"You have got to be kidding me."
Jim groaned as he looked through his status. The methods he just got from the other worldly hero completely disappeared from his status. The mastery bonus no longer showed up on his weapon forms. And worst of all, the weapons he set to be locked away with the growth method lost their timer, now just being permanently locked away.
Well, I mastered them already, so it's not like I would have used them anyways. Except maybe the rocket hammer. But I got two good hammers out of this wave so I guess it's fine.
He scrolled through his status and update messages and noticed a new hammer unlock.
Crystal Hammer N
Abilities Unmastered: "Hide Hammer"
Special Effect: "Record"
[O]
Jim guessed that this is the hammer he got from the crystal ball he absorbed earlier. It was weaker than the other two he got from the wave, but it had interesting skills attached to it.
He assumed that 'Hide Hammer' did the same thing 'Hide Harvest' did for the other hero. He looked over at the second one and raised his hammer.
"Record!"
Just as the name suggested, 'Record' allowed him to record his surroundings like a video. The video was taken from the perspective of the hammer, but it has a full 360 view. There was also no limit of videos he could take stated anywhere.
"Alright. I got a camera hammer. I guess I'll use it if I ever want to start a blog or something. Well, which hammer should I master first?"
After looking between the rope hammer, stone golem hammer, mutant stone golem hammer, and crystal hammer, he decided to keep and master the crystal hammer because of its hide skill. He stood up and began to walk over to the shadow, absorbing any and every golem leftover that was in his way.
The shadow in question was slowly limping to the forest while clutching their side.
"Fast Healing Warmth, you alright?" he asked, spending his remaining mana on healing his companion. They nodded and pointed to the forest.
"We should go before the knights get here. Past this forest there is a tunnel that will take us through the mountains and into Starke. From there we will travel by carriage into the capital."
Just as they said that, Jim saw several carriages with knights approach the village. He cursed as he saw that his SP was almost drained. Jim turned around and ran into the forest as his Shadow friend melted into the shadows and followed him.
[]—
"Phew! Alright. I think we're far enough. I'm gonna take a break if you don't mind," Jim mumbled, leaning onto a tree. One thing Jim learned from the last hour is that healing magic does not heal exhaustion.
"I'll scout ahead then. Don't go anywhere," they said, disappearing from Jim's sight.
Well, let's see what I know so far. This world has 1 holy hero and 2 vassals. Methods are shareable between weapons. You can share methods with the other world, but only during the wave.
Next, not only monster drops, but apparently any item and material can unlock a weapon form. All weapon forms come with passive bonuses that take roughly a day to unlock.
Third, the king is probably pissed that I went against his orders. And if the knights find me, they will probably lock me up in a dungeon with an anvil. So currently going to Starke and meeting up with the vassal hero there is the safest bet. But until then…
"What are you doing?" the Shadow asked as Jim tried to shove dirt into his hammer's gem.
"JESUS CHRIST! Can you not sneak up on me like that? You almost gave me a heart attack!" Jim yelled at the Shadow. "And I'm trying to unlock a new weapon form, if you must know."
The gem didn't react at all at the clump of dirt, so Jim tossed it away.
"Any luck with that?" Shadow asked.
"Dirt, no. Grass, no. Leaf, n- wait yes!"
The branch Jim was feeding to the hammer disappeared completely and two new icons popped up.
[Leaf Hammer Unlocked]
[Wooden Hammer Unlocked]
"Sweet!" Jim cheered as he swapped to the new hammers to view their stats.
Leaf Hammer N
Abilities Unmastered: Herb Collection 1
[O]
Wooden Hammer N
Abilities Unmastered: Woodworking Skill 1
[O]
"Well, better than nothing, I guess," he mumbled. He was hoping for a few extra stats from weak weapons, since those master faster. He sighed and got up from the ground.
"Are you ready to go now?" Shadow asked. Jim nodded and started to walk with them through the forest. After a few minutes of silence he suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, I never got your name," he said, turning to the shadow that Shadow melted into. They turned around and looked at Jim.
"Amelia," she replied, before jumping back into the shadows.
"Amelia. Alright. Lead the way, Amelia!" Jim said, running after her.
[]—
"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Maria. Happy birthday to you," the ring vassal said, setting a cake in front of a little girl with seven burning candles on it. She smiled as she closed her eyes and blew out the candles.
"So what did you wish for, kiddo?" he asked, smiling at his daughter.
"Da~d! You know if I say what I wished for, it won't happen!" she whined as she looked up at him. He laughed and petted her head.
"I know, I know. I hope it comes true. I also have another present for you," he said, pulling a small box out of his pocket. The girl's eyes sparkled as she saw the bracelet inside.
"It's so pretty! Thank you papa!" she said, smiling at her dad. She put the bracelet onto her arm and ran into the other room to play with some kids.
The ring bearer's smile faded as he sighed and turned to the ceiling.
"I thought I told you not to bother me for my daughter's birthday," he said, watching the shadowy figure descend.
"You also told me to report all news related to the crafter hero without delay," they replied.
"Very well. Report the news," he grumbled, turning away and cleaning up the room.
"My sister is with the crafter hero and they are coming to Starke after the wave," they said.
"That's great news then. Prepare the carri-."
"Unfortunately, it seems your adventure in the other world did not go unnoticed. An invader from the other world is looking for you."
"Huh? What invader? Is he anyone I need to worry about?" the ring hero asked, turning to the shadow.
"He is a vassal of another world who seems to be wielding a… hoe."
The ring heroe paled, and slammed his fist into the wall.
"Damn it. I expected this, but not this fast. No matter. His level is reset to 1 since he came from another world, so he can't be tha-," he began, but was once again interrupted.
"He also killed the boss of the wave, possibly gaining several levels," Shadow finished. The ring hero paused and turned away. The next moment his face morphed into a scowl and he slammed his hand onto the table, breaking it in half.
"God damn it! Make sure the crafter hero gets here as soon as possible. Here," he said, tossing the shadow a bag full of coins. "Give them this so that they can cross the border and afford the fastest carriages. I want him here before the beginning of the next Starke wave in 8 days!" he exclaimed.
"Understood."
"Now off you go."
With that, the shadowy figure disappeared. The ring bearer sighed and slumped in his seat as he scrolled through his status screen.
"Papa? Is everything alright?" Maria asked, walking into the room. She gave her father a worried look and patted her on the back.
My god, how is she this adorable?
"Everything is fine sweetie. I just have a big mess I need to clean up," he said, hugging her.
"Can I help?"
"I wish. I know you want to be helpful, but it's my mess I need to fix. Maybe when you're older."
"But you always say I need to be older. I wanna help now!" she whined, tugging at her dad's arm.
"Well, you can help now by working really hard in school."
"Hmm. Okay…" she grumbled. The ring hero patted her on the head and smiled.
"Now go play with your friends. And happy birthday Maria."
She quickly ran off into the other room as the ring bearer sighed.
"This was a bad move on my part, but… I need to get more power to protect them. If I can't, who will?" he asked no one in particular. His ring seemed to shimmer a bit in the dark room, as the rain outside began to pour.