《Mixer's Majesty (Isekai LitRPG)》 Chapter 1: A Majestic Meeting Leo woke up to find the infinite cosmos laying out before him. He had a pounding headache, a vague memory of driving back to his apartment before swerving away from a blinding flash of light, and no idea what he was actually standing on. An invisible platform that gave way to the great expanse of space all around him, no sign of who or what brought him here, and no absurdly fantastical activity that would imply that this was all some sort of elaborate dream. He looked around, running a hand through his dark, wavy hair as the headache began to subside. Then the light came back. Gold and radiant, too radiant even. It looked the same as looking directly into the sun, only the sun had placed himself right in front of his face. He turned, eyes burning and vision red under his eyelids as he closed them. It wasn¡¯t just the light, either. An ear splitting blare accompanied it, like every trumpet in the world had gone off at once. He covered his ears at the risk of immediately going deaf from the noise. A moment passed, and he saw the light flash against his closed eyes again, and the loud noise blared, barely muffled by his palms over his ears before he began to hear something else. Something almost quiet. A low hum that seemed to come from all around him. Then something touched him, almost. Not physically, as he opened his eyes and looked around him to make sure, but he definitely felt something come over him, affecting his body. A second later, he heard a kind of ¡®ping¡¯, though ¡®heard¡¯ wasn¡¯t the operative word. He felt it in his mind, and along with it, a small flash as a holographic blue screen with words appeared in front of his face.
[Rank too low to speak directly to the Divine. Interface created from your memories.]
An interface from his memories? Thinking on it, the screen kind of looked like something from some of the games he liked to play, and it followed him, hovering in front of his face as he stood up. Before he had time to ponder what was actually happening to him, the words on the screen changed.
[???: Leonell Bolden, welcome! You have been chosen as part of a select few people on earth to join the Great Labors! Your participation and progress along with the others will determine if the gods will invest in Earth when it comes time for the whole planet to join, so we have high hopes for you!]
¡°Okay, wait, hold on. That¡¯s way too much information to process at once.¡± Leo said, rubbing his temples. This gave him so many questions that he found it hard to start. ¡°What are the ¡®Great Labours?¡¯¡±
[???: It¡¯s the name for our war over creation. From forces on the dark side of and beyond our reality, competing for control. Those who stand at the peak of reality cannot fight without destroying all that is, and so, brave heroes like you fight on countless worlds as our proxies.]
Alright, that answered one question, but conjured up about 20 more. ¡°¡®Our proxies? Are you a god?¡±
[???: Yup! I¡¯m here to give you a smooth transition, and to bestow upon you a blessing that you may cultivate as part of your integration into the Labors. You¡¯ll need one in order to survive, since you humans seem to have a fairly low rank.]
Very chipper for a god, he thought. ¡°Er, if you don¡¯t mind me asking, which one?¡±
[???: Not one that you¡¯ve heard of, surely! Unless any worshipers have snuck their way onto earth these past few centuries. Unfortunately, I cannot speak my own name aloud to you. Your rank is too low to even hear my voice directly. To use a phrase that you will understand, I might literally ¡®fry your brain!¡¯]
¡°Okay. Forget I asked. Another question then - do I get a choice of blessing?¡± Of course, his first thought was something along the lines of ¡®can I go back?¡¯ But he had a feeling that he couldn¡¯t or that he didn¡¯t want to if he was one of a few people chosen to represent earth. ¡°Wait, before that, what happens if I refuse?¡±
[???: I will use my power to send you back, bereft of memories from this entire affair! We cannot select any more from earth without tipping the scales and bringing it into the attention of the outsiders - our fated enemies - early, so sending you back will make it less likely that earth will have our support, and will instead be left to the outsiders. As for the choice, I have an idea of what to give you already, but if you have a suggestion, we can conduct a short interview to see if there were any aspects of you that you believe I might have missed. Above all, I want nothing more than to bestow upon you a blessing that you¡¯re suited to.]
He didn¡¯t have an immediate reply to that - and that seemed to be enough for them to start the interview.
[???: Alright, your first and only question! Who are you?]
¡°Er¡­I¡¯m Leo. Leonell Bolden.¡±
[???: That¡¯s your name, but who are you? Don¡¯t worry, I know mortals have a problem answering this question, so allow me to answer for you.]
[???: Your name is Leonell Bolden, you are 24 earth years old. Your parents died when you were young, and you¡¯ve been passed around between aunts, uncles, and your paternal grandmother for the entirety of your childhood.]
Leo¡¯s eyes widened, even more so as the next text box popped up.
[???: Your grandmother died while you were 17, just before you were to go to her in the summer, but you earned the ire of your entire family when she left you her ancestral home, and a notable inheritance in her will. You lived the next seven years with next to no contact with your family, aside from the occasional insistence that you sell them the abode. You jumped between a myriad of occupations and careers, but you¡¯ve mostly lived off of your dwindling inheritance. Have I got that all right?]
All he could do was nod. Knowing all of that, he couldn¡¯t tell why they decided to pick him of all things. That should have told them that he didn¡¯t have anything in particular that he was suited to. He never had any plans of joining the army, either. He wasn¡¯t particularly ¡®good¡¯ at anything, just possibly mediocre in a lot of things. With that in mind, there was no way he was the best candidate for being thrown into any kind of war - especially if it determined earth¡¯s survival as a whole. Either the god talking to him could read his thoughts, or he¡¯d taken too long to respond, as the screen changed yet again.
[???: Not everyone is meant to be a soldier, the Divine are well aware of that fact! The blessing chosen for you will allow you to become whatever you choose to be, after you complete the tutorial. You can become a hero in any way you desire, but personally, I have high hopes for you. You¡¯ll also be able to collect more blessings as you rise in rank.]
¡°Thanks, I guess.¡± He replied. He wouldn¡¯t lie, having a deity tell him they had high hopes for him felt better than it should have, given the circumstances. After taking a deep breath, he sighed. ¡°Sure then, give me this blessing.¡±
[???: And so I shall. I hope we meet again. Maybe next time, you¡¯ll be able to behold my majesty, and I¡¯ll be able to speak to you through something other than a screen! Perhaps you¡¯ll have some majesty to yourself as well!]
A couple of things happened at once after Leo read that final message from the god. The first was that he felt the absence of something, the grand presence of the god who stood before him vacating the area. The second was the feeling of being affected by something once more.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
[Bestowing Class. Class Name: Mixer. Class Element: N/A]
[Transporting user to Tutorial Area on selected world: Heom: Rank C - Disfavored.]
Mixer? He thought, before his eyes quickly read the second box that appeared. Not a second later, he felt the most awful thing he¡¯d ever experienced in his life. Like falling down through the space he was so carelessly standing on just a moment before at the speed of sound. All of the various stars and nebulae that filled his vision blurred together until everything went white.
Moments later, he found himself standing on solid ground. His vision slowly returned, the blinding white giving away to dull browns and grays. An odd ringing filled his ears, though a feminine voice cut through drawing his attention. ¡°...ey. Hey, rookie, are you all there?¡± As his vision finally returned fully, he spotted a clawed hand snapping its fingers right in front of his face, which drew his gaze toward the source, someone who was definitely not human. His eyes widened as he took this person in. A woman who stood at least six and a half feet tall, yet that ended up being one of the less striking parts about her. What drew far more of Leo¡¯s attention were the dark gray, wolflike ears and tail, a scar over her right eye, the very pronounced canine teeth, and the great sword she had strapped to her back in some kind of metal sheath. ¡°I really did just get fucking isekai¡¯d, didn¡¯t I?¡± ¡°What was that?¡± The wolf lady asked, causing Leo to remember she was standing right in front of him. He cleared his throat and swallowed hard. ¡°N-nothing, are you here for the tutorial?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the guide, weren¡¯t you listening?¡± She asked, shooting him an annoyed look. ¡°I literally couldn¡¯t hear anything until you started snapping in my face, sorry.¡± ¡°Hmm, teleportation sickness, probably.¡± The look softened a bit, and she briefly glanced back to a couple of other people that Leo only just noticed were in the cave they all stood in, as his eyes finally adjusted to the pitifully low light from glowing, runic symbols on the walls. One was a woman with long, white hair, pointed ears, and eyes that had no iris or pupil, with fully black sclera and off-putting to Leo. The other was an older man, with graying hair and a salt and pepper beard - maybe mid to late fifties if Leo had to guess. All he carried with him was a walking stick. ¡°I¡¯ll ask you again, then. You went through the gods¡¯ whole spiel about the Labors and got a class from them, yeah?¡± ¡°I think so. Pretty sure I did.¡± He answered ¡°Then tell me what it is.¡± The Wolf lady asked. ¡°It¡¯s bad form to ask usually, but I¡¯m going to need to know what you can do to help you get through this trial.¡± ¡°Uh- how do I-? Oh!¡± He had the thought of ¡®I need to see my class,¡¯ and a status screen appeared in front of his face.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E- (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: E (0/10)
Status Health 100%, Mana 100% Will: E- (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
¡°Seems like I¡¯m a Mixer.¡± Leo told her. The look she gave, and the way her ears drooped told him that he didn¡¯t give her the answer she was looking for. ¡°Is that bad?¡± He asked. ¡°No- not usually. It¡¯s just not a combat class.¡± She glanced back at the others. ¡°That makes two of you not suited to combat - and this tutorial area has a higher rank than it should be.¡± The older man looked at her and grinned. ¡°Oh, you need not worry about me too much young miss. I¡¯ve been around the bend a few times." Leo thought about it for a moment - since thoughts seem to bring up this interface that he had access to - and willed information about the tutorial to show itself.
Quest Title Tutorial Dungeon - The Caves of Oorden (Rank D)
Objective Reach the end of the dungeon and defeat Oorden
Reward D-Rank Unrestricted Karma (2)
Next, he decided to look at more information on his skills.
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
He could glean a basic idea of what the stats meant, though he wasn¡¯t entirely sure what the difference between Intuition and Will was. As for his skills, he guessed that by ¡®not a combat class¡¯, she meant that it didn¡¯t give him any skills that actually helped him in a fight. He thought about his storage skill, and another screen came up detailing the space and the two items he had inside. With another thought, he willed them to come out, and a short sword and shield appeared in his hands. ¡°Guess I can fight with these.¡± He didn¡¯t have any formal training using shields, but he¡¯d tried a couple of different martial arts out as a hobby. He looked to the wolf lady, thinking that he didn¡¯t know her name and he should probably try to figure it out. That seemed to be enough to activate the Appraise skill.
[Warning! The difference in rank is too high! Some information is restricted.]
Name: Axilya Krisgol
Class Titanic Warden
Element Metal, Earth
Total Rank C
¡°Axilya, huh?¡± He read aloud. As soon as he did, Axilya¡¯s ears twitched, and the wolf-girl¡¯s head snapped to him immediately. ¡°Right, Mixers usually get some kind of appraisal skill.¡± She said, looking briefly like she had some other choice words to give him, but calmed herself down. ¡°Word of advice. Looking at someone¡¯s blessing like that is extremely rude. I¡¯ll ignore it this time since you¡¯re new. If you¡¯re going to do it, don¡¯t let anyone know.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± He¡¯d just wanted to see how his skills worked. He didn¡¯t have any raw materials on him to use [Combine] on, and [Auto Loot] was self-explanatory. He also didn¡¯t want to give Axilya a hard time, it seemed like she was going through a lot. Since she said she was a guide, he guessed that she had some kind of quest to lead them through the tutorial. ¡°I don¡¯t think I introduced myself now that I think about it. You can call me Leo.¡± ¡°Ah, if we¡¯re doing introductions, I am Mada.¡± The other woman said. ¡°I also have some experience with the magic that my class focuses on, so I¡¯ll be able to pull my weight.¡± She brandished what looked to be some kind of wand, and Leo gave a raised eyebrow in response. ¡°Koren.¡± The older man added, gesturing toward Leo with his walking stick. ¡°And since I believe he is equipped, we should get going. Don¡¯t want to take too much time here, I suspect.¡± Leo resisted the urge to appraise the other two, curious as he was. He had too many questions about his own status window to think about snooping in on the others in this group. ¡°Okay.¡± Axilya nodded. ¡°Axilya, if you didn¡¯t already hear. Koren¡¯s right, we should get going. I¡¯ll try to answer questions after we clear out a room, but while we¡¯re moving between them, you should try to stay quiet.¡± She quickly took the lead, having everyone move quietly behind her as they finally left the clearing they were in, and began to move through some sort of tunnel. As they made their way through, Leo took one final look at the clearing they left behind, as it also felt like he left his old life behind. Chapter 2: Mediocre Sword and Board They moved through a cavern which only had the dim glow of runes along the walls for lights, with their footsteps as the only sound. More questions swirled around in Leo¡¯s head, but he knew that he probably did want to stay quiet. According to Axilya, the dungeon they moved through had a higher difficulty than it normally would for the tutorial. A D-rank dungeon for a bunch of E-ranks (at least, he guessed the other two were E) would make for a bad tutorial, but he wondered if Axilya being C-rank boosted the difficulty by raising the average rank. He didn¡¯t know - he had no idea what determined that this dungeon was D-rank, and he probably wouldn''t find out for a while. He just needed to focus on surviving. As they rounded a corner, and spotted a light at the end of the tunnel, the passage opening up into a larger chamber, he held up the sword and shield in his hands. He didn''t have any formal training in them, but he had vague memories of boxing lessons that he took for one summer nearly a decade ago. The particulars were lost on him, but he remembered the basics. Keeping his hands up, staying light on his feet, keeping his eyes on his opponent. He''d have to acclimate to blocking with the shield and striking with the sword on the spot. While thinking on that, he nearly ran into Axilya, who''d slowed to nearly a stop as they approached the chamber. A larger room than the one they all appeared in, made of carved stone and held up by pillars. Scattered across the floor were the bones of skeletons. Mostly normal, but a couple of them had oddly green vines growing over them, despite not being visibly connected to anything. As Axilya waved everyone forward and started to walk into the room, Leo decided to Appraise a couple of the skeletons.
Name Animated Skeleton
Element Dark
Total Rank E
Name Vineblight Skeleton
Element Wood
Total Rank E
Axilya-." Leo started. "I know, just get ready." She reached for the greatsword on her back, and surprisingly, the metal bands that wrapped around it unfolded for her, letting her pull the blade free without any issues. Leo glanced around. Aside from odd bones that weren''t attached to anything, there had to be nearly two dozen skeletons on the ground, whose bodies began to rattle once everyone stepped in the room. "You three, stay close together. Don''t let them surround you, I''ll try to draw as many as I can." Around them, the skeletons began to rise, brandishing old clubs and rusty swords, creaking and groaning, and their eye-sockets shining with a malevolent purple hue as they wordlessly began to rush the party. Axilya cried out and rushed forward, striking the first one and the ground so hard it caused tremors. Leo nearly fell over from shock, but that did managed to draw about half of the skeletons her way. He regained his composure and held up his shield as the others began to reach him and his group. To Leo''s relief, the skeletons individually weren''t strong. His shield seemed sturdy, also. He could block their swings without issue, all of them were painfully obvious in how they were going to attack. The real problem was the number of them. He felt his shield arm begin to ache after blocking the fifth or so swing, and he couldn''t back away too much without risking stumbling into the others. He could bash a skeleton with his shield or hit one with his sword to make them back off, but two more would fill in the space almost immediately. Fortunately, Mada and Koren seemed used to this sort of thing already. Koren would raise his hand, blasting back skeletons with an invisible force like some kind of Jedi, then whack any skeletons that got close with his staff. Meanwhile Mada began chanting, waving her wand around while staying well out of the way of any of the skeletons weapons. When she was ready, she moved out next to Leo and pointed her wand directly at the small horde he''d been keeping at bay, blasting them with fire as if the tip of her wand was a flame thrower. At the waves of fire, most of the skeletons backed away. One of them, one of the two out of the whole pack covered in vines, rushed forward, unbothered by the fire, and lashed out with a sword before Mada or Leo could react. Mada dodged back to avoid taking a direct hit, but cried out as blood from a cut on her forearm started to drip. Leo rushed into it and battered it back with his shield, but he grunted in confusion in feeling how sturdy it felt. Much more than the other skeletons. Still, he shoved it back before backpedaling back into place to stand in front of the other two. At that point, Axilya emerged behind the vine skeletons and carved it into pieces with two rapid swings, and then started to clean up the six or so skeletons on the larger group''s side that remained. Handily breaking them apart two per swing. She cleaned them up so fast that, the fight was over before Leo even thought to raise his shield again to try to help, and looking over at at Axilya''s side of the room, she shredded through the the skeletons that went after her with an apparent ease. Her only urgency being the fate of the tutorial goers. "That was a lot." Leo said, lowering his sword and shield before willing them to go back into his Storage. He felt a mental ping, and a couple of boxes popped up for him.
Auto Loot activated
Items Retrieved
Animated Bone 12x (E-Rank, Dark)
Vine-Covered Bone 2x (D-Rank, Wood)
You have defeated a Rank-E enemy for the first time! Achievement Reward: E-Rank Unrestricted Karma
You have defeated a Rank-D enemy for the first tine! Achievement Reward: D-Rank Unrestricted Karma
"Everyone alright?" Axilya asked. Her attention immediately focused on Mada, who cradled her sliced arm. "I''ll live. Just need something to stop the bleeding." Mada said. She waved a wand around, and with a quick word, the blood soaking into her clothes from the cut disappeared, though it began to stain again at a lesser rate.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Hey, Mixer, what did you get from the skeletons just now?" Axilya asked, giving him a stern look." The question caught him by surprise. He hadn''t picked up anything from the skeletons, so she must have been talking about what he got from Auto Loot. "Uh, bones mostly." He answered. "O bunch of them with the Dark element and a couple of them with Wood." "Mix the dark and wood into a healing salve." Axilya told him, and then sighed at the confused look he gave back. "I know another Mixer, so I know you can do that much. Just imagine it and combine them together." Nodding, Leo envisioned combining two of the bones, one with the Dark element and one with the Wood. A number of prompts came up, asking him if he wanted to combine, and he mentally willed the answer to be ''yes'' each time. He paused for a moment at the last one, which said ''Combine Materials to make ???,'' but he said yes anyway, trusting Axilya and not wanting to waste too much time so Mada didn''t lose a lot of blood. He put his hands together, and a shimmering purple light sprang up between them, as the two materials disappeared from his storage, and melded together in the form of a kind of paste that fell into his hands. He shivered at the cold feeling and the texture, but moved to Axilya to show his handiwork. More boxes popped up
Healing Salve (E-Rank) Created!
You have created an E-Rank item for the first time! Achievement Reward: E-Rank Unrestricted Karma
"What''s Karma?" Leo asked, as Axilya scraped the paste out of his hands and began to apply it to Mada''s wounds, he got to watch the cut heal up rapidly as she answered. "It''s what lets those under the Labors grow. You use it to increase your Fortitude, Reflexes and all that. I guess you all would have been getting some from achievements at this point, but you mostly get them from quests under the Labors." Koren, who''d been monitoring the situation to make sure things didn''t get worse, began to walk around. "I''ll just be taking a look to see if there''s anything else useful on these bones." Leo watched him walk off, then turned back to Axilya. "Alright, cool. Should I use it now?" "Might as well, I don''t think there''s any use to holding on to them. You don''t get any benefit until it actually raises your stat, anyway." "What should I increase?" Axilya didn''t respond for a moment, watching the healing salve work on Mada''s arm before turning Leo''s way. "Sorry, I couldn''t tell you. I think the Mixer I know said something about Mental stats, but I don''t really know. It''s good practice to raise all of your stats anyway, even if one ends up head and shoulders above the rest, so you can''t really go wrong with what you pick." Axilya explained. "And if ever there were a time to make mistakes with this kind of thing, it''s early." Leo shrugged, but went to thinking. He brought up his list of skills again, and saw that the only one that really ''scaled'' off of any stat in particular was the Combine skill making a mental guidebook. Checking that book, a list that showed ten slots appeared. The only entry had ''Healing Item (E-Rank, Dark + Wood)'' listed, and the other nine were empty slots. His Appraise skill was also influenced by Intuition, so other than just generally boosting his Fortitude which he suspected would make him physically stronger, that seemed like a good option. He didn''t know how often he had to use Appraise, but it definitely proved to be a useful skill. Deciding not to take too much time on it because he still had more questions, he just put everything he had into Intuition. The two E-Rank Karma gave him 1 point each to his Intuition, and the D-Rank Karma gave him two, giving him four total out of ten. He didn''t feel any different, but he guessed that that was what Axilya meant when she said that the Karma wouldn''t affect him until it actually raised the stat. "Okay, that''s done for now. My next question before we get going is what all of the elements are?" Both Axilya and Mada looked at him like this was information he should already know, but Axilya spoke up first to answer. "Wood, Air, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water are the worldly elements. Light and Darkness are the heavenly elements." She paused, and her ears lay flat against her head as she glanced between them with an almost embarrassed look. "There''s also another one that''s a different type, but I don''t interact with it that often-" "You''re thinking of Aether, the spiritual element." Mada answered, then turned to Leo. "The worldly elements can promote, regulate, or weaken each other, while Light will weaken any of the others, and Dark will promote any of the others, with those two heavenly elements weakening each other. Aether is somewhat special, it can promote anything and only really weaken itself." Some of that sounded familiar to Leo. He thought about it as Axilya confirmed Mada''s arm to be healed and Mada confirmed that she hadn''t lost too much blood to continue. Really, he could only think of one thing that used ''Wood'' and ''Metal'' as elements. He vaguely remembered the five-element concept from a couple of classes on religion and philosophy that he took in college, but it didn''t seem one to one, mainly because there were more than five elements. Even if he included only the ''worldly'' elements, it still added Air. "I have one last question for now." Leo said, as Axilya started to make her way toward a hallway. "Make it quick, we shouldn''t stay in one place for too long." She replied. "Why am I the only one asking questions?"
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E- (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: E (4/10)
Status Health 100%, Mana 100% Will: E- (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Chapter 3: Ranks "Why do you ask?" Axilya crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Actually, it is odd, now that I think about it. The things you''re asking about were things I knew before my tutorial even started." "If I can take a guess, I suspect he''s new." Koren said. "His world, specifically. He''s from a world that has yet to receive the blessing of the Labors." "Oh." Axilya said, and then her eyes widened as the statement sunk in. "Oh fuck, you''re that new?" Axilya looked at Leo. "Why didn''t you say anything earlier?" "It didn''t seem relevant at the time." Leo replied quickly, not expecting to be put on the spot. "But yes, I was chosen to represent my world. Couldn''t tell you why, there were probably millions of people who were more qualified, but they wouldn''t accept any exchanges, so here I am." "It''s...fine." Axilya said. "I just need to be more careful - I didn''t want any of you to die in the tutorial, but I didn''t think anyone would be coming in without actually knowing anything. Do you have any more questions?" "For now? No. I don''t think anything else is gonna help me out while we''re still in the dungeon." Leo answered with a shrug. With a nod, Axilya motioned for everyone to follow behind her as she began to walk down the hallway toward the next room. While they moved, Leo checked on his own stats. He hadn''t taken a solid hit from the skeletons, but he was sitting at just over 75% for his mana, which meant the [Combine] skill took about a quarter of his mana every time he used it. That did give him another question, but it still wasn''t relevant to completing the dungeon, so he''d save it for later. For what it''s worth- Leo heard what sounded like Koren''s voice in his mind. He jumped slightly and glanced back toward the older man, who was looking back at him with a soft smile. You did rather well for what looked like your first time in a fight. Leo gave a smile back and a thumbs up, but he didn''t think he really did anything other than pushing bones around. He guessed that the other two using magic behind him more than made up for it, but he was not the kind of guy anyone wanted as a tank. He had a lean body with barely any muscles to speak of. He''d do what he could, as long as his shield lasted at least. As they approached the next room Axilya spoke quietly from the front. ¡°If it¡¯s another group, I¡¯ll try to draw half of them my way like last time. Just yell if you need any help.¡± The second hallway opened up into another chamber, this one brightly lit by a large chandelier at the top that cast the entire room in the glow of an ominous blue flame. There were four skeletons already standing and active in this room, two on each side, all of them holding staves. The lights of their eye sockets differed. One on each side had a fiery red, and the other had a deep blue. Leo went to Appraise as Axilya rushed for the group on the left and yelled. "They''re casters! Don''t stand too close!"
Name Skeleton Pyromancer
Element Fire
Total Rank D
Name Skeleton Hydromancer
Element Water
Total Rank D
Following her lead, Leo quickly moved out of the entrance toward the other group as the skeletons raised their staves. Their jaws opened as if to chant, and even though no words came out, he could see both fire and water gathering at the tips of their staves. Both of their spells shot out before he could reach them, and Leo did his best Matrix impression, bending back to avoid both of the high shots and landing flat on his ass. Blocking skeletons coming at him with swords and clubs was one thing - one crazy thing still, but a ball of fire and a ball of pressurized water both the size of bowling balls weren¡¯t things he could block with his shield. He felt the heat of the fire fly past his face, and he didn¡¯t think it was something he¡¯d be able to walk away from if he actually took a direct hit. He scrambled to his feet and started to run again. At the very least, it seemed him running straight for the skeletons caught their attention and diverted it away from the other two. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about their magic, young man.¡± Koren called to Leo. A moment later, Leo spotted a transparent dome emerging around him and moving with him. ¡°That should stop the worst of it.¡± The skeletons charged up more spells, focusing them at Leo as he held his shield up in anticipation. Alright, he was going to trust this old guy¡¯s hocus pocus not to get him killed. With this second salvo, the ball of water went wide, leaving Leo to block the fireball. It slammed into his shield and burst, causing Leo to hiss in pain from the heat that felt like sticking his face into a hot oven. His shield arm stung from the impact, and taking both of those spells at once would probably knock him off his feet, but he held on. He ran toward the skeletons again, with the thought in his head that he absolutely did not want to do this all the time. He wasn¡¯t sure if Mixer was the right class for him just yet, but he had to thank the god he was talking to earlier for not giving him something like Titanic Warden. The skeletons didn¡¯t take well to him coming into melee with them. They both raised their staves toward him, but the way the elements swirled around them changed. He dashed to their sides, avoiding close range bursts of fire and water that probably would have sent him reeling. They turned to face him, beginning to swing their staves, but swirling with fire and with a huge block of ice from the pyromancer and hydromancer respectively. He decided to mostly dodge, taking the opportunity to get a solid swing when a number of fireballs from Mada slammed into them from behind, making them both stumble even if the pyromancer looked mostly unaffected. Leo¡¯s shortsword cracked the skull, so he went in for a second, third, and fourth swing to shatter it and cause the skeleton to stop moving. With the first one dead, Leo turned his attention back to the hydromancer just in time to block its ice-covered staff with his shield. Another set of fireballs staggered the skeleton and caused it to fall, where Leo took the opportunity to stab through the skull, shattering it as well. Breathing heavily, he glanced over toward Axilya to see how her fight was going, while glancing at the results from his Auto Loot.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Auto Loot Activated
Items Obtained:
Charred Bone (D-rank, Fire)
Soaked Bone (D-Rank, Water)
Axilya stood, holding her sword at a resting position, looking in his direction. The two skeletons she ran towards were scattered in pieces behind her. Some of her clothes looked singed, as if she''d taken one of the fireballs directly, but she herself didn''t look like she even felt it. ¡°Good job.¡± She said, walking over. Shortly after, Leo noticed Koren¡¯s barrier around him fading, as Koren and Mada walked up to join everyone in the center of the room. ¡°That wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as before.¡± Leo said, glancing over toward Koren. He felt very glad that the skeletons were slow and predictable. He remembered having to be more responsive against regular people in his memories of boxing, even if they weren¡¯t actively trying to kill him then. ¡°Can you keep that barrier on me all the time?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid not.¡± Koren said with a sigh. ¡°It takes mana to maintain, but it is undoubtedly effective.¡± ¡°Alright then. Oh- that reminds me, I have another question. Can your mana increase? If so, how?¡± Leo asked. He still didn¡¯t know if the costs varied at all from item to item with Combine, but even as it was now, only being able to use it four times at most before he had to wait for his mana to recover seemed like a pretty major drawback. ¡°It goes up when your total rank does.¡± Axilya answered. Leo nodded in response, but he found the answer a little disappointing. If it was tied to one of the stats then he could have at least pivoted to spending whatever karma he got on it. He supposed it was fine for now, - other than the healing item he didn¡¯t know what to mix. Thought and intention seemed to be part of it, but maybe he¡¯d get a better direction if he could talk to another Mixer. ¡°This is unrelated, but could you introduce me to the Mixer you said you knew?¡± He asked. ¡°Sure, I was actually going to suggest it after we clear the dungeon.¡° She ¡®sheathed¡¯ her sword, the metal straps on her back wrapping back around it. ¡°I don¡¯t envy you in that regard. The first couple of skills I got were pretty easy to use, and I learned how to utilize them better when I increased my Intuition. When I think about it, though, maybe that¡¯s why the gods put you into a tutorial with people who knew what they were doing. I had to do mine alone.¡± ¡°That sounds like an awful time.¡± Leo replied. He didn¡¯t think raising Intuition would do anything for learning his skills, but he¡¯d already started putting points into it for A ¡°Maybe I just got lucky, since Luck is my highest stat for some reason.¡± He wouldn¡¯t complain about having any stat higher than E in the first place, but he wished it could have been something like Intellect or Reflex. ¡°Since we¡¯re on the topic, what are all the ranks, anyway?¡± ¡°From E to S, which also has minuses and pluses in between. So E- to S+.¡± Axilya answered. Koren and Mada seemed content to let her talk without adding anything in, but Leo guessed that she wanted to make up for not having a complete answer earlier. ¡°After that, there¡¯s SS, SSS, L, which stands for Legend, and M, which stands for Mythic. You won¡¯t have to worry about the last few for a while though - especially M, since it¡¯s the domain of the gods, essentially. This world is Rank C, which means the biggest threat anywhere in the world at the moment would be A-rank at most.¡± ¡°Not that we haven¡¯t established that it¡¯s a good idea for me to be here for the tutorial, but why send me, a newly christened E rank, to a C rank world?¡± ¡°You should be able to find E and D rank quests still. Typically, ranks affect and influence things around two ranks away from each other. Though when you¡¯re two ranks apart, the effect is pretty diminished unless you use an element that something¡¯s natural element is weakened by. It¡¯s still technically possible for you to run into something that¡¯s A rank on Heom, but even I¡¯d have to run if I found something like that.`` Axilya said with a shrug. ¡°You just kind of have to roll with the punches, but it should be easy for you since you have Appraise. If the rank is high enough to block you from seeing anything but the rank and name, that¡¯s a pretty good indication that you need to run.¡± ¡°Also, from what I understand.¡± Mada took the chance to interject here. ¡°Most E and D rank worlds are that way because they are desolate and lifeless. Unless they have some valuable material on them, most of them aren¡¯t fought for, and even then that will quickly raise the rank as higher rank Laborers and Outsider agents flock to it.¡± He nodded at that. He supposed that it made sense - even he lived on a world where he could - although very unlikely - run into a tiger or an elephant, which after fighting E and D rank skeletons he had to assume the average tiger was at least D+ or C-. As he pondered this, something about what they said that he almost completely glossed over came back around and metaphorically punched him in the head. ¡°Wait, hold on, we can go to other worlds?¡± ¡°Yes - it typically costs credits to do so though. It¡¯s not something you start to think about until you¡¯re C rank at least.¡± Axilya answered. ¡°We can talk more about it later, if everyone¡¯s recovered, we should probably get going. I think we¡¯re coming up on Oorden¡¯s resting place.¡±
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E- (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: E (4/10)
Status Health 100%, Mana 100% Will: E- (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Storage
Animated Bone 11x (E-Rank, Dark)
Vine-Covered Bone (D-Rank, Wood)
Charred Bone (D-rank, Fire)
Soaked Bone (D-Rank, Water)
Chapter 4: The Drowned They returned to silent steps, as they made their way to what was likely the dungeon¡¯s final room as guessed by Axilya. According to her, even E or D rank dungeons could vary in size, but tutorials didn¡¯t tend to take too long for anyone involved. Leo felt thankful for that. Even though he had seen a measure of success in fighting skeletons, in no small part due to the help of the other tutorial-goers, he had no desire to go through a long dungeon crawl. He couldn¡¯t help but think of what he did actually want to do after he got through the tutorial. Hopefully the Mixer that Axilya knew could give him some direction. One thing at a time, Leo had to focus on getting past this boss and clearing the dungeon before anything else. As before, he held his weapon and shield out in front of him as they approached the final chamber. It opened up into a room notably larger than the previous two that they¡¯d been in. While the last two had been carved stone, the walls of this one looked like they¡¯d stepped back into the cavernous area from the entrance. The walls were damp, glistening in the light of blue fire torches, and the entire area had the smell of something that had been left damp for entirely too long. Movement caused Leo¡¯s eyes to focus on the opposite side of the room, where a figure on some kind of throne moved, leaning forward as if looking over the visitors into its domain. It had a vaguely humanoid form, only one that stood nearly eight feet tall, with bulbous and bloated gray skin. As it began to stand, Leo saw something dripping from its form, causing a small puddle to form underneath it. He immediately used Appraise. [Warning! The difference in rank is too high! Some information is restricted.]
Name: Oorden
Title The Drowned
Element Dark, Water
Total Rank C
¡°Axilya - it¡¯s rank C.¡± He announced ¡°And it¡¯s water, probably. Shit.¡± Axilya muttered, stepping forward and drawing her sword. Leo hadn¡¯t said anything about the element, but she probably guessed from the dripping water. ¡°Don¡¯t get too close to it, a bad hit might outright kill you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll place the barrier on you once more, but do retreat back if it falls. I¡¯m not confident I¡¯ll be able to maintain it if you are hit more than a couple of times.¡± While Koren worked on putting the barrier up, Axilya rushed forward to engage Oorden. ¡°It might come after me after I hit it with my magic.¡± Mada said to Leo. ¡°So after you see it hit, could I trouble you to stand between it and me?¡± ¡°Will do.¡± Leo said, although he didn¡¯t really want to, but maybe he could distract it enough for Axilya to gain its attention again. Speaking of which, as Leo moved to join the fight, with Koren¡¯s barrier around him once again, he got a chance to see Axilya in action when she was actually fighting seriously and not mowing down skeletons. Her dark skin had a metallic sheen to it now, and she swung her sword to deflect Oorden¡¯s blows, bringing it back around in wide arcs to cut into it. The big zombie man himself didn¡¯t have any weapons, but Leo could feel the force when Oorden¡¯s fists and Axilya¡¯s weapon collided. He moved up, and Oorden barely noticed him, he could move to the side with the zombie paying him no mind, as if he wasn¡¯t even there. Once he was sure he could move it without getting swatted, he rushed forward and tried to cut across its arm with his shortsword before backing off. It left a cut so shallow and ineffective that the boss didn¡¯t even retaliate, continuing to duke it out with Axilya. He tried again, putting more small cuts across its other arm, its back, and on the back of its neck before he seemed to finally draw its attention. It turned from Axilya to swing at Leo, and it was slow enough that Leo could deflect with his shield, but the blow itself rattled Leo, had his teeth clacking in place, and sent him stumbling back. If he didn¡¯t have Koren¡¯s barrier, it likely would have crumpled his shield and broken his arm. Okay, yeah, that was about what he imagined getting slugged by a gorilla felt like. A salvo of fireballs slammed into its side, causing it to stumble forward as Leo moved back, and as it turned to the source, Axilya stepped in between Oorden and Mada before the boss could start heading after the mage. They then started their round two, and as Leo recovered from the single hit he actually took, it became apparent that Axilya was struggling. He couldn¡¯t comprehend why at first, but the answer came to him when Oorden spontaneously fired off a blast of water, like from a high pressure fire hose, which caught Axilya right in the chest and sent her flying back. He remembered what she said about elements affecting each other beyond their ranks. Even if their Fortitudes were the exact same, if it had a dominant element it would come up on top. He racked his brain to remember how the elements work, and found that Water counteracted Earth and outright weakened Metal, so Axilya was at a severe disadvantage. He needed something to actually draw its attention other than going for the neck, because as things were he wouldn¡¯t be able to do any significant damage, and Axilya didn¡¯t seem like she¡¯d last that long if Oorden solely focused its attention on her until it killed her. He looked in his Storage, trying to see if he could find something to help. With the elements on his mind, he remembered that Wood and Fire were what he wanted to use against water. He only had one of each, and he wanted to save the Wood bone in case he needed to make another healing salve or potion, but having something to heal wouldn¡¯t matter if it killed them, so he went to [Combine] the Vine-Covered Bone and the Charred Bone, not having anything in mind but hoping it¡¯d make something he could use against the boss.
Critical Combine!
Ashblood Oil (Rank C)
A poisonous oil that ignites and burns away vital fluids. Affects all that can be affected by Fire.
You have created a C-Rank item for the first time! Achievement Reward: C-Rank Unrestricted Karma
A critical combine? This skill could crit? He couldn¡¯t even focus on that for longer than a couple of seconds, because he ran into another issue. The oily poison he just crafted hovered just above his hands for a moment before dropping, and he managed to catch a handful and let the rest fall on his sword just before it hit the ground. Note to self, keep some vials on hand. He might have been able to think of a more solid form for this to take, but he¡¯d have to think of it later. He carefully cradled the oil in his hand, and glanced back up to find Axilya still fighting with Oorden. ¡°Mada, Koren, keep it busy for a second - take the barrier off of me if you have to. Axilya, come here!¡± He shouted. All three of them looked confused, but none of them raised any objections to the plan. The next salvo of fireballs caused Oorden to start moving toward Mada again. Leo saw the barrier disappear from him, and spring up over Mada as she began to run from the boss. He ran over to Axilya as she similarly rushed over to him, keeping his hand as steady as possible so he wouldn¡¯t lose any of the oil. ¡°Hold up your sword.¡± He told her. Quickly as he dared to avoid spills, he ran his hand over the blade and rubbed the oil all along it. ¡°That should help. God- gods I hope it helps, it¡¯s C rank.¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Axilya nodded, steadying herself before turning and rushing off back toward Oorden. Mada held up spectacularly, running away as fast as her legs would carry her from Oorden, who moved surprisingly quickly for its size. The zombie caught up to her, and she dodged a punch that slammed into a nearby wall which caused the entire room to shake. Mada ducked underneath and ran behind, passing Axilya. ¡°Koren, switch the barrier to Axilya, I don¡¯t need it as much!¡± Axilya had taken a beating, but she was the only one who could really take its hits. Leo needed to avoid getting hit, but since some of the oil had fallen onto his sword, he wanted to try making use of it. Especially after Axilya reached Oorden and started swinging. Her greatsword, covered in the Ashblood oil, left a burning trail in the air when she swung, and when it cut across Oorden¡¯s stomach, a burst of steam shot out from the oil making contact. Suffice to say, Oorden¡¯s attention moved fully back to Axilya. Leo put away his shield, he held the shortsword in both hands as he ran toward the fight. Axilya had turned Oorden, exposing its back while she carved away at it with more confidence. Leo moved behind it, and swung with as much force as he could muster, seeing the flaming trail left behind the path that his own sword took as it slashed across Oorden¡¯s back and caused another heavy cloud of steam. He didn¡¯t waste time and backed away immediately, all but sprinting to get out of its range because he knew a single hit would take him out, but the sight was dazzling. Oorden did turn toward Leo, and looked like it was about to start running toward him, when it took a single step and cracked the stone floor beneath it. Behind it, Axilya had a hand raised toward it, curled as if she was grabbing on to something. Her long hair drifted upward and floated as if she was falling, or as if she was submerged in water. Oorden continued to make slow, heaving steps toward Leo, until another set of fireballs caused it to stagger backward and crash to the ground. Axilya released her magic, rushing it, and Leo followed suit. Axilya wasted no time bringing her sword down on Oorden¡¯s neck, separating the head from the body, while Leo jammed his sword down where he guessed its heart would be. Steam erupted in a heavy cloud while Oorden shuddered, giving a gurgling growl, but eventually falling still. Everything fell silent for several seconds. Leo and Axilya stood, panting and staring down at the remains of the boss, while Koren and Mada made their way toward them. After a while, he finally saw the notifications appear.
You have defeated a C-Rank enemy for the first time! Achievement Reward: C-Rank Unrestricted Karma
Quest Complete! Tutorial Dungeon - The Caves of Oorden (Rank D)
Reward D-Rank Unrestricted Karma (2)
Auto Loot Activated
Items Obtained:
Drowned Heart (C-rank, Water)
Soul Husk (C-Rank, Aether)
Sigil of the Drowned
Seconds later, a brief flash of light caused all of their attention to move toward the throne Oorden was sitting on. A chest sat there now. A treasure chest, most likely. Leo looked toward Axilya, who gave an approving nod, and he walked over to open it. To his delight, it was filled with coins, but those coins started to disappear almost immediately after he opened the chest.
Earned 300 Credits!
¡°Credits?¡± Leo asked. ¡°You can go into most shops on worlds under the Labour¡¯s protection and buy things with them. You can also use them to buy things other laborers put up for sale.¡± Axilya answered. Sheathing her sword, and pulling out from a bag a golden orb that fit in the palm of her hand. Grasping it, she crushed it in her hand, and the golden dust that flew out from it swirled around her briefly and disappeared. ¡°300 isn¡¯t bad for a D rank dungeon. Should be enough for an E rank to live off of for a few days at the very least.¡± ¡°What was that?¡± Leo pointed to Axilya. ¡°In your hand just now?¡± ¡°That was my Karma. My reward for getting you through the tutorial.¡± She answered. ¡°You should have got some too, but I¡¯m told it looks different for different people.¡± Strange. He supposed it did look different for him, in that he didn¡¯t even have to touch his, as it all spent itself through the interface. That did make him wonder what her interface looked like, as well as Koren and Mada¡¯s, but he didn¡¯t ask. Instead, he thought toward the Karma he¡¯d collected. As he pondered, a low rumble filled the room, as a central section of it began to lift up and beyond the ceiling, revealing a set of spiral stairs. When the rumbling stopped, a pale light shone down into the chamber. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s our exit.¡± Koren said, heading toward the stairs. ¡°Let¡¯s see where it leads. Are you alright to walk, Axilya dear?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll manage.¡± Axilya retrieved her sword, sheathing it again in her metal straps. ¡±Good job, everyone, that was much more of an ordeal than I thought it would be, but we made it through. And good thinking with that oil, too.¡± At the end, she looked to Leo with a smile, starting to walk toward the stairs. As they started to ascend, Leo spent his Karma. He put the first C rank into Intuition, his eyes widening when it increased by four points. It seemed like Karma worked exponentially when it came to lower ranks. He put the second C rank Karma into intuition also, watching the stat shoot up to E+ with an extra two out of ten. He then put the two D rank Karma to Intuition also. Those C rank Karmas were a fantastic boost, but it seemed like the achievements only happened once, so he couldn¡¯t rely on getting that many of them. After he raised his Intuition up to D-, he¡¯d have to work on getting his Fortitude up. Though he had more questions, Leo closed his screen as they finally reached the top of the stairs, and he could truly take his first steps, undistracted into this new world.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E- (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: E+ (6/10)
Status Health 100%, Mana 51% Will: E- (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Storage
Animated Bone 11x (E-Rank, Dark)
Soaked Bone (D-Rank, Water)
Drowned Heart (C-Rank, Water)
Soul Husk (C-Rank, Aether)
Sigil of the Drowned
Basic Short Sword, Basic Shield
300 Credits
Chapter 5: The Day after the Dungeon The first thing that caught Leo¡¯s eye, astonished him, in fact, was that the pale light that streamed down into the dungeon actually came from two moons on opposite sides of the sky. Massive moons at that, taking up much more of the sky than Leo was used to. Looking up at them, feeling the cool wind blow his hair and rustle the leaves of the trees in the lightly forested area they¡¯d walked up into from the ruins, he could finally get the sense that this was all real. That all of this wasn¡¯t some elaborate hoax or an insane dream. Off in the distance, he could see the lights of a settlement as well. A town that had an aesthetic oddly reminiscent of Victorian England, at least from a distance. ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t think we were that close.¡± Axilya said as she walked up. ¡°That¡¯s Normouth. The town I¡¯ve been working out of when I got the quest. I didn¡¯t know a dungeon like that was anywhere near here.¡± She gave what she probably thought was a light pat on the back, but it caused Leo to stumble forward. ¡°Let¡¯s go. The Mixer I know is here, too. I know an inn you can sleep at, and we can go see him in the morning.¡± They walked to Normouth without much of an issue, and once they reached the town, Leo and Axilya split with Koren and Mada. They were actually from Heom, and although they weren¡¯t in their original homes, they¡¯d be able to get by well enough by themselves. Leo wished them well and hoped he¡¯d see them around, if anything for people that he had the shared experience of going through the tutorial with. ¡°Hey, Axilya, I won¡¯t blame you if this completely goes over your head, but is there some kind of friend list I can access?¡± He was aware that his interface seemed unique to him, and everyone else seemed to see the labors differently. He didn¡¯t know what the general technology level of Heom was, but it didn¡¯t seem to be quite as high as Earth¡¯s, just from what he could see in Normouth. The main streets had streetlamps that kept the area lit, but in lieu of lightbulbs, they seemed to be maintained by torches. Magic torches, perhaps, since they had no visible fuel source and were still covered by glass, but torches all the same Axilya tilted her head at his question, taking a few seconds to answer. ¡°You will have to rank up before you can get it, but I believe there is a skill that will let you contact people you have met before.¡± She answered. ¡°As well as magic that does the same thing, whether it be sending letters to people from far away, or putting your thoughts directly into theirs.¡± He briefly recalled Koren¡¯s telepathy, but another thing she said caught his attention. ¡°Oh, you got that? I thought I¡¯d have to explain.¡± ¡°The blessing of the Labors will translate, I suspect it¡¯s how we¡¯ve been speaking the entire time. It does well with intent, too. As long as you¡¯re trying to be understood, it tries its best as long as it''s a concept that¡¯s not entirely foreign to who you¡¯re talking to.¡± ¡°So as long as I don¡¯t try to explain something like long division to you, we¡¯re fine?¡± ¡°Long¡­division?¡± ¡°Got it.¡± He decided not to go any further on that topic, letting her lead him to the inn she mentioned while he took in the sights. They walked through cobblestone streets, in a thin crowd of people that shared the road with carts and wagons pulled by horses and other large animals. He spotted plenty of humans, but also people who decidedly weren¡¯t human. Ranging from the animal ears and tail that Axilya had to people with bizarre appendages and skin colors. He thought he spotted someone with wings walking by at one point. Axilya seemed content to let him look around, only occasionally looking back to make sure she hadn¡¯t lost him until they got to the inn, a cozy building made of mostly wood and painted striking white, named the Fixed Pearl. He got himself a room for three days, with it being ten credits a room. He wondered how he was supposed to transfer them, but they materialized in the form of a single coin in his hand, which he could pass along. Axilya left to her own lodging, promising to meet him there in the morning to take him to the other Mixer, and letting him go up to his room. He¡¯d have to get used to having an entire house for himself to only having a single room again, but he¡¯d manage. His mind raced, thoughts and questions flooded it and he had no real outlets other than the parts of the interface he¡¯d brought up before. He thought it¡¯d keep him up all night, but the events of the dungeon caught up to him all at once, and he was out like a light almost as soon as he managed to settle into bed. Unsurprisingly, having multiple near-death experiences in a short time tired him out. When Leo¡¯s eyes opened the next morning, he had to take a moment to wonder why he wasn¡¯t in his normal bed, and he stared up at the ceiling as the memories from the previous day streamed in. He got dressed. In the same clothes he ran through the dungeon with, which caused him to realize he¡¯d probably need some new clothes. He wasn¡¯t exactly fashion minded, but the idea of being able to keep everything in his Storage did make him excited. He just needed to be wary of how much he spent. Axilya said he¡¯d last for a while with what he got from the dungeon, but he didn¡¯t have much of an idea of how much ¡®a while¡¯ was. He went down and had some breakfast, free of charge with his room. Freshly baked bread with some wonderfully salted butter and porridge, with some kind of milk to drink. He almost wanted to savor it, but he scarfed it down from a combination of not wanting to keep Axilya waiting and the realization that he hadn¡¯t had anything to eat in a day or so. He was right to eat quickly, since Axilya entered the inn and came to find him shortly after he finished eating. Soon enough, they¡¯d left the inn and started heading to the Mixer¡¯s shop. In the day, Normouth had a much heavier crowd. They were shoulder to shoulder against the people going about their daily lives. Axilya warned him to be wary of thieves, but Leo didn¡¯t have much on him that he couldn¡¯t put in his storage. His phone certainly wouldn¡¯t be worth anything here until he could find a way to charge it. The shop Axilya took him to was a relatively small building nestled between what looked like a general store and a restaurant. The sign ¡®Zumra¡¯s Mixes¡¯ hung neatly above the door, and Axilya wasted no time heading inside. A small bell chimed when she opened the door, gaining the shopkeeper¡¯s attention and causing him to give a warm smile as an apparently familiar face came in. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Miss Krisgol. You¡¯re looking hardy as ever. As for you, I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ve met.¡± The man who spoke had long, blond hair, striking blue eyes, and most immediately prominent to Leo, long pointed ears. ¡°His name is Leonell.¡± Axilya said. ¡°He¡¯s also a Mixer and he asked me to introduce him to you.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Ah, wonderful. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Leonell. My name is Panlisar Zumra, I¡¯m the owner of this humble shop.¡± Leo had already used Appraise as he was talking. He also took an opportunity to glance around the room before he joined the conversation. Several shelves stood with glass vials and bottles of various things marked. He also saw several other things; bars of soap, jars of something green, small bottles of spices. Things either made with things that Zumra had mixed, or made directly by his Combine skill. [Warning! The difference in rank is too high! Some information is restricted.]
Name: Panlisar Zumra
Title Grand Merchant
Class Mixer
Element Wood
Total Rank C
¡°Likewise.¡± Leo replied as he made his way into the shop proper, heading up to the counter with Axilya. ¡°And please, call me Leo if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Very well. If I might ask, what is the purpose of your introduction? It has been some time since I¡¯ve gotten to converse with another Mixer, so I do find myself curious.¡± ¡°Er, that¡¯s the thing.¡± Leo replied. ¡°I¡¯m from a world that isn¡¯t governed by the Labors. A lot of things are new to me, and I have no idea how the gods want me to stab skeletons that throw fireballs at you and waterlogged zombies that can snap me in half like a twig when I can only use Combine about four times at most before I run out of mana. I probably wouldn¡¯t have even made it out of the tutorial dungeon if Axilya hadn¡¯t been there to carry me. Basically, I need advice. Any that you¡¯d be willing to give.¡± ¡°I¡¯d be happy to.¡± Zumra answered, then turned to Axilya. ¡°Miss Axilya, would you mind staying a while. I might require your own expertise to answer some of the more combat oriented questions.¡± ¡°Sure. I¡¯ve been wanting to hear about how you operate as a Mixer anyway. Besides, I was already answering what I could during the tutorial.¡± And so, with the agreement that they¡¯d pause the conversation to help any customers that came in, Zumra agreed to answer Leo¡¯s questions and concerns. ¡°To answer what I assume must be the most pressing topic on your mind, you do not have to constantly fight against the outsiders and their forces in physical confrontations. I myself haven¡¯t sought any quests that required combat in over a decade, but there are others listed that will facilitate the accumulation of Karma. As long as you are earning Karma, you are following the will of the gods and the resistance to the outsiders.¡± He answered with a shrug. ¡°At least, that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been told. The non-combat possibilities vary between classes. I¡¯m sure Miss Axilya here could find a number of things to do with her strength and peculiar magic, but Mixers have a unique opportunity for production and mercantile quests.¡± He gestured to the shop, and all of the various items on its shelves. ¡°The sale of items created by the Combine skill, either locally, or across the myriad worlds through the aid of the Labours, will earn you Karma. The amount you have to sell typically grows, but there will also be quests that call you to make and sell a certain item required with urgency. Those types of quests are how I¡¯ve earned most, if not all of my Karma, but there are drawbacks to this.¡± With that, he looked to Axilya. ¡°It¡¯s much slower than quests that might require you to fight. Or rather, it¡¯s more restrictive.¡± Axilya said. ¡°Compared to doing really any quest you can get your hands on, at least.¡± Leaning against the counter, she pointed to Zumra. ¡°He¡¯s been at this for nearly 10 years and he¡¯s C rank. I¡¯ve only been seriously running under the Labors for three.¡± ¡°I-¡± Leo wasn¡¯t sure how to respond to that at first. He basically had the choice between playing it safe and basically building a store, and doing more of what he ran into in the tutorial. The Mixer class seemed to heavily incentivize the latter, given it gave him no combat skills, and a limited ability to make things in the middle of a fight. But his mind went back to the dazzling sight of his sword moving with the very air blazing behind it from the Ashblood Oil, and the wonder of seeing Heom¡¯s two moons. Could he feel those again if all he did was run a store? Zumra seemed to sense his hesitation, and spoke up. ¡°I will say, you aren¡¯t locked into one or the other by any means. I certainly did both in the beginning, but after a while I grew tired of the struggle. I can certainly say that the ones who save worlds and prevent their destruction are the ones who act, rather than the ones who supply. Both are needed, certainly, but if this world happens to fall from its current Disfavored status and go down to On the Brink, I simply wouldn¡¯t be able to do much to stop it. I¡¯d simply have to pack my things and leave this world for one that isn¡¯t nearing destruction, rather than be able to help stop it.¡± ¡°What happens when a world is On the Brink?¡± Leo asked. He remembered when he first arrived, the screen that showed that he was going to Heom said it was ¡®Disfavored¡¯. ¡°It¡¯s the last stage before a world is lost fully to the Outsiders.¡± Zumra answered. ¡°Once that happens, the world is technically still inhabitable, but I wouldn¡¯t describe those worlds as anything less than a nightmare, and impossible to be recovered.¡± ¡°Once a world gets to On the Brink, or Exalted, which is the counterpart where the gods are approaching dominion over a world, the rank tends to rise rapidly.¡± Axilya added. ¡°Higher rank agents from both the gods and the outsiders come to try to stop the world from falling to the other side or accelerate it. If you¡¯re below B-Rank, you typically want to stick to worlds that are Favored, Disfavored, or Neutral which are in between.¡± ¡°To go back to the original topic, though. If you wish to fight, it¡¯s certainly possible. Plenty of people who aren¡¯t even under the Labors can contend with and even exceed those who are. You can take skills that help you in combat as you rise in rank, though I¡¯ll recommend you take your class exclusive skills first. You may be able to find someone to train you in whatever form of weaponry or magic you desire, many who could train you will take credits in exchange, which you can of course earn through selling your creations. Along with that I believe you may even have a potential party member in Miss Axilya.¡± ¡°Not any time soon, at least.¡± Axilya said. ¡°The gap between our ranks is too high. I think the fact that we struggled so much against a C rank boss in the tutorial dungeon was enough to show that. I¡¯d consider it whenever you get to D rank, though. If I¡¯m still C or C+.¡± Leo nodded in agreement. If they tried to do anything together now, he¡¯d only slow Axilya down. ¡°That sounds like a plan. I¡¯ll have to work out getting someone to teach me the other stuff, but what else can you tell me about being a Mixer?¡± Chapter 6: The Way Forward The rest of that day proved to be an interesting one. Leo asked Zumra several questions and they ended up coming to an arrangement. The first question Leo asked concerned his stats, particularly if there were any he wanted to prioritize for a Mixer. ¡°None of your statistics are absolutely vital to be a good Mixer, as far as I know.¡± Zumra answered. ¡°Intellect is recommended for a couple of reasons, however. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve seen that combining different items appear on a list that you can access. Raising your Intellect will increase the size of that list, allowing you to catalog more recipes. That isn¡¯t a necessity, however, as there¡¯s nothing stopping you from writing those things down yourself and putting them in your Storage for safe-keeping. Luck is a choice also, due to your ability to occasionally increase the rank of items you make with Combine. It should not be relied on, however. As for the others, I¡¯ve raised most of my statistics to around C rank, and I personally haven¡¯t seen any difference in my ability to Combine items.¡± Leo would definitely keep that in mind. He¡¯d stick to his current plan of raising Intuition and then immediately pivoting to Fortitude. His next question involved the elements and their interactions with each other. Most of which confirmed what he remembered, but he learned where the element of Air fit in, boosting Fire, regulating Water, counteracting Earth, and weakening Wood. He also asked about Dark, Light, and Aether, and Zumra had some notes about all three. ¡°Light is order and purity, but also stagnation. Dark is chaos, disruption, and change. As you¡¯ve noticed, Dark will create things that will heal wounds and spur the body¡¯s natural recovery when Combined with Wood. Light, however, is essential for curing ailments and removing curses, so you¡¯ll want to collect an ample amount of either.¡± ¡°As for Aether, it has rather unique properties when interacting with other items. I¡¯ve found two that I''ve been able to make wonderful use of. The first is that, when combined with Wood materials, allows you to create mana recovery items - the only combination which seems to do so. The second, which might be of more interest to you, is that you can also combine them with parts that you¡¯ve specifically taken from creatures. If the creature had any unique abilities or magic, you can create something that allows you to mimic that ability temporarily. Unless that ability is passive, however, I¡¯ve found great difficulty in making use of them before their effects run out, and they become even more unwieldy to use the higher the rank of the ability. Since I¡¯d have to use materials from Aether, which is typically harder to find unless you purchase it elsewhere, as well as materials from specific creatures, I haven¡¯t done much with this interaction, but you might find it useful if you¡¯re willing to sink some materials and credits into the ordeal.¡± That was something Leo would have to look at when he had credits to put into it. The Aether material he had was probably the highest rank he¡¯d naturally come across for a while, but it wouldn¡¯t really matter what he made with it if he couldn¡¯t control it. Finally, he came to a business arrangement with Zumra. Since Leo didn¡¯t have a storefront, Leo could store his creations on Zumra¡¯s shelves, and Zumra would get a cut of the credits for the sale. Zumra also showed him how to access the Labors¡¯ shop, which was its own window in Leo¡¯s interface. Leo was sure it differed for Zumra, but Leo himself didn¡¯t take long to figure out how to navigate the shop to get what he needed. He could make things and put them on sale in the shop for people on other worlds, and have things in Zumra¡¯s storefront for the people actually on Heom. He bought some E rank Wood based materials. Some flowers that had healing properties, and watched as they appeared in his Storage. He also bought a few dozen vials, being dirt cheap to buy. He made two E ranks and a D rank health potion, burning up all his mana almost instantly. He could have a few by the end of the day, but it took about an hour for his mana to recover. Still, creating a D rank item got him an achievement.
You¡¯ve created a D rank item for the first time! Achievement Reward: D rank Unrestricted Karma.
With that, he parted with Axilya for the time being, but not before she bought the D rank healing potion he made. With Zumra taking a cut, he got 200 credits even, which would definitely help him to buy more materials. She said she¡¯d ask around for anyone who¡¯d train him, and who wouldn¡¯t just tell him to try to get a skill for whatever he wanted to learn once his Total Rank went up.
You¡¯ve sold an item made with Combine for the first time! Achievement Reward: D rank Mental Karma.
Mental Karma? He went to use it along with the other Karma he¡¯d gotten earlier. Once he did, the interface only allowed him to select Intellect, Intuition, or Will. So the mercantile achievements, and likely the quests, would involve Mental Karma. He put both into Intuition, finally raising the stat to D-. He felt an immediate change after doing so. His vision seemed sharper, he picked up more smells from the shop and the surroundings, and his senses in general seemed to be enhanced. He might have still been too swept up in everything that was happening at the time, but he didn¡¯t remember being much of a jump when he raised Intuition to E+. With that out of the way, Leo left Zumra¡¯s shop with some recommendations of where he should go next. A clothing store to get a few spare outfits that he could toss into storage so he didn¡¯t only have his black shirt and jeans to wear, to say nothing of his underwear and shoes. After that shopping spree, he went to a public bathhouse, washing away all of the sweat and grime of the previous day before putting on some of the new clothes he¡¯d just bought, mainly a dark gray shirt and a pair of brown, baggy pants. All the while, he¡¯d create E rank healing potions until he ran out of mana, saving a few to put up in Zumra¡¯s store, and putting the rest in the Great Labors shop to sell across worlds. He ended the day feeling like he had more of a handle on his present situation and his future, and when he woke up the next morning at the Fixed Pearl, he found that some of his items had actually sold overnight.
You¡¯ve sold 5 items made with Combine! Achievement Reward: D rank Mental Karma.
He got curious, and so he willed the interface to show him what other achievements he could have, and it brought up a list. His next achievements were 10, then 50, then 100, then 500, and it continued on like that. There weren¡¯t any mercantile achievements that dealt with the type of item sold, save for selling an A and S rank item for the first time, so he wouldn¡¯t be getting those any time soon. Those combined with crafting quests, as Leo had taken to calling them based on Zumra¡¯s description, seemed like they¡¯d be his main method of raising his ranks while getting trained by someone, and it created an interesting loop. He had to sell things to make credits, so he could buy materials to make items for the quests, or more items to sell, then start the cycle again. Once he made his way back to Zumra¡¯s shop to give him more potions to put up, he found Axilya there again to share some news. She¡¯d found someone that could train him with specifically swordsmanship, but would still have to ask around for someone to teach him magic.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Wow, that was fast.¡± Leo said. She said it could be a couple of days to weeks if she looked for a laborer specifically. ¡°I went to a guild that¡¯s stationed in Heom to ask, so there were just a lot of people to ask at once.¡± ¡°There are guilds?¡± This was the first Leo was hearing of them. ¡°Yes, and most of them would likely adore having a Mixer working for them, but only to be their supplier for various potions and other items.¡± Zumra answered for Axilya. ¡°Otherwise, many would have you working a certain way, only doing certain quests, or following a sort of code. They''re an interesting sort, but I¡¯ve found selling to them rather than working under them to be much more lucrative.¡± ¡°Mmm.¡± Axilya nodded in agreement. ¡°They¡¯re good for making sure you always have someone to do quests with, and they¡¯re quick to mobilize if there¡¯s an Urgent quest that needs to be done, but I haven¡¯t had a need to join one. It might be a good idea for you though, if you can¡¯t find people to do E rank quests with whenever you get around to it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind Axilya, thanks.¡± ¡°Anyway, You¡¯ll find the trainer on the outskirts of the town, near the east gate. His name is Okin Verakith, and he used to be a knight. Just be careful, I¡¯ve heard they¡¯re kind of abrasive.¡± Leo shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with it as long as they¡¯re actually teaching me something.¡± With that, he set out to the eastern outskirts of Normouth in the afternoon. Walking part of the way, and getting a cart ride for a few credits almost all the way to the East gate of the city before hopping off. Following directions given to him by Axilya, he followed along the streets near the city¡¯s walls, weaving through a crowd that gradually thinned as he moved further away from the gate. Eventually he spotted a house that matched the description. A single story home, larger than most in the same street, painted black and standing out among the unpainted wood or stone homes surrounding it. It also had a tall fence that completely blocked the view of a large yard to the side of the home. Approaching the house, Leo found someone else already at the door. At the sound of his footsteps, the woman standing in front of the front door turned to look at him with a curious gaze. She looked about his age, had platinum blonde hair, in a bit of contrast to her tanned skin. What drew Leo¡¯s attention were the cat ears atop her head, the same color as her hair, and her catlike tails, two of them, to Leo¡¯s surprise. ¡°Are you here for Sir Verakith as well.¡± She asked, one of her ears twitching while she waited for an answer. ¡°Yep.¡± Leo answered. ¡°Got recommended to come this way by a friend of mine. Have you been waiting at the door for long?¡± ¡°Just a bit.¡± The woman replied. ¡°I¡¯ve tried knocking a few times, and I thought I heard some movement within, so I believe he¡¯s home but¡­¡± She trailed off, then glanced back at the door. ¡°I¡¯ll try to get his attention, then. Allow me.¡± He stepped up to the door, as the woman stepped to the side. He knocked on the door, hard. Not rattling it off its hinges or anything, but loud enough that anyone inside would definitely feel it. A knock he¡¯d grown quite proficient in from having to wake his aunts or uncles up after they forgot to keep the door open for him to get back when he was younger. It happened so much that he thought that some of them wanted him to just wander off after not being let in, but if he banged on the door too hard then he¡¯d get yelled at. In any case, he tried this knock a couple of times, with several seconds in between, before he finally heard footsteps stomping toward the door. Just as he was going to go for a final set of knocks just to be sure, the door all but slammed open, as the smell of alcohol flooded Leo¡¯s senses, he looked up to a very tall man angrily glaring down at him and the woman beside him. ¡°What the fuck do you want!?¡±
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E- (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 100%, Mana 100% Will: E- (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Chapter 7: Knight of Ashar ¡°Sir Verakith?¡± Was all Leo could ask. The man standing in front of him was at least a foot taller and had a bodybuilder¡¯s physique. Something fairly easy to see when he opened the door shirtless. He had a layer of stubble on his face and messy black hair pulled back into a short ponytail. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s me. You better have a damn good reason for waking me up early.¡± ¡°Good afternoon, Sir Verakith!¡± The woman next to Leo stepped forward. ¡°My sincerest apologies for disrupting your rest. My name is Rize, and I¡¯ve come to request that you train me in the art of the sword.¡± While she was talking, Leo took the opportunity to Appraise both of them. [Warning! The difference in rank is too high! Some information is restricted.]
Name: Okin Verakith
Title Knight of Ashar
Class -
Element -
Total Rank B
Name: Rize Villot Stats
Title Nekomata Fortitude: D-
Class Endcaller Reflex: D+
Element Dark, Fire Intellect: D-
Total Rank D+ Intuition: D
Status Health 100%, Mana 100% Will: D+
Skills Necromancy, Pyromancy, Poison Resistance, Ghost Flame, Mana Siphon Luck: D-
Okay, Sir Verakith was definitely the real deal. ¡°Same here.¡± Leo added. ¡°I came here under recommendation because of your reputation.¡± ¡°Let me guess, you kids are Laborers, right? They¡¯re the only ones who ask me for any training these days.¡± Sir Verakith said with a scowl. ¡°That¡¯s not a problem, is it?¡± Rize asked. Her tails swayed back and forth behind her, something Leo noticed out of the corner of his eye. ¡°I guess it¡¯s not.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°Come on in.¡± He turned and walked back further into his home, leaving Leo and Rize to follow. They looked between each other briefly before heading inside. The place wasn¡¯t the cleanest. Half empty bottles of varying kinds strewn about a home that, to give some credit, did speak to Sir Verakith having some wealth to his name. Leo spied a couple of bottles on a nearby counter that looked full and unopened. From a distance, they reminded him of whisky bottles. ¡°If you are Laborers, I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re coming to me to avoid getting yourself a Swordsmanship skill or something along those lines, but just in case, what are your classes?¡± ¡°Endcaller.¡± Rize answered almost immediately. ¡°It is a class of mostly magic of the more destructive kind, but I have my own reasons for wanting to learn the sword.¡± Leo, on the other hand, hesitated. ¡°I¡¯m a Mixer.¡± He said, watching tentatively for Sir Verakith¡¯s reaction. It definitely got a curious gaze from Rize, but Leo couldn¡¯t get anything from the knight¡¯s gaze other than annoyed about being awake at this present moment. ¡°I¡¯d just like to do some questing, but I only have my Mixer skills. I feel like I only barely got through the tutorial.¡± From what he learned after Appraising Sir Verakith, he wasn¡¯t a Laborer, so Leo hoped that his intent translated well enough. It also made Leo wonder how much the knight knew about different classes.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Sir Verakith looked between the two of them, gaze still unreadable before he sighed. ¡°You¡¯ve got to really make it worth my while to train two people who don¡¯t even seem like they¡¯ll use the training.¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯ll assume you wouldn¡¯t be here right now if you didn¡¯t want to learn swordsmanship. But a mage and Mixer don¡¯t exactly scream ¡®career swordsman¡¯.¡± ¡°I take it simply offering more credits than you¡¯d normally take would suffice, would it?¡± Rize asked. To which Sir Verakith shook his head. ¡°Look around, I got more money than I know what to do with already.¡± Leo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This wasn¡¯t exactly an unexpected development, though. He really couldn¡¯t afford to pay more credits since he needed to buy materials for mixing, and the only thing he could really tell from looking around was that this guy really appreciated drinking. After a moment, he did get an idea. He looked around at all of the bottles in the room that he could see, and he pointed to one of the unopened ones he spied earlier. ¡°Is that whiskey?¡± He asked. With a nod and a raised eyebrow from Sir Verakith, Leo moved to grab the bottle, while bringing up the interface and swiping to purchase an E rank Vine-Covered Bone from the shop. He picked the bottle up, and Combined the whiskey inside with the Vine-Covered Bone and an Animated Bone in his Storage.
Aged Whiskey (Rank E)
Whiskey that has been aged 15 years, as if left in the cask it was made in.
The whiskey inside the bottle briefly flashed, prompting Sir Verakith to make his way over to Leo, only for Leo to hand him the bottle before he could say anything. ¡°Try this.¡± With a shrug, the knight pulled out the cork with a loud ¡®pop¡¯ just with his fingers before sniffing the whiskey inside and taking a swing. His eyes widened, and he pulled the bottle away to look back down at it. ¡°I¡¯ve been getting this from the same guys for 10 years. This is the smoothest it''s ever gone down.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯ve aged it about 15.¡± Leo said with a smile. ¡°How about that? I do this to a bottle of your choice every training session, and I can age it even more if I have better materials.¡± During his talk with Zumra, Leo found that his Combine ability can create entirely new items, but it can also shift the state of other materials that he mixed in. Mixing something with a Fire material to heat it, Mixing something with a Water material to cool or soak it. Dark could cause something to age or grow, but the effect was typically detrimental unless paired with something else. The Whiskey probably wouldn¡¯t have been affected if he didn¡¯t also add the Wood element to the mix. ¡°Well damn. That¡¯s a pretty good offer.¡± Sir Verakith said, then turned to look at Rize. ¡°What about you, Miss? Can you top that?¡± Judging by her expression, it didn¡¯t seem like she could. Like Leo, she probably came fully expecting to be able to pay with credits for the training. Leo¡¯s mouth opened to speak before he fully realized processed the words, or before she could even answer. ¡°Can¡¯t I pay for both? Two bottles per session instead of just one?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it. Looks like you¡¯re in the clear for now. Rize, was it?¡± Rize looked between Sir Verakith and Leo, this time her expression was hard to read. ¡°I guess so. I am in your debt, I suppose¡­¡± She trailed off, which made Leo realize that he¡¯d never actually introduced himself. ¡°I¡¯m Leonell. Just call me Leo.¡± It seemed like they were going to be seeing each other frequently if they were going to train together. ¡°Well then, Leo. I¡¯ll go ahead and give you two your first task.¡± Sir Verakith said, to Leo and Rize¡¯s surprise as they both looked toward the knight. ¡°Go complete a quest. Any kind will do, but come back and tell me about it.¡± ¡°Wait, why?¡± Leo asked. This wasn¡¯t how this was supposed to work. He needed to get the training first, before he went on any quests. ¡°I am also curious as well.¡± Rize added. She seemed less surprised by the sudden addition. Sir Verakith set his bottle of newly aged whiskey down and gestured to Leo. ¡°If you could smell colors, there¡¯d be green all over you. You said it yourself, you¡¯re fresh out of the tutorial. I need to hear about how you react when you actually have some experience to figure out how best to train you. Besides, I¡¯ve heard plenty from Laborers about the quests. Some of the regular people here have accidentally finished the lower ranked ones without being a part of the Labors at all.¡± With a shrug, he waved them off. ¡°Anyway, no quest, no training. Come back when you¡¯ve got something to tell me about.¡± It didn¡¯t seem like he was willing to take any arguments. With an exasperated sigh, Leo turned to leave Sir Verakith¡¯s home, with Rize following behind him. Once he was outside, he opened his interface to the quest board. Something Zumra and Axilya showed him how to do earlier, but he never took the time to look at it in great detail. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Rize asked, standing by and watching the screen that popped up with interest. Leo glanced her way and replied ¡°Fine just-¡± and then he did a double take. ¡°Wait, you can see this?¡± ¡°I can. That¡¯s the way you see quests, isn¡¯t it? Those are usually visible to others.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°I believe it¡¯s so groups of Laborers can more easily pick quests together. It has a rather interesting look, I will say. Mine takes the form of a scroll.¡± With a shrug, Leo shifted over to let her have a look. Unlike most of the windows that popped up for him, this one didn¡¯t immediately follow him to stay even with his face. He quickly filtered all of the available quests to ones that were in the area and E-rank. To his dismay, there weren¡¯t any crafting quests, but he managed to find one that didn¡¯t inherently involve any fighting.
Quest Title Requisition - Oovina (Urgent)
Objective Gather 6 Oovina and put them in the Labors¡¯ shop
Reward E-Rank Unrestricted Karma (2)
The quest also had a location, which showed a map of the area with a white marker for Leo¡¯s location, and a green marker for the area of the quest in a forested area north of Normouth. ¡°Oh, Oovina are pretty rare.¡± Rize noted, at the confused expression on Leo¡¯s face at the name listed in the quest. ¡°They only bloom in the full moon, and then wilt about a day or so after.¡± ¡°I suppose that¡¯s why this is urgent.¡± He worried about heading out so far away from the town and getting lost, but if he could look at that map after he accepted the quest, that became a non-issue for the most part. ¡°Since he didn¡¯t specify, I imagine Sir Verakith wouldn¡¯t care one way or the other if we did the same quest. Shall we gather the Oovina together? Based on the map, it will take a few hours to get there, and we¡¯ll need to wait until night to gather the flowers. Even if the quest itself is E rank, there¡¯s safety in numbers, no?¡± At first, he wondered why she might want to do the quest together. If anything, she¡¯d probably get it done faster if she did it herself, but then Leo remembered that he basically became her free ticket to training with Sir Verakith, so of course it made sense to make sure he didn¡¯t go and get himself killed out in the woods. ¡°That sounds great. I¡¯ll go grab some stuff to get ready for the trip, but let''s meet up at the north gate in a couple hours.¡± With a nod and a wave, Rize started off, presumably toward the gate. Leo wondered if he could add her into a party. At the thought, a window from his interface popped up.
Send Rize Villot (D) a Party request?
Yes No
He hit yes, and seconds later he got a response.
Rize Villot has joined your party!
With that out of the way, he went to change into a set of clothes for travel that he had in his storage. That entire exchange with Sir Verakith didn¡¯t go at all like Leo thought it might, but after everything he did agree to train him. He even managed to find an E rank quest that wasn¡¯t to kill something, and even got a party member to go along with him. The only issue he could see was that he didn¡¯t know much about the local area¡¯s wildlife or plants, but even that would be fine with Appraise and making sure he brought food. As long as they got to the location on top and picked enough flowers, everything would be fine. Surely nothing could go wrong. Chapter 8: The First Quest Leo made his way back to Zumra¡¯s store, both to leave the elf with another set of potions before he left, and to let Zumra know about where he was going. ¡°I¡¯m glad that you¡¯ve managed to convince Sir Verakith, given the circumstances. Mixing whisky into an aged form of itself isn¡¯t something I¡¯ve considered, though I have done it with wine before. Perhaps it may be something worth looking into on a large scale.¡± ¡°I feel like if the alcohol industry here is anything like the one where I¡¯m from, I¡¯d piss off a lot of people very quickly if I tried to turn it into a business.¡± Leo said. He thought back to long conversations overheard from one of his uncles about whisky aging and brewing with his friends, and similar conversations with his aunt, a wine mom by every metric. ¡°Making a one off sale to rich people to get an absurd amount of credits every now and again sounds good, though.¡± ¡°Ah, right. Speaking of credits, you won¡¯t be able to make purchases from the Labor¡¯s shop once you leave Normouth, so I advise you to buy what you think you might need now,¡± ¡°Good to know.¡± Leo had been buying the materials he needed right when he went to make them, causing him to accumulate a couple hundred credits, which he¡¯d been hanging on to so he could buy more materials. After making a few more potions and giving some of them to Zumra, Leo brought up the shop and bought one material from every element he could find, save for Aether. From what he understood from browsing the shop, prices went up by rank, with E rank things ranging from 10 to about 100 credits depending on the item. Materials swung toward the lower end, from 5 to 10 credits, with the exception of Aether. The lowest amount he could find for the Aether element was 50. With E rank healing potions being 25, he found holding onto two of them a better use of his credits. Besides, he still had the C rank Aether material from when he fought Oorden if he really needed to use it. He also bought a lantern, a sleeping bag, a tent, and a lot of core camping equipment that he remembered from a camping trip he took when he was very young. With that, he bid Zumra farewell, jokingly telling him to send Axilya toward the woods if he didn¡¯t hear back from him by the next day. After that, he made his way to the North gate, seemingly ahead of Rize. While he waited, just outside the city, standing and watching people and carts begin to follow a wide dirt road, heading off toward who knows where. Would be nice to have a car. He thought, thinking back to his last memory before he was swept up into the Labors, which was driving home. On a whim, he decided to open the shop and search, and he was not disappointed. There were a variety of vehicles. From smaller bikes, to cars that looked like they came from the 1920s or some steampunk video game, all the way up to airships. The lowest of these, however, were B rank, with prices averaging in the hundreds of thousands of credits, and the highest getting well into the millions. That definitely gave him something to look forward to for the time being, but he wasn¡¯t coming close to anywhere near that amount of money any time soon. Scrolling through hundreds of different models of things, likely from different worlds across space got Leo wondering about the shop. It didn¡¯t have a front page, like the pages from other games that the screen mimicked. Instead he had to search for something by name or start applying filters for anything to show up at all. Maybe because the shop was only meant to sell items that he actually needed, and it discouraged randomly spending and saving credits for things he actually needed. He¡¯d keep it in the back of his mind, and maybe ask Zumra about it later. While he continued to scroll through a list of vehicles he couldn¡¯t afford, he heard the sound of footsteps coming his way, and glanced over to see Rize approaching. She¡¯d also changed into clothes for traveling, including a thick coat with some kind of padded cloth. ¡°Hope I haven¡¯t kept you waiting for very long.¡± ¡°Not at all.¡± Leo replied. ¡°Let¡¯s hit the road, if we¡¯ve got everything.¡± One of Rize¡¯s ears flicked, and she gave Leo a warm smile. ¡°Off we go, then.¡± Following the map provided by the quest had them go off road quickly, hiking through a forest that became thicker the closer they got to their destination. Assuming no issues with the travel, they planned their trip to get there with more than enough time to spare, reaching the general area as the sun fully set, and giving them plenty of time to find the flowers they were looking for when the moons were high in the sky, and they bloomed. The entire time, Leo kept an eye out in the woods, looking for the wildlife. Just from very brief explanations from Axilya and Zumra, he knew there were things out there he¡¯d never see on Earth. Oddly, he didn¡¯t see much of anything other than birds with interesting patterns and colorations that watched them from the tall branches of tree, and the occasional lizard or small rodent that would scamper away if they got even remotely close. ¡°Something wrong?¡± Rize asked, seemingly picking up on his excessively wandering eyes. ¡°Where are all the animals?¡± He asked. He knew that most things tended to avoid human- and he supposed cat-person contact if they could, but this gave off the vibe of a city park rather than pure, untamed wilderness. ¡°Everything I¡¯m seeing is pretty small.¡± ¡°It is strange, now that you mention it.¡± She too, began to look around in the same manner as Leo. ¡°I¡¯ve found a bit of peace in this walk, but it is strange that we haven¡¯t come across anything larger than a mouse on the ground.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just have to keep our eyes peeled.¡± Leo said. Once again, one of Rize¡¯s ears twitched at the saying, but she said nothing, and kept moving along. They traveled deeper into the forest, taking enough breaks to rest Leo¡¯s legs and feet to make him really look forward to raising his Fortitude. Along the way, as the sun set on the horizon, another notification pinged for him.
You¡¯ve sold 10 items made with Combine! Achievement Reward: D rank Mental Karma.
Looks like those potions he left with Zumra and put on the shop were still selling. That¡¯d be the last one he¡¯d see for a while, though. He¡¯d have to sell 50 for the next one, and it¡¯d take him at least a week to even make that many. He was starting to see why it¡¯d taken Zumra 10 years to get to C Rank from only selling. Rize brought Leo out of his own thoughts by holding a hand out to stop him from moving forward. ¡°Do you smell that?¡± She asked, quietly. ¡°What?¡± Leo replied, only for the smell to hit him a moment later. A scent of iron that immediately sent his nerves on edge. ¡°Blood?¡± He asked. Rize nodded in response. Crouching, she began to creep forward through the brush, and gestured for him to follow along. He crouched down as well and moved behind her, briefly contemplating bringing out his sword and shield, just in case they ran into something that needed it. He decided not to, as Rize didn¡¯t have anything in her hands just yet. The bushes creaked and cracked uncomfortably loud as they shifted through. Rize came to a stop and looked ahead, observing the situation while Leo moved to take his own gander at what they¡¯d walked into. The clouds of the overcast sky above split briefly, making a heinous spotlight onto the scene before them. The sight of a bloody battle was the most generous way he could describe it, bloody claw marks spread out against a clearing, marking the ground and nearby trees, kicked up dirt, rock, and the general sense of frantic movement pervaded the space. In the middle, Leo could see the fresh corpse of a creature he¡¯d never seen before. A bulky, brown thing as big as a fully grown ox, covered in some sort of natural armor plating, though most of it bore the same claw marks as the area surrounding it. Though the sight was gruesome, Leo didn¡¯t feel like they were in any danger here, so after looking around for any signs of movement and finding none, he stepped out into the clearing and took a couple of steps over to the creature. He¡¯d finally found one of those odd, otherworldly creatures he¡¯d been hoping to encounter, and it had been brutalized.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. In a flash, one of the armor pieces disappeared, exposing the rough gray skin below.
Auto Loot Activated
Items Obtained:
Stone-Plated Pangler Plating (D-rank, Earth)
As he glanced down at the screen, he heard the sound of Rize emerging from the brush behind him. ¡°Any idea what did this?¡± He asked. He wasn¡¯t even an expert on predators from earth. The claw marks reminded him of some big cat¡¯s, but he couldn¡¯t imagine anything this brutal. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. These don¡¯t match the markings of any beast I¡¯m familiar with.¡± Rize answered, coming to stand beside him. Her ears were about midway instead of all the way up, and her twin tails swayed back and forth. ¡°They would have had to be at least the same rank as this pangler here to even get through its hide. Though it looks like they were nipping at its legs and tore off its tail. I¡¯m not seeing any other bodies, so they would have had to be nimble as well.¡± ¡°Should we keep going?¡± Leo asked, more than a little off put at the prospect of running into whatever did this. He then took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of blood and the creeping stench of decay. ¡°Stupid question, sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine to keep your safety in mind.¡± Rize replied, and began to shift around the clearing to start moving past the scene. ¡°We¡¯re just about where we need to be, we can look around to see if it¡¯s too dangerous to stay, but night is about to fall, so if we are going to turn back, we need to decide quickly.¡± Nodding, Leo followed after her. He glanced back to take one last look at this scene of carnage before they moved on past it. The last rays of sunlight quickly faded at their departure, giving way to twilight and eventually night. Leo quickly pulled out his hooded lantern, filling it with oil and having Rize light it with a snap of her fingers, and the two of them fanned out and searched the surrounding area, as they had finally entered the general area indicated by the map. The lantern made Leo imminently visible from a short distance, so as long as he had time to call out, Rize would be able to find him if anything happened. She could see well enough in the dark without the lantern¡¯s light, so they split up in order to cover the most ground. The oovina were likely in their own clearing, and wouldn¡¯t be quite visible until the moons started to shine their light down and cause the flowers to bloom. Leo made his way through, listening past the sound of nocturnal birds and insects to make sure he wasn¡¯t being followed. By what, he didn¡¯t know, but the sight earlier had him paranoid that the unknown predator might be stalking him. His suspicions were nearly proven right when he heard the snap and cracking of movement against branches and grass not far away from him. Desperate to not be spotted, he quickly closed the hood on his lantern to suppress its light, waiting a few seconds to make sure the sounds didn¡¯t suddenly increase or start rushing toward him, before he crept toward the sound itself. Following Rize¡¯s posture from before, he got low and peeked through a line of bushes into a small clearing, finding a sight that made his eyes widen in surprise.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E- (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 100%, Mana 100% Will: E- (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Storage
Animated Bone (E-Rank, Dark) D-Rank Mental Karma 2x
Large Shell (E-Rank, Water) Basic Short Sword,
Drowned Heart (C-Rank, Water) Basic Shield
Scorched bone (E-Rank, Fire) Sigil of the Drowned
Petrified Bone (E-Rank, Earth) Stone-Plated Pangler Plating (D-rank, Earth)
Deepgold Coin (E-Rank, Metal) Soul Husk (C-Rank, Aether)
Windblown Feather (E-Rank, Air) Luminous Mote (E-Rank, Light)
Chapter 9: Darkling In the growing moonlight, Leo could see a woman standing between the corpses of several strange creatures. The woman herself drew his attention, having fox-like ears that sprouted out from the top of her head alongside her orange hair. Even more eye-catching, Leo could see five fox-like tails that swayed behind her. Kitsune, the word came to Leo¡¯s mind after several seconds of watching this woman examine the corpses. What was she doing here, he wondered? She didn¡¯t show any signs of duress, so he found it hard to believe that she killed all of those things, but the way she half-heartedly examined them, lightly kicking the corpses to roll them over showed that she had no love for them at the very least. He decided to Appraise her. [Warning! The difference in rank is too high! Some information is restricted.]
Name: -
Title -
Class -
Element -
Total Rank A
A couple of things happened immediately after. If his eyes could have gotten any wider at seeing her rank, and that it was the only thing he could see from attempting to Appraise her, they would have. More importantly, a slight movement from her brought his attention from the screen back to her. Her ears twitched, a motion he¡¯d only just gotten used to seeing from Rize, and then she turned to look in his direction. Leo grew still, he couldn¡¯t hear anything other than the sound of his pounding heartbeat. He hadn¡¯t wanted to make himself known at all, just in case she had anything to do with that horribly gruesome scene they¡¯d come across earlier. For several seconds, the two of them stood in tense silence. Leo could just barely make out her eyes, moving, scanning the brush. As if she searched for something - searched for him, he realized. She hadn¡¯t honed in on his precise location, it seemed like she just grasped the fact that she was being watched, or that she¡¯d been appraised. Just as Leo began to contemplate the best way to cut and run, something else happened. She grinned, and brought a slender finger to her lips, giving him a gesture to be quiet. She held that pose for a few seconds, long enough for Leo to give the smallest nod in response, before she turned around and walked off. After her departure from the clearing, Leo stayed in place for a few minutes. Mainly to muster up the confidence to move again. He¡¯d had the fight of his life against something that averaged out to C rank not too long ago, and he honestly had a bit of trouble conceptualizing what something with A rank stats felt like. That preternatural awareness probably came from a high Intuition or something along those lines. Whatever the case, he couldn¡¯t even tell if she was a Laborer, so the best he thought to do was avoid getting involved with her and hope she wasn¡¯t also there for the Oovinas. A good while after she left, Leo finally found the will to move out into the clearing to inspect the corpses she left behind.
Name Darkling [Dead]
Element Dark, Earth
Total Rank D
He pulled the hood up from his lantern to better illuminate the space. The darkling corpses were quadrupedal, sporting smooth skin, a mix of dark brown and an odd purple color. They varied somewhat in size, but averaged out around the length of a German Shepard. Most strikingly, Leo couldn¡¯t see any eyes on any of their heads. Only maws of long, sharp teeth. They also had fairly long sets of claws on each of their paws. After he used Appraise, Auto Loot activated, only getting things from about a third of the dozen or so bodies around him.
Auto Loot Activated
Items Obtained:
Darkling claws 4x (D-rank, Dark)
He couldn¡¯t see any obvious signs of what killed them, so he could only guess it was some kind of magic. He continued examining the bodies, before the sound of a snapping twig had him whip around to the same area he¡¯d emerged into the clearing from. The lantern¡¯s light lit up the form of Rize, to Leo¡¯s absolute relief. ¡°Leo?¡± She looked at him, and then around the clearing to the bodies of the darklings all around him. ¡°What¡¯s all this?¡± He thought about the gesture the kitsune had given him, but he couldn¡¯t imagine not telling Rize about what he just saw. Quietly, he recounted what he¡¯d just seen, noting that it didn¡¯t seem like she fought the darklings at all, but if she was actually A rank, then any confrontation between them probably couldn¡¯t even be considered a fight. ¡°Darklings? Is that what these are?¡± ¡°According to my Appraise.¡± Leo answered. ¡°Do you know them?¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware of them. They¡¯re creatures who were corrupted by the outsiders and forced underground. This is the first time I¡¯ve ever seen them.¡± She shifted one onto its back with her foot. ¡°I think these are what might have killed that pangler, just looking at those claws.¡± Seeing them, and thinking back to the shredded parts of the body that weren¡¯t protected by the stone-like plating, he had to agree. One thing felt off about the assessment, though. ¡°You might be right, but aren¡¯t these a little too clean?¡± From how bloody the scene was, he figured the darklings, or at least their corpses, would be covered in blood. These had all the dirt and grime that animals in the woods might, but he didn¡¯t see any blood on them or in the surroundings. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Rize said, taking another look around. ¡°Still, there might be more of them nearby. We can look into it later, I came to find you because I found the Oovinas, let¡¯s go!¡± She grabbed his hand, and began to pull him away from the clearing. He took one final look at the space before following behind. Despite the urgency, she made sure to move and lead him quietly, her ears twitching in response to sounds his hearing couldn¡¯t even register. He took a moment to close the hood of his lantern again. The light from two full moons shining down gave enough illumination for even Leo to see decently well, which he guessed was part of why Rize rushed him out of the clearing full of darklings. Though it felt longer with Leo looking over his shoulder constantly, a relatively short trip across the woodland brought them to the clearing, and the Oovinas had already started to bloom. Large white flowers sprouting out from stalks sticking straight up in response to the moonlight. A solid patch of them - definitely more than the six they were required to gather. They stood at the edge of clearing while more bloomed. To Leo¡¯s amazement, some of them even began to glow softly. Once most of them started to fully show their petals, Rize nodded to Leo and stepped forward to begin to pick the flowers. Leo glanced around, partly expecting the kitsune from before to come out and lay claim to the flowers, but nothing of the sort happened, so he joined Rize in picking them. ¡°So we only need to submit six, what about the rest of them?¡± He said, as he decided to look over them with Appraise.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Material
Blooming Oovina (E-rank, Aether)
Material
Moonlit Blooming Oovina (D-rank, Aether)
He paused for a moment to stare at the screens that appeared, as Rize continued to pick the flowers. ¡°I suppose we¡¯re fine to collect the rest for ourselves. Personally I have no use for them, as pretty as they are when they¡¯re in bloom.¡± With a grin, Leo helped her finish picking the six they needed, and submitted them to the Labors¡¯ shop according to the quest¡¯s direction.
Quest Complete! Requisition - Oovina (Urgent)
Reward E-Rank Unrestricted Karma (2)
After that was done, they went and carefully picked the rest of them that grew in the grove, giving him a good six more. Four of the regular variety, and two of the glowing ¡®moonlit¡¯ kind went into Leo¡¯s Storage. A few more grew around the clearing, but they didn¡¯t seem to register as materials in the same way. Probably for the best they left some to leave seeds and such so that another patch of Oovina might grow in the same spot. A fantastic acquisition. Considering how much he¡¯d seen even E rank materials sell for on the Labors¡¯ shop, Leo considered selling them himself briefly, but knowing how hard it was to come across them, he probably wanted to hang on to the Aether material as much as he possibly could. As they wrapped up and started to figure out where they were going to break and make camp for the night after their job well done, Rize¡¯s ears fell flat against her head. ¡°Do you hear that?¡± She asked. At that moment, he didn¡¯t, but seconds later he felt it more than he heard it. A low tremor in the ground, a quiet rumble that gave him a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to, but we should probably check that out.¡± He said. He definitely didn¡¯t want to sleep nearby without knowing what it was. With a nod between him and Rize, she began to lead him toward the sound with her better sight and hearing. The sounds hadn¡¯t stopped, the rumbling continuing and getting louder and louder to Leo the further they progressed. The closer they got, he could begin to make out the sound better. Rather than a low roar that he couldn¡¯t quite recognize, it sounded like the movement of something, a lot of something, like dozens of things moving all in a massive crowd. Soon enough, they crept along the edge of another clearing, keeping quiet and low as they could actually see movement beyond. One Leo could get a clear view, he found himself shocked. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d see anything more surprising than the kitsune that night. The clearing was a large gap in the forest, where next to no trees grew. A small field of grass and hills. Under the moonlight. Leo could see dozens, if not hundreds of darklings moving, shifting around, moving past and over each other like ants over a disturbed anthill, except all of the ants were three to four feet long. Leo grew very still, he felt like one wrong move or loud enough sound from him and they¡¯d swarm over him like piranhas. Suddenly, the sheer lack of larger animals in the woods made a lot more sense with all of these things running around. He glanced over to Rize, who¡¯d also taken to making herself as small as possible to not be seen or heard. She, however, seemed to be scanning the field to get a better sense of their overall numbers. He looked back to the horde of darklings. As he looked over them once more, his vision began to blur. Blinking back, he rubbed his eyes, trying to clear away whatever had gotten into them, since now would have been the worst possible time to have any kind of vision problems. He closed his eyes briefly to rub them, and when he did, the sound around him felt muted somehow, diminishing and changing entirely. This caused him to rub his eyes faster to figure out what was happening, and when he opened them, he found his vision clear, but a completely different problem had come up. He was in an entirely different space.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E- (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 100%, Mana 100% Will: E- (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Storage
Animated Bone (E-Rank, Dark) D-Rank Mental Karma 2x, E-Rank Unrestricted Karma 2x
Large Shell (E-Rank, Water) Basic Short Sword,
Drowned Heart (C-Rank, Water) Basic Shield
Scorched bone (E-Rank, Fire) Sigil of the Drowned
Petrified Bone (E-Rank, Earth) Stone-Plated Pangler Plating (D-rank, Earth)
Deepgold Coin (E-Rank, Metal) Soul Husk (C-Rank, Aether)
Windblown Feather (E-Rank, Air) Darkling claws 4x (D-rank, Dark)
Blooming Oovina 4x (E-rank, Aether) Moonlit Blooming Oovina 2x (D-rank, Aether)
Luminous Mote (E-Rank, Light)
Chapter 10: The Observer All of Leo¡¯s senses seemed to fade away and come back one by one. As his vision came back into focus, he spotted wooden floors, the interior of a building lit by candlelight. The smell of aromatic incense filled his nose, and shuffling from nearby drew his attention. He was still crouching, but now he could see that he was in a sort of bedroom instead of the woods, with a massive bed that would put any king sized mattress on Earth to shame, and someone lying atop it. A woman with copper colored skin and shoulder length, silvery gray hair, wearing a very comfortable-looking white nightgown with a purple sash. She had one of her eyes covered by her hand, and appeared as if she was simply staring off into space, until she glanced in his direction, noticing his movement. ¡°Oh? It brought you all the way here, did it? You must have some half-decent Luck.¡± Almost instinctively at this point, Leo went to Appraise.
The difference in Ranks is too high. No information available.
He immediately wished that he hadn¡¯t. His eyes widened in surprise at the screen that appeared. He managed to Appraise that kitsune earlier, even if he only got the fact that her rank was A. For him to not be able to get absolutely anything from this woman had to mean that her rank was S at the very least. Leo suddenly felt incredibly small next to this woman, who gave him a wry smile, likely noticing his ill-fated attempt at appraisal. ¡°How rude. I¡¯ll give you a pass, though, for letting me borrow your body to monitor the situation with the darklings.¡± ¡°Did it have to be me?¡± He asked. ¡°You and your friend are the only sentient beings I¡¯ve observed in the area for a good while now. As I¡¯m sure you might have seen, the darklings have stripped this little section of the woodlands clean.¡± ¡°There have been other people in these woods than us, though.¡± Leo replied, and then his thoughts caught back up to him afterward. ¡°Oh, have they now? Pray tell, just who have you seen out there other than yourselves?¡± Of course, she seemed to become very interested in the topic, but Leo¡¯s mind flashed back to the encounter with the kitsune, particularly the gesture she gave to keep quiet. He couldn¡¯t figure out whether she meant to keep the encounter to himself or to stay quiet in general, but he was starting to get an idea of what she wanted. ¡°I¡¯d rather not say.¡± Leo replied. The cat was only partially out of the bag, he could try to keep any other relevant information to himself. ¡°Bold of you to say, especially to someone who has active control over your body at this moment.¡± Her nonchalant look toward him turned stern, and the candles lighting up the room flickered violently for a moment. Leo swallowed hard. For a moment, he considered lying about who he saw. He might piss off this woman if he didn¡¯t tell, but if he did, he might piss off the kitsune. The kitsune never even saw his face, from what Leo could tell, but he had no idea whatever magic or skills that A ranks had access to, let alone the at-least S rank in front of him. Fortunately, she seemed to lose interest in the topic. ¡°No matter, knowing someone else is keeping an eye on it is good enough, I suppose. In return, why don¡¯t you tell me your name? Surely you can part with that much, between laborers.¡± Leo still hesitated for a moment before speaking. Although, supposedly she already had control of his body, he didn¡¯t see the harm in telling her his name. ¡°Leonell Bolden.¡± He answered. ¡°I go by Leo.¡± ¡°Wonderful. Perhaps I¡¯ll even remember it. In any case Leo , I¡¯ll return your body to you now, the situation has changed a bit.¡± She moved the hand covering one of her eyes, but the eye still remained closed. ¡°Stand for me.¡± He did, relieved at the prospect of her dropping the subject. ¡°If you end up living through this, perhaps we¡¯ll speak in the future. No, raise your right leg as if you were about to lunge, and bright your right arm forward.¡± Mildly confused but more than a little concerned, he did as she asked. ¡°Wait, live through what? What¡¯s happening?¡± The wry smile returned, as she gestured yet again. ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon enough. Now, bring the leg down as if you¡¯re lunging, and do try not to fall.¡± He still had no idea what she was trying to do, but he followed her instructions, and brought the leg down while leaning forward on it. To his shock, his foot hit dirt and leaves with a heavy crunch, and he found himself being pulled forward, nearly falling at the sudden shift in momentum. ¡°Come on Leo, I need you to run!¡± Rize said. He was back, running, sprinting through the forest as fast as their legs could manage. He wanted to ask what happened, but Rize would probably be under the impression that he¡¯d been there the entire time, so he didn¡¯t want to confuse her, instead he glanced back. He could barely see anything, but he could hear the sound of multiple shapes moving through the undergrowth, along with guttural grunts and cries, they were being chased. ¡°How did they notice us?¡± Leo asked. He thought back to the massive crowd of darklings, imagining them swarming over the two of them like ants. He didn¡¯t even think their bones would be left behind. ¡°The wind changed briefly, I think a few of them caught our scent. It¡¯s just a smaller pack, but there are still many of them compared to the two of us.¡± She was right. Thankfully, it was only a few of the darklings chasing after them. If that entire horde went running after them, they¡¯d definitely feel it. At this point, they zigged and zagged through the forest, dodging past trees and leaping over bushes. Leo could just tell that he was slowing Rize down. He wasn¡¯t slow by any means, but he wasn¡¯t any kind of athlete either. As they continued to run, Leo nearly ran into Rize and knocked the two of them over when she stopped abruptly, jerking him to the side and changing direction as she pulled Leo out of the way of a falling tree that threatened to crush the two of them. ¡°What was that?¡± He couldn¡¯t see anything behind the tree that might have knocked it over. The entire area was illuminated in moonlight. He couldn''t see very well, but if anything was behind that tree then he would have seen it. ¡°Don¡¯t know! Keep running!¡± Rize shot back. Leo could feel his heart pounding in his chest, but his pursuers weren¡¯t far behind. As he focused on watching the ground to avoid tripping on a root or a stone hidden in the shadows of the trees, a screen appeared for him, and he struggled to focus on it while he was running for several seconds before he finally managed to read it.
Quest Title Darkling Elimination (Urgent)
Objective Eliminate the Darklings before they discover the path to Normouth. (0/6)
Reward D-Rank Unrestricted Karma per darkling killed.
¡°Shit. Rize, I just got a quest to kill these things!¡± A quest with the highest reward he¡¯d seen since starting, probably proportionate to the difficulty, since he couldn¡¯t imagine fighting six of those things. Rize glanced back, and cursed under her breath as they crashed through another clearing and nearly fell over again. It was the same clearing that they came across earlier, with the corpse of the pangler lit up by the moonlight. Passing that, the gears in Leo¡¯s head started turning. ¡°Rize, lets get to another open space, and then you hide. Maybe we can set up an ambush.¡± Rize gave a grunt of acknowledgement, and kept pulling him along until they moved into another suitably wide clearing. Leo suppressed the urge to fall to his knees when Rize finally let him go.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I¡¯ll hide, but what are you going to do?¡± She asked, panting. Leo took a while to respond, he could hear the sound of the darklings crashing through the undergrowth. They hadn¡¯t lost them, but it seemed like they managed to get a considerable distance. Leo definitely wouldn¡¯t have been able to keep that up for much longer, though. ¡°I¡¯ll be bait.¡± He told her. As he did, he went to Combine the Luminous Mote in his inventory with the Windblown feather.
Witchlight (Rank E) Created!
A small luminous orb that hovers in place, or follows the creator for one hour.
The orb shone as if he¡¯d turned on a high power flashlight, clear and white, and he willed it to hover a few feet above him and shed light on the entirety of the clearing. Rize didn¡¯t seem excited at the prospect of Leo¡¯s plan. ¡°What do you mean, bait?¡± She said, ¡°They¡¯ll tear you apart, and I¡¯m likely to roast you if you¡¯re in the way.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just have to play it by ear. I¡¯ll keep them distracted, just try to get as many as you can. Hurry up! They¡¯re almost here!¡± The sounds were much, much closer now. If Leo had to guess, they¡¯d come across the pangler again, and had likely noticed the glow from the witchlight. Begrudgingly, Rize moved and crouched behind bushes, while Leo accessed his Storage once again and pulled out an empty vial. He hated to use up one of the Oovina immediately after getting it but he¡¯d certainly use it over dying. Hoping this worked, he combined the blooming Oovina with the Pangler plating.
Critical Combine!
Stoneskin Potion (Rank D)
Channel the defensive properties of the Stone-Plated Pangler. For five minutes after ingestion, make your skin as tough as stone.
He wasn¡¯t sure how much it helped compared to the last critical combine, but he was grateful that it bumped up the rank from E to D. He remembered Zumra¡¯s warning about the abilities being unwieldy, but Leo figured this would be fine since this was a passive ability anyway. Hearing darklings rapidly approaching the clearing, he quickly downed the potion before pulling out his sword and shield. He felt an odd tug at the pit of his stomach as the potion took effect. Inwardly, he didn¡¯t feel any different, but on the outside he could see his skin take on a pale gray hue and gain a stony texture. He didn¡¯t have time to truly feel the difference, and the most forward of the darklings rushed into the clearing and came skidding to a stop. It immediately noticed Leo, who just stood in the middle with his sword and shield at the ready, but it paused to glare up at the light. Leo couldn¡¯t quite tell with its eyeless head, but it didn¡¯t seem to like the light at all, almost fearing it. The others followed suit, also briefly glancing up at the light, but with all six of them there to back each other up, they seemed to resolve their rush onward and ignore the light¡¯s glow. The first of them lunged at Leo, practically flying through the air. Leo ignored the rising urge to cut and run and instead bashed it with his shield. The impact rattled him, but not nearly as much as he expected, and he started to think that the potion had actually made him a bit heavier, too. The darklings quickly started to surround him, and he tried as best he could to stay out of range of their slashing claws and snapping jaws, swinging out with his shortsword on the ones that got too close. At one point, one of them lunged before Leo could react, and raked its claws across his back. Leo hissed in pain. It¡¯d definitely torn his clothes, and probably drew blood, but Leo only felt a stinging pain that suggested that the cuts were shallow. Without the stoneskin potion, that darkling would have probably just slashed his back open. ¡°Leo! Dive left!¡± He heard. Turning toward the source, his vision filled with yellow and orange as a torrent of flames rushed his way.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E- (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 85% Mana 50% Will: E- (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Storage
Animated Bone (E-Rank, Dark) D-Rank Mental Karma 2x, E-Rank Unrestricted Karma 2x
Large Shell (E-Rank, Water) Basic Short Sword,
Drowned Heart (C-Rank, Water) Basic Shield
Scorched bone (E-Rank, Fire) Sigil of the Drowned
Petrified Bone (E-Rank, Earth) D-Rank Healing Potion 2x
Deepgold Coin (E-Rank, Metal) Soul Husk (C-Rank, Aether)
- Darkling claws 4x (D-rank, Dark)
Blooming Oovina 3x (E-rank, Aether) Moonlit Blooming Oovina 2x (D-rank, Aether)
Chapter 11: Two V. Six For a split second, Leo didn¡¯t know whether she meant her left or his left, and so he stared at the oncoming torrent of fire, until the last second where he dove in the direction that didn¡¯t have as many darklings. That seemed to be the right call, he felt the heat of the fire wash across his back as he rolled, but it didn¡¯t hit him directly, and the high pitched cries of the darklings he heard confirmed to him that she was right on target. Instantly, three of the six of them were incinerated, with a fourth being able to partially dodge the blast, and the other two being unaffected. Leo was able to rise from his dive unaccosted, as the two darklings who didn¡¯t get hit by the flames at all immediately rushed past him and started gunning for Rize. He wanted to go back her up, but the injured darkling lunged at him just as he¡¯d gotten back on his feet. He blocked it directly with his shield, bashing its head and pushing it away, before he swung out with his sword and felt the blade connect and cut into partially burnt flesh. A shudder went through his body, it had an altogether different feeling to him than hitting animated skeletons or undead, decaying flesh, but the adrenaline from the fight let him carry through. It was him, or the darkling, and Leo had no intention of getting shredded to pieces like that pangler. The darkling staggered back, and he took the opportunity to pierce it once, twice, three more times, until it collapsed, twitching and bleeding out dark colored blood. At that, he turned to find Rize, and spotted an odd sort of current coming from the charred bodies of the darklings toward her. Rize blasted fire from her hands like a double flamethrower, keeping the darklings at bay and singeing them whenever they tried to get too close. He ran up to back her up, and one of the darklings whipped around at the sound of his approach, ready to pounce at him, only to be scorched when Rize turned both her hands to it and lit it aflame. It got a solid three steps back before it collapsed in a burning heap. At that point, the last darkling took the opportunity to lunge at her. She ducked, raising her arms, and managed to avoid a direct hit, but cried out as the darkling¡¯s claws raked across her arms, immediately drawing blood. After the impact, a burst of flames flew out from the wound, burning the darkling in some sort of automatic retaliation. Leo reached them then, and bashed the darkling with his shield before trying to skewer it with his sword. It was quick, though, and he only managed a shallow cut as it dodged away. From behind him, a small ball of fire flew out, getting a direct hit on the darkling and bursting in a bright flash, causing it to yelp. With spots in his vision, Leo ran up and stabbed it directly where he assumed its heart would be, right between the forelegs. It shifted and moved as if to dodge, but didn¡¯t seem able to see where Leo was coming from, taking the hit directly, and quickly growing still. With the fight seemingly over, Leo fell to his knees, breathing heavily, while he heard Rize chanting. He glanced toward her, and with a wave of her hands, all of the myriad fires she¡¯d started by torching the nearby trees and foliage dimmed, with most going out immediately, and some other spots lasting for a few more seconds before petering out. He noticed her arms, actively bleeding from the cuts, and stood up before clearing his throat and gesturing for her to come over. He took the D rank healing potions out of his storage, handing one to her and taking one himself as notifications from his interface filled his vision.
Auto Loot Activated
Items Obtained:
Darkling Claws 6x (D Rank) Dark
Darkling Stone Heart 2x (D Rank) Earth
Quest Complete! Darkling Elimination (Urgent)
Reward D-Rank Unrestricted Karma (6)
¡°Rize, your hearing is better than mine, are there any more coming?¡± Leo asked. He watched as she drank the potion, and the cuts on her arms immediately sealed themselves. ¡°Not that I can tell. I think we¡¯re in the clear.¡± Rize replied, rubbing her arms and wiping away the blood. ¡°That being said, I¡¯m not particularly keen to stay here any longer than we have to, knowing that that horde of them is so close by. Do you think you could manage the walk back to Normouth?¡± ¡°I should be fine.¡± As he spoke, he could see the stonelike texture of his skin was already beginning to fade. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna stick around either.¡± They completed their quest already, that ended up being the easiest part of the entire night. Though he did not enjoy the prospect of taking the multi hour walk back to the city in the middle of the night, it wasn¡¯t like he had to clock in the next morning, so he could take solace in the fact that he¡¯d probably just sleep in. He took off his shirt, ruined from the darkling¡¯s claws on his back, and put on a spare that he had in his storage. While they walked, they took some of the food that they prepared and ate it on the way. The first several minutes were in relative silence other than the sound of them eating, but on a whim, Leo brought up his own stat window and got to thinking, before he decided to ask questions. ¡°Hey Rize, what¡¯s the best way to use karma? I¡¯m assuming you got as much as I did from that quest just now?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure what is best to raise for a Mixer.¡± She replied. ¡°From what I can tell, each class has different stat that they benefit from more than others, but in general it¡¯s best to focus on one or two, a physical and a mental, which would usually be those favored stats. That¡¯ll allow you to ¡®punch above your weight¡¯, so to speak. I¡¯m somewhat comfortable participating in C rank quests with other C and D ranked Laborers at this point because my Reflex is at C-, as is my Will after that last urgent quest, both of which affect my casting. I happen to have a spell to make up for my lower fortitude, though.¡± ¡°Reflex affects spellcasting?¡± Leo asked. Looking at his stats, he¡¯d been on the fence about what to raise next after getting his intuition to D-. He supposed he should pick a physical skill, but he was interested in anything that might tell him whether or not it should be Fortitude or Reflex. ¡°It aids in the casting. The movement of your hands or your casting implement, allowing you to do so faster, or under pressure. In my case, though, it also helps with wielding a blade.¡± He¡¯d almost forgotten that she¡¯d gone on this quest with him because she wanted to learn how to use a sword from Sir Verakith. ¡°Since we¡¯re gonna be training together anyway, would it bother you too terribly much if I asked you to teach me some basic magic?¡± He asked her. ¡°I¡¯d be glad to.¡± She replied, faster than he expected. ¡°I did say I was in your debt for paying for me to be trained. I¡¯d been looking for a good way to repay you, and that would be perfect I think. I must warn you, that there are multiple skills that help with my destructive capabilities, so I don¡¯t think you¡¯d be able to get to where I am without help from the Labors.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Leo said with a shrug. ¡°Just knowing how to light a candle with a snap of my fingers would be great, then I can go from there.¡± That seemed to settle the matter, and with that, Leo went back to thinking about what stat he should raise. Honestly, he didn¡¯t know if big Karma hauls like this would come often, as much as he wanted to raise his Reflex to another rank, he figured he should bump the stats that were bottom of the barrel while he had the opportunity. With that in mind, he put five of the D rank unrestricted Karma he¡¯d just received into Fortitude, raising the rank up to E, and he immediately felt lighter, less tired, like he could do the rest of this walk with no problems. In the same vein, he put the last unrestricted Karma into Will, and tossed in the two D rank Mental Karma and E rank unrestricted Karma to make it 8/10.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Especially after the fight he just had, he still had no intention of being any kind of tank if he went questing with other people, but he felt the need to be at least a little tougher, based on what he¡¯d seen from both that fight and the fight with Oorden. He wasn¡¯t sure how Will factored into anything, but he figured it would be better to have more than the absolute lowest possible. After he got Will to E, he could focus on Reflex and Intuition and see where that took him. He supposed it didn¡¯t matter as long as his stats were rising. He absolutely needed to get a hold of more items like the pangler¡¯s hide, though. That probably saved him from getting torn to shreds by the darklings. The sting on the cuts on his back had long since faded to a dull ache, and he barely felt it after drinking the healing potion. On a whim, he went to Combine a Darkling stone heart with another Blooming Oovina with the intention of making another stone skin potion, but for the first time since he¡¯d started Mixing, he was denied. It seemed like he needed the Pangler stone plating, or another part of a Pangler directly to make that potion. He¡¯d have to check the Labors¡¯ shop later to see what he could find. The fortitude bump was enough of a boost that he made decent time on the walk back to Normouth. The sun began to rise over the horizon, with the twin moons fading out of view in the brightening sky as they reached the walls of the city. Once they got back inside, they decided to part there and meet back at Sir Verakith¡¯s place sometime in the afternoon to report that they¡¯d completed their quest, but not before Rize had another topic to bring up. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about it since we started walking back, but that many darklings above ground is highly unusual.¡± She told him. They¡¯d stopped in the wide central square of the city, leaning on a fountain as the city itself slowly began to come to life in the early morning. ¡°Especially so close to Normouth. We should warn someone. A horde of monsters that large could decimate the city if they managed to sneak up on them.¡± Leo could only imagine, hundreds of darklings swarming over the walks, running in the path of unsuspecting people. A gruesome prospect no matter how he thought about it. ¡°Okay, sure, who should we warn?¡± ¡°The city¡¯s guards, for one. I¡¯ll take care of that, but there¡¯s only so much they can do. Maybe we can tell Sir Verakith, and he can point us in the direction of someone who would be able to organize a more proactive defense.¡± ¡°Got it. Maybe the local guilds for Laborers, too? Surely they¡¯d get quests for this if they did attack the city.¡± ¡°Also an option. We don¡¯t need to do it all at once, though. I¡¯m not sure how long the darklings have been there, but I believe that quest we completed prevented them from noticing the city earlier than they would have. Let''s get some rest before we start running around the city.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Leo agreed, with that, they parted for the morning and Leo went to get some well-deserved sleep.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 85% Mana 50% Will: E- (8/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Storage
Animated Bone (E-Rank, Dark) Basic Short Sword,
Large Shell (E-Rank, Water) Basic Shield
Drowned Heart (C-Rank, Water) Sigil of the Drowned
Scorched bone (E-Rank, Fire) Blooming Oovina 3x (E-rank, Aether)
Petrified Bone (E-Rank, Earth) Moonlit Blooming Oovina 2x (D-rank, Aether)
Deepgold Coin (E-Rank, Metal) Soul Husk (C-Rank, Aether)
Darkling Stone Heart 2x (D-rank, Earth) Darkling claws 10x (D-rank, Dark)
Chapter 12: Another Earthling It might have been from the adrenaline and everything finally starting to fade away after the harrowing night that he¡¯d experienced, but as he made his way back to the inn room he had, Leo began to feel heavy and sluggish. It felt off, and unnatural, like he recognized the beginning stages of a cold before it really got going. As he stepped into his inn room, he decided to see whether or not it would reflect on his stat window.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 100% Mana 100% - Earth Toxicity 15% Will: E- (8/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
What he saw when he pulled up his stat window gave him pause. He hadn¡¯t seen anything about earth toxicity or any of the elements for that matter. He tried to think of where it might have come from. His first thought was the slash across his back from the darkling¡¯s claws during the fight, but he figured that he would have felt it immediately if that were the case. After a while, he managed to come up with this toxicity being a result of the Stoneskin potion. He supposed that consequence free magic potions were wishful thinking on his part, but given what he¡¯d seen of magic so far - from Axilya¡¯s metal manipulation and to the recent display of pyromancy from Rize, neither of them had said anything about toxicity, so maybe it was specific to the potions he made and other things that he mixed together. He¡¯d have to ask Zumra about it later, since he wasn¡¯t in the best state to think too deeply about it, tired as he was. He didn¡¯t feel great, but he also didn¡¯t think it was actively killing him given that his health was still full. He sank into his bed and fell asleep almost immediately. As he expected, when he woke up next, it was well into the afternoon. He felt a lot better getting up and when he checked his status again to monitor the Earth toxicity, he found that it had faded away while he was sleeping. He guessed that lower numbers were better when it came to negative statuses, but he wasn¡¯t going to complain about it. He got some food that he could eat while on the run and booked it to Sir Verakith¡¯s estate. As much as he wanted to, he¡¯d have to visit Zumra¡¯s shop later to ask about the toxicity in potions, though maybe Rize would be able to tell him. He found the rush from his inn room to Sir Verakith¡¯s home much easier than before, which he could probably blame on his recently raised Fortitude. That really gave him the idea of focusing on it going forward, but he knew he¡¯d only been barely able to consider himself ¡®fit¡¯ before he was brought here. Would his stats improve over time without putting Karma into them? There was so much about this place he didn¡¯t know, he was kind of surprised that he hadn¡¯t done anything to accidentally get him killed yet, and all that tutorial he went through did was put him in contact with someone who kind of knew what she was doing, and he considered himself lucky he didn¡¯t part ways with her immediately after getting out. He¡¯d have to put together another list of questions that he wanted to ask her, the mysterious figures he¡¯d seen in the woods looking into the darklings being near the top of the list. Before he could really get into which questions to ask, however, he reached Sir Verakith¡¯s home, and found Rize standing at a distance away, watching someone who stood in front of the door and occasionally knocking very loudly. He was dressed in a long, stylish black coat, and also sported wavy black hair that fell down to his shoulders. Keeping his eye on this man as he walked up to Rize, Leo asked. ¡°Did he get here before you?¡± ¡°Indeed he did.¡± Rize answered. ¡°And he¡¯s been banging on Sir Verakith¡¯s door for a while. I for one did not fancy another scolding by association, so I elected to stay back.¡± Leo chuckled and cleared his throat, knowing very well that it was his knocking that got them yelled at by the knight the previous day. A sudden shift in movement drew his attention back to the man at Sir Verakith¡¯s door, as he ran his hands through his hair, let out an audible groan, and turned before swiftly walking off. He noticed the two of them standing there. He had to, but he paid them no mind as he walked by. Leo managed to get a look at his face, he was young, maybe around Leo¡¯s age. At least he looked as much. Leo himself couldn¡¯t help but wonder what he was doing and why he was so frustrated over the lack of response from Sir Verakith, but not nearly enough to ask. As he passed by, Leo shrugged and said ¡°Damn, Keanu, where¡¯s the fire?¡± He said it at an even tone, at a volume where realistically only Rize should have been able to hear him, but the man stopped mid-step, turning his head to look back at the two of them with a blank expression. Maybe I should just stop speaking out loud. Leo thought. The last thing he wanted at this moment was to get into a fight with someone outside of Sir Verakith¡¯s house. However, what he actually said completely shattered Leo¡¯s expectations. ¡°Reeves? It took Leo a moment to put two and two together. This guy recognized the joke he¡¯d been making. ¡°Y-yeah. Holy shit. You kind of look like him from a distance but-¡± ¡°Are you from Earth?¡± He asked, taking the words right out of Leo¡¯s mouth before he could say them himself. The grin that appeared on Leo''s face must have answered the question for him, because the man¡¯s shoulders slumped and he let out a deep breath, as if the moment forced him to relax. ¡°I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d send anyone from earth out here. It¡¯s-¡± He paused, clearing his throat before continuing on. ¡°-disfavored. It could easily become dangerous for anyone new to the Labors.¡± ¡°You sound like you¡¯ve been here a while.¡± Leo noted, deciding to appraise him.
Warning! This user has a skill that hides parts of their statistics from prying eyes.
Name: Layne Blackburn
Title Second Life Swordsman
Class Soul Sunderer
Element Aether
Total Rank D+The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
There were a lot of interesting things about what Leo saw, the fact that he had a skill to hide his stats among them. The thing that drew his attention the most, though, was the fact that his element was Aether. Leo had been appraising people who at least looked human around him, and most of them had no element to them whatsoever. ¡°I have, it¡¯s been¡­¡± Layne said, trailing off as if he was trying to remember how long it had been. Leo understood, he had a hard time comprehending that he¡¯d only been here a few days. ¡°A little over a year, give or take. My name¡¯s Layne, by the way.¡± ¡°Leo.¡± He replied, pointing a thumb back at Rize. ¡°That¡¯s Rize if you were wondering. And yeah I¡¯m new, very new, and I¡¯ve already seen some crazy shit. Which is why we¡¯re here at the moment, among other things. What about you?¡± ¡°I have some business with the knight here.¡± Layne answered. He didn¡¯t seem willing to go into detail, but before Leo could decide if he wanted to press, the sound of a door opening and groan drew all of their attention to Sir Verakith, squinting as his eyes settled on the three of them. ¡°What do you want? Surely you two haven¡¯t completed a quest already.¡± ¡°We have.¡± Rize answered. ¡°But that¡¯s not the entire reason we¡¯re here. We found something we think you should know about.¡± The knight gave her a blank stare for a few seconds before he sighed. ¡°Fine. Whatever. What about you?¡± He said, looking at Layne. ¡°Were you the one banging on my door earlier?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard a lot about you, Sir Verakith.¡± Layne said. ¡°I¡¯ve come to learn a specific technique from you, and I know that you don¡¯t usually teach it, so I¡¯ve had something specially prepared for you.¡± Sir Verakith brought a hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. ¡°Another one. Fine, come on. Stop standing around outside my house and get in here.¡± He had them come inside, and to the knight¡¯s credit, he had cleaned up quite a bit in the time that Leo and Rize hadn¡¯t seen him. Sitting in the same space they had last time, Sir Verakith gave them the floor to speak first, leaving Layne¡¯s request for later. With that, they went into detail about their quest and what they found, focusing primarily on the massive amount of Darklings gathering in the nearby woods at night. Leo left out his sighting of the kitsune and the conversation he had with the mysterious, likely S ranked laborer, since the Darklings and the potential for the destruction they could cause took precedence. They also talked about their flight from the group of darklings chasing them and their fight, which was where Leo had to reveal to Layne that he was a Mixer, if he didn¡¯t already know. Occasionally, Leo would glance over toward Layne, while they were explaining, and his face was set. He didn¡¯t seem to have a strong reaction, and it made Leo wonder exactly what he¡¯d been dealing with after being a laborer for a year. At one point, he seemed lost in thought, almost like he¡¯d pieced something together after hearing about the darklings. Once they finished, Sir Verakith leaned back in his chair, letting out a deep sigh before taking a swig of something from a nearby bottle. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a problem. I¡¯ve got people I can let know about it before they sneak up on us, but I should probably head out now. Good job for completing the quest and all, but I probably won¡¯t be able to start training you until tomorrow at the earliest.¡± With that out of the way, he looked toward Layne. ¡°What about you? You seem like you know what you¡¯re doing, just looking at you, so you must be here for something serious.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Layne answered. ¡°I know that you¡¯ve rarely taught this to anyone, and that this request is going to seem a little strange, but I¡¯d like to learn the final form of the Stormcloud Saber Art. I¡¯ve learned from others, bits and pieces, but my knowledge of the Collapsing Storm Dance is incomplete. You are the only one in all of Heom who could teach me.¡± As Layne spoke, Leo noticed Rize¡¯s ears twitch at the name ¡®Stormcloud Saber Art¡¯. It certainly sounded fancy to Leo, and he did want to know a bit more, it sounded cool as hell to him, but given that he was only there to learn how to use a sword properly to begin with, anything like that was likely going to be way over his head. Sir Verakith, who¡¯d been silent for several seconds, finally spoke up. ¡°You two. I¡¯ll take what you said to the city¡¯s guard, but I¡¯m gonna need you to get out. This isn¡¯t something I prefer to discuss with company.¡± Rize looked like she wanted to protest, but decided against it. ¡°Very well. I suppose we¡¯ll start coming later for our training. Shall we get going, Leo?¡± ¡°Right.¡± Leo stood with Rize, though he glanced back at Layne. ¡°We should keep in touch though. I don¡¯t know if you need any potions or anything, but I hang around another Mixer¡¯s shop pretty frequently. The name¡¯s Zumra¡¯s Mixes. The shopkeep will have to do until I can get something like a friend¡¯s list.¡± ¡°You can get a phone from the shop.¡± Layne answered, which made Leo¡¯s eyes widen. ¡°The cheapest models will go for a few hundred credits. I can give you my number later.¡± With that, they left, before Leo started asking more questions than any of them had time for. Since they had some time left in the day, Leo and Rize decided that he¡¯d start the basics of learning magic for the few hours they had. While they were heading to his inn room, he checked the shop to find a fair number of phones and many other communication devices. He supposed he should have expected that, from when he looked at the cars earlier. He supposed he¡¯d been put off from looking at anything even remotely modern when cars went for hundreds of thousands or even millions of credits. Whatever the case, he¡¯d still have to sell potions for a bit longer in order to afford anything, but he could rack up a good amount of credits while learning both magic and swordplay, he might be able to survive the next time he actually went on a quest.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 100% Mana 100% Will: E- (8/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Storage
Animated Bone (E-Rank, Dark) Basic Short Sword,
Large Shell (E-Rank, Water) Basic Shield
Drowned Heart (C-Rank, Water) Sigil of the Drowned
Scorched bone (E-Rank, Fire) Blooming Oovina 3x (E-rank, Aether)
Petrified Bone (E-Rank, Earth) Moonlit Blooming Oovina 2x (D-rank, Aether)
Deepgold Coin (E-Rank, Metal) Soul Husk (C-Rank, Aether)
Darkling Stone Heart 2x (D-rank, Earth) Darkling claws 10x (D-rank, Dark)
Chapter 13: Two Week Training Two weeks passed without any major incidents, and during that time, Leo spent much of his waking time delving into the intricacies of spellcraft and swordplay. As Leo and Rize requested, Sir Verakith went to the guards and the leaders of the city to tell them about the darkling threat. With nothing they could do other than risk agitating them, the guards of Normouth set up more encompassing patrols, especially along the city¡¯s walls at night. They also called in reinforcements from the greater kingdom of Ashar that Normouth resided within, though Leo never heard if those reinforcements would arrive any time soon. With that ticking time bomb in the background, he dove into the learning to distract himself. Starting with magic, he found it a little more complex than he was expecting. Firstly, she had him buy a wand. He had to use a wand, staff, or some other implement to cast a spell with a core element of anything other than Wood. Light, Dark, and Aether magic seemed to be fine, but anything else would leave trace amounts of that element¡¯s energy in his body, which would be toxic to him if he didn¡¯t share that element. That answered a looming question he had, and he was able to confirm it with Zumra later when he asked about the Earth toxicity. Things that he Combined also left energy within him, but as a Mixer he had an amount of resistance to anything that he personally made. The only reason the Stoneskin potion gave him any toxicity at all was because it was of higher rank than him. According to Zumra, things would start to get dicey if he had 50% Toxicity from one or multiple sources, but Leo could cleanse himself with the same potions that he¡¯d use to clear away curses or diseases, the counterpart to healing potions made using Light element material with Wood instead of Dark. In any case, Rize taught Leo the basics of magic and particularly spellcasting. Without any innate magical abilities other than what he got from being a Laborer, he had to use spells to interact with magic. Spellcasting felt oddly complex, and even doing the simplest spell didn¡¯t come easy to Leo. They started with something incredibly introductory, having a small wick of flame appear on his finger like a flickering candle, and that felt like a huge wall to overcome. To Leo, it felt like singing while playing an instrument, having to focus on multiple things at once. As he had to say the right words for the spell, and move his wand in the right motion and speed. But he also had to add in having a clear mental image of the effect that he was trying to produce. Arguably the most important part, according to Rize, as not having a clear image would cause the spell to fizzle out at best, and blow up in his face at worst. It took him a few days before he even started attempting to properly cast, just so they could make sure he got the motions down, and a week total before he could properly cast the spell. Comparatively, learning the sword seemed easier. Sir Verakith already knew that Leo had next to no experience with it going in, but he did complement Leo on his footwork and stance, another holdover from Leo¡¯s time boxing. That was about the only thing the knight complimented Leo on, getting to work on making sure both Leo and Rize knew how to use their weapons properly. By contrast, through some great means of persuasion that he refused to speak of, Layne had convinced Sir Verakith to teach him as well that Collapsing Sword Dance he¡¯d been talking about. Leo would definitely take glances at his practice hearing a low rumble like thunder and smelling ozone along with the arcs of electricity coming from Layne¡¯s blade, but it only took one look for Leo to tell that whatever that was existed far beyond what he was even trying to learn, so he didn¡¯t even ask Sir Verakith about it. Sir Verakith certainly didn¡¯t hesitate to put Leo up against the more experienced Rize, and the definitely battle-hardened Layne for sparring and practice. After the training, Leo would take his battered and bruised form and practice magic with Rize until it got late into the night, only to meet up at Zumra¡¯s the next morning so Leo could drop off any potions that he didn¡¯t put into the Labors¡¯ shop. At the end of the two weeks, Leo didn¡¯t feel that much stronger in the grand scheme of things, but he could light a match with the flick of his wrist and a few magic words, and Sir Verakith confirmed that he took to the basics fairly well. He even might become a competent swordsman if he kept at it for thirty years or so! Jokes aside, Leo just needed more practice and more actual combat experience. He thought about how he was going to go about getting the latter, and decided to ask Layne about it. Thankfully, the perfect time to ask came up when, at the end of the training session on the last day of the second week, he asked Leo if he had any D rank healing potions, since buying directly cost less credits than going to the Labor¡¯s shop. ¡°Only one.¡± Leo answered with a shrug. ¡°I made a bunch of E ranks today, though I can take you to the shop where I¡¯ve been leaving some of them. I worked out a deal with the shopkeeper since he¡¯s also a Mixer.¡± Layne looked lost in thought for a moment, as if he was weighing his options, before he nodded. ¡°Sure, let''s go when you¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°Sweet You coming Rize? Or should I just meet you at your place?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tag along. I¡¯ve been wanting to see if Zumra has any more of that hair wash I bought from him last time. And so, the three of them bid farewell to Sir Verakith for the day set off for Zumra¡¯s, and along the way, he made his inquiries to his not-quite-captive audience. ¡°So Layne, you¡¯ve been doing this for a while, got any tips for someone who¡¯s gonna start actively questing.¡± He glanced over, giving Leo a look that made it seem like he¡¯d rather do anything but have to answer the question, before he started speaking. ¡°It¡¯s doable, but difficult without any combat skills.¡± He answered. ¡°Generally, you stick to the quests around your rank. They say you shouldn¡¯t run into anything too crazy if you do that, though you¡¯ve already seen that exceptions do apply.¡± Both Leo and Rize chuckled nervously at that, having narrowly escaped with their lives on what was supposed to be an E rank quest. Continuing on, Layne spoke with a dark look in his eye, as if he reminisced about a memory he¡¯d rather forget. ¡°The gods who make the quests are generally good about assigning difficulty, but that¡¯s the biggest trap for Laborers even all the way up to the S ranks. The gods have grown complacent and predictable, and the outsiders have become adept at manipulating the worlds they¡¯re trying to claim so that things happen before the gods can marshall enough Laborers to do something about it, or turning the quests into something much more difficult than they¡¯re supposed to be. Like the darklings.¡± He looked away, with a pained expression on his face. "You have no idea how bad things would have gotten¡­¡± Thinking back on it, this was one of the few times the gods were brought up since Leo got here, outside of the one who supposedly made him a Laborer in the first place. ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re speaking from experience. Have you met any S ranks?¡± Layne¡¯s gaze snapped back to Leo as he cleared his throat. ¡°A couple. I¡¯ve just been able to confirm with the ones I¡¯ve talked to that they¡¯ve felt the same way. Anyway though- just keep your eyes open, and it¡¯s probably better to quest in a party even if it''s for something innocuous like gathering plants. If it¡¯s important enough for the Labors to need it done, it¡¯s important enough for the Outsiders to screw with it.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Noted.¡± Leo replied. Prior experience had proven Layne correct to Leo and Rize already, so he saw no need to refute what he said. ¡°So how do you suppose a lowly E rank Mixer actually survive like this?¡± ¡°You just have to use what you have available.¡± He said. ¡°Most people who join the Labors get skills that compliment them. I¡¯m assuming that you already had the magic you use, and that you gained skills that helped with them when you gained your class.¡± He paused, waiting for Rize¡¯s nod before continuing. ¡°Most humans from earth don¡¯t come in with anything, so they have to rely on what they get from the Labors. If the Labors don¡¯t give you something you can obviously use in a fight like a ¡®Swordsmanship¡¯ skill, you have to survive how humans originally survived. By using the tools they have available. Weapons, knowledge. Even people can be tools given the right opportunity.¡± They continued to walk, but both Rize and Leo stared at Layne for that oddly dark note at the end of the pretty inspirational advice. Leo held his tongue, deciding not to comment on it. He¡¯d tried talking to Layne while they were training before, and he proved to be hard to get much of anything out of. Hell, Leo suspected the only reason Layne talked to him was that they were both from Earth. Layne seemed to notice the awkwardness, and cleared his throat once again. ¡°Anyway, you learning the sword and magic makes for a good backup, but you have something that can let you make a lot of tools.¡± ¡°Right, it feels like I can make nearly anything with Combine if I have the right materials. Any suggestions?¡± ¡°Exploiting elemental weaknesses can make up for rank differentials, to some degree, so you probably want to make sure you have something of every element to use.¡± Layne explained. ¡°You could probably make bombs of every element. Oils and poisons, resistance potions, arrowheads. You¡¯d need someone to teach you how to use a bow, though. Guns and bullets get too expensive for anyone other than S ranks to use. Those are just things I¡¯ve bought from other Mixers. It might get expensive for you to have to get the materials to make these things but you can mitigate the cost by harvesting from monsters yourself.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying I have to turn into Link.¡± Leo summarized. Layne paused, and then chuckled, giving a rare smile. ¡°Yeah, I guess so. Maybe increase your fortitude so you can actually take a hit, otherwise, there¡¯s armor in the shop that¡¯s expensive, but it will do the job against things at its rank.¡± Leo started to check the shop, wondering if he could find some kind of guide on how to make bombs, since he didn¡¯t have that knowledge. As he scrolled through a couple of low-credit options, a notification popped up in front of him.
You¡¯ve sold 50 items made with Combine! Achievement Reward: D rank Mental Karma.
¡°50?¡± He murmured. Since he was already in the shop, he checked to find that the potions he¡¯d put up earlier that day were still mostly there. ¡°Something wrong?¡± Rize asked, sensing Leo¡¯s sudden change in demeanor. ¡°I just got the achievement for selling 50 items. Most of the stuff I put on the shop is still there, which means someone bought up the dozen or so potions I had sitting on Zumra¡¯s shelves.¡± He¡¯d been inside Zumra¡¯s shop during semi-random surges of customers, but not when someone needed to buy that many healing potions. ¡°If they¡¯re buying healing potions in bulk, it might mean that one of the Laborer guilds heard something.¡± Layne noted. ¡°We might be able to figure it out if we hurry.¡± They suspended their conversation on how Leo could be a better Laborer and picked up the pace, rushing the rest of the way to get to Zumra¡¯s shop.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 100% Mana 100% Will: E- (8/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Chapter 14: Grim Prospects Along the way to the shop, Leo immediately used the D rank Mental Karma he¡¯d just received to bring his Will up, finally increasing it to an even E rank. He didn¡¯t feel any immediate difference, however. Maybe it¡¯d prevent him from having his body possessed by that still unknown S rank. There was a small crowd in Zumra¡¯s shop when they arrived. Axilya was also there, who responded to Leo¡¯s quick wave with a nod. Zumra seemed to have commandeered her service to calm down the rowdy Laborers and keep the long line that had wound itself around the store proper flowing. The elf himself served customers at the front desk with a calm expression, which lit up when he spotted Leo. He quickly finished the transaction for the person at the desk and asked the next one walking up to hold for a moment. ¡°Ah, Leo. Wonderful to see you here. Might I ask for your help in Combining a number of things for me? I¡¯ll provide the materials and make sure you¡¯re properly compensated.¡± Leo blinked at the unexpected request, but nodded in response. ¡°Sure, what do you need?¡± There were so many people in the store, it wasn¡¯t hard to see why he¡¯d need help restocking. Even though Zumra would probably have much more mana than Leo at C rank, Leo knew all too well the limited amount of Mana he had to make anything. He looked to Rize and Layne as even more people seemed to come into the store behind them. ¡°Why don¡¯t you two try to figure out what all the fuss is about while I¡¯m helping?¡± They both agreed, and then they split up. Zumra had Leo come behind the counter, where he pulled out a box from a shelf that had about half a dozen vials full of a dark blue liquid. ¡°I generally only save these for special occasions, but the current rush would certainly count.¡± He explained, handing one of them to Leo. ¡°These are mana potions. For the moment, just make as many E rank healing potions as you can, and drink one of these when you run out.¡± With his instructions given, Leo got to Mixing, making four potions before downing one of the sweet-tasting mana potions that, at rank D, Leo discovered, refilled his entire mana supply. before making more and starting the process over again. He got a critical Combine a few times, which Zumra took only as a boon, as he seemed to have as much of a need for D rank potions as E rank ones. After the first, Leo started paying attention to the crits and found that he seemed to have a little higher than a ten percent chance. He¡¯d have to imagine that would go up with his Luck stat, but he had no real intention to raise it any time soon. Half an hour and three boxes of mana potions between the two of them later, they managed to clear out the shop without issue. Leo slumped against the corner as the last customer left and let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Zumra asked. ¡°Using that much mana so quickly will cause a bit of a mental toll.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, thanks.¡± Leo¡¯s vision blurred a bit, and he felt a little dizzy after Mixing so much, but he¡¯d work through it. He could already feel it fading. ¡°Glad I could help.¡± His attention turned to Layne and Rize, walking up to the counter at the sight of the last customer leaving. ¡°So what¡¯d you guys find out?¡± He asked, then looked at Zumra. ¡°Er, wait, before that, I think he came here for D rank healing potions.¡± Leo said, gesturing to Layne. ¡°Of course. I still have mana potions remaining, so I¡¯ll get those going right away.¡± While Zumra stepped off to the side to make those potions, Axilya stepped up to the counter as well, just as Layne and Rize started to speak. ¡°People have spotted an Eldritch Titan heading for Ashar¡¯s capital, Dumatha, north of here.¡± Rize started. He noticed her ears were flat and her tails erratically flicked back and forth behind her. Layne chimed in, seeming to catch Leo¡¯s lack of understanding from his raised eyebrow. ¡°One of the Outsiders soldiers. Some of their strongest at that. From its size they¡¯re guessing it¡¯s at least A rank, but it has a small army forming around it, so they¡¯re gonna need support from any guild on Heom that¡¯s close enough to make it in time. It¡¯ll supposedly reach the city in about four days.¡± ¡°Well that explains the rush.¡± People trying to get their hands on as many cheaper healing potions and other things as possible made sense. Something felt wrong about this, though. Even though the Eldritch Titan wasn¡¯t even coming for Normouth. ¡°There goes those reinforcements Sir Verakith was asking for. Is every Laborer guild in the city heading up for Dumatha?¡± ¡°Really every Laborer that has the means to get there on time.¡± Axilya answered. ¡°Even I¡¯m planning to make my way up there once I¡¯m done helping Zumra. Events like that tend to give a lot of Karma for participating. Sometimes enough to go up an entire rank if you contribute enough.¡± ¡°If every Laborer goes up to Dumatha, what happens if we¡­¡± Leo trailed off, glancing back to Layne and Rize. Layne was looking down, his expression dark, and Leo thought back to his words while they were making their way toward Zumra¡¯s shop. ¡°Oh hell. They planned this. The darklings are gonna swarm Normouth while everyone¡¯s busy with the Titan.¡± He said. The silence in the shop deafened him as what he spoke seemed to settle in everyone¡¯s minds, broken when Zumra stepped back up their way and held several vials out and clinked them together to get Layne¡¯s attention. ¡°Seems like how the outsiders operate.¡± Layne said, taking the potions and paying the credits. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m sorry, I know I should probably stay here with that information in mind, but I need to get to Dumatha. There¡¯s something I need there that I won¡¯t be able to get if the Titan ends up destroying the city.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Leo said, incredulous. ¡°Even after hearing what I said just now?¡± ¡°There are plenty of people making hard choices right now.¡± Layne retorted. ¡°All of the guilds here have to know about the darklings, but they¡¯re sending as many people as they can over anyway. If Normouth falls, things will probably be fine for Heom, but if Dumatha goes down, the world will almost immediately go from ¡®Disfavored¡¯ to ¡®On the Brink¡¯, and then it¡¯ll only be downhill from there.¡± He swiped the air with the familiar motions that Leo recognized as navigating his own menu, and then something black and rectangular materialized in his hands. He started typing on it, and the familiar ticking sound told Leo that Layne had just purchased a smartphone from the Labors¡¯ shop. ¡°What are you-?¡± Before Leo could finish asking, Layne tossed him the phone, watching Leo struggle for a moment as he nearly didn¡¯t catch it. ¡°Keep it. I just put my number in so you can call me.¡± With that, he turned on a heel and started to head out of the shop. ¡°There¡¯s a chance the darklings won¡¯t do anything while the Titan¡¯s being dealt with, but if they do, just call me. I¡¯ll be back as soon as I can.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Leo didn¡¯t even have time to protest further before he was out the door, gone, off to his own inscrutable agenda. ¡°What the hell was that about?¡± Leo asked. ¡°Did he really just leave?¡± ¡°Maybe he has family in Dumatha?¡± Axilya offered. Leo was going to shake his head and reveal that he was from Earth like he was, but that didn¡¯t account for Layne potentially having a girlfriend or something who lived in Ashar¡¯s capital. Not that he spoke about anything like that, but he didn¡¯t talk much about his past at all. ¡°Still, even I was planning on heading out for Dumatha, since I hadn¡¯t heard anything about the darklings in a while.¡± ¡°Oh come on, we can¡¯t lose you, too.¡± Leo said, close to begging at this point. ¡°Could you blame me?¡± Axilya asked. ¡°You¡¯re basically asking me to stay behind and avoid an attack that¡¯s actively happening to defend against an attack that might happen. If I didn¡¯t have friends living here-¡± She knocked with her knuckles against the counter. ¡°-I¡¯d hardly have any incentive to stick around. Which is probably why most of the Labor guildies left.¡± ¡°Okay, Axilya, I get it. If nothing happens here while the Titan¡¯s attacking, I¡¯ll Mix anything you want for you with no cost until you make up for what you could have made if you went to help with the Titan, it¡¯s just too much of a coincidence that all that¡¯s happening with the darklings at Normouth¡¯s doorstep.¡± ¡°I appreciate the offer, and might just take you up on it later, but it isn¡¯t necessary. I can¡¯t leave Zumra to try to defend his shop by himself. Or you, for that matter.¡± Letting out a sigh of relief, Leo slumped down against the counter. Rize looked between everyone, looking worried. ¡°Well, what are we going to do? That doesn¡¯t leave many of us to-¡± A bell chimed as the door to Zumra¡¯s shop opened, and a familiar face to Leo stepped through. The kitsune from the woods entered the shop, with Rize and Axilya shifting out of her way as she approached the counter. ¡°Why hello. I know I¡¯m coming in a bit late, but would you happen to have any C rank healing potions?¡± ¡°Indeed I do.¡± Zumra replied with his extremely well practiced customer service smile. ¡°Most of the ones that the rush came through and bought were of E and D Rank. How many do you need?¡± ¡°Four will do for now.¡± The kitsune answered, and while Zumra nodded and stepped away to grab them, the kitsune turned to Leo. ¡°Pardon me, but have we met?¡± ¡°Er, excuse me?¡± Leo replied, not expecting the question. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve just been staring like you¡¯re trying to bore a hole through me since I walked in.¡± She answered with a sly grin. ¡°Hard for a girl to not get curious.¡± There was that insane Intuition at work again. Leo wished he could Appraise her to tell how high it actually was, but he had no reason to believe it wouldn¡¯t go exactly like last time, except this time her eyes were directly on him.¡±No I uh, don¡¯t think we¡¯ve met. You¡¯re just the only kitsune I¡¯ve come across since I¡¯ve been here.¡± Technically, he wasn¡¯t lying, but he couldn¡¯t even tell if she could work out that he wasn¡¯t entirely truthful, so he tried to change the subject. ¡°I do have a question for you though, if you don¡¯t mind?¡± At the curious head tilt and a twitch of her foxlike ears in response, he kept going. ¡°I¡¯ll assume you¡¯re a Laborer. Are you heading for Dumatha? Or are you staying here?¡± He spotted her eyes widen slightly, but other than that her expression didn¡¯t change much. As her grin also widened, he realized that he might have just told on himself by revealing that he knew, at least a little bit, about the darklings, but then again, most of the Laborers in Normouth should be aware of them after they got Sir Verakith to spread the word ¡°Why yes. I¡¯ll be sticking around.¡± She turned to Zumra as he made his way back to the counter, holding out a hand and dropping several spectral coins into the shopkeeper''s waiting hand in what seemed like her version of a transfer of credits. ¡°I won¡¯t be one to miss a party, and this one¡¯s looking like it¡¯ll be a big one.¡± Stashing away the potions in a pocket, she gave a wave to the group and started to make her way out. Once the door closed, Leo let out a breath that he didn¡¯t realize he¡¯d been holding.¡± ¡°Leo, was that¡­?¡± Rize began to ask. Leo confirmed that she was the very same kitsune that they saw who¡¯d also been looking into the darklings, and filled Axilya and Zumra in as well. ¡°If that is true, then you¡¯ve just confirmed that you¡¯ll have at least one A rank staying to fight the darklings if they invade.¡± ¡°Good news,¡± Axilya said, ¡°but one A rank is hardly enough to keep a horde of monsters from laying waste to the city, even if she does end up killing most of them.¡± She stood up from her own position of leaning on the counter, beginning to make her way out. ¡°I¡¯ll go talk to the people of the guilds that are still here. They¡¯ve probably kept people too green to handle fighting anything that would hang around an A rank, and I might be able to convince some people who haven¡¯t left yet to stay put.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have your compensation ready by morning tomorrow.¡± Zumra said to her as she left, then turned to Leo and Rize. ¡°And, in the effort of helping defend Normouth and my shop, I¡¯ll spare no expense in terms of materials, but you must understand if, on the night of any prospective attack, I don¡¯t stray too far from my store.¡± Leo opened up the Labors shop again, quickly opening up the section he was in before and buying the book on bomb-making that only cost about a hundred credits. ¡°I guess I¡¯ve got some reading to do.¡±
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 100% Mana 0% Will: E (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Chapter 15: Resolve Leo spent several hours learning how to make bombs. Everyone else went off to do their own preparations, gathering back together at night in case the darklings decided to attack before the Eldritch Titan reached Dumatha. Leo and Zumra spent time pouring over multiple books from the Labors¡¯ shop learning how to make bombs of different types. Leo would have loved to stop at figuring out how to put together fire bombs, but since the darklings were of Dark and Earth for elements, Fire wouldn¡¯t have as much of an effect. In order to get the best bang for their buck, they¡¯d need to make bombs with the Water, Metal, and Light elements, which they settled on essentially shrapnel grenades sending out ice shards and metal pieces with the first two, and explosive bombs of radiant energy for the latter. Of course, they couldn¡¯t just Mix everything into the bombs they needed. It was slightly too complex for Combine to be able to take the care they needed to make sure the bombs didn¡¯t explode randomly, or the materials within to mix prematurely and ruin the bomb. Once they made it themselves for the first time properly, they could use Combine to recreate it. Making bombs that Leo could light with a flicker of flame from his fingertip complicated the process somewhat. They had to find materials for fuses that he could light with fire but didn¡¯t conflict with the elements present in the water bomb. Thankfully, Zumra had a sizable catalog of materials to work with, and managed to quickly come up with an Earth material for the fuse that lit as easily but didn¡¯t carry the fire into the bomb and weaken it. The other bombs weren¡¯t nearly as hard to make, with the only hurdle being that Light materials to make the radiant bomb cost more than the others. Fortunately, Zumra was spending savings from his store on the entire endeavor, in the interest of keeping Normouth and the shop from falling to the darklings. When all was said and done, Leo had about thirty bombs in his Storage. Ten of each type, mostly D rank but more than a couple prompted a Critical combine to make C rank as well. Additionally, he had a handful of vials of D rank Oil of Sharpness, something that Zumra already knew how to make. He traditionally sold it to lumberjacks and the like to help cut down trees faster, but it helped against anything, especially things weak to Metal like the darklings. The sheer amount of explosives made Leo feel like a walking bomb himself, but thankfully he could fit them in his Storage so he only had to worry about them when he pulled them out. Still, even with all that he had, he didn¡¯t think he had enough to even make a dent in the horde of darklings. Not if the full swarm he and Rize saw that night were to attack. He¡¯d generously say he could maybe take out around one hundred if every bomb hit at least three, but there were most likely several hundred, if not a thousand Darklings or more holed up in that hiding spot, and likely in nearby caves to wait out the daytime. Finally, Leo told Zumra about the stoneskin potion he¡¯d made, and Zumra gave him a couple that produced a similar effect. Barkskin potions, D rank versions that lasted an entire hour. They wouldn¡¯t protect him as effectively as the stoneskin potion, but they¡¯d keep him from dying near instantly from a flurry of teeth and claws. The elf also imparted some additional knowledge that Leo could Combine something into a weaker version of the potion in exchange for making the effect last longer. That and a few more healing potions had him ready for the attack when it came. In the meantime, Axilya did find several Laborers remaining at the guilds, and convinced a couple of the higher ranking ones to stay behind due to the looming danger of the Darklings. Altogether, they had a couple dozen E and D ranks, including Leo and Rize, and five C ranks including Axilya and Zumra. That would have them all spread extremely thin across the entire city, but they had Normouth¡¯s own guards and militia, including Sir Verakith, and the kitsune who didn¡¯t seem to belong to any of the Laborer guilds in Normouth. It wasn¡¯t nothing, but apparently, there¡¯d be at least a hundred laborers in Dumatha, C rank at minimum with the average probably being around rank B or A. Leo had no idea what to expect from something like that, so he had no desire to make his way over there anyway, but after a couple days of creating bombs and potions and dreading the night when it came, the morning of the third day arrived - the day the Eldritch Titan supposedly would reach Ashar¡¯s capital, and he wondered: what am I still doing here? Partly, because he didn¡¯t know how to leave, but a few minutes of tinkering around with his interface allowed him to find the screen for teleportation. Leaving the planet for another for the cost of a couple hundred credits. He could see the names of worlds he¡¯d never heard of, their rank, and status. Whether or not they were close to being claimed fully by the gods that controlled the Great Labors, or the Outsiders. He sat in the back of Zumra¡¯s shop for a while, browsing, flipping through a list, and then some kind of massive stellar map when he switched the setting. He hadn¡¯t made any decision to leave, but he considered that the smart thing to do was get the hell out and try his luck on a different world. He¡¯d barely been there for two and a half weeks. He was still training. He hadn¡¯t even gotten a quest from the laborers to stay, either. As the question rattled around in his head, Axilya came into the back room. ¡°Zumra¡¯s closing up. Are you ready to go?¡± She asked. They were heading to one of the guilds so that the laborers could plan where to spread themselves out most effectively.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Should be.¡± Leo replied. ¡°Hey, this is a strange question, but what are we still doing here? What¡¯s keeping you from leaving for greener pastures?¡± Her ear twitched, something he¡¯d started to pick up on from both her and Rize whenever he said a metaphor or saying from Earth. She leaned against the doorway and looked away from him, her gaze up to the ceiling. ¡°When I first got here, Zumra sold me some potions at a discount after he realized I couldn''t afford the regular price. Same with a local blacksmith who gave me a whetstone and cloth for free to keep my newly purchased sword sharp.¡± Her gaze moved back to him. ¡°I eventually started doing quests and getting enough credits to buy those things without problems, but Zumra wasn¡¯t really obligated to help me out just because I was also a laborer. Speaking of which, he¡¯s spent a decade building this place and his regular customers. What¡¯s he gonna do if the city gets destroyed? For someone like him who¡¯s decided to become a merchant, he¡¯d have to start basically from the beginning.¡± With a sigh, she shrugged and continued on. ¡°Of course, long lived people like him won¡¯t really sweat another 10 years to rebuild, but I¡¯d rather not have that happen if I have the chance to stop it. You, on the other hand - I wouldn¡¯t wish this on any E rank. I¡¯d pay for you to leave myself if you really wanted to go.¡± Leo leaned back in his chair, glancing over at the sprawling star map that could probably fill the room if he really wanted it to. His thoughts swirled around, but Zumra¡¯s, Sir Verakith¡¯s, and Rize¡¯s faces flashed in his mind. Even Layne, odd as he was, who tossed him a hastily purchased smartphone that apparently cost a couple thousand credits. More than any D rank should be casually throwing around when D rank quests only paid out in the hundreds. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡± He said, closing the map with a swipe of his finger. ¡°I get what you mean. I have my own reasons to stick around. ¡°I¡¯m glad.¡± Axilya replied, giving a rare smile. ¡°It¡¯ll be dangerous, but the quest rewards tend to be worth it for things like this. Not to mention, even if you die, I¡¯ve heard if someone has enough credits they can bring you back. If any of the gods are interested in you, they might offer you a deal as well. I¡¯ve heard of more people coming back to life from that than being revived by credits spent.¡± ¡°How do I know if any of the gods are interested in me?¡± Axilya shrugged. ¡°Sometimes, you can get special quests or blessings from them, but they¡¯ll usually tell you in that case. They typically flock pretty quickly to special or unique classes. Some of them could be biding their time though, waiting for you to actually die before they make their offer. It¡¯s a little conniving, but they¡¯re probably waiting for a time where you nearly couldn¡¯t refuse any deal they¡¯re going to make. It could also just be that they¡¯re waiting to see what you make of yourself. After all, you¡¯re only E rank.¡± ¡°If I survive tonight, that just might change.¡± Once more, Leo was reminded that he didn¡¯t really know much about the gods that controlled the Labors. Even over the time he spent training, he focused too heavily on learning magic and swordplay to even ask if Normouth had any info about them in a library somewhere. He¡¯d heard names, prayers, and had seen what looked to be religious rituals just walking around Normouth, but he never dug any deeper into them. For all he knew they could have been a local religion instead. He¡¯d have to look them up in earnest assuming he survived the night. If he didn¡¯t, then maybe the god who brought him into the Labors in the first place would have some sort of special interest in him. Hopefully enough to revive him from the dead. The meeting took place in one of the guild¡¯s buildings. The sight of a couple dozen laborers had Leo looking around, seeing more than he¡¯d seen since he¡¯d been in Normouth at all. He didn¡¯t see Layne, as expected, but he did see the kitsune. The only one he¡¯d wondered whether or not would be there at all was the one who possessed his body, but he saw no sign of her whatsoever. In this meeting, he finally learned the kitsune¡¯s name: Hayumi. They placed the spotlight on her almost immediately as the only A rank Laborer to participate in this operation, with the rest being C or lower. All of the others were assigned districts of the city to guard based on rank and preference, with the organizers attempting to have a group of E and D ranks accompanying a C rank, almost like the tutorial Leo went through. Zumra, of course, stayed adamant about protecting his shop, so he was given that district along with a couple of E and D ranks. Rize volunteered to take a district with only one other person, as her destructive magic benefited from having less people around to get in the way, and Leo volunteered to be that extra. Much as he wanted to be in a group with a C rank, preferably Axilya, he¡¯d already seen how effective her fire magic was against darklings. The organizers reluctantly agreed, reminding her to try to keep her damage to nearby buildings and structures to a minimum since the people of Normouth who didn¡¯t evacuate would be hiding out inside their own homes. With very little in the way of objections or alterations, everyone split to make their final preparations. Leo joined Rize in heading to a part of Normouth he¡¯d yet to visit. Far enough away from the walls that they¡¯d get plenty of warning if the Darklings did come that night. At the tail end of sunset, the streets were already empty. Leo and Rize discussed their plan, and Leo looked around to find a space where he¡¯d be safe from both the darklings and Rize¡¯s magic. Eventually, he found a building a couple stories high with a flat roof and a tree nearby, and he climbed his way up. In relative silence, while he waited for night to fall and the wrath of the outsiders to pour across the city, he and Rize watched the sun dip below the horizon. Chapter 16: Nightfall Leo never thought he¡¯d fear the sight of such a beautiful sunset. Minutes went by, time passed from sunset to twilight and twilight to night, and Leo spotted several flashes of light coming from the nearest city wall. Afterward, a single horn sounded throughout the city, the first warning that darklings had been spotted around the walls. Leo glanced down at Rize, who nodded up to him from her position in the middle of the street, and Leo took out one of the stone skin potions and held it in his hand until he heard the second warning. Two horns in harmony, signaling that the darklings themselves started swarming the walls. Soldiers and guards were likely firing down at them from high positions on the wall, or dropping boiling tar or other things to keep them at bay. Hearing the horns, Leo uncorked and drank the potion. Shuddering at the taste, like liquid tree bark, then watching as his skin took on a bark like texture. Soon after, the third warning sounded. Three horns this time, which meant darklings were breaching the walls. The walls hadn¡¯t exactly fallen, but the darklings were speedy and adept climbers, so it wasn¡¯t a stretch to assume a fair amount of them would manage to bypass the walls entirely, either without issue or only taking minor injuries. With that, Leo pulled out a Metal bomb, holding it out but waiting to light it. Around him, he could hear the sound of battle starting from others beginning to come into contact with darklings who¡¯d breached the walls. He looked around, but kept his attention mostly focused on the direction to the nearest wall. As he watched for any signs of darklings jumping out, a notification appeared.
Quest Defend - Normouth (Heroic)
Objective Defend the City from the Darkling Horde!
Reward B-Rank Unrestricted Karma (5)
He willed it to close immediately, trying not to think about the fact that the quest was B rank based on the reward. As he expected, a horde of them came rounding the corner, lit by the light of the magical streetlights that kept the area from being pitch black. ¡°Are you ready, Leo?¡± Rize asked, finally drawing her sword. ¡°As I¡¯ll ever be.¡± He called back. He watched as she got into a stance, taking a deep breath. Around her, fire started to flicker and swirl, first the orange that he¡¯d gotten used to from her magic, and then a pale white. As the darklings approached, the fire shifted and seemed to wrap around her sword as she held it up in the air. Once they were about 20 feet away from her, she swung down, and the fire surged forward in response. It washed over the darklings, singing all of them near instantly in a burst of flame that he could feel the heat of even on the roof of the building. Leo watched, eyes wide, but another group of them drew both his and Rize¡¯s attention. Leo spotted wisps of energy rising up from the slain darklings and flowing into Rize as she conjured up more white fire. He hadn¡¯t thought to Appraise Rize since the first time he did, but he remembered from her list of skills. That must have been Mana Siphon. As long as she kept killing darklings, she could continuously regenerate mana. She¡¯d explained his part of this arrangement to him at the very least. She¡¯d learned how to use a sword to direct her incredibly volatile magic, which also happened to ignore element based resistances to Fire. If she wasn¡¯t using the sword, she couldn¡¯t control the direction, but as she was now, it was either or. She could only send the flames out in one direction, or all around her. She wanted to avoid just blasting out the flames all around her since that would destroy all of the buildings and probably set the city on fire if she did so continuously. The darklings rushing around them rapidly increased in number, coming at them from both sides of the street they chose to minimize the number of directions they had to worry about.. Leo needed to keep Rize safe by blasting them with bombs to keep them at bay so they didn¡¯t come for her from multiple directions at once. To that end, he cast his spell, lighting a small flickering flame on the tip of his finger and lighting the fuse to the bomb. They¡¯d designed them to give about ten seconds before they exploded, so Leo had a moment to aim before chucking the bomb toward another oncoming crowd of darklings. It flew through the air, landing about 30 feet away from Rize as the darklings rushed over it, and then it burst, sending shrapnel flying. It killed the darklings that were closest and sent plenty more staggering and slowed down enough for Rize to direct her fiery wrath toward them. Just like that, a cycle began. Leo lit and tossed 20 more bombs in the span of a few minutes to keep the darklings at bay, blasting them with metal, ice shards, and bright light to give Rize time to turn toward them with her ghost flame. While around him, he could see bright flashes and pillars of light elsewhere in the city, and feel tremors in the ground from other magic going off. Although he was rapidly running out of bombs, and had used about a quarter of his mana just from keeping the flame lit to light them, he almost felt like he had it easy here, since the darlings hadn¡¯t even spotted him over the glowing, blazing beacon that was Rize. Soon enough, a creeping feeling crawled its way up Leo¡¯s spine, raising the hairs on the back of his neck. He looked around, not seeing darklings climbing up the walls, but a cracking and scraping sound from behind him told him that he didn¡¯t want to be where he stood at that moment. So, logically, he jumped off the roof. He reached for a branch from the tree he climbed up on, grabbing it but almost immediately slipping from it and hitting the ground with a terribly executed roll. He might have broken or sprained something if he didn¡¯t have the bark skin potion, but for the moment, he only had to deal with a dull ache as he scrambled to his feet. ¡°Leo!¡± Rize called. ¡°I¡¯m alive, but we¡¯ve got a problem.¡± In the light of Rize¡¯s ghostflame, he could see a dark figure standing on the roof where Leo had been a moment earlier. As he went to appraise it, it leapt down from the roof to join Leo on the street.
Name Darkling Stalker (Outsider)
ElementThe tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Dark, Earth
Total Rank C
It stood on two legs, with a vaguely humanoid form aside from a long tail and large claws on its hands. Its entire body had an odd, black smoky haze covering it, with only its glowing white eyes breaking through. Leo drew his sword, just as Rize slashed a vertical wave of fire between him and the stalker. The stalker scrambled back to avoid the fire, and so did Leo. ¡°Keep torching the darklings.¡± Leo called back. Though he did use the opportunity to pull on one of the vials of Oil of Sharpness, pop the cork with his teeth, and rapidly pour it onto his sword. He¡¯d probably need her help to deal with this thing eventually, but if she stopped burning the darklings to focus on it then both of them were going to be overrun, so Leo needed to distract it until Rize cleared away another group currently running toward her. From the corner of his eye, he spotted another screen pop up.
Quest Defeat - Darkling Stalker
Objective Defeat City the Outsider Agent from the Darkling Horde!
Reward C-Rank Unrestricted Karma
He barely got to glance before he saw the stalker rushing for him, claws outstretched, and started swinging. Leo dodged, and deflected where he could, seeing sparks fly out where his sword connected with claws. Too fast for Leo to get a hit in himself, he kept backing away and dodging out of the way to keep it busy while Rize burned away at approaching darklings on her side. Perilous as it felt, Leo actually managed to keep up with it. He thought back to his time training, Sir Verakith wanted him sparring as soon as possible, and put him up against Rize and Layne. Rize, he could manage, but Layne was a nightmare of feints, counterattacks, and battering Leo with a wooden sword. Even as Leo fought the stalker, knowing he was fighting for his life at this moment, he felt that sparring with Layne had a higher intensity to it. The stalker¡¯s attacks were obvious and predictable, while Layne¡¯s were full of feints and counters that Leo only got slightly better at dealing with at the end of those two weeks. Still, Leo could hardly consider himself a trained fighter. He could keep up with it for the moment and defend against it, but it wasn¡¯t slowing down, and Leo was bound to slip up at some point. Not to mention, he could see another crowd of darklings rushing over toward him as well. ¡°Leo! Get down!¡± He heard Rize shout, and immediately got a terrible idea. He did as he was told, jumping back and letting himself hit the ground away from the stalker and oncoming darklings. Barely two seconds later, a wave of fire flew above his head, and with a flick of his wrist, he brought a light bomb in his hand and held it up to light the fuse off the passing flame. Pain shot down his arm, almost making him drop the bomb. It felt like sticking his hand into a roaring campfire, but he did manage to light the bomb. He tossed it before getting back to his feet. The stalker, only sporting slight burns on its right side from Rize¡¯s fire, avoided it as it came back for Leo, but as Leo continued to dodge, appreciating the short reprieve, the blast from its explosion cleared away the oncoming darklings that hadn¡¯t been instantly killed by Rize¡¯s fire, and distracted the stalker enough for Leo to finally swing and land a cut across its shoulder, causing it to jump back. He didn¡¯t land a killing blow by any means, but the cut was deep enough that Leo felt like he could seriously harm this thing, probably in part due to oil of sharpness still coating his sword. Once more, the two of them sized each other up, Leo waiting for it to come running at him with a flurry of claws again. As he blinked, though, something odd happened. He felt his vision shift, and it became harder for him to tell how far away he was from the stalker. A second to process, and he realized that he¡¯d completely lost the vision in his right eye. ¡°My my, you¡¯re really in the thick of it, aren¡¯t you?¡± A familiar voice rang in Leo¡¯s head. The woman from before, the one who possessed him when he had originally found the darklings. ¡°I suppose my hunch was correct, though I am surprised to see someone like you out during all this.¡± ¡°This is the worst possible time for you to do something like this!¡± Leo said quickly, holding out his sword. Fighting the stalker was already a challenge in itself, doing it with no depth perception would probably cause him to be hit or misjudge his angle for blocking. The stalker seemed to pick up on something -either whatever skill magic used or Leo¡¯s desperation, because it ran at him with renewed vigor. ¡°I¡¯m well aware, dear boy. I would like to keep your sight, so I need you to stay alive.¡± The woman said. Leo felt an odd, tingling sensation spread across his body. The feeling of magic working through him, perhaps? Whatever the case, the stalker approach slowed, its reaching claws flying through the air like they were trying to push through water. ¡°Now. Kill it, and then get somewhere high for me to survey.¡±
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 90% Mana 60% Possessed Right Eye, Barkskin (D Rank) Will: E (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Chapter 17: The Seer The stalker approached so slowly that Leo had time to glance around. Even Rize and the approaching darklings on her side moved slowly, so he had to assume that time slowed down for him. He looked back to the stalker, shifting out of the way of the reaching claws. Before it could recover, he took a deep breath and made a full body, heavy slash across the stalker¡¯s neck, attempting to behead it with one good stroke. Time sped up all at once as soon as the blade made contact, and the stalker leapt back with a gurgling groan, clutching at its neck. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s my limit from this distance.¡± The woman¡¯s voice rang in Leo¡¯s mind. ¡°Ready yourself. We¡¯ll give it another go when it charges for you again.¡± Leo did ready his blade, but he spotted something odd. The stalker clutched at its neck with both of its clawed hands, grasping as if it couldn¡¯t breathe. It took one, two more steps toward Leo before it simply collapsed and stopped moving.
Auto Loot Activated
Items Obtained:
Darkling Stalkerwisp (C-rank, Dark)
Darkling Stalker Claws (C-Rank, Earth)
Quest Complete! Defeat - Darkling Stalker
Reward C-Rank Unrestricted Karma
¡°Did it just bleed out?¡± He asked the stowaway looking through his right eye. Before he could get an answer, he heard the thundering noise of yet another group of darklings rounding the corner, and scrambled toward the tree to get back up onto the building before they spotted him. He¡¯d just reached the tree when he actually spotted them, only to look on in surprise when they all collapsed and fell mid-run, crashing over each other but ultimately falling still.¡± ¡°I see. This is their doing.¡± The woman said with a huff. ¡°Who? Whose doing?¡± Leo asked, head whipping back and forth to find anyone nearby. The answer literally appeared right in front of him out of thin air, as the form of Hayumi melded out from nothing before him. Her blouse and trousers stained with blood, though if the sly smile across her face gave any indication, none of it belonged to her. ¡°I thought you might be here, interfering from the comfort of your home as always.¡± Her gaze stayed locked on Leo, but it took him a split second to realize that she was speaking to his stowaway. He heard her voice ring in his mind, though apparently it reached over to Hayumi¡¯s as well. ¡°I am here to observe, as I always do. Should this city ultimately fall, there are many who would benefit from knowing immediately. My contribution to this quest isn¡¯t relevant.¡± ¡°Perhaps it isn¡¯t, seer.¡± Hayumi stepped forward, moving into Leo¡¯s space. He managed to take one step away before his back hit the wall of the building, and Hayumi reached over and gently grabbed his face with both hands, keeping their eyes locked. Her neatly trimmed claw-like nails poked into his cheeks just enough not to hurt, but just enough to give him a silent warning to stay put. ¡°Maybe I just have something against an S rank like you sitting in luxury while poor little E and D ranks are out here fighting an army of outsiders.¡± ¡°If you had it your way, those E and D ranks wouldn¡¯t even be there.¡± The seer responded. ¡°I¡¯m sure you were hoping the quest was A rank instead of B, but there are too many other laborers there to justify, am I wrong?¡± ¡°Who can say?¡± Hayumi replied. ¡°It certainly isn¡¯t my fault that Dumatha presented a more appealing target.¡± ¡°You knew, though.¡± Leo said, gears turning in his mind. ¡°You knew the darklings were there the whole time and didn¡¯t say anything. The only reason things are like this now is because the Eldritch Titan drew people to Dumatha. Did you really just hide it because you wanted this quest to give a better reward?¡± ¡°Ah, so that was you in the woods back then.¡± Hayumi finally brought her attention back to Leo. ¡°And here I thought the seer blew the whistle instead. Not that it mattered, the outsiders in Dumatha drew all the attention I could have asked for. Even a B rank quest is worth it for me if it¡¯s heroic.¡± ¡°Do you plan to interfere?¡± The seer asked. Hayumi¡¯s head tilted, and for a moment, her sly and almost smug smile that she held for the entire conversation took on a sinister angle for just a moment. ¡°Leo!¡± Rize called, having finally finished burning the darklings rushing for her and noticing his predicament. She ran over to where Hayumi had Leo pressed against the wall. ¡°No. I¡¯m not so malicious as to pluck out your eyes while you¡¯re only watching.¡± Hayumi answered, glancing toward Rize. Seeing an odd blue glow, Leo glanced down to find the kitsune¡¯s body disappearing as if being burned away by strange blue fire. ¡°I do hope you live to see the morning. Yours is a truly splendid flame, and I want to see it burn even brighter.¡± Parts of her body disappeared out of sync as her head and tails burned away as well. When only her hands were left, Leo felt them give his cheeks a squeeze before they let go, and faded away as well. ¡°That was the A rank, right?¡± Rize asked. ¡°What was she doing here? Also, is your eye okay?¡± From his left eye, he could see a soft glow coming from the right side. His right eye must have been glowing in response to the seer¡¯s magic. ¡°I¡¯m fine. She helped me kill the stalker so I can¡¯t really complain.¡± He pushed himself off the wall and moved toward the tree. ¡°She¡¯s gone now, I¡¯ll talk about it later. Let¡¯s get back into position before more darklings show up.¡± With a nod, Rize rushed back to the center of the street, while Leo climbed back up to the roof of the building and, while listening for the sounds of more darklings charging toward them, looked around at the seer¡¯s request. ¡°Well, I must say it looks better than I expected. If it were only the darklings you had to deal with, then I¡¯d say you had a fair shot of making it through with the city intact.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Just as Leo asked, he could hear the sound of more Darklings rounding the corner. He quickly pulled out another bomb and started the spell to light it, taking a couple of tries because his mind was suddenly occupied. ¡°What do you mean, what else is there other than the darklings? How do you even know?¡± ¡°I¡¯m speaking to you telepathically and seeing through your eye, do you think I don¡¯t have the ability to see the future?¡± She replied. He took aim with the bomb, having to take more time than he liked due to adjusting to aiming with one eye. ¡°I¡¯m not at liberty to say. As I just explained to the kitsune, I am only here to observe.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re gonna keep looking through my eyes, you can at least tell me that much!¡± Leo said, as loud as he dared to keep darklings from hearing him on the roof. He didn¡¯t hear anything from the seer for several seconds, as he lit, aimed, and tossed a couple more bombs. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°You are quite impudent for an E rank.¡± She finally said. ¡°But fine. Make your way to this city¡¯s center when you¡¯ve dispatched the darklings currently hounding you. I was going to let this be the kitsune¡¯s problem, but if you¡¯d like to act as cannon fodder for her, be my guest.¡± Leo hoped she would elaborate a little more, but he guessed he had to be glad she gave him anything at all. ¡°Thank you, was that so hard?¡± He said. She didn¡¯t respond, but Leo felt the odd sensation of his mana shifting, like when he went to cast a spell and had to decide how much mana to put into, but without him actually casting anything. It pulled for more than he¡¯d normally use for the flame on his finger, feeling more like what he did when he used Combine. He also felt like he could resist the pull, but in that moment decided not to. Just then, he felt his vision return to his right eye, but he could tell that both of them were definitely glowing now. He checked his status, seeing that he¡¯d gone down by about 25% of his mana, only leaving him with about a third. Clearing out the wave of darklings took most of Leo¡¯s remaining bombs. He only had a handful left, including the four C ranks. Not hearing any oncoming darklings, he scrambled down the tree and ran over to Rize. Wincing at the feeling of the air that sizzled around her from the heat of her near constant onslaught of flames. ¡°They¡¯re both glowing now.¡± She remarked, wiping away sweat from her forehead. ¡°Yeah, I know, don¡¯t worry about it, it¡¯s fine.¡± He said. ¡°We need to get to the main square. There¡¯s something up and I¡¯m almost out of bombs.¡± ¡°Did you see something on the roof?¡± ¡°You could say that. I¡¯ll explain it later but we need to get out of here.¡± ¡°Can you explain something on the way?¡± She asked, finally sheathing her sword. ¡°Right, okay- about Hayumi¡­¡± As they started making their way toward the city¡¯s center, Leo started to explain what he¡¯d just learned about Hayumi and the seer, finally mentioning that it was the seer looking through his eyes that made them glow, but focusing on Hayumi¡¯s intentional hiding the darklings position in order to minimize the number of laborers present when they actually attacked. ¡°So, she planned to keep the darklings a secret until they actually attacked?¡± Rize summarized. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine what it would have been like if all this happened while no one was prepared." ¡°She was probably banking on there being more Laborers than there are.¡± He said, noting Rize¡¯s twitching ear. ¡°The whole situation with Dumatha pulled away a lot of people, so it ended up working out for her in the end. She just wanted to make this quest as high a rank as possible, and it ended up being B.¡± He had to wonder what counted toward changing the rank of a quest, there were dozens if not hundreds of Laborers in Dumatha at that moment, did that change the rank of the quest to defeat the Eldritch Titan? Having that thought, he remembered that Layne told him to call him if Normouth ended up actually being attacked. He¡¯d forgotten to, in the midst of everything, but while he ran through the city and wasn¡¯t engaged in active combat, he pulled out the smartphone and sent a text, thinking that Layne probably wasn¡¯t in any position to take a call right now.
To: Layne Blackburn Leo: We are under attack Leo: I¡¯ll let you know if I live
Satisfied, he stored the phone away. Soon after, they rounded a corner to take a straight shot toward the city center, and started running over the bodies of dozens upon dozens of darklings. His auto loot, which had been going off constantly finally capped out the darkling claws he had at 100, and didn¡¯t seem interested in collection any more unless Leo intentionally prompted it to. This pile of bodies continued into the city center itself, where Hayumi sat on the edge of a large fountain grinning at their approach. Leo could spot another woman standing nearby, who also glanced in their direction. ¡°My, my,¡± Hayumi said, once they were in earshot. ¡°Abandoning your post? Did you finally get cold feet?¡± ¡°Ran away with our tails between our legs.¡± Leo joked, gesturing to Rize. ¡°At least she did, she¡¯s got one for both of us.¡± He¡¯d lost any desire to talk to the kitsune seriously after learning about what she tried to do. Surprisingly, that joke got a chuckle out of her. ¡°Perhaps your tag-along decided she wanted to see more of the city?¡± She asked. Before Leo could respond, he heard a loud rumble from the edges of the city. Moments later, he heard a collection of horns blaring out from that area of the wall. The signal that something had breached them. Something huge, by the sound of it. ¡°Oh, perhaps she gave you a premonition?¡± Hayumi mused. ¡°For free, at that? That¡¯s pretty rare for her.¡± Without waiting for Leo to answer, she turned to the other woman in the square, who¡¯d started making her way over to the fountain. ¡°Well, Kazato, it seems like we¡¯ll have something more challenging than the stalkers after all.¡±
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 90% Mana 30% Vision Sharing, Barkskin (D Rank) Will: E (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Chapter 18: Matriarch The woman who walked up to Hayumi, Kazato, had long and straight black hair, and dressed in dark and thick clothes. She had a sword, a katana, sheathed at her side, and seemed to glance back toward the loud noise they¡¯d all just heard. As she approached, she adjusted blood soaked bandages wrapped around her left arm. ¡°Is this something we should be concerned about?¡± She asked Hayumi. ¡°Oh most certainly.¡± The kitsune replied. Leo took the opportunity to use Appraise while they talked. ¡°It is after me, most likely.¡±
Name: Kazato Akaria Stats
Title - Fortitude: D
Class Sword Saint Reflex: D+
Element - Intellect: E+
Total Rank D Intuition: E+
Status Health 100%, Mana 100% Will: D-
Skills Grand Sword Mastery, Blade-Honed Aura, Multi-Blade Mastery, Smithing Mastery, Iron Will Luck: E
¡°A Sword Saint, hmm?¡± The seer¡¯s voice echoed in his head. ¡°Fairly rare for a class.¡± Leo immediately willed the window he was seeing to close, nearly forgetting that they shared vision at the moment. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you worry, I¡¯m more than capable of making Appraisals without you doing it first.¡± He wanted to ask her to Appraise Hayumi and show him, since he wasn¡¯t able to when he saw her before, but something Hayumi said caught his attention. ¡°Wait, what do you mean it¡¯s after you?¡± He asked. ¡°I mean what I mean.¡± Hayumi responded with a smile. ¡°I am most likely the highest ranked Laborer in the city, unless there¡¯s a real S rank hiding somewhere within the walls, and I haven¡¯t been particularly quiet in slaughtering the lesser darklings by the dozens. It will most likely make its way to me, led straight to me by whatever Outsiders orchestrated this entire affair, and try to make sure I¡¯m no longer a factor in the raid of this city.¡± The rumbling continued on. The sound of something barreling its way through the city, getting steadily closer. ¡°Then what are we supposed to do about it?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, without any knowledge of what¡¯s actually coming, I can¡¯t exactly say. It would be nice if someone could tell us, but we¡¯ll simply have to wait.¡± ¡°We should try to get out of its way since it¡¯s after her.¡± Rize offered, grabbing Leo¡¯s arm. ¡°I should be able to hurt it no matter what it is. Do you have any bombs left?¡± ¡°A few.¡± He answered, glancing back to Hayumi as Rize began to lead him away. ¡°It¡¯s a good idea for certain. One you should also follow, Kazato. Just from the sound of it, you¡¯ll only be crushed underfoot if you try to defend me.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Leo stopped Rize before they could get too far away. He glanced toward Kazato while creating an E rank healing potion. ¡°Here.¡± He tossed the vial Kazato¡¯s way, and she caught it without missing a beat. ¡°Ohoho, so you were a Mixer, then.¡± Hayumi said. ¡°I did wonder when I saw you behind the counter at that store, but the shopkeeper handled my purchase, so I didn¡¯t think much of it.¡± ¡°Is that a problem?¡± Leo asked. ¡°Far from it. Quite the opposite in fact. I believe we¡¯ll have words, should you survive the night, but don¡¯t let me keep you from getting some distance, I believe it¡¯s almost here.¡± Rize practically dragged Leo away from the area, the thundering sound of the massive creature approaching continuing to grow louder and even shake the ground as it approached. That spurred Leo on to get away from Hayumi. He and Rize found themselves against the wall of a nearby shop in the square as the creature practically crashed into the square. It kicked up a sizable dust cloud as it charged straight for Hayumi, slamming into the fountain she sat at the edge of with an earthshaking crash. As the dust settled, Leo finally managed to get a good look at it, and he swallowed hard at the sight. It looked like a darkling on a massive scale, with the same near-black skin with a more noticeable brown tint under the moonlight. It stood at least fifteen feet tall at the shoulder, with a long neck and tail that practically tripled the length of its body. Staying against the wall, trying desperately to remain unseen, Leo went to Appraise.
Darkling Matriarch
Element Dark, Earth
Total Rank A
Quest! What Lies Below (Urgent)
Objective Eliminate the Darkling Matriarch
Reward A-Rank Unrestricted Karma (2)
He glanced briefly at the quest that popped up immediately after. One look at the matriarch, and he considered running for his life a better idea than actually trying to fight it. It sniffed around the remains of the fountain it had crashed into, and then rose its head up to give a loud roar that likely echoed across the entire city.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°My my, this is a bit of an issue.¡± Hayumi¡¯s voice said, bodiless, from somewhere nearby. ¡°Both of my specialties are basically useless against this thing, so I¡¯ll need to use more conventional magic. As soon as I start casting, though, it¡¯ll likely come after me again. Could I count on you to distract it? I¡¯m sure some of the other higher ranks will be on their way after hearing that roar.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll try.¡± Rize responded, she drew her blade, and white fire started to swirl around it. No turning back now, Leo thought. He pulled out a mana potion - one of three of C rank that he got from Zumra as payment for his mixing during the rush - from his storage, bringing it back to full, then grabbed one of the C rank bombs. He only had a couple of them left, but all of them would be effective against darklings, so they should distract the matriarch at least a little. The only issue Leo saw with this plan was that the Matriarch would probably kill him instantly if it so much as grazed him. As he pondered how to deal with this, he heard Hayumi¡¯s voice chanting a spell from a further distance away. He looked toward the sound, and watched as she became visible, frost spreading at her feet as magic swirled around her. The matriarch also noticed almost immediately, and with another roar, it started rushing toward her. Before it could reach her, something interrupted its charge. Leo saw sparks flying from its side as something collided with it, and he spotted Kazato running on the opposite side of the square. While it did that, Leo cast his spell with his wand and lit the fuse on his bomb, holding it for a couple of seconds while he watched. The matriarch turned to roar at Kazato, but ultimately turned back to focus on the still casting Hayumi. As it started to charge again, it reared back as Rize sent a wave of white fire after it, and Leo took that moment to give the bomb his best baseball pitch, flinging it to the slam against the matriarch¡¯s chest before exploding in a near blinding burst that shocked Leo. They¡¯d tested a couple of the D rank bombs before to get an idea of the radius of the explosion, but since the C ranks came by luck, they decided not to waste them in testing their power. This was an order of magnitude larger and more powerful than the ones he¡¯d been throwing so far, which he supposed he should have expected from the increase in rank. For a moment, Leo stood stock still, as the mildly injured matriarch turned its attention to him. Thankfully, Hayumi finished casting her spell. Waves of cold air blew out from around her as multiple massive twisted spires of ice formed just above her. Longer than her body was tall, and she wasted no time firing them out, sending them flying toward the matriarch. Said matriarch whipped its tail around, shattering some of the spires, but also letting out a roar of pain as others pierced its tail and drew dark blood. With its attention thoroughly wrenched back to Hayumi, the matriarch charged toward her, and the kitsune quickly disappeared as the creature crashed into the building she¡¯d been standing in front of a moment before. Hayumi didn¡¯t deliver a killing blow by any means, but Leo could see that it injured the matriarch better than anything he and Rize managed to throw at it. If she could keep casting spells of that level and continue to avoid the matriarch, maybe they could actually beat it. Just as those thoughts passed through his mind, Leo heard the thundering noise of yet another darkling horde approaching the square. ¡°Seriously?¡± He said to himself. He was practically tripping over their corpses at this point. Maybe the matriarch was drawing them in. ¡°Rize, hold them back.¡± He called to her. ¡°Stay alive!¡± Rize ran to intercept the darklings. As far as Leo knew, she¡¯d be the only one who could actually hold them back on her own, and she¡¯d be fine as long as they were only coming from one direction. The area where she hunkered down was much wider than the street they¡¯d picked, as well, so she might have more leeway to use her magic in general. Glancing back, he finally managed to see Kazato in action. She also held a sword and chanted, and Leo watched as energy swirled around her and manifested in the form of another sword that hovered over her briefly, before flying at the matriarch and slashing downward. The spectral blade drew sparks where it clashed against the matriarch¡¯s skin, but failed to draw blood before disappearing. It did, however, draw the matriarch¡¯s attention with the absence of Hayumi. Rapidly, Leo pulled out the ice bomb from his storage and lit it, aiming as the matriarch began to stomp toward a backpedaling Kazato. It turned its head to look at him just as he threw the bomb, and managed to take a couple of heavy steps back before it was pelted with a sizable amount of frozen shrapnel. They had its attention for now, but this couldn¡¯t last forever. Leo only had a couple bombs left, and with Rize now burning away approaching darklings, he didn¡¯t think he and Kazato could distract it long enough for Hayumi to cast that powerful ice spell from before. At that point, he pulled out his two remaining C rank bombs, another ice bomb and a metal one, and prepared to light them both. With the C rank bombs, he felt like he could collapse a building with a single one, and the matriarch seemed to be giving them a wide berth now that it had been hit by a couple of them. This time, Hayumi¡¯s chanting continued as she reappeared, drawing the matriarch¡¯s attention back to her, and causing it to charge her immediately. This time, she didn¡¯t move, so Leo hoped that it was some kind of illusion while he lit his last two bombs. The matriarch stayed in place as it reached Hayumi, rearing up and slamming down on her, only to reveal that it was an elaborate illusion. Leo threw his bombs, one towards its head and the other towards its tail, and watched as they exploded one after the other, causing it to cry out in pain once more and stumble backward. Based on its continued shrieking and mobility, it still had plenty of fight left in it, and Leo was out of bombs. ¡°As I suspected, this becomes much harder without the ghostflame¡­¡± Hayumi appeared next to him, watching the matriarch in case it noticed her. ¡°The three of you could at least give it enough pause for me to cast a spell, but without her the window¡¯s become too short, and I won¡¯t kill it any time soon if all of my mana¡¯s used on illusions.¡± ¡°It might come after me next, after that, but not for long, I¡¯m out of bombs.¡± Leo admitted. As the matriarch recovered, another floating sword came flying its way and slashed across its flank, leaving a shallow but noticeable cut. Hayumi clicked her tongue, keeping her gaze fixed on the matriarch. ¡°You¡¯ve been collecting materials, haven¡¯t you? Don¡¯t you have anything else to mix together?¡± She said, and sighed. ¡°Though, of course you wouldn¡¯t be able to make something particularly effective if it all came from the darklings. Very well, I suppose stalling is the plan until I can figure something out.¡± She disappeared again, and Leo brought up his Storage in list form, trying to look through what he had to see if he could make any use of it. His eyes flicked toward the top, which would have everything he collected before having anything to do with the darklings, and they widened as he realized he did have something he could use. It took three quarters of his mana to use Combine to create a C ranked item, as he mixed together the Drowned Heart and the Soul Husk he received from the corpse of Oorden. He held up the vial in his hands, hoping he could actually use it.
Potion of Aqua Cannon (C-Rank)
Grants the user the ability to continuously drain mana to create a torrent of pressurized water. Lasts for 10 minutes.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title - Fortitude: E (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 90% Mana 21% Vision Sharing, Barkskin (D Rank) Will: E (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Chapter 19: Watery Grave He drank the potion as fast as he could, shuddering at the salty taste that filled his mouth and lingered after he gulped it down. He felt the effects taking root, breaking out into a cold sweat and causing him to grow sluggish. In a quick motion, he pulled out and downed a cleansing potion to remove the Water element toxicity. With it gone, he could only feel the nascent power of the water cannon potion. It almost felt like something actively swirling around in his stomach. Unlike the spell Rize taught him, he actually didn¡¯t know how to use the cannon. He thought back to the fight with Oorden, when Leo saw the swelled corpse use it, he spewed it out from his mouth, and Leo desperately hoped he wouldn¡¯t have to mimic the action. Still, with his practice in imagery from learning magic, he hoped with that and a bit of luck, he¡¯d be able to work it out. While the darkling matriarch still thrashed, trying to crush Hayumi and Kazato, he held up his hand, aiming it at the creature and imagining the water swirling around his hand. After a moment, the power responded, gathering and readying to launch out in a pressurized burst. He timed it for the moment that the matriarch slammed down on the ground in an attempt to squash another illusory version of the kitsune, and he willed the cannon to fire. In the next moment, he blinked awake, feeling a sharp pain in his back. As he moved, he found himself on the ground against the wall of the building that had been behind him. His blurred vision started to clear, and he realized he must have launched himself backward with the force of the cannon. A roar snapped his attention back to the fight he¡¯d been a part of, and he looked to see the matriarch, dripping with water, beginning to rush toward him. Scrambling up, he immediately bolted to the left, away from the building, wincing at the ache his back gave him in protest. Hayumi, or an illusion of her, appeared in its path and began to cast a spell, but the matriarch continued on and stepped over it, ignoring it completely. Leo looked on like a deer in the headlights of this creature¡¯s sightless gaze. It was so large he didn¡¯t think he could dodge out of the way if it got that close. As he prepared to try to do some kind of desperate roll, he heard a noise behind him and felt an arm wrap around his waist. A moment later, he was airborne, dodging out of the way of the matriarch as it charged into and completely demolished another building, kicking up a plume of smoke that rose high into the air. Leo craned his neck to look as he and the person he grabbed him landed, catching a familiar glimpse of dark skin and gray, wolf-like ears. ¡°Axilya?¡± ¡°Can you do that again?¡± She asked. The matriarch rose from the remains of the building, only to have its attention drawn to Kazato tossing another flying sword at it. ¡°It seems like it hates the water more than anything. I¡¯ll keep you steady so you don¡¯t go flying back.¡± ¡°Okay, I still have mana potions left.¡± He pulled out another one of the potions he received from Zumra. He nearly dropped it as he started to drink it, with Axilya moving around to try to get into a good position. Gulping it down, he felt the rush of his mana refilling, and his energy being restored. He didn¡¯t need to check his status to know it¡¯d all but filled back up. Axilya moved and carried him like a ragdoll. He¡¯d almost feel embarrassed if they weren¡¯t in the midst of a fight for their lives and the city at the moment. She skid to a stop once she saw him gathering the water around his hands once more. The matriarch, who¡¯d started chasing after Kazato, turned to him immediately, possibly feeling the building energy of Water from Leo. Axilya planted her feet firmly on the ground, grabbing on tightly to Leo. The matriarch didn¡¯t even get a chance to charge before he let loose. As if his arm was a pressurized hose, water came flying out at high speed and slammed into the matriarch. Leo felt himself pushing back into Axilya from the force of it, and could definitely see how he knocked himself out earlier when he tried it the first time. It hit the matriarch with enough force to push it back several feet, the first significant hit to it he¡¯d seen other than it crashing itself into buildings. Unfortunately, it only lasted about five seconds, and he only had one more potion from Zumra left. Barely a second after she felt the power of the cannon fade, Axilya leapt into action once more, bringing Leo along as the matriarch chased after them. ¡°Well, look at that! You were holding out on us after all, Mixer!¡± Hayumi called out. ¡°Got any more of those in you? It¡¯s so angry at you now I might actually be able to get a spell off!¡± Leo scrambled to pull the last mana potion out of his Storage, and gulped it down at a relatively steady part in Axilya¡¯s overall frantic movement to get away from the chasing matriarch. ¡°I¡¯m good for one more!¡± He called back, trying not to think about what might happen after, if this joint venture didn¡¯t kill it, when neither of them had mana to spare. He also noticed spots appearing in his vision along with blurring along the edges. Likely the effects of using so much mana at once, he reckoned, but he¡¯d deal with this over getting eaten. Axilya dodged out of the way of the matriarch as it lunged at them, jaws open, in an attempt to swallow them whole. She then scrambled back as it hit the ground with a tremoring thud, and started to recover. ¡°You¡¯re not afraid of heights, are you?¡± She asked Leo. ¡°What?¡± As Leo asked for an explanation, he felt something reverberating through him as Axilya¡¯s magic enveloped them. He could see small rocks on the ground beginning to float, and he had about half a second to realize what was about to happen before she leapt straight into the air. With her skill manipulating gravity around them, she cleared twenty, thirty, easily forty feet while still holding Leo. He wanted to ask why, but the answer quickly became clear. The matriarch stood underneath, unable to reach them at least for the moment. He took a deep breath, and at the apex of the jump, started gathering the water once more for the cannon. Axilya¡¯s ability also slowed their descent, allowing him to charge up the cannon before they fell directly into the matriarch¡¯s waiting maw. The matriarch roared up at them in return, and Leo used that opportunity to let the water fly. The force of it pushed himself and Axilya up several feet as it slammed into the matriarch once more, bringing it down to the ground for the few seconds that Leo could maintain it. At this point, more spots filled his vision, and he felt like he could barely keep his eyes open, but he did hear the sound of Hayumi chanting a spell. A few seconds after Leo¡¯s cannon finished and the matriarch started to rise again, a brilliant pillar of blue fire rose up from underneath and enveloped the massive darkling, causing both a hissing sound from the evaporating water, and another pained roar. Axilya drifted to the right, floating down away from the matriarch as the smoke cleared. The square stayed quiet for several moments, save for the continuous crackle from Rize¡¯s ghostflame as she continued to fling it toward the lesser darklings. Axilya had barely hit the ground when they all heard the heavy footfalls of the matriarch, regaining its footing and searching around for the laborers. ¡°That¡¯s all the spellcraft you¡¯ll get from me, I¡¯m basically out of mana.¡± Hayumi called. ¡°I might be able to switch out with the ghostflame girl, though.¡± ¡°Can you stand?¡± Axilya asked while setting Leo down. He was mid-nod when he felt himself lurch forward. Thankfully, Axilya grabbed him again before he hit the ground. ¡°I guess that¡¯s a no. I¡¯ll have to find a building for you to hide in. I can¡¯t fight well enough while I¡¯m holding on to you like this.¡± ¡°Wait, I can manage, you shouldn¡¯t take too long to-'''' He felt himself cut off when both of them heard the sound of thundering footsteps in the clearing mist, and Axilya all but threw him back into a wall and unsheathed her sword from her back in one swift motion. She brought it down with both hands, and it slammed into the matriarch¡¯s head just as it appeared before her, and Leo could just barely make out Axilya¡¯s feet sinking into the ground, cracking the cobblestones from the force and intensified gravity around her. Leo tried to stand, but he felt his knees wobbling and legs threatening to give out from under him as he steadied himself against a wall. He needed to get out of the way - quickly. Preferably to somewhere that the matriarch couldn¡¯t just crash into and somewhere he wouldn¡¯t get swarmed by darklings.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. He tried to move but he knew he¡¯d only hit the ground if he got off of the wall supporting him, and he could see Axilya being pushed back by the matriarch, who ignored a flying sword from Kazato shattering against its flank, and the apparent chanting of Hayumi for a spell. A shimmering mote in the sky above him caught his attention long enough for him to focus on it. A cool, refreshing feeling passed through his body briefly, and his vision cleared for a moment. It took him a bit to realize that it was probably the Seer¡¯s magic to make his vision clear, but he used that moment of clarity to see someone falling from the sky, sword in hand, cracking with electricity. Like a bolt of lightning itself, Leo recognized Layne¡¯s form in the split second before he collided with the matriarch with a deafening boom, and a flash of striking lightning so bright it completely filled Leo¡¯s vision. He didn¡¯t think to look away in time, so he could barely see, only hear the anguished roar from the matriarch and feel the ground shaking as it thrashed around. Leo¡¯s mind swam with questions, no small number of them concerning Layne¡¯s sudden appearance. He did manage to remember, however, what Layne had been studying when Leo learned how to use a sword, and what he¡¯d likely used just then to kill the matriarch. The Collapsing Sword Dance from the Stormcloud Saber Art. Someone - he wasn¡¯t sure who, grabbed him and started pulling him away from the fight. He tried to look, but he could tell who was dragging him. He also tried to move, to help them move him along so they weren¡¯t fully dragging him off, but he felt his strength fading fast. He already couldn¡¯t stand on his own, and now he found trouble even moving his arms and legs. He thought he heard the person holding him speak, but he couldn¡¯t even make out their voice, all he could hear were the dying shrieks of the matriarch as his consciousness finally faded. Oddly, he could see the notifications popping up. In his mind presumably. A dark void with nothing else around but the boxes to reveal themselves to him. There was a stack, but Leo could immediately see the latest one to pop up in his vision.
You have earned a title!
Equalizer
The last thing he expected to get out of this entire affair was a title. He wasn¡¯t even entirely sure of the mechanics behind them or what they signified. Unfortunately, past the title and the rewards, something else popped up, so much that it filled his vision from all directions..
You have gathered the attention of the divine. A god casts its gaze upon you.
You have gathered the attention of the divine. A god casts its gaze upon you.
You have gathered the attention of the divine. A god casts its gaze upon you.
You have gathered the attention of the divine. A god casts its gaze upon you.
You have gathered the attention of the divine. A god casts its gaze upon you.
You have gathered the attention of the divine. A god casts its gaze upon you.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title Equalizer Fortitude: E (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 56% Mana 0% Vision Sharing, Barkskin (D Rank), Aqua Cannon (C Rank), Mana Fatigue Will: E (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (0/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Chapter 20: Seers Reprieve For several seconds, Leo could only stare at the messages. He never had the time to do proper research on the gods behind the Labors, so he didn¡¯t even know if having their attention was a good or bad thing for him. ¡°It must seem strange, for the gods to have shown such interest in you.¡± A voice from behind drew Leo¡¯s attention, and when he turned his head to look, he found that the dark void around him had changed. In the space of a second, he found himself in a building, a large dimly lit bedroom to be precise, and after a moment to process this sudden change, he realized he¡¯d been here before. The voice, too, he recognized. He was back in the seer¡¯s abode, with the seer herself laying on the bed in the same way she did last time. ¡°It¡¯s not uncommon when someone overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds. An E and D-rank contributing so heavily to the shift of a world¡¯s rating is virtually unheard of." ¡°...Why am I here again?¡± He asked. From what he remembered, maybe she thought about taking over his body while he passed out. ¡°Your mind is here. Your body is likely being carried away to sleep the rest of the night and then some.¡± The Seer answered. ¡°Color me impressed that you managed to last as long as you did, using that much mana with so little Will. As for the reason you are here- you might have experienced it before, but your mind could hardly stand the attention of one deific being, much less six. Regardless, the gods have extended their gaze to you, and risked rending your mind asunder. Even if you did not come out of the experience completely crazed, as you are now there would have been lasting consequences.¡± Leo swallowed hard. Her words sent him back to the very start of this to begin with. The blaring sound like a thousand trumpets going off in his ears at once, the message that popped up telling him that his rank was too low to interface with the divine. ¡°Thanks, then?¡± ¡°Consider it a debt repaid for lending me your eyes.¡± The Seer replied. ¡°Now, while I have you, would you care to answer a couple of questions for me?¡± Without waiting for him to actually answer, she continued. ¡°The one who dealt the final blow to the matriarch, the one using a sword, who was he? You seemed to recognize him before you collapsed.¡± Leo¡¯s eyes went wide at that. Layne always seemed like a secretive guy, so Leo didn¡¯t know if he wanted to go around telling people about him, especially someone with such an apparently wide reach as the Seer. Still, as the one currently keeping his mind away from the dangerous influence of the gods watching him, he wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to completely refuse to answer. ¡°I don¡¯t know all that much about him myself. We just happen to train under the same swordmaster for a couple of weeks.¡± He told her. Not a lie, but definitely not all that he knew about him, either. ¡°In case you¡¯re wondering, I did already Appraise him.¡± She added. ¡°His abilities and status are veiled in a way that even I can¡¯t see through. The only effects that can fully block my Appraisals are that of deities and the greatest of Outsiders. Someone -and certainly not a D-rank-, can¡¯t simply receive that kind of veil. Surely you have some kind of information.¡± Of course she couldn¡¯t be satisfied with the basic info. Having seen that veil for himself, however, he did think it strange. ¡°Well, I know he was supposed to be in Dumatha fighting the Eldritch Titan. He left days in advance, I have no idea how he got back so fast.¡± ¡°For a D rank, that is unusual.¡± The Seer confirmed. ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°Well, I know he¡¯s from my world.¡± Leo said with a shrug.¡± I doubt that¡¯s the reason he has that veil, though. I don¡¯t have anything similar, I don¡¯t think.¡± ¡°You certainly do not.¡± The Seer confirmed. ¡°He must have some sort of benefactor. But why would they favor a D rank so heavily, unless he possesses some special ability or bloodline¡­¡± She trailed off, murmuring to herself and seemingly forgetting that Leo stood there. He couldn¡¯t blame her, he also ruminated on all of the oddities he observed about Layne. That his stat window was veiled in the way that it was. That he came to Okin looking to learn the final, secret technique of an apparently already rare sword form. That he almost casually tossed Leo a phone that cost more credits than he had any business having. Still, even with all that, the strangest thing was that he made it back to Normouth despite leaving for the eldritch Titan, and damn near dealt the killing blow to the matriarch from what Leo saw. Though he had no earthly idea how things might have come to pass that way, Leo would have to thank him for that later. One curiosity after another. Since the Seer had him here, and seemed amenable to conversation, Leo decided to strike up a question. ¡°Layne aside, did you get what you wanted out of sharing my vision?¡± She glanced back up at him, as if remembering that she left him standing there while getting lost in her own mutterings. ¡°I suppose so. I wished to see the status of the city during the attack, assuming one would take place to begin with. There are many merits in being able to report its status to others with expediency, but I am glad to be the first to report that the darkling invasion of the city was thwarted.¡± She explained, then sighed. ¡°I only wanted to observe, but in the help I gave you, I might have exposed myself to unwanted attention.¡± As she spoke, some movement in the corner of Leo¡¯s eye drew his attention. One of the notifications about the gods watching him had disappeared. It caused him to wonder if that was the attention she meant, but didn¡¯t think that quite fit. ¡°Do you mean from Outsiders?¡± ¡°Indeed. Though they cannot interfere directly in most cases, they guide their followers and minions in much the same way as the gods do with quests, oftentimes in a much more direct fashion.¡± She glanced up, looking around at the room they were both in. ¡°I¡¯ll likely have to abandon this manor, but keeping one on-planet makes my job so much easier.¡± ¡°Anything I can do to help?¡± Leo said, almost without thinking, and the question did bring a bemused smile to the Seer¡¯s face. ¡°As an¡­well, I suspect you¡¯ll be about of D rank once you make use of all that karma? No. There isn¡¯t much you could do to help me.¡± She said, ¡°Though, I much thought the same of your prospects against the matriarch when it first appeared. You may yet surprise me.¡± She shrugged, then waved the statement off. ¡°Whatever the case, I have a question for you. That kitsune, do you plan to work with her?¡± That caught him by surprise, and he didn¡¯t have an immediate answer. ¡°It wasn¡¯t in my plans, but she did seem pretty interested in my friend, rather than me.¡± ¡°You are a Mixer. It is not a common calling, and as I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve experienced yourself, it is not easy to function without a steady stream of materials. Most that I¡¯ve seen will join a guild or fall under a powerful sponsor or patron. An active Laborer of her rank would make for a boon if she directly funded your creations, some of which can prove imminently useful to someone like her. I suspect she will want to bring you under her employ if she has taken an interest in one of your companions, as well, even if she doesn¡¯t have an immediate use for you.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°She does seem the manipulative type.¡± Leo said with a nod. He could only imagine what would have happened to Normouth if things went her way, with most of the available Laborers having left for Dumatha. When things came to it, even she couldn¡¯t adequately fight the matriarch without help since it was so much of a bad match for her, and matched her in rank. ¡°She didn¡¯t seem to like you very much, either. Are you saying I should avoid working with her if she comes looking for me?¡± ¡°She has her reasons, and many of her opinions aren¡¯t particularly wrong, but as you have observed, the amount of care she has for the lives of others is¡­questionable. Do as you like, her aid will likely be a great boon to you, but make sure you are aware of everything you are getting out of any arrangements you make with her.¡± ¡°Thanks for the advice.¡± Leo said. Two more notifications regarding the gods disappeared, drawing Leo¡¯s attention for a brief moment. ¡°Again, I really feel like I need to repay you somehow.¡± ¡°There may yet be an elixir or two I would have you make, but not now. Not as you are.¡± The Seer waved that statement off as well. ¡°As things are now, your involvement in my affairs will only bring you ruin. You barely survived a Heroic B-Rank quest. I will not be responsible for you attempting to push your luck.¡± That got Leo curious. It seemed like she had the knowledge that something was going to happen to her in the future, but given that she just flat out refused to let him get involved, he doubted she¡¯d explain to him if he asked. ¡°Still, thanks all the same.¡± He said. Two more boxes disappeared, leaving him with only one. ¡°I guess the gods are losing interest.¡± ¡°They have likely finished viewing the recent past alongside the present.¡± The Seer explained. ¡°And have taken their time to memorize your face, and your soul before they leave. They¡¯ll be quicker to come should you continue to make waves. I¡¯ve already mentioned this, but for your sake, do endeavor to raise your Will if you actually want to interact with the divine. Once the last one leaves, I¡¯ll leave you to your true slumber.¡± ¡°Yet more advice.¡± Leo murmured. ¡°Well, while I still have you, do you think you could tell me where I should spend my Karma? I want to be able to put my best foot forward with the amount that I¡¯ve just gained, and no one I¡¯ve talked to really has an answer.¡± The Seer took a long look at him. During which, the final notification for the gaze of a deity fell away, and Leo half thought that she wouldn¡¯t answer and would just send him off from her silence. Another notification appeared at the corner of his vision, but the Seer began talking before he could focus on it. ¡°I¡¯ve known a few Mixers in my time. Some of them simply resolved themselves to raise Intellect and leave it at that. The others were more of a mix. I cannot say for certain, but having shared your vision during the fight with the matriarch, I can say that the power you unleashed with that potion you created was highly unusual. I¡¯d sooner see an E rank faint from strain than successfully cast a C Rank spell, much less multiple times by taking mana potions. Your highest attribute- aside from Luck, which is irrelevant here make no mistake- is Intuition. I will not tell you to focus solely on it, but it might behoove you to investigate the link between Intuition and the power of that potion you were able to wield.¡± He wasn¡¯t expecting a detailed guide, or even much of anything, but she¡¯d given him a lead he could follow. He supposed he¡¯d have to ask Zumra about it later. ¡°I¡¯ll do that. Thank you agai-¡± ¡°Your constant gratitude has gotten grating.¡± The Seer cut him off, and waved her hand once more. This time, Leo noted a shift in the air. The room around him was beginning to fade, as the void from before tore at the edges and gradually began to fill his vision. ¡°All the same, do not squander my advice, boy. It is not given often.¡± He tried to speak, but no words came out. As the world faded to black around him he managed to get one final glance at the last notification that appeared.
The Gods have granted you a Boon for your Labor! (+5 to Luck)
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title Equalizer Fortitude: E (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E Intuition: D- (0/10)
Status Health 56% Mana 0% Will: E (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (5/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Chapter 21: Bedside Leo enjoyed a dreamless sleep, and upon waking, immediately felt a dull ache coming from his back, as well as heard the sound of multiple people talking. He blinked a few times, taking in the sight of several people sitting on either side of the bed he lay in. All of which he recognized. ¡°Oh, look. Signs of life. It seems he didn¡¯t burn himself out with all of that mana use after all.¡± Hayumi said. She and Kazato sat on the right side of the bed, while Axilya, Layne, and Rize sat on his left. A moment passed, and he realized he recognized the room he was in. Zumra¡¯s shop, a back room that would normally be reserved for storage in any other shop. Given that Zumra himself most likely kept all of his supplies in his Storage skill space, he converted it into a resting room. Leo took a moment to take the sight in, blinking as his vision continued to clear, then he looked to his left. ¡°How long have I been out?¡± ¡°A day and a half.¡± Layne answered. ¡°That¡¯s pretty normal, though. From what I heard, you used a very high amount of mana. Humans aren¡¯t the best at doing that kind of thing right away. Shouldn¡¯t happen as much as you get higher in rank.¡± Leo gave a shaky nod, though he had to question the veracity of that when Layne himself was only one rank above him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I probably should have told you.¡± Layne said, to Leo¡¯s surprise. ¡°There¡¯s so much about this place, the Labors in general, that they just don¡¯t tell you, and I left you to figure it out the hard way.¡± ¡°Well, you know, what doesn¡¯t kill you-¡± Leo started to sit up, but felt a stinging pain in his back that made him immediately fall back against the bed with a groan that interrupted him. ¡°-fuck, that hurts.¡± He thought he heard a snicker from the other side, but he didn¡¯t have trouble guessing who it might have been, so he didn¡¯t look. ¡°Here.¡± Axilya said, leaning forward and handing Leo a potion. ¡°Didn¡¯t want to try giving it to you while you were unconscious.¡± He tipped the vial over and gulped down the contents, feeling an immediate relief in his back. Tentatively, he tried sitting up again, and let out a sigh of relief once he could get fully upright. ¡°Thanks, that feels better. Anyway Layne, you basically saved my life back there, so we¡¯ll call it even. Didn¡¯t even think you¡¯d show.¡± He then turned to Hayumi and Kazato. ¡°Not that I¡¯m completely averse to your presence or anything, but why are you two here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m hurt, you don¡¯t think that I would consider your wellbeing enough of a reason to visit.¡± Hayumi said, holding a mock pout for all of three seconds before she shrugged. ¡°But you are correct that we have ulterior motives. Kazato here wishes to learn that technique she saw your friend use to finish off the matriarch, and I - well, I¡¯d first been interested in your friend here after seeing that fire of hers, but after your display during that fight, you also have my attention. I believe I have quite a bit to offer, especially since you¡¯ve only just arrived from what I understand.¡± Well, shit. He¡¯d only just had the conversation with the Seer, but he didn¡¯t expect to discuss this with Hayumi as soon as he woke up. The best he could do was deflect for the moment as he glanced toward Layne with a raised eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯ve already told her that the art isn¡¯t mine to teach.¡± Layne said, crossing his arms. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to go check up on him after things died down and we made sure you were alright.¡± Right, Leo thought. Sir Verakith would have been fighting in his own district of the city, probably directing some of the guards. He glanced back at Kazato, remembered what he saw of her status from right before the fight with the matriarch started. ¡°I guess it makes sense that you¡¯d want to learn something like that, given your class.¡± ¡°Her class?¡± Layne said. Leo put a hand over his mouth, but Kazato just sighed. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I was going to come up sooner or later. I¡¯m a Sword Saint.¡± In glancing back over to Layne, Leo noticed his eyes widened for a moment just before it went back to the even expression he usually kept. ¡°Right, that makes sense. He¡¯ll probably not be happy about it, but people like him are obligated to teach Sword Saints whenever they want to learn.¡± More odd knowledge, though Leo didn¡¯t even care to ask Layne how he knew that. He glanced at Rize, whose opinion he also valued on the subject given she was also being sought after. ¡°We¡¯ve talked about it a little. I didn¡¯t want to decide anything without your input. Especially after everything that happened.¡± A sigh from Hayumi brought everyone¡¯s attention back to her. ¡°Yes, yes. I will wholeheartedly agree that I was in the wrong. Circumstances prevented most of my scheming in letting the darklings fester from even being relevant, what with the Eldritch Titan attacking Dumatha, but I will agree that the city wouldn¡¯t have fared nearly as well without someone letting the relevant authorities know in advance. Even I didn¡¯t expect to run into something like that matriarch, and as was fully evident during the fight, it wasn¡¯t something I particularly excelled at dealing with. I believe the city¡¯s overwhelming success in evacuating many of the people onto ships in port to reduce casualties, keeping a few Laborers who would have otherwise gone to Dumatha, and overall ensuring the safety of the city led to the world¡¯s status swinging back to Neutral.¡± Despite the apparent apology, she still had a somewhat whimsical expression on her face as she spoke, but it changed to a cool and calculated one that made Leo suppress a shudder as her gaze fixed on him. ¡°You have my word that I won¡¯t try to¡­meddle with affairs on such a grand scale once again, but I do have need of your talents, and I will make sure you are both handsomely rewarded. More so if it will help smooth things over. You need only tell me what you want-.¡± ¡°Hey.¡± Axilya said, leaning forward. ¡°We told you not to pressure him into making a decision as soon as he woke up. We don¡¯t know if the gods came looking and had an effect on his mind.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, Axilya.¡± Leo said. He held back a sigh of relief, as that did seem to get Hayumi to back off for the moment. ¡°I got help for that. You¡¯re right though in that I should at least take a day or two to decide. But by the sounds of it, did you guys also have the gods¡¯ attention?¡± ¡°From what we can tell, everyone who participated in killing the matriarch got the ¡®Equalizer¡¯ title.¡± Layne answered. ¡°This is also one of the reasons we-¡± He gestured to himself, Rize, and Axilya, ¡°-were here monitoring you. We didn¡¯t know how your mental state would be when you woke up. Still, though, who helped you?¡± ¡°They prefer to remain anonymous.¡± Leo answered, feeling Hayumi¡¯s gaze on his back. ¡°I did them a favor and they helped me out for it. It shouldn¡¯t be any trouble.¡± He took a deep breath, and after a moment where he could confirm that Hayumi didn¡¯t seem like she wanted to spill the beans, he continued. ¡°While I have all of you here, though, I want to ask a couple of questions about my stats before I spend the Karma I got from beating the boss.¡± At that point, he finally shifted his focus back to the many notifications he had hovering around his head.
You have defeated an A-Rank enemy for the first time! Achievement Reward: A-Rank Unrestricted Karma
Quest Complete! Defend Normouth (Heroic)
Reward B-Rank Unrestricted Karma (5)
Quest Complete! What Lies Below(Urgent)
Reward A-Rank Unrestricted Karma (2)
Auto Loot ActivatedStolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Items Obtained:
Darkling Matriarch Claws 4x (A Rank) Dark
Darkling Matriarch Stone Heart 1x (A Rank) Earth
Darkling Matriarch Aetherwisp 2x (A Rank) Aether
The remaining space in your Storage is low.
Along with the notifications from earlier, they nearly filled his vision when he brought them back to the fore of his gaze. Finally closing all of them, he brought up his storage and checked his Karma. He had an impressive single C-Rank, five B-Rank, and three A-rank. From what he could tell, he had a tangible reason to raise all of them - even Luck for its ability to give him critical Combines. Still, he very much remembered the advice he¡¯d gotten from the Seer. ¡°What exactly does Intuition do for you when you raise it? This might be important for what I want to do as a Mixer.¡± The question hung in the air for a few seconds, which didn¡¯t surprise Leo in the slightest because he¡¯d brought it up out of nowhere. Axilya was the one to answer first. ¡°It improves my senses, kind of? It lets me predict things and then move out of the way without thinking about it because my Reflex is also high.¡± ¡°Quite right.¡± Hayumi added. ¡°It makes you markedly better at getting a good sense for people and situations the more you raise it. It also hones your instincts, allowing you to sense danger, like when you run into something that is a higher rank than you. It also helps you to pick up things relatively quickly, even when you don¡¯t have much experience with them.¡± ¡°Right, yeah. I have a skill for swordsmanship, but my Intuition is high enough that I feel like I could pick up any weapon and do alright with it even though I haven¡¯t been trained in anything.¡± Axilya said. ¡°My experience is the same, for what it¡¯s worth.¡± Layne said. ¡°But what have you figured out?¡± ¡°Does it have something to do with that unique ability you used to fight the matriarch?¡± Kazato asked. ¡°Hmm, that was Oorden¡¯s thing, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Axilya recalled. ¡°I would¡¯ve asked then and there if we weren¡¯t in the middle of a fight, but how did you¡­?¡± ¡°It was something Zumra told me about.¡± Leo answered. ¡±That I could make things to mimic a creature''s abilities by combining one of their parts and an Aether material. I still had his heart and his Soul Husk from the tutorial, so I made that. Still, he was right about them being hard to control. Trying it the first time slammed me into a wall, so I couldn¡¯t really use it without Axilya holding me in place.¡± ¡°That would have given you Water toxicity, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± Rize asked. ¡°I took a cleansing potion right after, so that wasn¡¯t a problem.¡± ¡°Not to mention how quickly it drained your mana.¡± Hayumi said. ¡°I only saw you drinking one to refill, but you collapsed due to mana overuse. It¡¯s less useful of an ability if you can¡¯t control how much mana it uses.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± He let all of the pieces that they¡¯d laid out float in his mind. Did he have something here? The abilities he could create with Aether would help him immensely but they had several problems, and he still hadn¡¯t figured out how Intuition fit into the mix. He thought back to when first talked about them with Zumra. The elf told Leo that he had trouble making use of the abilities before the time on them ran out, as well as meeting even higher difficulty the higher the rank of them. He ran back the conversation he¡¯d just had, and it brought a question to his mind. ¡°Hey, Axilya, how¡¯s Zumra¡¯s Intuition?¡± ¡°If I remember correctly, most of his stats are around C rank.¡± She answered. ¡°Although, I think Intuition''s one of the last ones that he raised. I¡¯m pretty sure he made sure Intellect, Will, and Luck were that high first.¡± ¡°So when he was testing out things as a Mixer, his Intuition wouldn¡¯t have been that high?¡± Leo asked further. At Axilya¡¯s nod, he continued. ¡°Those abilities I can mimic, they¡¯re things that the monsters have and just ¡®know¡¯ how to do. Basically instinctual, right? So if I raised Intuition, wouldn¡¯t that help me figure out how to control them faster and easier?¡± And preferably without hurting himself.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Layne looked like he was about to say something, but paused, looking down, deep in thought. ¡°Interesting. The Mixers I¡¯ve talked to never said anything about that. Though they probably all focused on the other stats.¡± At that, he looked back up to Leo. ¡°It¡¯s worth a shot, I¡¯ll just say don¡¯t spend all of your Karma on Intuition in case it doesn¡¯t work out. From what it sounds like, making those abilities has more problems to work out than just control. It¡¯s also just good practice to spread out your stat boosts.¡± ¡°Understood. I could definitely go with more Fortitude.¡± After Leo answered, he selected the A-Rank Karma. He decided to pump up Intuition to C- for now, so he went to use three of them. Watching with satisfaction as the first one added +8, and the second brought it up to rank D with 6/10. Before he could use the third, a notification he hadn¡¯t seen before popped up.
You have obtained Total Rank E+
Mana Increased!
Skills Upgraded!
New Skill Available!
¡°Didn¡¯t think I was only one away from ranking up.¡± Leo noted. ¡°It was inevitable with that much Karma.¡± Layne said. ¡°Let me know what skills you¡¯re interested in. There are a few trap options, but if I remember correctly, Mixers have a couple that they want to take as soon as possible.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure how much you could help. Didn¡¯t you only just reach C-Rank?¡± Hayumi asked Layne. ¡°Yeah let me just have a look¡­¡± Leo willed the list of available skills to show up, and he got the biggest screen he¡¯d ever seen in front of his face, dwarfing the shop with the sheer number of options he could see at once. There were easily hundreds of options for him to scroll through. Barely thirty seconds of reading through threatened to overwhelm him, so he decided to try to sort them instead to bring out the class exclusive skills, and skills with prerequisite skills that he already had. Once he was able to read through them, his eyes widened as he looked back at Layne. ¡°I think these might solve a few of my problems.¡±
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title Equalizer Fortitude: E (0/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank E+ Intuition: D (6/10)
Status Health 100% Mana 100% Will: E (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage Luck: D (5/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Chapter 22: Aftermath The skills that he found would absolutely make what he wanted to do viable. Before he discussed them in depth, Hayumi seemed to read the room and decided to take her leave, with Kazato following after, but only to wait in the actual storefront of Zumra¡¯s shop for all of them to visit Sir Verakith together. With those two gone, Leo felt a bit more comfortable sharing the skills he had access to with Layne, Rize, and Axilya.
Skill: Replicate Create an item that you have previously created using materials of a similar element. Final product will be lowered one rank due to Replication.
Skill: Inoculation Ignore Toxicity gained from items created with the Combine skill.
Skill: Soul Harvest By using Mana, automatically create Aether materials from slain creatures when you use the Auto-Loot skill.
Those three skills solved most of the problems he had with making mimicry abilities - he wouldn¡¯t have to acquire hyper-specific materials to make things that he¡¯s already made, he didn¡¯t have to worry about toxicity from his own creations, and he could make Aether materials. He could see things coming together, and the others helped him decide the order in which he could pick up the skills. Starting with Replicate. ¡°With that worked out, Leo, what are you going to do about Hayumi?¡± Layne asked. ¡°Hell if I know. She did come on pretty strong. I didn¡¯t even get to ask before she left, but I don¡¯t even know what she wants me for.¡± While he answered, Leo went back to putting Karma into his Intuition skill to raise it up, putting in the final A-Rank Karma to bring it up to D+ with 4/10. He then used a B-Rank Karma to increase it to 8/10, and the only C rank he had to bring it to C-. Almost immediately, he got another notification.
You have obtained Total Rank D-
Mana Increased!
Skills Upgraded!
New Skill Available!
¡°Well, plenty of people want Mixers for how easily they can make things out of what you give them, but those are usually guilds with a bunch of people contributing.¡± Axilya chimed in. ¡°Zumra¡¯s gotten dozens, maybe hundreds of those kinds of requests. He¡¯s only started getting the request to be someone¡¯s personal mixer pretty recently, though.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not too uncommon for high ranking Laborers to invest in lower ranks. Getting their hooks in early¡­¡± Layne said. ¡°It¡¯s something I¡¯ve heard about, and doesn¡¯t always end particularly well.¡± ¡°Hayumi already doesn¡¯t have the best first impression, but Kazato seems alright.¡± Axilya said. ¡°She told me that Hayumi¡¯s letting her grow into her own as a Sword Saint while teaching her magic.¡± ¡°She¡¯s learning magic from Hayumi?¡± Leo asked. Thinking back, Leo did see her slinging spells, or rather one spell in particular to summon the floating swords. ¡°Kazato will grow into a spectacular swordsman.¡± Layne commented, but quickly added. ¡°-I think. I could tell from looking at her that she¡¯s not slacking on her swordsmanship despite learning magic. And people who can work outside the bounds of their class will almost always excel, if they can make it to higher ranks.¡± That last statement caused a silence to fall across the room for several seconds. While it did, Leo took the Inoculation Skill, then put the last four B-Rank Karma he had into Fortitude and Reflex respectively, giving him D- with 2/10 in Fortitude by putting three in, and 8/10 in Reflex but no rank increase. Still, it seemed like enough to bring him to yet another rank up.
You have obtained Total Rank D
Mana Increased!
Skills Upgraded!
New Skill Available!
He planned to do some testing with Intuition, but in the meantime he could even out the rest of his stats when he received more Karma. For the moment, he simply took Soul Harvest. ¡°In any case, she doesn¡¯t seem the type to be manipulated, and I don¡¯t think she¡¯s being blackmailed either. All things considered, I don¡¯t even think Kazato knows what Hayumi will want from her once she gets to a decent rank.¡± Layne said. ¡°Well, maybe I¡¯ll just ask her.¡± Leo said. ¡°Hayumi, I mean. She seemed forthcoming enough in admitting her mistakes to win me over, so maybe she¡¯ll actually want to let me know what I¡¯m in for.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Either way, I think I¡¯m healthy enough to make the walk to Sir Verakith¡¯s.¡± At that, he shifted to start getting out of bed. ¡°I just raised my Fortitude so I¡¯m feeling better than ever.¡± Layne stood up from his seat and shifted back to give Leo space. ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for it, just remember to pace yourself.¡± They moved down to the main storefront, filled with customers browsing and making purchases, to Leo¡¯s surprise. He spotted Kazato in the corner examining something, but he knew she was only waiting for them. While the others went to fetch her, Leo made his way to the counter where Zumra worked. ¡°Ah, young Leonell, it pleases me to see you up and in good health.¡± The elf greeted warmly once he spotted Leo. ¡°Ah, right. Thanks for letting me rest in your room.¡± Leo replied. ¡°Didn¡¯t think this place would be so busy. Hasn¡¯t it only been a little over a day?¡± ¡°That it has, I had the good fortune of being able to maintain my shop in the attack. I happen to sell a few things that would help the people of Normouth whose homes might have been damaged, among other things. Apologies for not also attending to you at your bedside, but you seemed to have a number of well-wishers already.¡± ¡°Good on you for getting the business. Do you need help again? The store¡¯s pretty much full.¡± ¡°I appreciate the concern. I have a number of resources of this particular type stocked up, so I shouldn¡¯t need any additional creations made. I suspect you are going out, so I¡¯ll ask that you pay no mind to the¡­mess outside. Business started back up so quickly I haven¡¯t had the time to clean.¡± ¡°Yeah sure.¡± Leo had no idea what he meant, but quickly found out once he bade Zumra farewell and made his way past the crowd of customers to leave the store with everyone waiting at the exit. Once he did see what Zumra meant, Leo could only blink in surprise. The surrounding buildings were covered in scorch marks, the cobblestones had cracks and sizable chunks blown away, and a few trees in the area were missing sizable limbs and large patches of leaves. ¡°He really went all out here, huh.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Part of why I wasn¡¯t worried when he elected to defend his shop by himself.¡± Axilya noted, as they began the walk to Sir Verakith¡¯s. ¡°He didn¡¯t last very long, but he did try his luck as the kind of Laborer that went out and killed things, like us. He might not fight every day, but he¡¯s had nearly a decade to build up his shop to have a solution handy.¡± He didn¡¯t know if she intended to, but Axilya did give Leo some hope with that statement. If he managed to survive long enough to build up even a portion of the resources Zumra must have had on hand. Enough for him to not run out of bombs like he did against the darklings, or maybe enough to make more powerful items like whatever Zumra used right in front of his shop. He just needed to get there. For the moment, he decided to get out of his own head and look around. He could see traces of the siege, marks of destruction across the city made by both the rampaging horde of darklings, and the people defending the city from them. It didn¡¯t seem like the kind of thing that would go back to normal overnight, but spirits were up. The city¡¯s people walked the streets, more often in a cheery or neutral mood than not, and the sound of hammers falling and other construction echoed through the city as people sought to repair the damage from the conflict. Observing all of this, Leo finally glanced toward Kazato. ¡°I¡¯m not expecting you to tell me everything just because I asked, but since you¡¯re working with Hayumi, do you even know what her goal for you is?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not privy to the details.¡± Kazato replied with a shrug. ¡°In the long term I think she wants to make a full guild, but that¡¯s more speculation on my end. From what she¡¯s told me, though, I know whatever she¡¯ll want me to do with her has to do with her homeland. Which isn¡¯t on Heom.¡± ¡°Her homeland¡­¡± Layne muttered, glancing down as if in deep thought. Leo noticed the motion and glanced over just in time to see Layne¡¯s eyes widen in surprise, as if he¡¯d realized something, but decided to keep it to himself as he brought up his deadpan face once more. Leo held back a comment on it, opting to continue the conversation with Kazato instead. ¡°So nothing concrete - er, solid? I gotta say as much as she wants me to work for her, keeping me in the dark about it is not doing her any favors.¡± Kazato sighed, and Leo couldn¡¯t blame her. It wasn¡¯t exactly her job to sing her boss¡¯s praises. ¡°I know. I also opposed the whole ¡®leaving the city to the darklings¡¯ thing when she told me about it, but by the time I would have had the chance to say anything, we¡¯d heard about the Eldritch Titan so there wasn¡¯t much of a chance of keeping a solid force here anyway. In any case, she¡¯s very crafty and doesn¡¯t tend to make the same mistake twice. Do not mention that I said this to her, but I think not being able to deal with the matriarch by herself finally got it into her head that she can¡¯t solely rely on her own plans and her own judgment. So I think she¡¯ll want to listen to your input and not cook up any more crazy schemes like that any time soon.¡± ¡°Finally?¡± Leo questioned. ¡°She¡¯s been doing this Laborer thing for a while - she¡¯d have to be since very few people would ever start around A or B-rank, but I think she tried to exploit the system to get a better reward and nearly ended up losing Normouth over it. I don¡¯t think it was out of malice or apathy for the people here, though.¡± Kazato said, crossing her arms. ¡°If anything she seems¡­impatient? As if she¡¯s rushing for something, trying to get stronger. I really do think this latest fiasco will cool her head, though.¡± ¡°Gotcha.¡± Having seen what a decently-ranked Mixer could do with a notable amount of stocked up resources, Leo understood the feeling of wanting to get stronger. ¡°Thanks for that. It definitely helps me gather my thoughts about her offer.¡± ¡°No problem. Like I said though, don¡¯t mention any of that to her, cause she¡¯ll know you learned about it from me. She likes to tease. If you do start working for her, you¡¯ll probably be the focus of it just from being new, but I don¡¯t need any more reasons for her to shift it back to me.¡± ¡°Is it that bad?¡± ¡°...No. It probably isn¡¯t. It¡¯s her way of showing affection, I think. I¡¯m just not good at dealing with it.¡± He¡¯d have to keep that in mind. ¡°Noted. Changing the subject - she¡¯s teaching you magic, right?¡± Leo asked, and continued on at Kazato¡¯s nod. ¡°Think she¡¯d do the same for me? No offense, Rize.¡± ¡°None taken. She¡¯s probably one of the better teachers you could ask for, given her rank. She¡¯d also be able to teach you more than fire magic. Perhaps I should ask her for some guidance as well, since she¡¯s also interested in me.¡± ¡°Getting so many new students will do wonders for her ego.¡± Kazato said. ¡°How about you, Layne?¡± Leo joked. ¡°I know you¡¯ve got that sword art and everything, can you even use magic?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pass.¡± Lanye replied. ¡°I¡¯d rather focus on learning another sword art.¡± Leo shrugged, letting the matter drop, though Layne spoke of it like a sword art was something he could pick up a manual for at a local bookstore. Maybe Sir Verakith might have another for him to learn, or a direction to point him in. Leo couldn¡¯t deny his interest, but given the fact that he hadn¡¯t picked up the sword for a full month yet, somehow magic felt more accessible to him since he¡¯d managed to learn a couple of exceedingly minor spells. In short order, the party managed to reach Sir Verakith¡¯s home without any issues.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title Equalizer Fortitude: D- (2/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (8/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank D Intuition: C- (0/10)
Status Health 100% Mana 100% Will: E (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage, Replicate, Inoculation, Soul Harvest Luck: D (5/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill effect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Skill: Replicate Create an item that you have previously created using materials of a similar element. Final product will be lowered one rank due to Replication.
Skill: Inoculation Ignore Toxicity gained from items created with the Combine skill.
Skill: Soul Harvest By using Mana, automatically create Aether materials from slain creatures when you use the Auto-Loot skill.
Chapter 23: Back to Business (+Art) ¡°What the hell is this, why are there more of you than before? You know you can always join the guards if you just want training!¡± ¡°Glad to see you¡¯re doing well too, Sir Verakith.¡± Leo replied as the group made their way in. The Knight¡¯s protests died down soon enough once multiple people in the group presented some fine wines as tribute. Between admiring the wines, storing them for later, and following the group to his training area in his backyard, Sir Verakith seemed to accept his fate. ¡°So what is it, seriously. You wouldn¡¯t have brought this many people if it was just to see if I was still alive.¡± He asked, looking at Layne. ¡°I heard you took down the big fucker who showed up at the end of it all. Good on you for that. I also heard about some guards running around saying that they saw lightning and heard thunder.¡± ¡°That¡¯d be right. I¡¯ve mastered the Collapsing Sword Dance, and that was what I used to deal the final blow.¡± Layne answered. ¡°I¡­didn¡¯t participate in much of the fight before that, I only came in at the very end. In any case, I came to tell you that and to thank you, but also to introduce you to her.¡± He gestured toward Kazato. ¡°Kazato Akaria. I¡¯m a Sword Saint.¡± Kazato said. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, Sir Verakith. I¡¯ve heard a lot about you.¡± ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Sir Verakith replied with a nod, rubbing his chin. ¡°Get all you can out of me and then bring me an actual sword saint.¡± He looked from Kazato back to Layne, whose eyes widened in surprise. ¡°You knew?¡± ¡°¡®Course I did. Kid, you¡¯re good with a sword- I wouldn¡¯t have taught you the Collapsing Sword Dance otherwise, but you¡¯re not Sword Saint good. They¡¯re a different breed. You also brought me some damn good drink.¡± Sir Verakith¡¯s attention switched back to Kazato. ¡°So yeah, I¡¯m duty-bound to teach you, no payment required, but appreciated.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll find something to bring next time around. Either way, I¡¯ll be glad to learn. Seeing that Collapsing Sword Dance in action was stunning to watch. When can we start?¡± ¡°Right now, if you want. I gotta see what I¡¯m working with.¡± With that, he looked over to Axilya. ¡°What about you? You look like the least in-need of training out of everybody here.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind getting a refresher from an accomplished knight, especially since all my sword ability comes from skills.¡± She replied. ¡°Fine, you brought some good stuff too, so I¡¯ll see what I can do. Now you two,¡± Finally, he switched to Leo and Rize. ¡°same as usual I¡¯m assuming?¡± ¡°Unless you¡¯re also really good at archery.¡± Leo said with a grin, and the look on the knight¡¯s face suggested he could at least tell that Leo was joking. ¡°I figured - I¡¯ll have to look into that some other time.¡± ¡°For that, you get to be the one to warm up the Sword Saint.¡± Sir Verakith said, and quickly went to get everyone else situated, while Leo and Kazato moved off to their own corner of the knight¡¯s backyard training area. ¡°Is it too late to ask you to go easy on me?¡± Leo asked, grabbing one of the wooden swords and tossing another to Kazato. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m not going to even touch you.¡± Kazato replied. ¡°Just come at me, full force if you¡¯re up for it.¡± That, and the almost serene smile on her face didn¡¯t do much to inspire his confidence, but Leo decided to take her at her word. As the two of them got into position, during the brief moments at the beginning of a spar like this, where they¡¯d usually circle each other and try to look for openings, Kazato stood stock still, holding her wooden sword in one hand. To prevent psyching himself out, Leo took a deep breath and went for it, rushing her and coming down with an overhead strike. Kazato still didn¡¯t move until the very last moment, where she brought the wooden sword up to block. His sword stopped dead where it met hers. She didn¡¯t move an inch, halting his sword swing so abruptly that he nearly fell back in the aftermath. With a small smile on her face, pushed back with the sword enough to cause him to move away from her. ¡°Was it that surprising?¡± ¡°Sir Verakith wasn¡¯t kidding.¡± Leo replied. ¡°Sword Saint and all. In a battle of pure swordplay there¡¯s no way I¡¯m losing to anyone at or below my rank.¡± Kazato brought her sword into place. ¡°But like I said, I¡¯m not going to touch you. I¡¯m only going to defend.¡± She stayed true to her word, for several minutes Leo tried, with everything he¡¯d been taught about sword fighting and even some old maneuvers from his boxing knowledge that he managed to dig out of his memory. Kazato hardly moved an inch, and blocked or deflected all of his full force swings with one hand. Strangely, Leo felt less frustrated than when Sir Verakith decided to put him up against Layne, who frequently countered or simply outdid him so well in their sparring that Leo felt like he¡¯d end the bout full of bruises. Kazato almost felt like a punching bag with a sword, though he wouldn¡¯t dare say that out loud or she might really show him what a Sword Saint could do. After a while, Sir Verakith finally called for Kazato, at which she lowered her wooden sword and looked over toward Leo. ¡°You take to the basics well, but you really like to stay light on your feet until you actually dig down to swing. Did you have some experience with another martial art before you started training with Sir Verakith?¡± ¡°Yeah, actually. Surprised you caught that.¡± ¡°I have a good eye for other people¡¯s styles. It''s somewhat of a goal for Sword Saints to emulate as many as possible, after all.¡± Kazato shrugged, starting to walk off. ¡°It also makes us pretty good teachers, too. I could probably teach you a style that fits how you like to move. But only if Hayumi says I can.¡± ¡°You¡¯re trying to convince me now?¡± Kazato paused, glancing back Leo¡¯s way. ¡°Not intentionally, know. I just don¡¯t want to get on her bad side and I don¡¯t know how petty she''d be if you didn¡¯t sign on. Just consider it another benefit to think about, I guess.¡± As Kazato went to Sir Verakith, Rize and Axilya began to spar, leaving Layne paired up with Leo. ¡°Alright, the Sword Saint went easy on me since I just left bedrest, can I get you to do the same for once.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re well enough to swing a sword, I¡¯d say it isn¡¯t needed, but sure.¡± To his credit, Layne did come at Leo with a series of swings that Leo found profoundly easy to block and dodge, but Leo quickly realized that Layne¡¯s softness seemed to come more from general distraction than an active desire to not give Leo any new bruises. ¡°Something on your mind?¡± Leo asked, he wanted to ask Layne about what he figured out earlier while they were walking, but decided against opening with it. Layne¡¯s attention snapped back to Leo. ¡°Just thinking about where I¡¯m headed next.¡± He replied, thankfully staying light on the sparring.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Already? The city¡¯s still recovering and you¡¯re thinking about heading out again? The world¡¯s status just shifted to neutral, too. I feel like if there was any time to take a break it would be now.¡± ¡°The outsiders aren¡¯t taking a break. In fact they¡¯re usually more active right after a status shift like this so they can gain some momentum back. You¡¯re right though, most people should be taking a break. But I don¡¯t want to sit idle for too long.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the rush, Neo? Isn¡¯t this like an eternal war between the gods and the outsiders? Will it hurt that much if you take a well-deserved break?¡± Leo said he noticed Layne¡¯s hands gripping the handle of his sword fiercely, and gave him a questioning and concerned look. He hadn''t meant to strike a nerve. ¡°There¡¯s¡­no rush.¡± Layne said, practically through gritted teeth. ¡°I¡¯m just an impatient person, but you could probably benefit from some more training before you really start actively going out and doing quests.¡± ¡°You¡¯re telling me, I feel like I barely made it out of this last mess-¡± Leo said with a nod. On a whim, he decided to Appraise Layne again. [Warning! This user has a skill that hides parts of their statistics from prying eyes.]
Name: Layne Blackburn
Title Second Life Swordsman
Class Soul Sunderer
Element Aether
Total Rank B-
¡°-and, Jesus Christ, you¡¯re way too high a rank for me to maybe ask for some less stressful questing.¡± That caused Layne to pause for a moment before continuing the spar. Leo could practically see Layne holding himself back from upping the intensity. ¡°You Appraised me?¡± He asked, and then quickly continued right. ¡°Right, you¡¯re a Mixer. Can you tell me what you can see?¡± ¡°Your name, Title, Class, Element, and Total Rank.¡± Leo answered. ¡°Also gives me a warning that you have a skill to hide the rest¡± ¡°So that¡¯s treated as a skill¡­¡± Layne muttered. He¡¯d completely stopped sparring ¡°Thank you for telling me. I¡¯m surprised your Appraisal gets that much, but I imagine a Mixer¡¯s has to be stronger than normal.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think even people higher rank than me can see much more than that.¡± Leo said. ¡°The person who helped me out while I was unconscious thinks you made a pact with some god.¡± He waved the statement off. ¡°And you know what? I¡¯m not gonna ask about that, or why your rank has gone up so fast when I¡¯m pretty sure you were D-something when we first met, though. You can tell me on your own time when you feel like it. If you¡¯re heading off, since you gave me the advice about what I should do as a Mixer who fights- can you hook me up with someone who can help me with archery before you go?¡± ¡°Thanks for that, I¡¯ll talk to you about it when I¡¯m ready, I promise. In any case, I don¡¯t think any decent archers I know are on Heom, or are planning on coming any time soon, but I¡¯ll keep a lookout. I¡¯m not going anywhere far just yet. There are a couple of places pretty close by that I want to take a look at, but it¡¯ll be better if I take care of that myself. I¡¯ll be busy, but I¡¯ll be around.¡± He paused, glancing at the ground as if looking for the words. ¡°It might be hard to see, with everything that¡¯s happened, but believe me when I tell you: your personal skills matter just as much as your stats do. You can really punch above your weight if you know what you¡¯re doing. I can¡¯t stress enough how good it is for you to keep training like this- too many people are just tossed into the Labors with no experience and a tutorial that barely actually tells you anything.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for it. Now let¡¯s get back to sparring before Sir Verakith notices we¡¯ve stopped.¡± They continued on into the early evening, which allowed Leo to get used to his strength boost from his newly raised Fortitude stat- though against Layne he couldn¡¯t see that much of a difference. Before, there were some days they got so into it that the sun fully set before they even thought of stopping, but so quickly after a major battle, no one seemed to have the steam for a regular training session. Sir Verakith seemed satisfied with teaching Kazato and Axilya, (as long as the wine kept flowing, Leo guessed) and everyone parted from the knight¡¯s estate. Layne left to take care of his own business, leaving Leo, Rize, Axilya, and Kazato. ¡°Well, I¡¯m heading home, but I can¡¯t thank you enough for introducing me to Sir Verakith.¡± Kazato said. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna overstay my welcome at Zumra¡¯s - do I still have that inn room?¡± Leo asked. ¡°You don¡¯t - but I went and asked for your belongings after we made sure you were stable - they didn¡¯t have much to give me though.¡± ¡°¡®Cause I keep everything in storage. Thank you for that.¡± ¡°Are you saying you need a place to sleep?¡± Kazato asked. ¡°I hate to bring it up, but Hayumi does live in a pretty nice villa with plenty of open rooms. In fact, she probably wouldn¡¯t mind you staying over for a night or two with no strings attached. That¡¯s where I¡¯m headed.¡± ¡°Of course she wouldn¡¯t, but honestly, I¡¯ll take you up on the offer. I¡¯ve got some things I want to talk to Hayumi about, anyway.¡± ¡°Did Layne knocking you upside the head a few times have you seeing her deal in a new light?¡±Axilya asked. ¡°Kind of, I¡¯ve just realized what I¡¯d really need her to be able to give me. Like I said, I¡¯m not going to commit to anything right away, but depending on how this conversation goes, we¡¯ll have some things to talk about.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re sure¡­¡± Rize said, glancing from Leo to Kazato and back. ¡°We''ll meet up back at Zumra¡¯s shop, alright?¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Leo agreed, then turned to Kazato. ¡°Alright, guess I¡¯m following you.¡±
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title Equalizer Fortitude: D- (2/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (8/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank D Intuition: C- (0/10)
Status Health 100% Mana 100% Will: E (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage, Replicate, Inoculation, Soul Harvest Luck: D (5/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill effect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Skill: Replicate Create an item that you have previously created using materials of a similar element. Final product will be lowered one rank due to Replication.
Skill: Inoculation Ignore Toxicity gained from items created with the Combine skill.
Skill: Soul Harvest By using Mana, automatically create Aether materials from slain creatures when you use the Auto-Loot skill.
Chapter 24: Agreement Throughout the walk, Leo observed reconstruction going on even into the evening. It made sense, the people here didn¡¯t exactly have the luxury of going to stay in a hotel during a crisis like this. Some of the townsfolk¡¯s homes got it much worse than others - Leo couldn¡¯t help but think back to the buildings that the darkling matriarch smashed through in its rampage. In some cases people were literally building the roof back over their heads. Leo didn¡¯t know how the weather would fare in the coming days, but he hoped most of the people working on their homes would be able to avoid any rain. True to her word, Kazato led Leo to an impressive villa, the building itself took up as much space as Sir Verakith¡¯s home and backyard training area combined, and if Leo saw correctly, it also had a notable amount of open space of its own on the lot. Kazato wasted no time heading for the entrance and pulling out a key to open the door. Leo followed after, having long since lost the opportunity he might have had to act on cold feet. They entered the villa, and Leo found a foyer and sitting room with lavish furniture, though it looked like the couches and chairs hadn¡¯t seen much use. Immediately, the smell of something cooking hit his nose. Like a chain reaction, Leo¡¯s stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn¡¯t had anything to eat since he woke up earlier in the day. Somehow, he managed to go the entire day, even through the light training they had at Sir Verakith¡¯s without noticing. It likely had something to do with Leo raising his Fortitude soon after he woke up - or at least he had to guess. ¡°Well, we have good timing it seems.¡± Kazato said, a smile on her face after hearing Leo¡¯s stomach, and seeing his surprise. ¡°We should be able to find her in the kitchen, but she probably heard me opening the door¡­¡± ¡°Since when were you one for bringing guests home?¡± Leo heard Hayumi¡¯s voice from further in, and only seconds later she rounded a corner into the foyer. She locked onto him immediately, Leo noticed her tails wave behind her in different directions. ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve brought a very special guest indeed, and a hungry one at that.¡± After she spoke, Leo cleared his throat to distract from a rising flush to his cheeks. She did have really good hearing. ¡°So, what brings you to my humble abode this evening? Have you given some thought to my offer? Or perhaps you¡¯ve come to be fed by the sound of your stomach.¡± Alright, she was definitely screwing with him. Not the worst reaction Leo could have hoped for though. ¡°Fed and housed for the night, if you¡¯re feeling so magnanimous.¡± He replied. ¡°Figured it''d be better for me to take up space here rather than hold an inn room from some poor dock worker who got their house destroyed. But while I¡¯m here, there were some things I wanted to talk about concerning the offer.¡± Hayumi blinked, and then brought her hand up to her face, covering her mouth with her knuckles and doing little to hide a smile. ¡°Well, a room for the night and some food is certainly doable. I just hope you¡¯ll remember my generosity during our discussion. Given you have come for a discussion, though, I suppose you haven¡¯t made up your mind?¡± ¡°Not quite. Leo said. ¡°I¡¯ve just realized what I¡¯m going to need if I want to continue on the path I¡¯ve chosen for myself, and, since you seem to really want me on board, whether or not you¡¯ll be able to provide them.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯ll find you¡¯ll want for little under my employ - but let¡¯s not begin these talks on an empty stomach. Fortunately for you, when Kazato didn¡¯t come back right away I decided to cook a fair bit of food on the chance that she¡¯d gotten into some strenuous activity.¡± Hayumi beckoned the two of them to follow, and they made their way to a sizable kitchen, and Leo finally saw the source of the oddly familiar smell. Hayumi had cooked a huge amount of fried rice, and wasted no time serving it in wooden bowls and leading the two of them over to a dining room with a long table that looked like it was made to entertain far more guests than this villa has ever had since Hayumi owned it. Thankfully, Hayumi seemed content to let Leo eat before getting into any serious topics. She and Kazato filled the silence by talking about Sir Verakith and the beginning steps of the Stormcloud Saber Art. Leo should have used the time to properly gather his thoughts and figure out what he should say, but the food caught his attention more than he anticipated. He couldn¡¯t recall the last time he had something so incredibly similar to something he had back home. The rice was a type he¡¯d never seen before, the meat had a very similar taste to chicken but with a texture closer to beef, and the vegetables had similar tastes and textures to ones he¡¯d had, but the colors were all off. With all of that in mind, if he didn¡¯t stare at it long enough, he could have mistaken it for something he¡¯d ordered from a food stall or a friend¡¯s home cooked meal back on Earth. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re enjoying my cooking.¡± Hayumi¡¯s voice snapped him out of his introspection. Leo glanced down to find his bowl nearly empty. ¡°I guess I was hungrier than I thought.¡± Leo replied with a shrug. ¡°Being unconscious for a whole day will do that though.¡± ¡°Well, now that you¡¯ve hopefully had your fill, I must say you¡¯ve made me dreadfully curious.¡± Hayumi leaned forward, her chin resting on her hands as she spoke. ¡°You¡¯ve said that there are things you wish to know if I can provide, do tell.¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± Leo¡¯s mind raced. He took a deep breath and tried to mentally pull back everything he wanted to say into a mental space where he could keep track of it. ¡°Magic training and someone to give me instructions in Archery are the first things that come to mind. Other than my skills, I¡¯ve only been taught exactly one spell, and it''s to light a small flame like a candle so I could light bombs easier. I don¡¯t know how fast a learner I am when it comes to more complicated ones, but magic seems universally useful to learn.¡± ¡°That burst of water you used to fight the darkling matriarch wasn¡¯t a spell?¡± Hayumi questioned. ¡°No. The short explanation it is that it¡¯s the ability of a monster I fought that I mimicked by combining its parts with an Aether material. I could replicate it, but it¡¯s going to build water toxicity to anyone who doesn¡¯t have a water element.¡± ¡°My interest is piqued in that regard, but to answer your requests, I would certainly be able to teach you more about magic if you¡¯re so inclined. It helps that you¡¯ve already received some instruction. Archery is a bit tricker. I know the basics myself, but I don¡¯t go out to practice my aim or anything of the sort. I could, however, teach you a spell that would allow you to conjure a bow. It¡¯s fairly efficient to maintain if you¡¯re using your own arrows, and I may be able to use the means that most Laborers are granted to find relevant materials.¡± It took a moment for Leo to clock that that last bit likely meant ¡®use the shop to find a guide,¡¯ but he did find the prospect of being able to conjure his own bow and not having to maintain a real one appealing. ¡°Alright, fair enough. This next one¡­how do I explain this? I- I¡¯m not sure if you noticed during that whole ordeal with the darklings, but I¡¯m not really a combatant. I mean, I guess I am now, but I wasn¡¯t before I became a Laborer.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Kazato piped in. ¡°Inexperienced, sure, but what about that martial art you said you¡¯d been learning?¡± ¡°Recreational.¡± Leo responded ¡°For sport, really. When I boxed there was always the chance to get seriously hurt and a very slim possibility of death, but I never fought to kill anyone, and I hadn¡¯t killed anything larger than a mouse before I was brought here.¡± ¡°So am I to assume ¡®combat experience¡¯ is what you¡¯re seeing from me with a preface like that?¡± Hayumi asked. ¡°Hit the nail on the head.¡± Leo replied, watching Hayumi¡¯s ears flick as he continued. ¡°Training is helping - I could feel the difference on the night Normouth was attacked from only a couple of weeks of training with Sir Verakith, but it¡¯s not fast enough. We¡¯re one day out from a disaster like this and-¡± He stopped himself from talking about Layne directly. He didn¡¯t want to be the one spilling secrets. ¡°-people, friends of mine are already moving. Going onto the next job, the next quest, and I¡¯m still here. I¡¯ve increased my stats and found a way to work with what I have as a Mixer, but honestly I don¡¯t like my prospects if I stumble into another crazy situation like what just happened here a couple days ago - let alone regular quests for my rank.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°You¡¯re more eager for fighting than most Mixer¡¯s I¡¯ve met.¡± Hayumi noted. The look she gave him changed, almost as if she wanted to size him up. ¡°You could very well open a shop and stay well away from any fighting. I¡¯ll confess, I certainly wanted you under my employ only for your Mixing abilities.¡± ¡°I guess I would be pretty safe if I had someone like you backing me.¡± Leo agreed. Zumra still had to defend his own shop, but would he if someone like Hayumi sponsored him? ¡°At the end of the day, I don¡¯t want to just sit back and manage a shop. I want to see more of Heom and wherever the wind takes me, and I don¡¯t want to be a burden or have to hide behind anyone to do it, and the bombs are only gonna get me so far.¡± Hayumi leaned back in her chair. Her expression changed again, but Leo found her hard to read at this stage. Leo just hoped that after all that, she¡¯d actually be able to do something for him. He didn¡¯t know what she could do, but he had to imagine that A rank laborers simply operated on a different scale from how much credits they could get from doing quests around their rank. Leo had seen cars and guns and other modern technology in the Labor¡¯s shop for far more credits than he could possibly afford, so maybe Hayumi knew of some item or something she could buy in a section that Leo would never think to check. After a few seconds of quiet contemplation, she spoke. ¡°I acknowledge your resolve, Leo. I think I may have exactly what you¡¯re looking for. Well and true combat experience that will allow you to hold your own against the many threats you might face. I will warn you, my solution would include everything short of death, with all of the pain that might entail, but no lasting effects other than potentially on your mind. Is that acceptable?¡± ¡°I suppose. I guess it depends on the method.¡± ¡°Lovely. Before I explain it, however, allow me to ask you a question. The one who helped you while you were unconscious, it was the Seer, right?¡± Hayumi said, and then grinned at Leo¡¯s reaction. ¡°Your expression says it all. Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t plan on interacting with her any more than I have to. If she prefers to hide in the shadows and watch instead of actually helping, that¡¯s up to her. I¡¯m more interested in her methods. While you were unconscious, she put you in a dream state to shield your mind from the gaze of the gods. I will admit, to do it to someone unwilling or unknowing takes fairly powerful magic. Otherwise, it is a magic I am familiar with, and much less strenuous with a willing participant.¡± ¡°So you¡¯d put me in a dream, the same way she did?¡± Leo asked. ¡°Indeed I would. And to help seal this deal, I¡¯ll let you experience it for a few nights, no questions asked or further obligations. You yourself said that you should take at least a day or two to decide. If what I can provide proves to be what you¡¯re seeking, then we can negotiate further from there.¡± ¡°That¡¯s very generous of you.¡± Leo said. ¡°Are my abilities as a Mixer really in that high demand?¡± ¡°For the few things I do need a Mixer¡¯s talents for, I supposed I could just pay for them¡± Hayumi replied. ¡°But you¡¯ve done some things I¡¯ve seen no other Mixer do. I¡¯m looking for skilled individuals to cultivate their talents. I¡¯ve no desire to reveal the reason now, but I¡¯ll at least tell you that it¡¯ll involve a great endeavor for which I will need the strength of many to achieve, and it will involve returning to my homeland.¡± ¡°That¡¯s about as much as she¡¯s told me, for what it¡¯s worth.¡± Kazato said. ¡°In any case, I can vouch for the dreaming.¡± Leo took a moment to consider. He first wondered what he¡¯d be able to get out of just dreaming, but he recalled the seer¡¯s dream - and how it felt less like a dream and more like him just being conscious but in a different space, and how he remembered every moment of it. Hayumi could use the dream to get him some combat experience without actually threatening his life, then he couldn¡¯t pass up the opportunity. ¡°I¡¯ll give it a try. What do I need to do?¡± ¡°Sleep, mostly.¡± Hayumi said with a smirk. ¡°I could knock you out with magic, but let¡¯s actually get you settled in a room first.¡± After finishing his food, and washing up afterward, Leo settled down in an unused room in the villa that Hayumi led him to. She cast one spell to clean up any dust that had accumulated in the blink of an eye, and then cast another spell on him. One that didn¡¯t have an immediate effect but she explained that it would connect him to her dream and cause him to wake up when he appeared there. He took her word for it, and settled into the bed after she left. He thought that, with the whole situation involving the dream, he might end up stalling, trying to sleep but being unable to due to nervousness. Fortunately for him, he was out cold basically as soon as his head hit the pillow. Something about him finding this sleeping arrangement much more comfortable than his inn, and likely sparring he did get up to at Sir Verakith¡¯s hitting him at that moment the same way that his hunger hit him as soon as he smelled food. He remembered closing his eyes on the pillow and having the feeling of it replaced with something hard and cold. Opening his eyes again, he found himself on the ground - in a place he recognized. The main square of Normouth, where they fought the darkling matriarch. ¡°Here we are again. In a sense. Just before it was destroyed in the fight, I thought this place would be a wonderful place to cast my more destructive spells if not for all the people that are usually here.¡± Hayumi¡¯s voice drew Leo to look behind him, and she stood, leaning against the side of a building. ¡°I guess so.¡± Leo said as he stood. The look of the square at night brought Leo back to his memory of the siege just before the matriarch showed up. If not for the lack of scratches, cracks, and destroyed buildings, it seemed as if Hayumi just plucked him up while he slept and dropped him in the middle of the square. ¡°Hardly feels like a dream.¡± ¡°That is the intent.¡± Hayumi replied. ¡°Now, you should be able to act as if you would in the waking world. Draw your weapon and make whatever preparations you need, we¡¯re going to get started.¡±
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title Equalizer Fortitude: D- (2/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E (8/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank D Intuition: C- (0/10)
Status Health 100% Mana 100% Will: E (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage, Replicate, Inoculation, Soul Harvest Luck: D (5/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill effect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Skill: Replicate Create an item that you have previously created using materials of a similar element. Final product will be lowered one rank due to Replication.
Skill: Inoculation Ignore Toxicity gained from items created with the Combine skill.
Skill: Soul Harvest By using Mana, automatically create Aether materials from slain creatures when you use the Auto-Loot skill.
Chapter 25: Training Arc Hayumi had him hooked after the first night, and in total she let him train in dreams for an entire month. He agreed to work under her on the third day. With no contract or terms, a purely verbal agreement to begin with as Hayumi seemed more interested in seeing the results of his training before she actually assigned him any important tasks. The only thing she asked of him was to make healing and mana potions out of materials she brought to him throughout the month. Hayumi started off the training with something relatively simple that he could deal with. Something he¡¯d actually fought before even: skeletons. Leo found everything that he knew to be in his storage existed in the dream, though of course nothing that he used ended up going away in the real world. He could even use Combine in the dream, but only to make things he¡¯d already made before. With everything he¡¯d acquired and learned since the tutorial, he actually found the skeletons easy to deal with. Then, in the daytime, Hayumi worked to teach him the bow-conjuring spell. Despite the spell proving much more complicated and having a few moving parts compared to simply lighting a candle-sized flame, Leo could cast the spell after only a week of working at it. It helped that Hayumi¡¯s teaching took a much more approachable step-by-step format than Rize¡¯s. To Rize¡¯s credit, she apparently learned how to use most of her fire-based magic before she could even walk, so looking back, Leo felt impressed Rize could actually teach him anything. He could cast the spell in a week, but he couldn¡¯t start using it mid-combat for a couple weeks after, for a couple different reasons. The first being that casting a spell demanded a level of focus he could hardly pull off in the middle of being attacked without getting used to it. The second reason was that as time went on, Hayumi started throwing much more than simple skeletons at him. She had plenty of things to pick from her memories, faithfully reproduced to hound him. She made sure to vary the training as the days passed. He fought things smaller than him, larger than him, stronger, faster, things that cast magic, and people. Other humans and other people with various features. Much as it unnerved him, Hayumi reminded him that his work as a Laborer would have him fighting against all kinds of things. The Outsiders had humans working under them as well, to say nothing of the natives of the worlds uninvolved with the Labors who meant him harm. If there were anywhere he could get ¡®used to¡¯ the killing, he supposed he¡¯d rather do it in a dream where none of it actually mattered. One thing the training really hammered home for him, as the non-human things that he fought seemed to carry most of their properties in the dream, including elemental ones, was that the elements a creature had played a major role in how to fight them, once he actually started using them. It started when he fought panglers, similar to the ones he found that the darklings killed on his first quest, and he couldn¡¯t so much as scratch them with anything that didn¡¯t have the metal or water element. Once he used the bombs he learned to create, the frost and metal bombs specifically, he killed them so fast it almost felt like cheating. Hayumi didn¡¯t lie about the pain, either. Though Leo had a feeling she did do something to dampen it for the first few days, gradually increasing it just whenever he got used to it so that it didn¡¯t affect him too much. It didn¡¯t help that after the first couple of weeks, she conjured up things she very well knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to fight. One of them being the darkling matriarch, which crushed him into the cobblestones before Hayumi snapped her fingers to heal him up like new. After nights like that where he had a particularly rough time, he¡¯d start waking up with nosebleeds and phantom pains that would last the entire day. That did worry him, but it was probably for the best that Hayumi let him know his limits. After the first day of the dream, he went back to talk to Rize and Axilya about the training. Layne had no interest, but told him to keep at it as long as there were no adverse side effects. Layne also warned Leo to keep anything he¡¯d want to hide to himself, like his status screen, since Hayumi could likely see it inside the dream. After a week, even Rize and Axilya could tell the difference that some actual combat experience made. Over the course of the month, Leo took a couple of quests for gathering materials in the nearby woods, going out with Rize, Axilya, or Kazato. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t run into any looming disasters like last time, earning a couple of E-rank Karma for his trouble, which he put into Reflex to bump it up to E+. During this downtime, he started to look into the gods that run the Labors, with the goal of trying to pin down the one that brought him in to begin with. He didn¡¯t get particularly far, only learning that one could be considered a ¡®god¡¯ after they reached rank M, and that there were likely dozens or maybe even hundreds across the myriad worlds accessible to Laborers. He even found speculation that another system of ranks existed past M, but it was only accessible once one reached that rank. All of that made for a rabbit hole that he could afford not to get into for the time being. He also continued to sell potions, both at Zumra¡¯s and on the Labor¡¯s shop, and they sold incredibly well, to the point where he broke the hundred mark and got an achievement for it. He put the resulting Karma into Will.
You¡¯ve sold 100 items made with Combine! Achievement Reward: D rank Mental Karma.
Some of the items in Zumra¡¯s shop continued to sell quickly in the aftermath of the attack, so Leo helped replenish them with his own abilities as a Mixer. After getting half a dozen or so Mana potions as payment, Leo simply started asking Zumra for more things he could Mix. The elf truly had hundreds of different items in his formula book, and while it seemed like bad manners to ask another Mixer for their formulas - at least according to Zumra, they both knew that Leo had no desire to set up shop in the area or take any of Zumra¡¯s customers. Since he¡¯d just learned a spell for it, Leo had Zumra teach him different elemental arrows. They were far less volatile than the bombs, with their elemental abilities only spilling out when they were fired at high speeds. He also got oils for his sword and bombs for the other elements. By the end of the month the only element he didn¡¯t have something directly for was Aether. During all of this, he actually found something that appeared in his own formula book without him noticing. A so-called ¡®Blackening Oil¡¯ that added a dark element to any weapon coated in it. As he¡¯d been writing all the other formulas down in a physical blank book that he kept in storage, Leo hadn¡¯t actually checked this list since before the attack on Normouth. Thankfully, he could confirm that Zumra actually had a similar formula, and that more would appear on the list as he ranked up, so Leo should check that list periodically even if it filled up pretty quickly due to him not raising Intellect. Gradually, life in Normouth returned to normal for the people, Leo fell into a routine he found similar to the two weeks when he first started training under Sir Verakith. Layne was frequently absent, however. Since he¡¯d learned what he needed to from the knight, he actively searched in the area around Normouth for something. Whatever it was, it kept him out of the city for days at a time. He¡¯d occasionally come back, go to Zumra¡¯s or ask Leo directly to make some potions, and leave the next day. Leo at least felt comfort in the fact that Layne had given him a smartphone and his number, but he couldn¡¯t help but wonder exactly what it is Layne searched for. Fortunately for Leo, a month after he¡¯d started training with Hayumi, he¡¯d finally get a text from Layne in the early morning.
From: Layne BlackburnThe author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Layne: Hey Layne: I¡¯m back in Normouth, could you meet me at Zumra¡¯s?
Leo stared at the text for quite a while before gathering his things. Maybe he¡¯d find out what Layne¡¯s goal was one way or another. Heading off to Zumra¡¯s became part of the routine at this point, so neither Hayumi nor Kazato asked where he was headed. He greeted Zumra once he arrived and asked if he needed anything made, but after thirty days, things finally calmed down enough that he wasn¡¯t in need of extra stock. With that settled, Leo made his way to the back room, where he found Layne sitting at a table on the opposite side. He glanced back toward Leo once he came in, but Leo could see that he was looking down at a map that covered nearly the entire table. ¡°You called?¡± Leo said, closing the door behind him as he stepped into the room and walking toward Layne. ¡°Yeah, I just need you to make something. I have the materials here.¡± With a flick of his wrists, Layne pulled out a large white feather in one hand, and a sliver of bark from some kind of tree in another, likely out of his own Storage space. ¡°Alright, what¡¯s it going to do?¡± Leo asked, taking the materials. ¡°It¡¯s a potion to help hold your breath.¡± Layne answered. ¡°Should be D-rank, which is what those materials are. It also helps you when you get to high altitudes.¡± Leo raised an eyebrow, curious as to why he needed such a specific potion. Rather than ask about it, though, he simply went to Combine the materials.
Deepbreath Draught (D-Rank)
Allows the user to draw in and hold air in their bodies for long periods of time. Increases time to hold breath based on Fortitude. Acclimates the user to environments with high amounts of elemental Air. Lasts for 1 hour.
¡°Interesting.¡± Leo said, handing Layne the potion. ¡°How many of these do you need, and what for?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take five, for now.¡± Layne replied, and with some movement of his fingers that Leo assumed to be interfacing with his own status screen, Layne sent over a thousand credits. ¡°As for what, I¡¯ll be heading up some mountains soon, so I want to have those ready for me and whatever group I end up going with.¡± ¡°Does it have to do with that?¡± Leo gestured to the map on the table, which he¡¯d been stealing glances at. It looked like a map of the region, with several spaces marked and crossed off. ¡°Yes.¡± Layne said simply, and then let out a small sigh at Leo¡¯s expectant look for some kind of further explanation. ¡°I¡¯ve been heading around and unearthing a couple of different dungeons . It¡¯s actually been more like a video game than anything else so far, especially since they were actually dungeons to hold some ancient criminals in Heom¡¯s history.¡± That sounded oddly familiar to Leo. ¡°Wait, have you been clearing these yourself?¡± ¡°Yes. They¡¯re only around D-rank so they haven¡¯t been that hard. I¡¯ve been to three so far, and I¡¯ve been looking for any signs of the fourth, but I¡¯ve been having a little bit of trouble with it. Haven¡¯t been able to find it for the better part of a week.¡± ¡°Okay, have you been going to these for any reason in particular.¡± ¡°The bosses of the dungeons I¡¯m looking for all have sigils that I need for another I¡¯ve discovered.¡± Layne said, looking back to the map. ¡°That¡¯s been my big project for the past month or so.¡± Leo took a step over to look down at the map, looking at the spots that were picked and finding a gap right around the area of Normouth. ¡°Hey Layne, what were the Sigils you needed? The ones you get from the dungeons?¡± Layne gave him an odd look, before answering. ¡°They¡¯re the Sigils of the Hanged, the Burned, the Carved, and-¡± ¡°The Drowned?¡± Leo finished for him. At Layne¡¯s look of surprise, Leo brought up his hand and brought out the Sigil of the Drowned that he got from the tutorial dungeon. ¡°You - where did you get that?¡± ¡°From Oorden the Drowned, I fought him in my tutorial dungeon.¡± After Leo answered him, Layne¡¯s eyes locked onto the sigil, and he moved to take it, but Leo put it back in his storage. ¡°Hold on now. I¡¯ll give this to you under one condition.¡± A few more seconds of silence, and then another sigh from Layne. ¡°Alright, what¡¯s the condition?¡± ¡°You have to bring me along.¡±
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title Equalizer Fortitude: D- (2/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E+ (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank D Intuition: C- (0/10)
Status Health 100% Mana 100% Will: E (2/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage, Replicate, Inoculation, Soul Harvest Luck: D (5/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill effect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Skill: Replicate Create an item that you have previously created using materials of a similar element. Final product will be lowered one rank due to Replication.
Skill: Inoculation Ignore Toxicity gained from items created with the Combine skill.
Skill: Soul Harvest By using Mana, automatically create Aether materials from slain creatures when you use the Auto-Loot skill.
Arsenal (Highest Rank)
Arrows | Fire, Frost, Shock, Metal, Splintering (C) Creature Abilities | Aqua Cannon, Stoneskin (C)
Oils | Ashblood, Freezing, Electrifying, Sharpening, Poisonous, Blackening (C) Misc | Witchlight (C)
Bombs | Fire, Frost, Lightning, Shrapnel, Poison (C) Spells | Candlewick, Spectral Bow (E)
Potions | Healing, Mana, Restoration, Deepbreath (C) -
Chapter 26: A New Goal ¡°I, what?¡± Layne looked as if he couldn¡¯t comprehend what Leo just said. ¡°Well, if you¡¯ve been clearing those other dungeons by yourself, it shouldn¡¯t be that much of a problem to let me tag along for this one, right? Or what, does clearing them yourself get you more Karma?¡± ¡°Technically yes.¡± Layne answered, to Leo¡¯s surprise. ¡°But I don¡¯t need the Karma it would give at this rank. I¡¯m sorry, I know this is something we discussed, I just didn¡¯t think you¡¯d volunteer yourself for something like this.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been in the dream world bootcamp for a month now, and Hayumi¡¯s gone far enough to basically kill me in the process. I know what I¡¯m in for if I go out into the wild.¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡± Layne said. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to stop you, and you¡¯re right. I was planning on getting a group together for this dungeon. I¡¯m more interested in what I¡¯ll find at the end, anyway. I¡¯m just still reeling from having the thing I¡¯d lost most of my leads on just showing up right in front of me like this.¡± He turned and went back to the map, leaning over and steadying himself with his hands on the table. ¡°I can bring you along just fine. I¡¯ll have to see who else I can bring on short notice¡­¡± ¡°Is this dungeon D-rank, like the others?¡± Leo asked. ¡°Also, how big of a group were you thinking of?¡± ¡°C, and probably not larger than six or seven. Any more than that and they¡¯ll start penalizing the amount of Karma they¡¯d give you for clearing it.¡± Layne replied, without looking away from the map. ¡°Makes sense, guess it wouldn¡¯t be very heroic if you just went around and cleared every quest with a small army.¡± ¡°Sometimes it¡¯s necessary, like with the Eldritch Titan and the Darklings, but you¡¯re right otherwise. The gods don¡¯t want too many Laborers to focus on one area, since it leaves others open for the outsiders to move in.¡± ¡°Not that I¡¯ll be leading an army any time soon, but noted.¡± Leo said. ¡°As far as other people then, what about Rize and Axilya? I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll appreciate the invite.¡± He proposed. ¡°And you¡¯re more than welcome to say no, but we could probably get Kazato and Hayumi in on it. On the topic of that - I¡¯ll probably have to tell them where I¡¯m going, too.¡± At that, Layne stood and turned to face Leo, with an expression that Leo couldn¡¯t read. ¡°Right, you did start working for her. Have you heard anything about what she wants you and Kazato for?¡± ¡°No clue, only thing she¡¯s told either of us is that she wants talented people and it¡¯ll involve going back to her homeland.¡± ¡°Going back¡­?¡± Layne said, with a confused but thoughtful look. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I don¡¯t want her knowing about most of what I¡¯m doing, but I¡¯ll be willing to let her come along for this. I don¡¯t trust her, but I trust you and Kazato.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s reassuring.¡± Leo replied. ¡°And yeah, our work agreement¡¯s only verbal at the moment. I can¡¯t thank her enough for the dream training, but I¡¯m not exactly obligated to turn on you if she asks or something.¡± He shrugged, then went to change the subject. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to them about it later, but was it just me, or do you know something about Hayumi?¡± ¡°Only going off of what I¡¯ve heard. I did a bit of digging after the attack. She¡¯s very hard to get a handle on.¡± Layne said. ¡°If I thought it was a bad idea to work with her outright, I would have told you so, but what I¡¯m seeing from her is pretty different from what I¡¯ve heard.¡± ¡°So, am I good to bring it up to the others? Most of us will be meeting up at Sir Verakith¡¯s later today if you wanna talk to everyone except for Hayumi.¡± ¡°Sure, that¡¯ll save me a lot of time.¡± Layne took a deep breath, and sighed, though this one felt like one of relief. ¡°Aside from the obvious, the others are good people. I still think we should find a dedicated healer to avoid spending all of your time Mixing healing potions, but I can take care of that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably because I haven¡¯t met that many, but is finding trustworthy Laborers that much of a problem?¡± Leo had heard, from the far more experienced Layne during their initial training with Sir Verakith, that Laborers couldn¡¯t kill each other. There was a mental block in place, but that was one that could be overcome with high Will according to Layne. Even still, being the cause of death for another Laborer, either directly or indirectly according to how the gods saw it, could cause the Laborers to receive bad Karma, and lose stats permanently. ¡°It¡¯s harder than you might think.¡± Layne moved to sit in the chair by the table that held the map, slumping and glancing up at the ceiling. ¡°Some are focusing on advancing and hogging the Karma or other rewards to themselves, some want to catch the eye of the gods or high rankers, some are just focused on survival and won¡¯t think twice to leave you behind the second things get even a little perilous. That doesn¡¯t even factor in envy, jealousy, hatred¡­You won¡¯t see that much of it too early, most E and D-rankers are only trying to get by. Despite that, though, you¡¯ll start seeing how human people really are the closer they get to godhood.¡± Leo stared at Layne, as he seemed to lose himself in thought. Just what had this guy seen in only a year of being a Laborer. Then again, Leo hadn¡¯t actually asked Hayumi, but just the variety of monsters and humanoid things she had to pull out of her memories made Leo think she might have similar stories to tell, though she had a much brighter outlook on it all. After a moment, Layne glanced back over to Leo and cleared his throat. ¡°Don¡¯t let me keep you. I¡¯ll have to switch gears now that I don¡¯t have to look for the last sigil. I¡¯ll meet everyone at Sir Verakith¡¯s later on.¡± More and more, Leo wanted to ask Layne about his past, but he didn¡¯t think they knew each other well enough just yet. ¡°I¡¯ll just bounce, then. Thanks for agreeing to my moderately unreasonable request.¡± Layne only replied with a grunt, giving Leo the signal to make his way out. He had a couple of hours to kill before everyone usually met up at Sir Verakith¡¯s, so remembering Layne saying something about heading into a high altitude, mountainous area, he decided to go into Normouth¡¯s market looking for a thick winter coat. He could have bought one from the Labors shop - he could even find some modern looking ones if he got very specific, but as time passed he found that he didn¡¯t mind the look and feel of the clothes he¡¯d found in Heom. Among other things, wearing the clothes he¡¯d bought in Normouth rather than his original shirt and jeans helped keep his mind off the fact that he¡¯d been plucked from Earth and, according to Layne, wouldn¡¯t be able to go back for a quite a while. At least he could eventually return, his lack of real attachments aside. A couple hours of walking around and he had his new coat. Thick and brown with white fur around the collar and the sleeves. He tried it on and felt like he¡¯d start sweating in it in Heom¡¯s late spring air, so he figured it¡¯d probably keep him warm in the mountains. It cost him a couple hundred credits, which fell in the form of coins in the shopkeeper¡¯s hands - what Leo had to imagine was Ashar¡¯s local currency. Coat in hand, or rather in Storage, he made his way to Sir Verakith¡¯s. Assuming everyone agreed, he¡¯d take the opportunity to ask them what else he¡¯d want to buy to prepare for the trip. He he could feel his excitement actively growing the more he thought about it, but he knew he probably needed to curb his enthusiasm for something that would likely be a glorified camping trip until they got to the dungeon, but he also felt relieved that he¡¯d stop being idle as he¡¯d felt the past couple of weeks. He felt as if he stayed like this for too long, he¡¯d stumble into another impending disaster like the darkling horde again. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Soon enough, he made his way to Sir Verakith¡¯s, and the thundering noise coming from the knight¡¯s backyard let him know that it was lively as ever. Kazato had managed to learn the basic movements of the Stormcloud Saber art and all of its forms, and after thirty days, she¡¯d gotten thunder and lightning to appear on all but the final move, the Collapsing Sword Dance. Considering Layne trained for two weeks just to learn that move, and only gained the ability to produce lightning from it after leaving for Dumatha, Leo found that astounding, but Kazato considered it par for the course as far as Sword Saints went. ¡°So how many of these styles do you know, other than the one you¡¯re learning?¡± Leo asked during a break. He¡¯d let everyone know that he had something to talk about with them so they didn¡¯t leave immediately when they were done for the day, but the discussion would probably disrupt the training itself too much. ¡°Two. The Golden Vein art and the Azure Wave. Styles aligned with Earth and Water.¡± Kazato answered. ¡°One of the things Hayumi is looking into for me are masters of styles aligned with other elements. When we first spoke to Layne after the attack on Normouth, it just so happened that he¡¯d been part of the group tending to you when we found him.¡± Kazato shrugged. ¡°Unfortunately, I think I¡¯ll have to look for another style aligned with air to match the description you gave when you described ¡®boxing¡¯. What was it again?¡± ¡°Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.¡± Leo replied. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it too much, though.¡± After glancing around to make sure that Sir Verakith wasn¡¯t nearby, he leaned in and spoke quietly. ¡°We all know that the sword is only a backup weapon for me at this point, anyway.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s good that you¡¯ve learned it, all the same.¡± Before they could continue the conversation, Sir Verakith came back into his backyard, along with Layne, who¡¯d just arrived. ¡°Don¡¯t mind me, everyone.¡± Layne said. ¡°I¡¯ve just come to pay my respects, and talk to you about something if Leo hasn¡¯t already.¡± Despite that, Sir Verakith roped Layne into sparring with Kazato (as he seemed to be the only one among them who could, other than Sir Verakith himself), until their usual ending time near sunset. Their usual training for the day completed, the knight went back inside his own house to get himself a drink. ¡°Alright, spill.¡± Axilya said, as everyone gathered close. ¡°I¡¯ve been curious since Leo showed up about what you had to say.¡± Leo let Layne lead, as the operation in general belonged to him, and Layne described it in slightly more detail than he did with Leo. A C-rank dungeon delve in the mountain range west of Dumatha, though Layne suspected the difficulty of the dungeon would be closer to B-Rank, given the fact that he needed to find keys from four other dungeons to even open it. It piqued everyone¡¯s interest, and Axilya¡¯s surprise when Leo told her that the dungeon she led Leo through for his tutorial was one of the dungeons Layne had been looking to clear. ¡°Damn, I had no idea. I was more concerned with getting everyone through alive to even think about the place¡¯s history.¡± Axilya replied. ¡°But if you¡¯re offering, I¡¯ve got nothing better to do. I was starting to wonder whether or not I¡¯d need to go to another country or even a new world soon. All the quests around my rank seem to have dried up after that attack.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to check with Hayumi of course, but I¡¯ve learned well enough all of the forms of the Stormcloud Saber art.¡± Kazato said. ¡°Perhaps some practical experience will help me master them faster.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure my own sword technique is refined enough to not be burdensome, but if you¡¯re offering I would be glad to join you.¡± ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re all in.¡± Leo said, then looked to Layne. ¡°I guess that means we¡¯ll all meet up at Zumra¡¯s later to figure out everything we¡¯ll need.¡± ¡°Sounds like you kids are all leaving soon.¡± Sir Verakith said, as he emerged back into his own backyard with a half-full glass in hand. ¡°Finally, something to get you all out of my hair and back on the field.¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± Leo turned to face the knight. ¡°I¡¯m not sure about everyone else, but I don¡¯t even know if I¡¯ll be coming back to Normouth right away after this.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. I already know. You laborers are a bunch of world-hopping vagabonds most of the time.¡± Sir Verakith said, taking a generous gulp of his drink. ¡°Still, you kids are diligent at least. ¡®Specially you. I don¡¯t know what other training you¡¯ve been getting up to, but if you can keep up with it without running yourself ragged I¡¯d say you might be a half-decent swordsman.¡± That was about as much of a compliment as Leo thought he¡¯d get. ¡°Thank you for everything, Sir Verakith. I seriously can¡¯t imagine where I¡¯d be right now without your training.¡± ¡°Sure. You guys brought along some pretty good drinks, too. My cellar hasn¡¯t been this full in years. I might actually have to start sharing.¡± Everyone else said their own farewells with the knight as training wrapped up for the night, and they all found themselves outside his home, getting ready to go their separate ways. They agreed to meet at Zumra¡¯s, and Leo started making his way back to Hayumi¡¯s place with Kazato. ¡°Alright then. Time to see what our boss actually thinks about this.¡±
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title Equalizer Fortitude: D- (2/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E+ (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank D Intuition: C- (0/10)
Status Health 100% Mana 100% Will: E (2/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage, Replicate, Inoculation, Soul Harvest Luck: D (5/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill effect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Skill: Replicate Create an item that you have previously created using materials of a similar element. Final product will be lowered one rank due to Replication.
Skill: Inoculation Ignore Toxicity gained from items created with the Combine skill.
Skill: Soul Harvest By using Mana, automatically create Aether materials from slain creatures when you use the Auto-Loot skill.
Arsenal (Highest Rank)
Arrows | Fire, Frost, Shock, Metal, Splintering (C) Creature Abilities | Aqua Cannon, Stoneskin (C)
Oils | Ashblood, Freezing, Electrifying, Sharpening, Poisonous, Blackening (C) Misc | Witchlight (C)
Bombs | Fire, Frost, Lightning, Shrapnel, Poison (C) Spells | Candlewick, Spectral Bow (E)
Potions | Healing, Mana, Restoration, Deepbreath (C) -
Chapter 27: Home Cooking In what had become a familiar thing for him over the past month, Leo caught the smell of cooking coming from Hayumi¡¯s villa. This time, however, the strong aroma of it caught him by surprise. As if she¡¯d cooked a massive amount of some kind of fish in a short time, larger than she usually cared to, even for the three of them. As they neared the door, he glanced toward Kazato and gave her a confused look. ¡°Oh, I recognize this smell.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s something she usually cooks when she¡¯s in a good mood. She must have found something she¡¯s been looking for.¡± Without skipping a beat, or pausing to explain, Kazato walked right up to the door and went inside, leaving Leo¡¯s only option to follow her and find out for himself. To his surprise, when he reached the kitchen he saw that Hayumi didn¡¯t have an overly large amount of food prepared. Enough for the three of them, surely, but it meant that the smell originated entirely from three plates of stir fry she¡¯d prepared that had some kind of fish with a particularly dark red meat. ¡°You two seem lively this evening.¡± Hayumi said, turning to face them. ¡°Did that knight decide to go light on your training for today, or have you had some sort of breakthrough?¡± ¡°Things have been coming along for me- so much so that I don¡¯t think I need to stick around for the training anymore. Speaking of which, we have something we want to talk to you about. Leo, since you proposed this venture I think you ought to be the one to explain.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure, but before that, I¡¯m very curious.¡± Leo said, gesturing to the food. ¡°Feels like I smelled that from halfway across Normouth.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure.¡± Hayumi said with a chuckle, then reached for one of the plates, and a set of utensils to hand to Leo. ¡°The meat here is vicrah - river leviathans from Enkonai. Their unique constitution gives the meat an invigorating effect, but also its strong odor. Come to think of it, some of their other parts might be useful to you, Leo, but they¡¯re much more costly than the meat on the Labors¡¯ market.¡± ¡°There¡¯s someone selling just the leviathan meat in the Labors¡¯s shop?¡± Leo asked, taking the plate and starting to gather some of the food to take a bite. ¡°Of course. It¡¯s certainly more of a leisure purchase than the others, but you can find just about anything if you know where to look. Those who moderate the shop are fairly lax concerning what you can sell, as long as it is perfectly clear what is being sold.¡± As Hayumi spoke, and the three of them began to move to the dining room to set their plates down and eat properly, Leo finally took a bite of the food, and his eyes widened. The vicrah had a strong flavor - as strong as its odor implied, but Leo also felt alert, awake, and full of energy. The fatigue from the day¡¯s earlier training washed away. Like taking multiple shots of espresso and having the effects hit him all at once. ¡°You weren¡¯t kidding. Kazato said you¡¯ve cooked this before, did something happen?¡± ¡°Why yes,¡± Hayumi said. Once they all settled down, she reached into a pocket and pulled out a couple of things. One looked to be a pointed piece of metal, almost like a spearhead. She had to unwrap the second object from a bundle of cloth, a deep blue and oddly moist orb, that seemed to have some sort of liquid inside. ¡°I¡¯ve spent most of the month that you two have spent training looking for these. If you have the mana, I¡¯d ask that you Combine them together.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Leo took the items, noting how cold and heavy the bolt felt in his hand. He wanted to ask about them, but he supposed it didn¡¯t exactly matter when he¡¯d be able to replicate the final result anyway. With his will and a thought, he Combined the two items and waited for the result.
You have created a B-Rank item for the first time! Achievement Reward: B-Rank Unrestricted Karma
Tideshard Amplifier (B-Rank)
A focus with the coalesced power of waves. Amplifies Water-based abilities. If used too many times in rapid succession, it will shatter. Repairs itself over time.
The first thing he noticed was a sharp decline in his mana - well over half of it to create the B-rank item. Since he¡¯d raised his intuition, he¡¯d gotten a much better sense for that kind of thing without having to even open up his status window. It neared the limits of what he could actually create so far with Combine without a lucky critical. ¡°An amplifier for Water?¡± He said, handing the newly created item back to Hayumi. ¡°It has its uses, it will simply stay with me for the moment, but when the time comes I will make wonderful use of it.¡± That reminded Leo, as he went back to digging into the stir fry and feeling the slight fatigue from spending so much mana at once wash away with a single mouthful, that he hadn¡¯t actually Appraised Hayumi since the first time when they were in the woods. His rank had been too low to get anything but her rank, but maybe he¡¯d actually get something this time.
[Warning! The difference in rank is too high! Some information is restricted.]
Name: Hayumi Aiza
Class Mirage Weaver
Element Fire, Aether
Total Rank A+
¡°You¡¯re staring.¡± Hayumi said, with a knowing look. Leo swallowed hard. He still couldn¡¯t see her stats, but her Intuition had to be absurdly high. Just how it was when he Appraised her the first time. ¡°You¡¯re imagining things. Anyway, Layne¡¯s inviting you to a dungeon delve.¡± Quickly changing the subject, Leo went onto explain the details of the dungeon he¡¯d learned from Layne. Hayumi listened with rapt attention, though she continuously turned over the recently obtained Tideshard Amplifier in one hand. Once he finished, Hayumi leaned back in her seat, finally sliding the amplifier into her sleeve. ¡°That Layne is an interesting one. You said that he¡¯d been searching for the keys to unlock this dungeon? Knowledge of such things doesn''t come easy. I have to wonder just how he found out about them to begin with, or what he wants from them.¡± ¡°I have no clue either way.¡± Leo replied. ¡°But aren¡¯t you curious to find out?¡± ¡°I am, I can¡¯t deny that.¡± Hayumi said, giving him a wide grin. ¡°And you¡¯ve caught me in a good mood, especially after that successful combination. It would also be a good way to see the results of your training in a controlled environment. Tell me, what rank is he?¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°B minus.¡± Leo said, though not before a brief pause. He didn¡¯t know how much Layne cared about keeping his own rank a secret. ¡°That explains a bit.¡± Hayumi said. ¡°I¡¯d wondered when he showed up at the conclusion of that battle. That does bring me some assurance. With the party you¡¯ve assembled, the ranks skew closer to D than the estimated rank of the dungeon. Having someone else around closer to my rank makes me feel better on the off chance that any unexpected variables arise.¡± Leo thought back to his tutorial dungeon. With a C-rank boss despite it being a D-rank dungeon, with Leo himself being E-rank at the time. She had a point. Still, Leo didn¡¯t have to mention at all that Layne had only been D-rank when they first met, nor was Leo completely sure Layne was even B-rank when he killed the Matriarch. From all Leo had seen so far, rising up that high in ranks wasn¡¯t normal. ¡°So, that seems like a yes.¡± Kazato said. She¡¯d been quiet for most of the conversation, but as Leo glanced over, he noticed her nearly empty plate. ¡°Will you be joining us for the planning then?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Hayumi leaned forward, beginning to pay her own plate of food more attention. ¡°I am also curious who Layne plans to find to fulfill the role of healer. It might be an opportunity for scouting, if anything. Enough about that for now, though. Any more and we¡¯ll find our food frigid.¡± They finished eating their food, and Leo found the effect of the vicrah fascinating. Almost like an energy drink, except he didn¡¯t feel any more awake and hyper. It helped to ease the fatigue of the training from earlier in the day and helped him feel rested. He¡¯d definitely have to see if he could make anything out of a larger sample of meat whenever Hayumi felt like buying some from the labor¡¯s shop. Presently, all of Leo¡¯s credits would probably go to supplies for the trip, making sure he had a solid stockpile of bombs, arrows, and the like, and a backlog of raw materials that he could use to make new items on the road. They¡¯d lose access to the shop once they got too far away from civilization, so he had to prepare. Food done, Kazato turned in for the night after they all took their plates to the kitchen to clean, leaving Hayumi and Leo in the hall before they¡¯d turn to go to their respective rooms. ¡°Ah, since we¡¯re about to go afield, perhaps we should lighten up on your training. It seems you¡¯ve been doing fairly well, but I honestly couldn¡¯t tell you if the repeated dreams would have any effect on your waking self while we were delving. We¡¯ve already seen that death in your dreams has an effect on its own.¡± With the example she gave, Leo didn¡¯t have much of anything to disagree with. ¡°If you think we should. I¡¯m definitely better off than I was when we started, but honestly I don¡¯t know how well all of this has actually prepared me for actually fighting again.¡± ¡°It has prepared you plenty. Finely honed, masterful combat skills will take much longer to develop than thirty short days, but from what I¡¯ve seen, you¡¯ve been able to cultivate something rather wonderful to close the gap.¡± ¡°I have?¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t noticed? Honestly, it was starting to get a bit difficult putting up things against you without starting to throw large waves at you all at once, or put you up against things far beyond your rank. As we progressed, I found you started slaying your conjured foes with startling efficiency. It took a bit for me to realize, but you appraised every enemy you fought, yes?¡± At Leo¡¯s nod, Hayumi continued. ¡°Of course. You could see their elements, and subsequently create something to counter them. You¡¯ve developed an envious amount of versatility.¡± ¡°Oh, thanks. It started from some advice I got from Layne, but I¡¯ve been collecting more formulas to work with especially since I can¡¯t make new things while I¡¯m dreaming.¡± ¡°I can see a grand version of you in the future. Like most Laborers, your creations are somewhat limited by your rank, but in the future? Constantly rising to the occasion with an answer to any problem. The smart Laborer would have similar contingencies, but not every Laborer has access to the Appraise skill. I haven¡¯t said it as much as I probably should have been, but I am quite glad you¡¯ve accepted my proposal.¡± ¡°Grand, huh?¡± Other than mild embarrassment for the praise, Hayumi¡¯s words brought him back to the conversation with the god who brought him into the Labors to begin with. Before he got too concerned with his own thoughts, he noticed that Hayumi was staring this time. ¡°I¡¯m glad too. Here¡¯s to continuing fruitful partnership.¡± He said, and then cleared his throat. ¡°If there isn¡¯t anything else, guess I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± ¡°Indeed. Good night.¡± With a wave, Hayumi took off toward her own room, and Leo found his way to his. The last thing on the agenda before he slept, finding out where to put the B-rank Karma he got from making the Tideshard Amplifier. After weighing his options, he decided to put it in Will, since it would result in the rank going up immediately to E+. With that done, he slept, and dreamt. Not the incredibly lucid dreams brought on by Hayumi, but a swirl of brief moments and images, an unmanipulated dream. He didn¡¯t remember much when he woke up the next morning, but as he might have expected, he dreamed only of fighting, the sound of his bombs going off, and the pained cries of creatures he¡¯d fought throughout the month. Maybe it was for the best that he didn¡¯t continue his dream training, like Hayumi suggested.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title Equalizer Fortitude: D- (2/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E+ (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank D Intuition: C- (0/10)
Status Health 100% Mana 100% Will: E+ (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage, Replicate, Inoculation, Soul Harvest Luck: D (5/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill effect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Skill: Replicate Create an item that you have previously created using materials of a similar element. Final product will be lowered one rank due to Replication.
Skill: Inoculation Ignore Toxicity gained from items created with the Combine skill.
Skill: Soul Harvest By using Mana, automatically create Aether materials from slain creatures when you use the Auto-Loot skill.
Arsenal (Highest Rank)
Arrows | Fire, Frost, Shock, Metal, Splintering (C) Creature Abilities | Aqua Cannon, Stoneskin (C)
Oils | Ashblood, Freezing, Electrifying, Sharpening, Poisonous, Blackening (C) Misc | Witchlight (C), Tideshard Amplifier (B)
Bombs | Fire, Frost, Lightning, Shrapnel, Poison (C) Spells | Candlewick, Spectral Bow (E)
Potions | Healing, Mana, Restoration, Deepbreath (C) -
Chapter 28: Stocking Up The next day, everyone gathered in the back room of Zumra¡¯s shop to discuss in full the planned dungeon delve. At first Leo wondered why the shopkeep would let them use the space other than out of friendship and generosity, and then he remembered that everyone there other than Leo himself would probably stock up on potions and the like from Zumra himself. It made Leo wonder if Zumra facilitated planning like this often for other Laborers. Once they gathered, Layne went back over the details, that the dungeon would be opened by the four seals - three of which he found and one that Leo did, and because of that, they could expect a higher than average difficulty from the dungeon¡¯s listed rank. After stocking up on supplies, Layne planned to have everyone teleport to Dumatha so he could find a healer he had in mind, and then teleport directly to the dungeon since he¡¯d been to the entrance before. Other than that, unless someone wanted to buy a fairly expensive item to teleport them back to a city, they¡¯d be walking back after they cleared the dungeon. ¡°I can take care of that. I have better things to do than trek through the wilderness for days on end.¡± Hayumi offered. ¡°Though, by the sound of it, it seems as if we¡¯ll need to supply for a prolonged journey anyway?¡± Layne went on to explain that he believed the dungeon itself was particularly large, and spread out throughout a mountain range. It might require traveling around the base and along the mountain itself - with the delve potentially taking multiple days. Leo had heard bits and pieces of this, but having it explained in full really hammered it in for him. They were planning an expedition to something massive. Larger than the handful of rooms from his tutorial dungeon. The rest of the planning centered around exactly what supplies they would need. Apparently, Laborers would normally need to plan around how much they would bring and how much they could carry back from any potential haul, but this party already had two people with the Storage skill, they could take enough to not worry about supplies and likely be able to carry any large loot. After that, they talked about their strengths in order to build an effective party strategy. Axilya and Layne had high Fortitude compared to everyone else, and they, along with Kazato had a comparatively more melee focus. Rize had incredibly deadly magic in her ghostflame, which could affect many enemies at once, but still required her to be separated from the group for effective use. Hayumi specialized in illusions and misdirection though she had a handful of other offensive spells she could use in a pinch, and Leo could somewhat confidently say that he could act as an all-rounder, though he got a heavy suggestion from everyone that he should stay out of the fray. He wouldn¡¯t argue, between his arrows and bombs he could comfortably stay out of harm¡¯s way, or dive into it with a potion in hand if needed. As an absolute last resort, he had his various oils to pour onto his sword that might at least draw attention away from anyone else. They could speak on any specific strategies they needed to before they actually entered the dungeon. When they finished, the group agreed to meet at Hayumi¡¯s place to teleport to Dumatha, and broke up to shop for supplies. That consisted of several minutes spent buying Zumra out of house and home - something the shopkeep probably appreciated greatly. Leo himself stood near the counter while this happened, looking into the Labors¡¯ shop so he could chart out what materials he could buy. He planned to use what he had to make sure he had a solid stock of most, if not all of his available options in terms of bombs, arrows, and the like, and then stock up on other materials so he¡¯d have something to combine in the event that he needed to make something new. He¡¯d already done the former over the course of the past month, but for the latter he would have to wait until after he¡¯d filled his storage with other supplies. In the midst of his scrolling through the shop, he felt a hand on his shoulder and a gentle tug to get his attention. He glanced up to Hayumi, Kazato, Rize, and Axilya. He couldn¡¯t see Layne anywhere, so Leo had to assume he¡¯d left already. ¡°If you are quite done staring into space, come along. We¡¯re headed to the markets.¡± Hayumi said. ¡°Do you actually need me around for that?¡± Leo countered. ¡°Oh, you¡¯d leave the four of us to collect and carry the supplies of the entire expedition on our own? How inconsiderate of you. Besides, we need you present to shop for attire as well.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I feel like Axilya could carry just about everything you guys get by herself.¡± Leo said. He already knew he was going with them, he¡¯d resigned himself to it as soon as he realized Layne had already left, but as had become common over the course of the month, he argued with Hayumi simply for the sake of arguing over something exceedingly trivial. ¡°Also, I already bought a coat.¡± ¡°If it came down to it, I¡¯d rather just carry you after you¡¯ve put everything in your storage.¡± Axilya said with a rare smirk. Rize and Kazato stood by with hands over their mouths to hide growing smiles, leaving Leo to ponder when Hayumi convinced them to gang up on him over this. ¡°Simply having a slightly thicker coat won¡¯t do.¡± Hayumi added. ¡°If we are going into the mountains for some time, all of your layers of clothing must be up to the task of conserving what little warmth you¡¯ll have. You¡¯ll have little to preserve you in the event that we are separated. Without proper clothing, you¡¯ll freeze to death in minutes!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that serio-¡± As Leo spoke, Axilya stepped forward and looped a hand around his waist and lifted him up over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. In his stunned silence and Haymui¡¯s snickering, Axilya turned to the counter. ¡°Zumra, we¡¯re heading out. It might be a good while before we get back¡± ¡°As always, I will look forward to hearing the stories of your adventures upon your return, and young Leonell-¡± Zumra paused, allowing Axilya to put Leo down back in the elf¡¯s direction. ¡°-I wish you the greatest of luck in your future endeavors. The path you wish to walk is not an easy one, speaking from experience, but I believe you will succeed.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say enough how much of a help you¡¯ve been, Zumra.¡± Leo replied. ¡°Whenever I get back, I¡¯ll share whatever combinations I¡¯ve managed to mix together that might help your shop. Or even anything that might interest you, for sure.¡± With a smile, Zumra gave a nod in reply. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see what you might bring.¡± With that, they left the shop, heading for the markets. They spent the rest of the afternoon going through the various stalls; buying food, clothes, and other supplies for potentially climbing mountains, the vast majority of which went straight into Leo¡¯s Storage space. Thankfully, the amount of size increased with every rank, seemingly exponentially from what Leo could tell. Before long, they¡¯d assembled a wagon¡¯s worth of supplies - or at least enough to split between several heavy backpacks that they¡¯d each have to wear, all taken care of by Leo¡¯s storage. The lack of baggage would make it easier - especially for people with lower Fortitude to travel and fight should one spring up unexpectedly. ¡°If anything, had you started delving in dungeons with others, you would have made an excellent pack mule.¡± Hayumi joked. Axilya did bring up that the role tended to prove more important than most people realized, given that the supplies couldn¡¯t get lost or spoil as long as they didn¡¯t lose Leo. According to her, most dungeon delving Laborers didn¡¯t tend to pick Storage as a skill since there were usually more pressing skills, usually related to their class. Most classes didn¡¯t start with Storage either, like Leo¡¯s did.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°That does make me wonder- is dungeon delving that popular for Laborers?¡± Leo asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like you get any quests that direct you to them that often.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not more ¡®popular,¡¯ per say, but dungeons are highly sought after by Laborers.¡± Rize answered. ¡°They are titled such because they are the secluded and hidden spaces in the worlds governed by the Labors, far from the gaze of even the gods. The ancient treasures hidden within some of them have quite literally turned the tide in the conflicts on different worlds, leading them to become liberated even when they were on the brink.¡± ¡°As such, the gods tend to reward those who discover and clear dungeons handsomely.¡± Kazato added. ¡°It¡¯s not as much of an issue since apparently the sigils are needed to enter the one we¡¯re heading to, but when a dungeon is discovered, it''s usually kept a secret until it''s cleared. Although¡­if the ones who discover it take too long or decide to abandon their attempt, other Laborers will start receiving quests for it. I imagine it¡¯s because Outsiders would likely discover the dungeon too.¡± Hearing that, Leo started to understand why Layne almost seemed desperate to find the last sigil, though Leo had to imagine the gods would have given Layne some leeway since the sigils were needed to access the dungeon to begin with. Before Leo could ask any more about dungeons and the like, they made their way to the general area where Leo had gotten his coat. The girls proceeded to pull Leo to several stalls and shops and had him try on several different articles of clothing. More than he thought was entirely necessary, but Leo supposed that it was good that they were bonding over something before the dungeon delve, even if that something was treating Leo like a mannequin. He hadn¡¯t kept track of the time, but by the end they might have spent more time getting clothes - both for him as well as themselves - than supply shopping, though everything they got for him went into his storage all the same. By the end, he had a sizable wardrobe, costing a negligible amount of credits since they were all mundane if not exceptionally well made clothes. Thankfully, they stopped after too terribly long, satisfied with what they collected, and they briefly broke apart with the plan to reconvene at Hayumi¡¯s. Leo, Kazato and Hayumi headed straight there, and Layne was the first to arrive, having taken care of his own business. While they waited for the rest, Leo took to filling his storage with more materials from the Labors¡¯ shop, making sure he had a stockpile of materials in order to fuel more mixes. Ideally, he wanted to have at least ten of every element, of every rank up to C, but he didn¡¯t have nearly enough credits for that. He settled for having ten of everything except for Aether up to rank D, burning most of his credits in the process. That would have to do. He still had some C-rank, and A-rank materials to use, and he¡¯d been steadily creating the various items from the combinations he¡¯d learned over the course of the month. He had a stockpile of E, D, and very few C-rank bombs, arrows and oils from rare critical combines. Much as he convinced himself of his preparedness, he couldn¡¯t ignore the feeling nagging at him that he didn¡¯t have enough, that he¡¯d run into another absurd situation like the attack on Normouth. He pushed back the thoughts, however. Short of asking everyone else for credits, he¡¯d done all he possibly could to prepare. In short order, Rize and Axilya made their way to Hayumi¡¯s with the rest, and once they confirmed that they were ready, Leo saw a notification pop up for him.
You have been invited to Layne Blackburn¡¯s Party. (Join / Refuse )
Without much of a delay, he selected the option to join. The box had just disappeared when another one popped up.
The Party Leader wishes to Teleport all party members to [Dumatha] ( Accept / Refuse )
Bracing himself he selected accept and almost immediately felt a feeling of weightlessness, as the teleportation magic took hold. Between all of them, the area began to glow, filling Leo¡¯s vision until all he could see was white.
Name: Leonell Bolden Stats
Title Equalizer Fortitude: D- (2/10)
Class Mixer Reflex: E+ (0/10)
Element - Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank D Intuition: C- (0/10)
Status Health 100% Mana 100% Will: E+ (0/10)
Skills Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage, Replicate, Inoculation, Soul Harvest Luck: D (5/10)
Skill: Combine Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials. Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer) Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer) Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill effect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer) Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Skill: Replicate Create an item that you have previously created using materials of a similar element. Final product will be lowered one rank due to Replication.
Skill: Inoculation Ignore Toxicity gained from items created with the Combine skill.
Skill: Soul Harvest By using Mana, automatically create Aether materials from slain creatures when you use the Auto-Loot skill.
Arsenal (Highest Rank)
Arrows | Fire, Frost, Shock, Metal, Splintering (C) Creature Abilities | Aqua Cannon, Stoneskin (C)
Oils | Ashblood, Freezing, Electrifying, Sharpening, Poisonous, Blackening (C) Misc | Witchlight (C), Tideshard Amplifier (B)
Bombs | Fire, Frost, Lightning, Shrapnel, Poison (C) Spells | Candlewick, Spectral Bow (E)
Potions | Healing, Mana, Restoration, Deepbreath (C) -