing metal. Ironhand approached a smaller domelike forge connected to the great hearth by a small chute. Even now the great hearth burned intensely as the smith apprentices steadily fed the flames turning ores into high quality bar stock and slag which they skillfully skimmed off leaving only a small portion behind. Ironhand reached up to open the chute. The ingenious design allowed Ironhand to bring hot coals from the great hearth to his smaller forge, allowing him to start working much more quickly instead of having to wait hours for the forge to reach the proper temperature. Krios worked the bellows without being instructed as Ironhand added a few shovels of coal to the forge. Then the two rested as they waited for the forge to heat to the proper temperature. Krios sat down and sipped from a canteen to rehydrate himself. The dwarf simply sat there silently. "Boy, do you know why I brought you here?" "Umm...no?" "It is to continue your training." "I thought I already learned how to blacksmith?" "You learned the basics of the craft, but you still lack the understanding." "Understanding what?" The dwarf did not answer as he turned away from Krios to look at the coals. Grunting in satisfaction, Ironhand proceeded to pull out his tools from a nearby rack. He placed them on a workbench and moved towards the main forges. There stacked in a neat pile to the side, were hundreds of iron ingots and bar stock ready to be turned into weapons and armor. Ironhand searched through the pile, tossing them aside until he found one that satisfied him. He returned to the smaller forge and shoved the barstock into the coals. He motioned for Krios to work the bellows. "So we''re making weapons?" "Quiet boy, you''ll see..." As the metal turned a yellow red, the dwarf pulled out the iron and placed it on the anvil. "Look closely boy, when you look at the iron what do you see?" The glowing metal exuded heat that caused the air to shimmer. The metal burned with an internal fire that would dim with time as it cooled. Krios knew several things about the metal from his previous lesson with the dwarf smith. He knew that iron contained impurities that were mostly removed during smelting, but additional impurities could be burned out through hammering and tempering. He knew that the ideal temperature for forging iron was when it turned a yellow-red color, not white. He knew that by melding several grades of steel, it was possible to increase the blade''s flexibility and durability. But he was positive that was not what Ironhand was asking about. "I don''t know what I''m looking for." Ironhand gripped the smoldering bar with a pair of tongs, then picked up his hammer and began to forge the metal. His strikes were precise, yet powerful. Under his skillful touch, the metal began to lengthen and form into a blade like shape. As the metal cooled, it turned from yellow to a dull red. Ironhand paused and pushed the half-made blade back into the coals. He worked the bellows for a minute to get the flames back up, then sat down to rest while the metal reheated. "Iron can be made stronger through forging and burning off impurities in the metal. This turns the iron into steel and makes it more durable. What I didn''t tell ya is that no blade is perfect. Now matter how skillfully forged, it is impossible to remove all the impurities from the metal. In other words, every blade and every armor has a weakness. As a smith, I can see the weakness in the metal and try to hammer it out." Ironhand once again removed the iron from the fire and hammered it down into a blade like shape. His hammer blows were slower this time, more methodical. He beat on the metal in seemingly random patterns, yet Krios understood he was trying to show him something. He bent down closer to see the glowing metal better. He carefully watched the areas Ironhand hit to determine if there was something different about them. He was interrupted as Ironhand took a chisel and used it to fold the flat metal piece. Ironhand then continued to forge the metal, once again drawing it out and lengthening it into a blade like shape. He paused a second time to place the iron back into the fire and worked the bellows. "When you work the metal you have to use all your senses boy, not just your eyes. An experienced smith can appraise a blade for weaknesses in a glance, but to find those weaknesses while you forge the metal is what really matters. This takes true skill and it requires more than just your sight to make the proper judgement." Ironhand removed the blade a third time and continued to forge it into shape. He drew the metal making it longer while leaving a small portion of it a thick rectangle for the handle. The dwarf worked the metal continuing to hammer it into shape. As Krios focused all his senses he began to understand what Ironhand was trying to show him. *Focus. Concentrate on the blade. See the weaknesses. Ironhand isn''t joking so you know there has to be something there.* *Clank. Clank. Clang. Clank.* *Wait, that sound!* *Clank. Clang. Clank. Clank.* *Again...there that spot!* Krios focused even harder on the sword as Ironhand hammered the metal. There seemed to be spots that glowed a deeper red than others. It wasn''t immediately noticeable, but by focusing his senses he could see that parts of the blade were different from the others. The spots didn''t have any defined boundaries and simply melted into the rest of the blade so if he wasn''t look for them he never would have noticed. Ding!
New Skill (Active): Crush the Industry After receiving advanced training in blacksmithing, you have discovered how to find flaws in the metal. Enables you to see impurities as a glowing overlay while forging. Also applies to armor and weapons allowing you to see any flaws in the enemy''s equipment as red light. Increases damage done to armor and weapon durability. Increases the chance of getting critical hits by 1%. Costs 5 mana/sec
The blade was finally revealed to be a simple short sword with a gently tapering blade. The sword lacked any sort of decoration and was perfectly straight with dual edges. It still needed to be sharpened, but its deadly purpose was clear from its simple design. Krios could see using his new skill that the blade was perfectly forged with only minor impurities within the metal that wouldn''t affect the performance of the weapon. "I learned something new..." "Bwahahahah! It''s an impressive skill isn''t it boy?" "Thank you Ironhand for teaching me something so valuable..." "What''s the matter boy? You still look like a bird crapped in your ale. You don''t like the new skill?" "NO no no... it''s just that I still don''t know how to fight so I can''t use this knowledge." "Oh is that all boy? What happened to that big hammer I gave you?" "I still have it." "Good then, go and get it. I''ll show you a few Dwarven combat techniques." Krios pulled the Ancient Hammer from his inventory and equipped it. "Ah, that hammer intrigues me. Even after studying it for several generations me family never managed to figure out what alloys were used in it. But enough of that, come here boy I''ll teach ya how to use that thing. Most warriors use swords but dwarves use axes and hammers almost exclusively. Why do you think that is boy?" "Um cause dwarves are stronger than humans?" "That''s the common consensus, but the truth is dwarves disadvantage themselves by using such weapons. Since dwarves are naturally shorter than other races, they also have shorter arms and therefore a smaller reach. A dwarf swordsman would have to overcome this gap by advancing closer to the enemy while defending themselves." "So why don''t dwarves use spears or bows instead to eliminate the reach advantage?" "Ahh, indeed dwarves could choose to use mid and long range weaponry to remove the disadvantage of their race. However, dwarves consistently choose to use close range melee weapons like hammers and axes." "Is it because dwarves have an inborn affinity with the earth that gives them great strength and enables them to understand the weaknesses in the armor like you showed me?" "Bwahahahah! That''s right boy. While spears and bows are very useful in their own right, dwarves prefer to use heavy weapons and armor because of their affinity with the earth. That and every dwarf loves to fight and fightn''s only enjoyable when ya get up close and trade blows with all yer might." "..." "Enough talk boy, Come at me!" ***** As the sun rose in the sky, Krios did not get up. He was laying on the ground in the small park behind the forge. His whole body was covered in bruises and his right eye had swollen halfway shut. He was pretty sure his nose was broken too, but it was too sensitive for him to touch it to find out for sure. *That is the last time I challenge a dwarf to a fight. Ironhand is just too strong...* He had received a barrage of system messages probably about his combat skills hours ago, but Ironhand had still wanted to fight. In the end, Krios had continued to fight until he collapsed from exhaustion. He had only hit the dwarf a few times during the entire fight, whereas Krios had been hit so many times that he was sure his bruises had gotten bruises. If it had been a sword fight he would have died from a thousand cuts. Instead he just wished he had died from a thousand cuts. Then he wouldn''t be able to feel them. Krios slowly reached into his inventory bag and pulled out a healing potion he had made. He was tempted to try downing the concentrate version because he was so heavily injured but he settled for a normal potion for now. Despite all his injuries, he still had over 30% of his health remaining, which seemed impossible since he was in so much pain right now. When he finally managed to uncap the potion and down it, he began to feel slightly better but he wasn''t ready to walk back to the potion shop yet. He was still in a lot of pain and with all of the bruising and the weak morning sunlight he might have been mistaken to be a zombie. Krios reviewed the messages he had ignored while fighting as he continued to rest.
Level Up: Hammer Mastery [4] Increases attack power when dealing damage with a hammer (+40% ATK) Increases attack speed when using a hammer (+12% ATK SPD)
Level Up: Iron Body Technique [6] Decreases damage received while not wearing armor (+6% DMG RES) Increases resistance to status ailments (+12% RES)
New Stat: Fighting Spirit You can call on superhuman strength temporarily, or bring weaker monsters to their knees with a force in your eyes alone. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat, and it rises spontaneously, depending on the avatar¡¯s action, especially if you fight monsters for a long time, or often confront monsters stronger than your current level.
His strength and endurance had also increased. His other stats had all randomly increased as well thanks to his troll skill Doing it the hard way. *Not bad considering the new skills I got. I don''t think I''ll do this again though...* Krios closed his eyes and let the healing potion work on his aching body. The suns warm rays relaxed him and in the end he found himself drifting off to sleep despite the uncomfortable hard ground he lay on. Several hours later Ironhand returned to the forges and found Krios dead asleep in the small yard out back where they received large supply orders. Not wanting to disturb the boy, Ironhand carefully dragged Krios to the corner of the yard and propped him up against the lone tree inside the walls. He stuffed Krios''s bag behind his head as a pillow, then went back to work in the forges quietly chuckling to himself.