Evan paid for both of their lunches, and went on to discussing with Yunyun her skills and how they could work together.
"Well, I have a lot of high-level spells, so I'm sure some of them will be to your liking…"
Evan shook his head. "This isn't about me liking them, it's about working together. Your job is mainly to keep the enemy from overwhelming me. In the meantime, I'll make sure that you're safe as well. Even a powerful archwizard can be overwhelmed in close range."
Yunyun nodded, accepting his observation.
"Ok, let's see how to go about this… we should take some easy quests and see how we deal with those. We can then address whatever problems arise. Good enough?"
Another nod, this time with more vigor.
"Good. In that case, I'll see you here tomorrow morning bright and early. Make sure to eat before we leave, but not too much, ok?"
Evan's afternoon was spent working on his Unarmed combat this time. Specifically, the Power Hook.
Gigaton Punch – rank C – 15/500
50 MP
Hits: 1
A strong hook with your fist
100% extra damage and chance to inflict [Stun]
Unarmed combat – rank C – 81/500
User's aptitude to fight without weapons
100% extra damage when fighting unarmed
It had taken over two hours, but it was very much worth it! At his next level, Evan really had to concentrate on increasing his MP, though.
With the extra money, he could have also purchased some stuff, but he preferred to conserve his money for the time: he really wanted his own home, not one small room with some bugger snoring like crazy in the next room over.
On an unrelated note, Evan was curious to see what would happen on the higher ranks. What would the skills do, improve beyond 100%? It was not really inventive, though feasible.
The next morning, Evan found Yunyun in the Guild's tavern eating some eggs for breakfast. He didn't really recognize the kind of egg, but if they served it, then it should've been good.
He went over to Luna like it was becoming a habit, asking about any quests he could do now that he had a teammate.
"Hmmm… Yes, there is something." Luna showed him a new notice, this one with two skulls. "Some Starwolves giving trouble to the farms. They aren't particularly strong, but they tend to hunt in groups. There should be around a dozen, but try to kill as many as you can: they're nothing more than overgrown pests anyways."
Evan took a mental note to go nuts in his swinging. He did have one question. "I understand that they're not too strong, but do they have some specific weakness we could exploit?"
"Well, I've heard that they react rather harshly to electricity, but I wouldn't suggest using lightning spells in a forest. Don't want to start a fire, do we?"
After thanking Luna for the suggestion, Evan joined Yunyun. He slid the leaflet over to her.
"Starwolves? I've heard of them. I'm sure the farmers will be happy if we deal with them," said Yunyun as she finished her food.
Seeing that Yunyun was done, Evan got up.
The forest in which the Starwolves lurked was northwest of Axel, close to the edge of the fields. As soon as they entered, Evan received a notification.
Mana Scanning active… 1%
Evan saw the counter rise very slowly, around 1% every few seconds, so he mentally moved it to the edge of his vision and concentrated on the quest.
"Yunyun," he began quietly "do you have any spells that can help us find the Starwolves?"
Yunyun shook her head. "Enemy detection is a thief skill. Shouldn't you have it?"
"No, I concentrated on combat a bit more. And even then, I started off as an assassin."
They proceeded as quietly as they could, Evan in front and Yunyun in the back. For the first few minutes they didn't find anything, wandering around aimlessly. At one point, Yunyun attracted Evan's attention towards something: some footprints in the mud. Evan bent down to get a better look.
He was sure that all the weird survival shows he watched would help him.
The mud was very wet, meaning that old prints would've faded rather quickly. That meant that the wolves had passed by not too long ago.
"They should be close, Yunyun. Be careful." Evan got up, and unsheathed his kukri, making way in the underbrush.
After another minute or so, the duo stumbled upon what they were looking for. Or rather, the target stumbled into them. A wolf jumped out of the underbrush towards Yunyun, and Evan reacted quickly to hack at it with Flashing Blade. The movement was almost imperceptible to the girl, but one second there was a Starwolf about to pounce on her, and the next Evan was standing in front of her, two halves of the wolf passing by either side of her.
Evan now had to be careful. If any of the wolves tried attacking Yunyun now, he couldn't Flash again until he recovered some MP.
The remaining four wolves circled around carefully: seeing one of their own get killed so easily put them on guard. The big one was a tough prey. They needed to distract it and go for the smaller one. Its mate, maybe? That would explain why the big one attacked so fast. Its weird black claw was dangerous.
One of the strongest Starwolves of the group tried to attract Evan's attention, weaving in and out of range. It was just fast enough to keep Evan on his toes, wondering when it would attack again. In the meantime, two more wolves went for Yunyun. Evan noticed it, but the stronger wolf blocked his way.
Fortunately, Yunyun was not helpless in the slightest. With a wave of her staff, a storm of ice appeared in front of her, pushing back the wolves. They didn't seem too hurt, but it still bought Yunyun some time to cast another spell. A projectile of magic erupted from her staff, striking the ground between the two wolves. From the point of impact blew a heavy wind, blowing the wolves even further.
The two Starwolves were still alive, but definitely hurt.
Back to Evan, he'd finally caught the wolf with a Speed Jab with his left hand, dazing it enough to get a Power Stab in. The wolf barely survived, but the [Bleed] effect kicked in and killed it.
Yunyun, for her part, was on a roll. An icicle tore through one of the wolves' head, while the other was struck in the shoulder. The last wolf barreled to Yunyun furiously, but Evan rushed in. He didn't have much in the way of MP, so all he could do to stop it was take the hit. The wolf's jaw snapped around his forearm, throwing him into the ground. His armor was definitely ruined, but it blocked the fangs enough that they didn't hurt too much.
Evan quickly stabbed the wolf in the side without using any skills. The Starwolf let go of his arm, and he took the chance to dish out a Comet Punch. It didn't cause [Stun], but it still threw the wolf back. A thunderbolt flashed over him, striking the wolf. Evan turned around to see Yunyun holding her staff towards the last wolf.
Seeing some blood trickling from Evan's arm, Yunyun immediately, lowered her staff and kneeled next to him. "Are you feeling alright? Should I bring you back to town?" She asked, worried.
Evan waved off her concerns. "Don't worry, it's just a scratch. I'll be perfectly fine really soon. How about you instead?"
"I'm a bit tired from all the spells, but other than that I'm fine."
Evan laughed a bit. "Glad to hear it. I wouldn't be much as a frontline if I let you get hurt!" Evan observed their surroundings a bit, and deemed it safe enough. "You want to take a little break?"
Yunyun nodded quickly, and went over to sit on a fallen log. Evan in the meantime cleaned his armor and kukri with a rag and went over his notifications.
You killed:
-Starwolf LV 4
-Starwolf LV 6
Your partner has killed:
-Starwolf LV 6
-Starwolf LV 5
-Starwolf LV 4
You gained 90 EXP! You leveled up!
New Mastery:
Light armor protection – rank F – 1/50
User's aptitude to using light armor to its fullest
10% extra stat boost from light armor
Evan was a bit confused. From what he understood, the EXP he gained from an enemy was always equal to its level squared. The total should've been much higher than that! Did Yunyun have an effect on that?
When the User fights alongside an ally, they will gain full EXP only if they are the one to kill the enemy. Enemies killed by the ally will give only half as much EXP. Be mindful that allies grow stronger alongside the User, so kill-stealing will have the same effect on the ally as it would have on the User. It is best to cooperate and share the spotlight.
Well, that explained it. Curious, Evan tried to open up Yunyun's stats.
Name: Yunyun
LV: 5 (39/125)
HP: 60/60
MP: 85/180
Health: 6
Mana: 13 (18)
ATK: 6
DEF: 6 (8)
HIT: 11
SPD: 9 (10)
MAG: 19 (34)
RES: 10 (13)
He couldn't see her Stat Points, but that was fair: it wasn't really his business anyway.
Evan couldn't really be mad, since that just went to show that he had some problems that needed to be fixed with his current style. Mainly that he was too slow to properly deal with foes. As such, he decided to throw a good number of points in SPD for that level.
HIT: 10 +3
SPD: 13 +5
RES: 8 +2
That should help out. He might also look into equipment to raise his speed, but that was for later. They still had a quest to accomplish!
After resting enough for both to recover some mana – all of it in Evan's case – they started searching around the zone for any indication as to where find more Starwolves. It was a peculiar name: Evan honestly imagined them to be magical in some way, but all that was special about them was the silver-grey fur that shimmered with every movement. It was interesting to see how they could be stealthy with such features, but Evan was honestly a bit disappointed.
Nonetheless, the wolves had one key peculiarity: they never strayed far from their den during the day. Yunyun had mentioned it when they started searching after the fight, and it was safe to say that she was right: Evan found the den rather easily just by looking around.
Now Evan and Yunyun were observing the den, trying to come up with a plan for it.
"The den seems to go pretty deep… think you can make it burn in there?"
Yunyun furrowed her brow. "In theory yes, but it would drain away a big chunk of my mana, and I'm still a bit drained… I'm not sure how much help I could be if the wolves got out and attacked us…"
Evan joined Yunyun in a brow-furrowing marathon, running some simulations in his head. He was relatively sure that the wolves weren't enough to have two teams running around, as the notice said they were about a dozen. There was about six or seven in that cave, then. If Yunyun managed to collapse the cave's ceiling along with making it burn, then the wolves would die by suffocation. It was gruesome, but it should work.
Evan relayed quickly his plan to Yunyun, and she agreed… albeit she was still a bit apprehensive.
They quickly got into position: Yunyun at the mouth of the cave, and Evan just behind, ready to step in after she used her spells. Yunyun collected magic at the tip of her staff, and touched the ceiling of the cave with it. The magic formed into a magical rune at the point of contact, waiting to be released. Then, Yunyun pointed at the inside of the cave and a wall of fire emerged inside.
Quickly, Evan snatched up Yunyun and ran away; the large drain on Yunyun's mana had tired her enough that she wouldn't be able to go very fast anyway. Once they were far enough, Yunyun triggered the rune and an explosion similar to a grenade went off, followed by the crumbling of earth and stone.
Once they were far enough, Evan put down Yunyun to let her recover her energies, while he went over the notifications.
Your partner has killed:
-Starwolf LV 5
-Starwolf LV 4
-Starwolf LV 4
-Starwolf LV 6
-Alpha Starwolf LV 8
-Young Starwolf LV 1
-Young Starwolf LV 2
You gained 81 EXP!
Mana Scanning complete! New Spell Element: [Nature]
Well, there was something gained from that venture at least.
After a break to let Yunyun stand up on her own, they both went to return to Axel. On the way back, Evan found himself navigating way better than he'd expected before. Moving through the plantlife was laughably easy for him, and at some point he was almost certain that a branch or root moved just slightly to let him pass.
Could that be the power of gaining Elements? He definitely wasn't complaining!
The walk to Axel was devoid of accidents, and after they left the forest the duo found themselves discussing what they would use the quest reward for.
"Well, I was thinking of maybe getting some light armor… I don't want to have to rely on you taking all the damage…"
"Well, that could be worth looking into. I need to fix my bracer anyway, so I'll come with you for that. I might get some toughened gloves, too. I did like punching that wolf. Could be a good way to catch the enemy off-guard, too."
Yunyun's face fell a bit. "Right… that happened. I'm really sorry that you had to get hurt on my behalf, I'll do better, I promise! I–" A finger held in front of her face stopped her from saying anything else.
"I'm the fighter of the group, it's my job to keep the enemies away from you. Even if I get hurt every now and then, it's no big deal… until we find someone who can reliably take damage, that is. My main gimmick is hitting hard and moving fast."
Yunyun kept quiet for a while after that. Whether out of embarrassment, or just unwillingness to say more, Evan didn't know.
The duo presented their adventurer's cards to Luna, and waited for the quest's reward. After a moment of checking the cards, Luna looked up at the team and produced two bags of coins.
"Congratulations on finishing your first quest together! Here's your reward!"
Quest Complete:
Slay the pack of Starwolves (11/11)
Bonus: Slay the Alpha Starwolf (1/1)
Reward: +165 EXP
Bonus Reward: Starlight blade
You leveled up!
Evan was rather happy to see the amount of Eris they'd gained from the quest: 35.000 each. He quickly pulled out of the bag enough to pay off the rest of his debt, and slid it over to Luna.
Luna accepted easily the money. "Thank you for not making me wait forever for this. Eris knows I didn't need also that on my plate."
"Of course. I'll be back later to return the armor and dagger you let me borrow as well, ok? I got my own stuff now–" he pulled out his kukri and struck a pose with it "—if you couldn't tell."
"Of course, of course," Luna giggled at his silliness "You don't have to rush, very few people need to borrow starter equipment lately."
"Gotcha." He turned to his teammate "Come on, Yunyun. Time for lunch! My treat!"
After lunch, the two rested a bit to recover from the excitement of their quest. Evan took that as a chance to examine all that he had gained that day. The Starlight Blade was very cool, in fact: reminiscent of the dagger from the Prince of Persia game, but with a longer blade, and no cavity in the handle. It shimmered a bit if placed just right.
Starlight Blade - rank B
A short blade forged with a metal from space
+30 ATK, +8 HIT, +6 SPD, +2 RES
Evan found that he could use both blades, but couldn't benefit from both of their boosts at the same time. He still tried to give both a few swings, just for fun.
New Mastery:
Double Short blade combat – rank F – 1/50
User's aptitude for fighting with two blades at once
User can define a secondary blade: gain 10% of that blade's stat bonus
Well, that fixed Evan's issue really quick. Sure, he wouldn't gain a very big boost now, but later? Hoo boy. As it stood, his stats were:
Name: Evan Hughes Jr.
LV: 7 (83/343 EXP)
HP: 80/80 (+0.8 HP/sec)
MP: 90/90 (+0.9 MP/sec)
Health: 8
Mana: 9
ATK: 16 (+30 +3 = 49)
DEF: 11 (+22 = 33)
HIT: 13 (+8 +1 = 22)
SPD: 18 (+6 +1 +1 = 26)
MAG: 5
RES: 10 (+2 = 12)
Stat Points: 10
All of his stats seemed rather good for his level, though his HP and MP were lagging behind something fierce. It was time to fix that.
Health: 8 +3
Mana: 9 +3
HIT: 13 +2
SPD: 18 +2
There. That should do it.
He had rather nice stats all in all, but he still wanted something to increase his SPD more. Maybe some special boots? Might as well look into that with Yunyun later. The only thing left was the new Element he'd gained.
Gaining Elements allows the User a certain affinity for it. It starts off weak, but the more the User uses spells of that element, the higher the affinity for that element. Elemental affinities grant different effects.
Elements:
Nature (facilitates navigation in plant-rich environments)
Interesting… maybe he could invest in one spell? It would help to grind up his affinity for nature if they had to go in the forest again.
"System, how much would a low-ranked component cost?"
Rank F – 100 EXP
Rank E – 250 EXP
Rank D – 500 EXP
That… was a bit high for his tastes. Doable, certainly, but bothersome. Maybe he could just buy an F-ranked component and go kill a couple of Toads to get the extra EXP?
"System, can you show me the F-rank components?"
Touch – Cast magic on things you touch
Self – Cast magic centered on yourself
Evan had to ponder a bit. What kind of spell would either component create? Could the System tell him?
"System, if I used the components 'self' and 'nature', what spell would I get?"
Parsing Syntax:
Self(Nature)
…
Bark skin – rank F
5 MP/sec
Caster's skin becomes harder
+10% DEF and RES
That was actually very useful! It would drain his MP like crazy, being able to keep it up only for roughly thirty seconds before having to recharge, but it would save his ass more than he cared to admit.
"System, purchase the 'Self' component!"
Done.
EXP reduced by 100
Current EXP: -17/343
There, now he just had to go kill stuff to recover what he lost.
Evan opened the door to Elzi's Forge and marched in followed by Yunyun.
"Hey Elzi! I'm back!" He yelled to get the woman's attention.
"Be right there lad! Give me a bit!" She yelled from the back.
Evan proceeded to remove his damaged bracer while waiting, and Yunyun wandered around the shop aimlessly.
A moment later, the door opened and Elzi walked in.
"Welcome back, lad! So, what can I help you and your lass with?"
Evan first pointed to Yunyun. "Well, Yunyun wanted some light armor to be a bit safer, and as for me—" he showed her the damaged bracer "—things happened. I wanted to see if you could fix it."
Elzi snatched the bracer, and inspected the tears. "Hmmm… the leather is pretty mangled up, and a little singed too. Looks like a magical bite. Not much I can do for this, but I can get you another one with a discount."
Evan shrugged. "Well, you're the expert."
"Alright, I'll get back to you soon." She then turned to Yunyun. "Alright lass, follow me. Let's get ya geared up!"
Evan went to follow, but Elzi stopped him. "Now now, let the lass have her privacy, alright? I'm not sure if I have armor her size, so I'll have to take her measurements."
"Ok, ok. That's fair." He relented easily, and stepped away. "I think I'll check out some bows. I've been wanting to try my had at them."
And so he went to look, finding some beautifully crafted bows. Two in particular caught his eye: one made of white wood with some intricate glowing azure runes on it. He tried touching it, but found his hand stopped but an invisible force.
A magical barrier to prevent stealing? It made sense: the bow was probably worth a lot.
Willow Frostbite bow – rank A
A bow enchanted with Frost. It is made out of willow wood, which is one of the best for enchantments.
+55 HIT, +40 ATK, +30 SPD
Arrows deal ice damage
Yeah, worth a lot. He hadn't seen enchanted weapons before, so it made sense. He wouldn't be surprised if its price wasn't above 50.000 Eris, if not even 100.000!
The other bow, instead, was much simpler. The design was sleek, and the carvings were more decorative than anything.
Oak-Steelsilk bow – rank C
A bow made of simple oak wood and Iron Spider silk, also called steelsilk.
+25 HIT, +20 ATK, +10 SPD
String is extremely durable
Testing the bow, it felt rather nice in his hands. He might just buy it.
Well… he was bored. The women were still in the side room, and he wasn't going to be walking in there anytime soon: that way lied death. So, he chose to try out his new spell.
He felt his energy draining just a bit, and his skin felt thicker. Looking at his status… the spell worked on his base stats. Bugger. It was nice, but as it stood it was only a 1-point increase. Later it would become better, certainly, but still.
New Mastery:
Nature affinity – rank F – 1/50
User's closeness to Nature magic
10% extra effect to Nature spells
Well, the bonus had increased to 2 points. It was something.
…The skill wasn't rising, though. He tried turning it on and then off again. That one worked. So it increased with each casting? He could work with that. It would also help him with using it at a moment's notice, which was mostly how he would use it.
Time to grind.
Only three minutes after, Yunyun entered the main shop wearing some light leather armor under her cloak. She had a small spring in her step, and the fluttering of her cloak revealed that she'd purchased also shins and bracers too. They were plain leather, not studded, but they should still help.
Elzi tossed a new bracer to Evan when she entered, and he carefully slipped it on.
Yunyun gave a little twirl in front of Evan. "What do you think?"
"Looks great! I'm sure it'll be a great help." Evan then pointed towards the Oak-Steelsilk bow. "Hey Elzi, how much for that bow?"
"Fourty thousand Eris, lad. Steelsilk ain't cheap, let me tell you. But I'll be nice and throw in a quiver and some arrows for you. Another five thousand for the bracer, by the way."
Evan immediately slammed the money on the table. "Deal."
"Did you really have to use most of your money on that bow? Now we have to work again tomorrow…"
Evan blinked. Was Yunyun really initiating a conversation? Progress!
"I mean, I could've waited, but it was a great deal! Plus, I'm literally useless at ranged combat, so I wanted to fix it. I'm an assassin anyway, and what assassin is complete without a bow?"
Yunyun looked up thoughtfully. "…I suppose you're not wrong."
"You know," Evan began "you started being more open. I'm really glad to see that."
"O-Oh! Yeah, you were so nice that I thought I had to try at least and talk a bit more! It's a bit hard sometimes, but it's really easy to talk to you for some reason!"
Still getting embarrassed easily, though. Baby steps. First, he would help her talk to others. Then, she would be able to find her own friends. Having only one friend was a slippery slope that led to being dependent on someone. He didn't want that for Yunyun, she was too nice to deserve being stuck with him.
Evan needed to increase his dual-wielding skill. And quickly. He was fortunate that he could kill Toads quickly, as they would give him some much-needed EXP and also let him get some practice in. Luna was extremely surprised to hear him wanting to take that quest again, let alone taking two quests in a day! After some reassurance that yes, he was feeling fine, and no, he wouldn't do anything stupid, Luna allowed him to take the quest.
"I suppose there's no rules against taking more than one quest a day… even if no one does that," she said.
Would you like to know why no one went back to fighting low-level monsters in an rpg? Evan had just realized why: they gave almost no EXP. The toads died in one or two normal hits, and he barely gained any EXP at all! It was very frustrating. He did get out of the negative at least, so there was a silver lining.
Evan just went and got the reward money, not caring too much about it at that point. He supposed that he could get something nice for Yunyun. Maybe a new magic staff? He wasn't sure how good her own was; he should've checked.
In the end, Evan passed some time working on his Nature Affinity and his dual-wielding. At one point, though, something weird happened.
Error: Mastery rank cannot increase further
Limitation: Ranks above C for this skill require pure combat experience
In other words, his Short Blade Combat would stay at rank C forever unless he went and fought something. It still gained EXP, though, so maybe if the EXP passed over to the other rank, he could use that to cheat a little bit and build up EXP for whenever he ended up fighting something next.
He'd gone… a little overboard.
Short blade combat – rank C – 2.239/500
User's aptitude for fighting with short blades
100% extra damage when using short blades
Double Short blade combat – rank C – 1.839/500
User's aptitude for fighting with two blades at once
User can define a secondary blade: gain 100% of that blade's stat bonus
And that was just for a couple of hours of training! If he were to hold off on quests for a couple of days he may actually become terrifyingly strong!
…But that wasn't what Evan wanted. He wanted to travel, to become rich, important, and above all else, he wanted to be powerful. Though a break would still be appreciated.
His fourth day in that new world… what a surreal experience it was. He'd gone from the bland routine of work-eat-work-sleep, to another routine that was just the same yet much more enjoyable. Maybe it was the thrill of combat? Or the novelty of everything? Evan wasn't sure, but he still enjoyed this new life.
It didn't take much to convince Yunyun to not take a quest for the day: she was a bit skeptical, assuming that they lacked funds thanks to their spending the day before, but a quick show of money made her reconsider.
So, without the need for going out and doing stuff, Evan and Yunyun were getting bored.
"Attention, all adventurers," Evan heard from outside… and inside. And everywhere, really. "There's an urgent quest! All adventurers, please gather in the adventurer's guild at once."
While the message repeated itself, Evan turned to Yunyun. "Any idea what this could be?"
Yunyun put a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "…Well, it's just about cabbage season, so it might be that…"
Evan blinked. And again. What did he just hear? Why would they need adventurers to gather cabbages? Were there monsters that came to eat them or something?
Evan asked just that, making Yunyun giggle a bit. "No, no. I wonder what vegetables are like where you're from… Anyway, the cabbages fly here, and if we don't catch them they will fly off to die somewhere. They're so tasty that people pay a lot just for one cabbage."
And that was how they found themselves in the crowd of adventurers waiting for the horde of cabbages to fly towards them.
Who'd have expected that vegetables in that world would be worth so much? Just one cabbage would net him 10.000 Eris! It was ridiculous! But he wasn't going to spit on easy money. He may not get much EXP, but who cared?
New Quest:
Harvest cabbages (0)
Note: targets will be automatically added to Inventory
The cabbages started closing in, and Evan readied his blades. He was ready!
As soon as they were given the go ahead, Evan zipped forward, slashing at any cabbage coming close enough.
Evan and Yunyun's mugs clashed, and they both downed the contents. Evan didn't usually drink, but this was one time where he allowed himself to do it: they'd gained a load of money! Sure, he'd made most of it, but they shared anyway!
530.000 Eris in total! It was an astronomical number for the two of them! Even after splitting, it was still 265.000 Eris each!
"I'm so glad that we didn't take any quests today! Imagine if we'd went and made barely a tenth of how much we made today! This day has been glorious!"
The night was spent in a mixture of drunken stupor and euphoria. Evan counted himself lucky to have awakened in his usual bed, all things considered.
The System had negated the aftereffects of being drunk, which he'd greatly appreciated. What he didn't appreciate quite as much was the lack of ideas on how to spend the day: sure, he could work on some skills or whatever, but a number of them had become a tad obsolete. The best choice was to work on his archery, or his nature affinity.
Yunyun, as smart as the girl was, ended up drunk too after a couple of glasses. Thus, she was out of the count for the day.
Just to be safe, Evan gave a look to his skills, remembering what the System said about combat experience.
Short blade combat – rank A – 777/2.500
User's aptitude for fighting with short blades
125% extra damage when using short blades
Double Short blade combat – rank A – 377/2.500
User's aptitude for fighting with two blades at once
User can define a secondary blade: gain 100% of that blade's stat bonus
25% extra damage when using two short blades
…Astounding. Absolutely astounding. Unfortunately, it seemed like he wouldn't be able to train with those skills unless he was in combat. A pity, but it seemed fair all things considered: the skills were utterly OP for his level. He might've been able to beat something much higher than his level!
Maybe the archery could wait, all in all. He'd remembered to give a look at Yunyun's staff before going completely drunk last night, and the System was kind enough to let him recall the window at a moment's notice.
Mage staff – rank D
A standard-issue staff given to beginner mages
+10 MAG, +5 Mana, +3 RES
Needless to say, he wasn't impressed. No teammate of his would have to use subpar equipment, if he had something to say about it! Thus he set off, asking around Axel if there was anywhere where he could purchase a good magical staff. Some people pointed him in the direction of a magic shop, which he didn't hesitate to visit.
Entering the shop, he was greeted by the sight of numerous shelves filled of various obscure items, whose use he could only guess… then again, he could just cheat.
Outdoor torch – rank F
A torch that lights up as long as it is under direct sunlight
Power-blast potion – rank E
A potion that increases the user's physical prowess, at a cost
ATK, DEF, SPD *1.5
Drains half of user's maximum HP after use
Bomb orb – rank E
An orb that explodes when crushed in your hand
Deals 250 Fire damage
…What was it with those useless/damaging items? The only thing that could be remotely useful was the potion, and even then only in very specific cases!
Could they be decoys for whoever was so stupid as to steal them?
"Oh, welcome! I hadn't heard anyone come in, but how may I help you?" asked someone behind Evan.
He turned around to see… a rather buxom woman. She wore a purple robe, and had long brown hair that covered one of her eyes. Probably the owner of the shop.
"I was looking for a magic staff. Do you have any suggestions?"
The woman left quickly towards the back, and returned clutching a staff. It looked rather nice, with several carvings inlaid in the wood.
Suppressor staff – rank E
A staff that makes magic harder
Doubles the cost of all spells
Halves the effect of all spells
Evan's face fell a bit at reading the description, but resolved himself to let the woman explain her reasoning.
"Here you go! This staff is perfect for beginners, letting them get used to casting smaller spells before moving on to harder things!" She made her small sales pitch, with a beaming smile on her face.
Evan didn't really have the heart to tell her that such an approach was most likely to have someone get used to overcharging spells, and then causing a disaster as soon as they got a normal staff. Instead, he opted for:
"Well, the staff isn't for me: my friend is rather adept at magic, but could use a better staff, you see?"
The woman's shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry to say, that I don't have anything like what you're looking for anymore… But!" She started again after a moment "I could make one, provided I had the right ingredients!"
"Ok." Evan nodded. "Just tell me what you need and I'll find a way to get it."
The woman began counting on her fingers. "Well, first would be a sizeable piece of wood: willow or birch are good, though if you were to find something more exotic I wouldn't mind, like aelderwood! It's been ages since I worked with it!" A small cough from Evan set her back on track "Right, wood. Then, I would need a focal point of some kind. A piece from a very magical monster would work, or a big enough gem would be fine as well. If you want the staff to be great, though, it would need a core of some kind of magic-conductive metal. Unfortunately, I'm not good enough to work with metals…"
Evan held up a hand. "I think I have someone in mind for this. Just tell me what kind of metals would be best, and leave the rest to me."
"Gold can work, but it is rather heavy… Either Thaumium or Mithril would be your best choices. The downside is that any of them is rather expensive."
Evan gave a careful nod. "How much metal would you need, exactly?"
"Enough for the staff's inner core, and maybe a little excess to direct the mana from the hand to the foci. It's doable without, but the metal core makes the process way smoother."
A hop and a skip later, Evan was back at Elzi's forge… for some reason he felt like creating that one staff would become an absolute chore.
At any rate, he waited for the other customer to buy what he needed and leave. When that happened, Elzi came over to him.
"Alright lad, what's this 'custom project' you'd want me to make for you?"
"Before I get to it, would you be willing to work alongside someone else for this? This project will require both your expertise for th-"
"Out with it already!"
"A magic staff!"
Elzi's frown fell into a deadpan. "Kid, do I look like one of them fancy 'artificer' fellas? I don't do magic."
Evan rose a finger "That's also why I asked if you'd be ok with working alongside someone else."
"Ugh…" Elzi massaged her temples slowly. "Alright, go over it again. From the top."
Evan nodded. "My friend, Yunyun, has a staff that is… rather basic. It didn't feel right that I kept getting cool stuff like these-" he pulled out both of his blades "-and she got what? Some armor? So I decided to get her a better staff. Problem is, there's only one shop that deals with magic in Axel, and they were out of staves for whatever reason, so the owner offered to make one. The only issue now is that making a great staff needs a metallic core, and she can't work with metals. I hoped that you'd be willing to work with her for it."
"Of course, I'll pay for the work and any materials that you'd provide," he added as an afterthought.
Elzi snickered a bit at hearing his story. "She's one lucky lass… if only I were fifteen years younger… Well, you convinced me! I'll do it, but it will be Expensive! With a capital E! We're talking five-hundred-thousand, if not more!"
"Then I'll work my ass off and get the money!... It will also take a while to get the materials, from what I gather, so… I have the time."
"Fair 'nuff," she shrugged. "No idea what metal you'll need me to work on, though. Might come at an extra price if it's too difficult."
Evan winced. That small venture would probably render him penniless if he didn't think something up: high-risk missions? They'd definitely pay well, but were they actually ready? He could think about it later.
"Understood."
That's how Evan ended up in front of Luna again.
"Luna, I think I'm ready to take on a harder quest on my own."
Luna stared at him judgmentally.
"What? Is something wrong?"
"Yes, quite. This is the pride I was talking about! You have only managed one – ONE – quest that was a little bit harder than the toads, and now you think that you can come here and demand high-ranking jobs? All on your own, to boot?"
Evan quickly put his hands forward, trying to defuse the situation. "Hey, I'm not trying to go kill a dragon, or whatever fancy things you're thinking. I was asking if there was something of around the same caliber as the Starwolves, since I feel like I could take care of it on my own."
Luna let out a sigh. "That… is somewhat better. I'm not fully confident, but if you're sure you can handle at least that on your own… Fair enough." She pulled out a leaflet, like always. "A small tribe of Gnolls has taken residence near the mountains north of Axel, and they've been harassing the merchants who travel there. Their numbers are small, but don't let their appearance fool you: they're a crafty bunch. Be careful."
Evan nodded, promising to keep that bit of information in his mind.
After a cart ride over to the mountains (which took five-thousand Eris and two hours), Evan was finally ready to start laying down the hurt on those Gnolls.
From what he knew, Gnolls were humanoid hyenas, or generally dog-like beings. They had the ability to use some crude weapons, which may become a problem for him… but as long as he was careful, then it was all good.
A sound echoed from behind him. He deftly pulled out his blades, ready to fight.
Four enemies had snuck up behind him. The biggest one rushed in, aiming to run him through with its spear.
Evan's Flashing Blade allowed him to maneuver around the stab, and attack the Gnoll. He reappeared behind the beast, its head rolling off.
"Next?"
Another Chapter done and out! I'll be answering reviews as usual now.
Guest: "The update you hoped for is here. And to be honest I've been writing for a couple of years now, so I'm glad to hear that is has been paying off!"
Ittehgaps: "I'll make sure not to disappoint. Yeah, Kazuma had it pretty rough; thankfully Evan is better equipped to deal with this world."
Borgelious: "Here's more."
Thel310: "I'm not sure about it, though I'll be giving it some thought. If it happens, then it happens."
A rather chill AN, all things considered. I'll see you all next time.