I’ll admit it. I might have been petty with regards to the Nine Suns group, leaving them with at least one death each and possibly losing important items. I might even feel a bit bad for the Chosen that have to experience that pain on their behalf. Would I do it again, though? Absolutely. If players threaten me, I have no qualms about returning the favor.
After leaving them to their fates, I walked off in another direction, making sure to get well away from the territory of the alpha. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any regular dire wolves no matter how far I searched. The most I saw were some horned rabbits that avoided me on sight.
Shaking my head, I worked on identifying any plants I came across instead, referencing the information that I had learned from the library. Thanks to this, I managed to find many more weeds, as well as some more of the herbs that I had found the day before, as well as a small sample of some other basic herbs.
My last acquisition was a few fruits I found hanging from a tree on my way out of the forest. As I identified them as ripe apples, a new skill notification appeared in front of me.
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New Skill Acquired! Appraisal (Utility – 3☆): Allows the user to consume experience to identify objects. |
My eyes widened when the message appeared, a grin forming on my face. From the looks of things, I had finally identified enough items in order to acquire this skill.
Once I left the forest, I moved off and out of the way, briefly stopped by players asking if the monsters in the forest had respawned. I simply shook my head to deny it, since wild monsters don’t naturally respawn, unless they are from a dungeon.
As soon as I was away from other players, I unequipped my new armor and set it down together with the potion vial that I had received from the rogue. “Appraise.” I muttered, placing my hand on the armor first.
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Basic Heavy Armor – 8s |
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Defense: 6☆↑ |
Durability: 90% |
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Weight: 4☆↓ |
Enchantments: 0/3 |
My eyes widened at the price associated with the armor. I knew that this wasn’t what I would be able to sell it for to an NPC craftsman. NPCs did not have any appraisal skills, and there was a rule that they would never take anyone at their word for the item’s details. At best, they’d take it for what the item was worth if it was melted down into scrap. Only a player or another Fallen would be willing to offer a value close to what a craftsman sold it for.
Still, the fact that it had three enchantment slots was great, as it meant that I would be able to enchant some of my basic skills onto the armor to increase the passive effect. The only question is, what skills did I want to enchant onto it?
Before that, I turned my attention to the vial, appraising it as well. This vial, the Numbing Poison that the rogue had coated his dagger with, was eighty percent full, and had a value of five silver. While I wouldn’t be willing to get rid of the armor, I could certainly sell the poison. In fact, I had an idea of who I could sell it to already.
Opening my friends list, I saw that Diane was not online. Not surprising, but a bit disappointing. Instead, I sent a message to her chosen, together with a picture of the information window my appraisal showed me. Can you leave a message for your player, letting her know that I’m willing to sell this to her for a twenty percent discount?
While it may not have been a stealth skill, it would still fit the archetype of a ‘rogue’, which Diane seemed to be going for. I wouldn’t be surprised if she offered to buy it at full price, but it wouldn’t b e hard for her to come across this on her own in the next major city.
Okay. The response was short, but she followed it up. We’re on the road to the next village right now. Do you want me to have her do a mail trade?
I thought about it for a moment, before nodding my head. It would take too long to meet her at the next village, and I wasn’t dumb enough to expect her to run back just for a vial of poison. Although a mail trade would make me lose a small percentage of the payment, at least I would get some profit out of it.
Shaking my head, I equipped the armor once again, starting to move along the road. If there weren’t any wolves left in the forest aside from the alpha and his pack, I did not want to stick around. In fact, I opened my friends list again, seeing that Ennolf was online.
If you can, you and Nuoda should either leave the city today, or make sure that you have enough funds to stay in an inn for a week. I warned, surprised to not find Nuoda online as well.
What? Why? We can’t afford to stay for a week, did something big happen?
Seeing his response, I nodded my head while walking. The forest is almost cleared out by the players. According to some information I read, when enough wolves are slain, the local boss will become enraged and start attacking anyone that emerges. The guards can kill it, but it is a boss monster, so it will reappear soon. The two of you aren’t high enough level to participate in a battle like that, and its blockade should last between five and seven days, until more wolves move in from the nearest dungeon.
Got it. I’ll let Nuoda know so that we can get out soon. When I saw that response, I was rather happy, as it showed that he trusted my information. I thought about sending a similar message to Karlson, but realized that I never added him as a friend.
If it’s him, he’s smart enough to know what’s going on. I nodded my head confidently, biting into one of the apples that I had picked. It wasn’t much, but it helped my satiety. Though, the five apples that I had gotten would likely not last me until I hit the next village.
Shaking my head, I kept walking, seeing players all along the sides of the road and slowly moving outwards to hunt various monsters. Maybe I should find a dungeon? I thought to myself curiously. There were three dungeons marked in the books Karlson had shown me. One of them was at the heart of the forest, the Dire Wolf Den. Another was along the road to the south, the Queen Bee’s Hive.
The third was just south of the eastern road, designated as the Crystal Mole Mine. The monsters occupying this dungeon were Crystal Moles, monsters that resembled moles with red gems growing out of their skin. These gems could be sold for a decent price, but the mines were swarming with the creatures, which made it dangerous for adventurers to enter.
It would be best if I had some wide area attacks, but those are almost all based on magic. I shook my head, knowing that magic wasn’t an option for me. Even if I still had that skill book, there was no way for me to make use of it.
Like this, I walked until the sun started to set, before moving off to the side of the road. Many players had set up small camps along the road, some even making a fire to roast food. I knew that their chosen would immediately douse that fire when they logged out, just to prevent monsters from being drawn to it. As for me, I planned to simply lay down at the side of the road as I had before… but first…
Pulling off my armor, I set it on the ground. Throughout the day, I had decided on two skills that I wanted to enchant onto the armor, which were Endurance and Brawn. These two skills should have excellent compatibility with chest armor, after all.
In order to aid the enchantment process, I grabbed a Strength Herb and a Stamina Herb from my inventory, cutting them into thin slices with my sword before using the flat of the blade to further crush them, using the armor that I planned to enchant as the very ‘table’ that I was working on.
Once I had the two herbs as a somewhat neat paste, I pinched it between my fingers and began tracing the past along the joints of the armor. Throughout the process, I made sure to focus on my two skills, and didn’t stop until I had run out of my makeshift paste. As soon as I was ‘done’, the paste seemed to glow, soaking into the armor.
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Enchantments applied! |
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Strength (2☆): Increases Strength by 8% |
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Stamina (3☆): Increases Stamina by 12% |
I gave a small smile as I saw the results of the enchantments. Even if the strength result was only two stars, that was still a worthy use of the skill. Though… I didn’t know what I would use the other slot for.
Shaking my head, I decided to ask the closest person to an expert that I knew, which was Ennolf. After all, he had a talent related to enchanting, and had likely been practicing it quite a bit today. Hey, Ennolf, I need some advice.
Huh? That’s strange, what’s going on?
Seeing his response, I gave a bitter smile. He had gotten used to me being the one giving him tips. I’ve gotten a new set of armor with three enhancement slots. I’ve used two to increase my strength and stamina, but I’m not sure what to use the third for.
After saying that, I began listing out my skills. The one I’m thinking of using the most would be my Sneak skill, but I’m expecting that to evolve soon, and I don’t think it has good compatibility with thick armor.
There was a brief pause after I sent that message. Then, Ennolf sent a rather surprising reply back. Don’t you still have that skill book? The one you told Nuoda about?
Fire Bolt? I asked, incredulous. I told you yesterday that I can’t cast magic.
You also said that enchanting isn’t casting, it’s channeling. I realize that it will probably have low compatibility with the armor, but if it works, doesn’t it mean that you will be able to use magic in the future?
My eyes widened at that, hands shaking. I had always wanted to cast magic, so I had been disheartened when I found out that I was unable to do so. If I tried this, and it failed, I would lose a skill book worth twenty silver, as well as an enchantment slot on my armor. However, if it worked…
I gulped thickly, opening my inventory and retrieving the skill book. Opening its contents, I read through the first page, seeing the text starting to light up. This was the process of learning a skill from a book. Once I had finished the page, the book disappeared, replaced by a message.
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New Skill Acquired! Fire Bolt (Magic – 4☆): Sends forth an arrow made of flames at the target. Mana Burden: 0. Level 1(0%) – Cannot Cast |
My brow twitched at the note at the end of the skill, choosing not to focus on it for the moment. Instead, I grabbed my lone Magic Herb, processing it the same way that I had done the previous herbs, and began to draw on the chestplate of the armor. I didn’t cast Fire Bolt, I channeled it, causing a red magic circle to engulf my fingertips.
The compatibility for this is too low… I need to use a ritual. I thought inwardly, before muttering under my breath. “Sovereign spirit of flame, bestow your blessing on this incompetent orc, that he may possess a sliver of your might. Imbue this armor with a seed of flame, and show your glory to my enemies.”
As I spoke, I watched as the originally bluish-green paste began to turn red, a scorching heat radiating from my fingers. Still, I pressed on, until I had drawn a symbol representing fire over the center of the armor’s chest. When I did, the paste lit up, and my eyes widened in shock. Two things happened at the same time.
First, and most noticeably, my arm caught fire. Yes, that was very noticeable, causing me to cry out in pain and roll in the ground in an attempt to put it out. I couldn’t tell if that was a backlash of the enchantment failing, or a penalty for trying to forcibly use a skill that my body innately rejected.
However, given the second event, I was more inclined to believe the latter… The paste sizzled on the armor, carving the pattern that I had drawn with scorching red lines. When I sat up, clutching my charred arm and fighting back the tears, I heard the laughter from nearby players, who scolded me for managing to light my own arm on fire. I drowned out their jeers, focusing on the message that appeared in front of me.
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Enchantment applied! |
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Fire Bolt (4☆): Point at a target and activate the enchantment. Shoots an arrow of flame in the direction pointed. Mana Burden: 0. |
