Jim was woken up by the noise of someone knocking on the door. He looked around in confusion, before the memories of last night flooded him. He jumped out of bed, his hammer in hand, and quickly got dressed before opening the door.
In front of him was a man only a bit taller than him with golden glasses on his nose.
"Greetings hero. I am glad you are awake. We have prepared everything to begin. Also, here is the thing you asked for," the man said, handing Jim a rolled up scroll before leaving. Jim opened it up and it revealed a map of the country. He took a quick look and confirmed everything he needed to know. The general layout was similar to his game, even if the names were different.
The hunting grounds also looked the same as in game, so leveling won't be too much of a problem.
He practically flew downstairs and into the smithy, where some food was laid out on the table.
"Your first instructor will arrive shortly. enjoy your meal," the man from before said, before leaving the room. Jim wanted to ask him what instructor was he getting, but he figured he would soon see anyways, and instead indulge in the delicacies before him.
He was just finishing up when the door to the smithy opened and a large muscular man walked in. He was carrying a hammer on his waist and had a small notebook in hand.
The man seemed to blink a few times as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
"It is an honor to meet you, crafter hero," the man said, bowing down to Jim.
"Likewise," Jim said, reaching out in a handshake. "My name is Jim."
"The name is Egrevaht," the guy replied, shaking Jim's hand. The younger man tried not to collapse under the immense pressure from the handshake. "And I'm here to teach you the ways of the craft.
Holy sh*t, he must be several dozen levels above me. I need to level up asap.
Jin didn't get to say much after that, because for the next three hours Egrevaht began to teach him the basics. How to hold a hammer, how to hit properly, how to cool the metal, the tools and their uses, the correct color of different heated materials and so much more. No matter how much Jim tried to keep up with the info, the professional blacksmith was relentless.
It wasn't until the very end of the lesson that they even touched actual materials. The man began to make a simple metal band as a base for a simple accessory and told Jim to follow along. However while the blacksmiths band looked smooth and shiny, Jim's looked crude and unrefined.
Iron Band
Quality: Poor
[+1 Crafting Exp]
Bru.
"Wow. Even as a first attempt that looks pretty bad," the man said, picking up the band. He tapped it against his anvil and flinched when the band cracked.
"We have a lot of work to do," he said, tossing the accessory to the side. He took out a small book and handed it to Jim.
"Here are some other tips you should study. Do you know any magic?"
When Jim shook his head the man frowned.
"Alright, good to know," he replied, walking out of the door annoyed.
Jim sighed and collapsed onto a chair. The whole thing was both physically and mentally draining and he needed a moment to recover. He sighed and opened through the book. However he quickly frowned and opened the next page. And then the next.
And the next.
The whole book was written in a language he couldn't understand at all.
"Well damn it! What was the point of this item then?" he groaned and tossed the book to the side.
He began to put the items away before grabbing the hammer on the wall. He didn't take it the first time and instead used his own, but it was currently in the way.
[Loading]
"Huh? What's this?"
It took a moment for the status to load before it opened up a list titled 'Copied Weapons'.
A new weapon appeared in the empty list, but it was darkened out. When Jim tapped on it, it said his level was too low for transformations.
I can copy crafting weapons… Wait, does that include everything else here?
He grabbed the chisel and tongs he used earlier, getting two new messages in his status. He tried to equip them, but the same level message popped up.
I need to raise my level asap.
Jim opened the heavy door to his smithy and walked out into the hallway. It was then that it occurred to him that he had no idea where the exit was. He shrugged and began to walk in a random direction, hoping to ask someone where to go. There were surprisingly few people around.
He wandered for a good 10 minutes until he finally saw a knight patrolling the hallway.
"Hello! Could you tell me where the exit is?" Jim asked, walking up to the knight. The man looked at Jim for a moment before pointing down a hallway.
"First exit on the left, then down, take a right and walk straight until you see the large double doors," the knight responded, yawning.
Guess he had a long shift.
"Thank you," Jim smiled, walking in the direction with a skip in his step.
[]—
He finally made it out of the castle and looked at his hammer. The small red gem shone brightly under the sunshine. Jim saw a big open field just beyond the walls of the castle and started heading towards it. As he reached the large gate of the castle walls, a small semi transparent wall stood before him. He tried to poke it, but his finger phased through it.
They do have magic walls in this! I guess this is the newest version of the game since it was only added around a week before I got isekaid.
With a new wave of confidence washing over him, Jim walked through the glowing wall and ran towards the fields where he saw something wiggling in the grass.
A small mushroom popped up from the grass and lunged at him. He raised his hammer and slammed it into the little monster's head, squishing it. Jim took a few steps back and waited. The monster skin reddened, and a few seconds later it exploded, releasing some poisonous liquid in all directions.
[+3 Exp]
Oh! These guys give a pretty decent amount of exp for level 1 monsters. This whole isekai thing might be a bit easier than I initially thought!
Jim walked up to what was left of the little monster and stepped on the corpse.
…
How do I get the drops manually? Pretty sure taking the corpse apart won't give me materials for potions and stuff.
Jim kneeled down to the corpse and was about to pick it up when the gem on his hammer lit up.
With a confused look, Jim raised his weapon, watching as the gem brightened and dimmed as it was lowered and raised. He brought the hammer to the mushroom monster and the gem became so bright, that it was almost blinding. The corpse began to glow and soon disappeared into light particles.
One of the icons on his weapon tree began to glow and fill up. However Jim still couldn't equip it because of his low level.
Why can't I equip this? It's stuff from a level 1 monster. Am I missing something, or does, whatever this function is, unlock from a later level?
Jim walked forward and dodged one of the mushrooms that lunged at him. Another came at him from behind, and Jim saw a couple more beginning to surround him.
In Leodine online these monsters aren't too deadly, their main problem is that they come in swarms and overwhelm you quickly if you aren't careful.
Jim turned around and smacked the second mushroom with all his might, and watched it fly several feet into the air, before exploding harmlessly somewhere in the grass. He sent the next one to where the first one landed and turned towards the approaching swarm.
He began to swing his hammer at the little monsters, sending them flying as far as he could so that their poison didn't hit him. With the monsters giving decent exp it didn't take long for his first levelup message.
[Leveled Up]
[Unlocked Poison Mushroom Hammer]
Poison Mushroom Hammer N
Abilities Unmastered: Poison Resistance (Weak)
[O]
Jim smiled, equipped the new hammer and swung it around a couple of times. The top part was a bit larger than on the small hammer, but it was surprisingly light. But the attack stat of the weapon itself was also a bit lower than the small hammer.
*Splat*
"AH! CR*P" Jim yelled as a mushroom exploded on his back. He tried to brush off all the mushroom poison fluid as quickly as he could, before bracing for the pain.
But it never arrived
A faint glow was covering his hammer and his body, as well as his clothes.
Oh thank the isekai gods and plot convenience! This poison isn't the deadliest thing, but according to Leodine monster description it stings a hella lot. And I guess the unmastered equipment effects work when the weapon is equipped so that's pretty good to know for the future.
Armed with this new info, John ran forward at an even faster rate, not retreating after every step and instead plowing right through the hordes of mushroom monsters.