A/N: Hey there readers! I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 2!
I want to say thank you as always to my readers for taking the time out of their days to read my story, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well.
In this chapter, we'll be learning one of the magic systems of the world! And how much time Owen has to get stronger.
Also to save my own sanity, Im just not going to use bold. Im not sure whats going on with this but everytime I save and come back. Everything is either in bold or italic. If anyone knows how to solve it then that be great
Key:
'Thoughts'
"Whisper"
[Skills, Menu, Magic Chant]
"Speech"
Sounds*
Chapter 3 "Leaving Jingyi"
It was now the next day of his journey ever since getting summoned to this world. Owen was currently in the guest room in the palace, and laid in bed looking at his Status Menu.
'I can say I made good progress, those guards certainly helped out a lot! Hopefully the princess will reward them because o it, and I got a few weapon forms.'
Name: Owen Jenkins
Class: Shaolin Tool's Hero Lvl 6
Equipment: Basic Bo Staff (Legendary Weapon), Leather Chestplate
Skills: Leap Attack
Magic: None
Though he didn't have enough time to go past level 6 as he had spent all day in the city, so he went back to the Jingyi Palace for the night. But judging the positive reactions from the princess and her advisor, they were liking the progress he was making.
'I shouldn't complain…but oh yeah! I need to go register at the Dragon Hourglass, I forgot to do that yesterday…'
Last night, Owen had forgotten to register at the Dragon Hourglass but when he apologized for forgetting, the princess said that it was alright and understood he was busy leveling up.
Sigh*
"The princess is a really nice person, I wouldn't mind being friends with her," Owen mumbled before using his Bo Staff as a pillow behind his head with the Towel Cloth form.
Shifting to his side, Owen continued to mumble to himself, "Since I don't really know anyone, it would be good to start trusting certain people…I kinda have to anyway since my Power Up Method [Trust] so I can get some boosts…"
'This is gonna be a difficult journey thanks to my insecurities…'
But then something else popped up in his mind: Shrine Families.
From the way she described them, these shrines were definitely places he needed to go. Especially since they would offer 'pure' materials for different weapon types!
And right in Jingyi, there was a shrine. Getting up, Owen proceeded to change into his gear and proceeded to leave the room as he made his way to the dining room for breakfast.
While walking, Owen thought to himself about his plan for the day.
'Head to the Dragon Hourglass, register, and see how much time I have till the next wave. Then tell my escorts to tell the princess I'm planning on leaving Jingyi to gain more experience of the outside world. Though I'm not sure where to go, I guess I'll pick a random direction and go from there…'
Once arriving at the familiar dining room, Owen would be given a bowl of noodles by the palace servants. As he ate his food, he noticed that the princess wasn't there so he couldn't tell her his plan right away.
Though the silent atmosphere would be broken as a pair of footsteps entered the room. Facing the newcomers, Owen saw the familiar faces of the palace guards from yesterday.
Waving his hand, Owen greeted them, "oh hey there. Are you here to escort me again?"
"Correct your holiness, we are assigned to escort you through the city once again," replied one of the palace guards.
Nodding, he would get up and make his way to the palace entrance once again…
…
…
…
Once outside, Owen asked nearby civilians for directions to the Jingyi Shrine. And action he regretted as numerous people began to swarm him in awe.
"It's the Shaolin Hero! I never would've thought to see him in the flesh," said an elderly lady.
"Hey hey! Are you really a hero?" Said a kid who was tugging on his hoodie.
Though he was extremely uncomfortable from the attention, he couldn't help but smile at the sight.
'I never had a little brother since my parents were usually busy earning their paychecks. I wonder if this is how it feels…'
Ruffling the kid's hair a bit, Owen grabbed his Bo Staff from his back and changed its weapon form to one he had gotten yesterday.
[Grass Bo Staff] Tier 1
Tier Cultivation Requirements: 100 Grass
Equip Bonus: Gathering 1
'I tried out Tier Cultivation with the Grass Bo Staff and was able to get it to Tier 1 but the requirements jumped up to 50 to 100 grass needed? Probably since I can just pick up some piece of grass and its everywhere here. So other weapon form tier upgrade may depend on the abundance as well?'
His thoughts were interrupted as a collection of awe sang out at the transformed Bo Staff. No longer was it in its metallic state, rather, its design looked like a giant thin piece of grass with the gem still above it.
"Woah! So you really are the Shaolin Hero!" The kid exclaimed.
"Yep, that's right kid," Owen confirmed before continuing, "though I have to go register at the Dragon Hourglass so that I can know when the next wave will come."
That seemed to bring the joyous mood down by mentioning the waves. Quickly seeing how everyone looked much more fearful, Owen reassured them that they would be okay.
"U-uh, don't worry. I won't let the waves destroy this world, I couldn't call myself a Hero or sleep at night if I didn't step up right?"
The people nodded at this before Owens' escorts stepped in front of him and spoke out to the crowd.
"The Shaolin Tool's Hero is doing everything he can to get stronger, but right now this distraction is wasting precious time."
That got the crowd to back away while Owen looked around nervously.
'Dang man, you didn't need to say they are wasting my time! Though he does have a point…I gotta go register.'
Looking down at the same kid from before, Owen spoke to him, "It was nice talking to you buddy, you stay safe out there."
The kid simply smiled before running off to his friends who looked at him in jealousy.
"I can't believe the Shaolin Hero ruffled your hair!" a small girl exclaimed.
"Heh, I'm just special that's all!" the now prideful young boy responded.
"Your stupidity is pretty special…" the same girl muttered.
"What was that!?!"
That resulted in a silly argument that led Owen to chuckle as he and his escorts made their way to the Jingyi Shrine.
'Hopefully I'll have time to prepare…'
…
…
…
"It kinda looks like a Buddha Shrine," Owen mumbled as he stared at the entrance to the Dragon Hourglass.
"What is a 'Buddha'?" Asked one of the guards before being told that it was just him talking to himself.
Essentially the Dragon Hourglass was ahead of a flight of stairs in a small wooden building. What had gotten Owen's attention was that at the beginning of the entrance was a small statue of the Holy Shaolin Tool's with the nation's language etched onto a metal plaque in front of it. The guards translated it for him.
Apparently it was something about worshiping the hero and thanking them for preventing the destruction of the world.
Yep. No pressure at all for Owen…
But enough of that, right now it was time to register. Approaching the building, he would be stopped by two glaives crossing in front of him as two armored individuals glared at him.
"Who are you to try to step foot in the Jingyi Shrine! Turn around and leave before we have to use force," a guard said harshly, stunning Owen.
'What the hell? Don't they see the Bo Staff in my hands!?!?'
But before Owen could talk, his escorts yelled at the shrine guards.
"You fools! Don't you see that is the Holy Hero? Look at the weapon he is carrying!"
The guards did just that and it wasn't too long before they were prostrating on the dirt in front of Owen.
"WE ARE TERRIBLY SORRY FOR OUR ACTIONS, PLEASE SPARE US!" the two shrine guards yelled.
"W-wait! It's alright! I'm just curious…why are you acting like this?" Owen said, trying to calm them down.
The guard that yelled at him looked up as he answered Owen's question, "you see, your holiness. As of recently there has been a surge of criminal activity ever since the first Wave here. Many outlaws have been sneaking into the shrine and conducting the Job Class Upgrades. Also many of these criminals are deserters from the city guard and military…"
'Damn…so this nation took a big hit in morale.'
"Job Class Upgrades? I thought the Dragon Hourglass can only tell when the waves are coming when I register," Owen asked confused.
"The Dragon Hourglass can conduct rituals to help an individual go past their level caps, your holiness," the guard answered.
Apparently the Dragon Hourglass was the only way for someone to go past Level 50 and Level 100 in this world. Though Level 100 simply offered a job class upgrade
Though Owen did also learn more about Tattoo magic after asking the Shrine Guard about it.
It's full name is called Tattoo Inscription Magic. In the world, magic is formless but when applying a special ink onto the body as charcters, an individual is able to draw out the magic points in their body through the tattoos and cast spells.
The tattoos just bring out the type of element someone is born with. There are some individuals born with one element but most are born with none.
In fact, there are numerous schools that specialize in each type of element in Tattoo Magic. Fire, Water, Earth, and Holy.
Fire allowed powerful offensive spells, Water allowed healing and support magic (on other people), Earth was entirely buff (on oneself) and debuff magic, and Holy magic allowed someone to destroy curses or dispel shadow magic. But Holy magic could also detect what element someone is specialized with.
Also Tattoo Magic doesn't just apply to humans. There are monsters who are born with patterns in their bodies that allow them to channel magic points to cast spells. With some species having sub versions of themselves of each element, while others only able to do one type of magic. Though not every monster can cast spells.
But just the thought alone scared the crap out of Owen.
'Wait so you're telling me, I could possibly encounter a tiger that can shoot fire at me!?! I'll need to figure out what type of element I have, if any.'
Telling the guard to stand up, Owen would ask him a question.
"Is there anyone inside who knows Holy magic?"
The shrine guard shook his head, "unfortunately the only one who could is at the Xinya Family Shrine in Najin Village. Perhaps it's best if you make your way there, your holiness? The village is north of Jingyi."
That was certainly a good idea indeed. He decided that after he told the princess he was leaving, he would go to Najin Village.
Thanking the shrine guards, Owen walked into the building with his escorts.
There in the center of the room was the Dragon Hourglass, it was a comically big hourglass with two dragons on the side of them.
A/N: Similar to the ones in Glass's world.
Approaching the hourglass, a reddish gold beam shot out of Owen's Bo Staff and connected to it.
Owen watched as two things popped up in front of him.
[Jingyi Dragon Hourglass Registered]
26:07:53:32
'Woah okay…oh boy, I got 26 days!?!'
"How much time do we have, your holiness?" One of his escorts asked.
Turning around to face them, Owen answered, "I got 26 days to get stronger, which means I got 3 weeks and a few days before the next wave hits Jingyi. Go tell the princess to meet me at the northern gate. I plan on going out of the city to gather levels and weapon forms."
With that, his two escorts would leave his side, leaving Owen with his own thoughts.
'Just barely more than three week…I need to go and get to Najin Village, find out my element, and get more weapon forms along the way…'
As Owen tried to leave the shrine however, the same shrine guard from earlier approached him with a brown bag.
"Your holiness, I believe this sand will be of use to you," before pouring the sand into the Bo Staff's gem, resulting in an interesting weapon form.
[Dragon Portal Bo Staff] Tier 0
[Abilities Locked] Equip Bonus: Skill: Portal Registration
Checking out the name of the weapon, Owen theoized that he had something to do with teleportation.
'Well If it can let me teleport than this place is definitely one I want to come Back to. So I'll be coming back to Jingyi when I unlock this weapon.'
After noting the form's potential, Owen filed the Jingyi Shrine. He would then thank the shrine guard before leaving for the northern gate.
'Wait, I got an inventory too?'
Ignoring the looks of nearby civilians entering and leaving the city, Owen instead waited for the princess to arrive. While he waited, he was looking through an inventory through his weapon gem. It only had leftover sand from the hourglass though, so it seemed to be that any excess material for his weapon form will just go to his inventory instead.
It was interesting but right now Owen was waiting for someone
He then laid against the wall and waited…
But it wouldn't take long as she walked towards him with Advisor Ming and numerous royal guards.
I
"Your escorts have told me that we have almost a month, correct?" She asked. Owen nodded his head.
"Yeah. I plan on leaving Jingyi so I can level up, increase my stats, and get new weapon forms," Owen said before continuing, "I plan on heading to Najin Village and going to the Xinya Family Shrine. Sorry that I'm leaving the capital."
This made Pan Bo shake her head before speaking, "there is no need to apologize, your holiness. It is understandable and required of you to do this in order to grow stronger, but I do want to say…thank you."
'What is she thanking me for? Leaving? No, that's dumb. Likely from telling her when the next wave is coming. Though I am embarrassed from being thanked, no one really said that to me a lot back then.'
Then again, he was now a hero. But rubbing the back of head nervously he told her that it was no problem.
"What will you guys do when I leave? Are you gonna prepare?"
The princess nodded as she confirmed that to be the case, "yes, while you are gone. I will see to the training of new recruits for the city guards, we will be ready."
Owen nodded but then asked another question, "city guards? What about the army?"
Advisor Ming would answer his question, "In Pan Bo, the military has been reduced in favor of better equipped and trained city guards."
Ah okay. He would look behind the princess and her gathered men to see a crowd of people, of different social rank, watching him.
'Ah! Too many eyes!!!'
Getting nervous from the attention, Owen quickly tried to act cool and nodded his head in understanding.
He would then turn around and begin walking only for Princess Pan Bo to hold his arm back.
"Oh sorry, is there something else you wanted me to hear-"
Owen would stop speaking as Róngyaó pressed her lips against his, only for a short while before stepping back.
"Take care, your holiness."
That paused Owen as his brain processed what just happened.
'W-what! She just kissed me! God I'm reacting like a complete idiot! The way I'm reacting is so cheesy!!!'
The watching crowd would be silent as they watched Owen's face slowly becoming red before walking away, leaving him alone with the city guards at the gate.
Of course, Owen didn't know that what just happened was not mostly of Pan Bo's free will.
After calming himself down, he quickly ignored the smirks forming on the nearby guards as he'd turned to begin walking down the dirt road.
Now it was time to head for-
"WAIT!"
A voice called out.
Turning around again, Owen saw the approaching figure of Fāng Zhou, the blacksmith from yesterday.
A thought quickly settled into Owen's mind as he began to panic internally.
'Wait! Don't tell me he's going to kiss me too!'
Thankfully that didn't happen as Zhou gently dropped a heavy bag on the ground. Opening the bag, Owen saw the iron lamellar set.
"Why did you bring this to me? Im not level 10 yet," Owen said, confused.
"Oh well, those two escorts of yours came into my shop and told me that you were going to the northern gate, so I thought you were planning on leaving Jingyi," Zhou replied honestly before continuing.
"So why not buy this armor now. That way, when you reach level 10, you can go ahead to switch into it. Like I said before, this armor is good up until you reach level 20. Whenever you come back, we can see if I got some better equipment for you to buy."
Yeah was a good enough point for him. Owen thanked Zhou as he grabbed his mon-coin pouch on his side.
"Let me count how much I got... give me a sec real quick…"
Owen pulled his pouch of coins and asked how much it would cost.
Handing over 3 Mon-Fif's, Owen thanked Zhou.
"Thank you, I'll be sure to come back when I'm level 20," he raised out his hand to which Zhou shook it back with a smile.
"Stay safe out there, Owen."
The Shaolin Hero simply nodded as he left Lingyi towards the direction of Najin Village. But as he did, he would be unaware of the [Trust] power up method increasing his stats.
He had found some people to believe and trust in. Now off he goes!
…
…
…
Well, not yet anyways. He actually wanted to find orange monkeys in the forest he went to yesterday since he had plenty of time until it was sunset.
So going back to a familiar place once again, Owen went back to the place he fought his first enemy in this world.
'Yeah I need practice with this type of weapon…that bite fucking hurt man…'
He would actually find himself rubbing his left arm as a darker thought came around.
'Maybe I'm not…cut out for this…wait! Stop it! You can't say stuff like that.'
Slapping his face, Owen began to go through the forest in search of more monkeys.
"Right, so if I find an orange monkey. Kill it and use Tier Cultivation so I can get more stat boosts to my weapons."
The Shaolin Hero smiled at the sound of that.
'Yeah that's a good move for me to do. Every boost and level I can get will help me last longer in a fight. Since I don't have any skills that can have their effect improved upon.'
Now with his game plan in place, he went back to searching through the forest until stumbling on what he wanted to see.
Next to the big river that led into Jingyi, Owen saw it.
[Orange Monkey]
Lvl 8
Two levels ahead of him, and it could be different than the last one he had fought. He would need to be careful and not alert it to his position.
So crouching slowly, Owen made his way to a tree directly behind the monkey drinking water from the river.
He switched over to the monkey bo staff and cursed to himself for needing to yell out the skill in order to activate it.
'Alright. Let's fucking do this.'
Getting out of cover and seeing the monkey still drinking, Owen shouted out his skill.
"[LEAP ATTACK]!"
He found himself flung forward towards the monkey, not knowing that his agility faster mobility gave him a few precious seconds.
Owen yelled with all his might as he slammed it against the back of the monkey.
The monkey was knocked onto its chest as its head slammed roughly into the water. Though Owen could feel sorry for it, he wanted to upgrade his weapon, dang it!
So not giving the monkey any chance to rest. He quickly charged forward and slammed again.
The Bo Staff made a slashing motion against the monkey's back and gave rise to a nasty wound that bled. With the blood shooting into Owen's pants.
It was completely unnecessary to go all out on a monkey. But in Owen's defense, he didn't want to get fucked up by a stronger version of the same creature that messed him up yesterday.
Anyways, this resulted in Owen panting as he saw his level increase once again. This time to level 8.
'Alright! I did it! Sorry I messed you up man.'
Catching his breath, Owen found himself slightly leaning on his weapon. But his moment of peace was ruined as another scream echoed behind him.
SCREECH!*
A/N: I have no idea how to write a monkey's scream lmao.
Turning around, Owen's eyes widened as he luckily managed to dodge another monkey leaping at him.
[Orange Monkey]
Lvl 10
'Shoot, I think I just killed it's mate or something-WOAH!'
He dodged another lunge at him as he quickly swapped to his basic weapon and slammed the back of the second monkey.
Causing its health to decently go down. Seeing its rageful stare did make Owen tremble slightly in panic but he shoved that feeling down since he would have bad times if he froze.
Owen quickly charged again and attacked, but that didn't hit as the monkey moved to his left side and tried to attack from there.
It would try to use its nails to slash at Owen's chest but he quickly stopped it from reaching by using his strength and Bo Staff to push the arm away.
As it left the monkey open. Owen thrusted his left arm forward and slammed the Bo Staff onto its chest before doing the same with his right arm.
Owen quickly stepped away as he watched the orange monkey stumble towards him before falling to the ground dead.
[You are now Level 10]
'Hell…yeah…'
Owen quickly fell on his butt as he laid on his back to catch his breath.
"I…" He gave a sec before continuing, "have to do even more…of that…? Ugh…"
After spending a few minutes on the ground and groaning at the painful future he will need to experience. Owen eventually stood back up and absorbed the dead bodies and got a new notification in front of him.
[Orange Monkey Bo Staff Cultivated to Tier I]
[Weapon Form: 25% Stat Boost]
"That's what I'm talking about," Owen muttered as he eventually found the path he took through the forest.
Looking around, Owen muttered to himself slightly.
"Shoot…which way did I come from again?"
…
…
…
It would be a while but he eventually found himself back on a familiar dirt road and from here, he could see the Fortified Capital of Jingyi. Though he'd also remembered to grab his bags of equipment and placed it on his back.
Whistle*
"Looks really pretty from over here…can't believe it will be under attack in around 3 weeks though," Owen said before he stopped admiring the view. The timer at the top of his vision was a lingering reminder that he needed to get stronger.
Not wanting to look at the timer, he then began to follow the road to Najin Village. Who knows what or who he will meet? One thing for sure was that he was excited to see more of this world.
[Otherworld Index]
The Jia Water Guilds:
Located South East of the Pan Bo Dynasty, one of its rival nations thrives in commerce, both on land and sea.
Before it came to be known as the nation it is today, the land was ruled by a royal family just like Pan Bo. However in the era of the previous Bo Staff Hero, the royal family was destroyed.
It was then taken over by different specialized merchant guilds working in a council like state to give themselves more power over the region. Up to this day, these guilds remain in power.
The region they occupy is called the Jia Wetlands, a marshy landscape that surrounds Venice like cities on the coastline. They are the main suppliers of transport monsters known as Kuà Guī, giant fast turtles used by merchants.
The nation does have a capital but does not have a centralized capitol building thanks to the numerous guilds working together. The capital is known as Jicho.
This nation however is the home of the current Rope Dart Hero and as a result have shrines and shrine families leaning towards the Vassal Rope Dart than the Holy Shaolin Tools
A/N: Alright and that's chapter 3 for you! Hoped you enjoyed the goofiness I sprinkled throughout. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter.
I hope you all have a wonderful day and see you guys next time when I publish chapter 4
:v)
