“Uh, I have a delivery for you?” Elliot asked, unsure how to take the situation. He expected something more… fancy. He walked in while the lady behind the counter talked to the customer in line. She hadn’t even noticed him until he spoke, giving a look of confusion before noticing the girl in his arms. “Ellie!” Her dainty self ran out from behind the counter, running up to him and reaching out to grab her before hesitating. He understood, this was probably her daughter. He would have felt scared to mess things up too if the knight had instead been one of his family.

“Uh, um. Andreas! Come do something!” The giant blacksmith looked up with unconcerned eyes, and for a second Elliot thought the man didn’t care. He could almost see the man’s blood pressure rising as his eyes widened, the shock making him look even bigger in comparison. “Elizabeth!” He roared, the rumble loud enough to make Elliot flinch. The sword he was creating was immediately forgotten as he charged to the entrance. Elliot watched as the giant blacksmith tried to squeeze through the counter, only to instead crush the wooden furniture apart as he made it to Elliot.

It looked like a raging bull was coming at him, and it took all Elliot’s willpower not to drop the girl and jump out of the way. He closed his eyes and focused on the real goal. Two status points… “Two status points…” No one had heard him, apparently, even the small crowd that had surrounded them. He felt the burly hands of the blacksmith on his shoulder as the man knelt in front of him, eyes full of rage, but not directed at him.

“What happened to my daughter, boy! Where did you find her!?” He took the female knight away from Elliot, the girl suddenly looking so small and vulnerable in the giant man’s arms. He could imagine how helpless the man felt then, to see his daughter so hurt, unable to do anything… Two dings indicating that he’d finished the quest cheered Elliot up a bit, but he still felt a bit sad watching the heartbreaking scene.

“Well, spit it out, boy!” The blacksmith shouted, expressing anger with bare, feral teeth. This time it was actually directed at Elliot. He swallowed his fear, throat suddenly dry. This man looked like a beast. He could probably eat him if he wanted. “She was ambushed outside, downhill from the flower shop with the old lady. She managed to fend off the five attackers but she fainted afterward. Then I came here.” It wasn’t entirely honest, but he knew a parent wouldn’t question their child's ability.

Apparently, that had been enough for the parents. They both stood and walked away, not even taking the time to refer to Elliot. Hey! He spent all that time helping her and they just ignore him like that!? Sure, he did it purely out of selfish reasons… but they didn’t know that! Shit, it had even gotten dark… He watched as even the crowd departed, some even giving him a sideways glance, and sighed. Well, it didn’t matter, as long as he’d gotten the stat points, he was fine. He made his way back to his house, happy that the ban would be removed tomorrow. Today was a good day.

After he successfully snuck into his room and locked the door, he turned to the status screen, putting the two points into agility and dexterity, respectively. The two extra points from “Talent of the insane” went into wisdom and… luck again. He laughed, two years of luck never getting a stat only for it to go up by three in a month… He didn’t know if that was good or not. He’d done fine all these years without it, so it wasn’t as if he felt thankful about the situation.

Honestly, he’d rather it all go into his agility or dexterity. Becoming faster and nimbler was almost like a drug, feeling far stronger than any other one of his stats.

Name: Elliot Dresmr

Level: 1

Occupation: none

Class: None

Strength: 58

Vitality: 17

Dexterity: 25 (+12)

Agility: 25 (+12)

Intelligence: 66 (+33)

Wisdom: 15

Charm: 31 (+15)

Luck: 5

Skills: Strength of a Tyrant (Passive), Cunning of a snake (Passive) Talent of the Insane (Passive) Pk Memory- AA “Elliot Dresmr” (passive, concealed) Aerial maneuvering (Passive) Battle Savant (Passive)

Unused stat points: 0

Quest:

Even now, his stats were so obviously skewed towards Strength and intelligence. He’d put stats into vitality soon but there was no real reason to, he wasn’t in danger of getting hurt now, and his vitality was already almost twice that of a normal man. Maybe if all his ‘talent of the insane’ points hadn’t gone to goddamn “charm” he’d have become so much stronger than he currently was. He sighed, waving away the screen. He was tired, and night had already fallen. It was about time to sleep, tomorrow would bring about a good day.

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“Hahahaha!” Elliot burst down the hall with tremendous speed, not even bothering to dress himself as he ran to the training hall in nothing but a pair of black shorts. He had not ever, not once in his life, ever felt so alive, so free! Not because of his state of dress, obviously. That’d be weird. No, his feeling of freedom came from the fact that today would be the day he'd be able to swing the sword again! As he passed the entrance, he didn’t even notice his mom talking to a group of people, bolting past them and directly to the training hall.

He thought he heard his name, but he chose to decide it was all in his head. Nothing would stop him from getting to his ol’ reliable sword after all this time. The gods weren’t that cruel, right? The moment he stepped into the training hall, he flinched, habitually expecting to wake up in his room again due to his mother. But he was still conscious. “Haha!” The barrel that seemed so far before was now only feet in front of him. He took the five foot sword he’d come to rely on, holding it in his hands for a few seconds and just… just admired it.

It was blunt, it was chipped. It all around had a dull gray color to it that made it seem cheap.

It was the most goddamn beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Raising it over his head, he felt the pull of unused muscles stretching, as if awakening from a long time nap. It felt magnificent, and as he finally brought it fully over his head- “Elliot! I know you heard me, you idiotic boy!” He was picked up by the scruff of his neck by Maribelle moments before he could act, the sword pulled out of his hands. “You barbaric child, even the most obsessed swordsmen would at least wear clothes before they trained…”

Her words meant nothing to him. No! He thought, struggling to get rid of the evil, terrible hand wrapped around his neck. He was going to swing the sword at least once before he was interrupted! Please! Even a dagger would do! His silent pleading was left unanswered by the gods, as his mother dragged him away with the same care a lion would a gazelle it had caught. Just like the murdered gazelle, Elliot’s eyes were devoid of life, refusing to even pick his feet off the ground as he was casually carried off by his absolute powerhouse of a mother.

His mother seemed to be in a good mood, strangely enough. “You little animal, why didn’t you tell me you gained favor with the Praetelums?” ‘The Praetelums?’ Elliot thought with a glazed look in his eyes. What a distant name, back during the hellish times he was forced away from the sword. He chose to burn those memories away, back to the devilish pits in the back of his mind along with his sister’s harsh words… “I’ve been trying to get them to make you a weapon for months now, and they barely looked my way.”

Wait, a new sword? A fire ignited from his eyes, burning so brightly one would have to look away. Maribelle scoffed. “Oh, now I have your attention, don’t I? You brat, only caring when it helps yourself.” She let go of him and he jumped right back up, a smile on his face. “A sword! How big can I make it? Are they good sword makers?” He remembered seeing the massive man pounding away at the furnace, their eyes filled with careful confidence. Maribelle couldn’t help but smile at her son’s enthusiasm. “Ask them yourself, Andreas personally came to meet you, after all.”

They turned the corner to find Andreas the blacksmith and the lady at the counter, who he had assumed to be his wife, along with the girl he’d saved in the town. The blacksmith came up to him, a grim look on his face. “Elliot Dresmr, correct? My name is Andreas, owner of the Battered shield. You were the boy that… carried my daughter back to the shop. We heard from her, how you managed to save her from the ambushers.” Elliot turned to look at the wife and the girl, who turned away from him. None of them looked quite happy to see him, and he didn’t realize why until his mother dropped a towel over him.

“Cover yourself up, at least, you shameless boy. There are women here.” He looked down at his body, baring his stomach and chest with little to no hint of muscle on it. Ah, right. He was only in shorts. He’d been so stark mad to get at the sword in the morning he lost all sense of shame in the process… “I… am sorry. Today is a very special day for me, so I got a bit carried away…” Elliot couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed. The feeling of euphoria at touching a sword had finally calmed down and he was able to be reasonable again.

He wrapped the towel around him just a tad tighter. “Um, I didn’t do much, really. Your daughter handled half while I handled the other half. You should have seen what she did to this one kid. I don’t think he’ll ever look the same agai-” The girl gave him a look of panic, looking at her mom who had a look of concern on her face. He shut up then and there. “Ah, never mind that. What brings you all here?” Even in the awkward state of things, the blacksmith didn’t miss a beat.

“We wanted to personally come thank you. Had it not been for you, those bastards would have taken everything from our daughter.” Here it came! The big reward!! “Ah, anyone would have done the same. She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Give me! Give me the reward! “Nonsense,” The blacksmith said, his grim face gaining a hint of a smile. “That armor was a gift for her awakening, I poured my blood, sweat and tears into that armor. To lose something so valuable would have brought us incredible shame…” Haha! Hahaha! This old man really was prideful! The perfect type to squeeze every last drop out of!

The entire time, Elliot kept an unnaturally pure face, forcing himself to look as much like a naive child as possible. His mother tried her best to remain expressionless, but she could barely keep it together at the boy’s act. She’d have to reprimand him later for being so devious, after they’d earned their reward, of course. “We know your mother has been contacting us for a sword. We’ve decided to put you on the highest priority on the list.” He fought the urge to throw a fist in the air in victory, and looking at his mom, she seemed to be doing the same.

The conversation continued as expected, Elliot describing the sword he wanted. The uniqueness of his request raised an eyebrow amongst both his mother and the blacksmith. He didn’t care, though. His mind was blazing with passion as he described the sword that seemed burned into his mind. Massive, terrifying, something that was so thick it could even be used as an impenetrable shield. His skills, his mind, and even his body were all in agreement. The bigger the sword, the better. Eventually, Andreas, his wife, and Maribelle left, leaving behind him and the girl to talk about the transaction in detail.

He looked up at her, and she looked down at him. Even without her armor, she was tall and intimidating. Neither said a word for a bit before Elliot finally had to say it. “Can I go change? I’ll be back in a bit.” The silence was deafening, which he took as a ‘yes’.