Barry was a muscled and tall man, a head taller than Alec. He might have been imposing if not for his eyes that seemed to be always smiling, matching the easy grin on his face.
"It's good to see youngsters in this humble shop for once. My daughter here tells me you have a unique idea in mind?" Barrett's voice boomed, somehow loud but not annoying or overbearing.
Lev formed the same disk and axe head to show his class skills and the…
[Crafter - ???]
Oh, his aura is very nicely concealed to hide that he's a Master.
The crafter understood the assignment instantly. "You want to create a weapon that doesn't use a metal blade, only a good haft, and a hollow holder for a blade to utilize your own skill. Not an uncommon tactic for crafters, especially ones focused on metals," Barrett hummed.
"What weapon do you think will work best?" Lev asked, interested in the Master crafter's advice.
"Nothing blunt of course. We need a bladed edge to utilize your spinning skill. Far too good to pass up. You need reach, for which you can use a polearm or a greatsword, either works. With lightweight enchantments, you don't need to worry about strength requirement, though something tells me you wouldn't have cared," Barrett finished with a long glance at him, maybe trying to see through the illusion armor.
"He wouldn't have," Alec simply confirmed, not disclosing anything else. That was enough for Barrett as he smiled widely.
"Then I'll be looking forward to hearing your exploits."
Susaine looked between the two of them, then at Lev with narrowed eyes and a smile. Lev wasn't sure what all of them were thinking but it seemed to be positive.
"Do you have a preference?" Barrett questioned.
"I think I'd rather go with an axe or something similar," Lev replied.
"How about a glaive?" Barrett said as he summoned a long weapon. It was slightly taller than Lev in his illusion armor, a long dark brown haft with a curved blade atop it. Curiously, the blade looked like a single-edged top half of a sword, and it looked absolutely majestic. The dark metal with blue veins of lightning mana running through it only accentuated the look.
Granted, everything looked majestic to Lev's non-existent standards, but the glaive gave off a dangerous aura that told him in no uncertain terms how deadly it was.
"I'm assuming the Classer version will be far less impressive," Lev remarked, very impressed with the weapon.
Barrett waved a hand. "Eh, for monsters below the first threshold? Glaives from me will not disappoint, but they will be proportionately expensive too depending on enchantments. Not that I recommend buying something expensive at this stage. You will outgrow them relatively quickly."
"I see," Lev mused. "I'm sold on glaives. Can you make it dark emphasizing the color of my barriers?"
Susaine snorted lightly but Barrett only smiled widely. "Of course! Everyone appreciates a good-looking weapon, don't they?"
Lev agreed, so he broached the last step. "What about the cost?"
Barrett didn't immediately put up one, getting lost in thought. "Depends. What type of haft do you want?"
Lev shook his head. "I'm not gonna pretend to know anything about them and will trust your expertise on it. Just use something that is durable and won't need to change till the first evolution. Same for everything else."
Barrett blinked. "Well, when you put it like that. The final cost will come out to around 90 silvers, 35 for just the mana crystal."
Hmmm… much less than I expected but also more than I was hoping for. The crystals are expensive.
"Deal," Lev simply held out his hand, which the crafter gave a firm shake. His eyes widened slightly when he felt the barrier armor instead of metal, though that did not seem to displease him in the slightest.
"Give me fifteen minutes," Barrett announced before blurring out of sight.
Lev turned to Alec, his tone incredulous. "Fifteen minutes?"
"He probably has a lot of hafts prepared in advance for a situation like this." His mentor shrugged. "Something as simple as a Classer blade will not take long. It would've taken even less time if he didn't need to make it hollow."
Lev just absorbed that knowledge silently. Nothing on Earth could even come close to this level of crafting, both in terms of quality and time taken.
"Please take a seat, I'll bring you… err, He'll be done soon," Susaine said with a smile, pausing when she remembered Lev's mask and how he wouldn't be able to eat or drink anything.
True to his word, the crafter returned not long after. Lev's eyes were glued to the weapon in his hands. It was of similar dimensions to the one he had seen before, but it was more extensively decorated.
Instead of just the blade, the bright blue veins streaked all the way to the end of the dark black haft. It gave the weapon an eerie feeling, the contrast between the colors oddly magnetizing.
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Barrett handed the glaive to him. "Beautiful, isn't she? What do you want to name her?"
Lev choked on air when he heard that. Nobody had informed him about any naming requirements. He almost asked if he had to but that would be disrespectful, so he held his tongue.
"What kind of name would fit?"
Nobody answered him, so Lev put them out of his mind and started brainstorming.
It's black, with blue veins running through it. Matches with my mask pretty well but my mask has a story behind it. If that is the destination, then this is the tool I will use to get there. If that is a galaxy…
"Stargazer."
"Stargazer…" Barrett tasted the word. "Not bad, not bad at all. How'd you come up with it?"
Lev smiled beneath the mask. "That, I will keep to myself."
****
Lev put Stargazer in his ring and summoned it again. Repeating the action, he tried summoning it at different angles and weird positions to get used to it. The training would come in handy later.
"The weapon looks deceptively simple. If you think it will be easier to master than swords then you're in for a surprise." His mentor commented idly. Lev had already noticed how long it would truly take to master the weapon.
"I know. It just feels right, I guess. Or maybe I just really like how it looks. Either way, I am content with my choice."
Getting a feel for it, he mentally felt for the circuit in the hollow blade. He formed a barrier tendril inside and increased its length until the circuit was complete.
From outside, the hollow edge now had a thick blue thread going through it. Focusing, Lev extended an edge from the thread, filling the metal blade with an arcane blade.
The next part was surprisingly simple yet fascinating for him. Barriers could, apparently, remember a task given to them using willpower. For Classers, that resource was precious little. But it was just enough for Lev's purposes.
His will honed onto the edge, commanding the barrier blade to start spinning. It was messy at first, grinding against the metal of the hollow blade, but with some time, the arcane blade remembered the shape of the circuit. It no longer grazed the metal, hovering just above it.
"Be careful handling that. It might just cut through your armor."
Lev acknowledged his mentor's warning without breaking his focus. He only had a few more minutes to get used to the sensation and extra burden on his mind.
"We can start tomorrow if you wish."
He pretended to not hear that. Weeks of waiting during the travel had turned his palms itchy, ready to start working towards the next evolution. Now closer than ever, he had no desire to stop.
"What should I be expecting?" Lev asked instead.
"The usual stuff near the wall. Goblins, orcs, trolls, and some others but in much lower numbers. Several Masters regularly cull them, not allowing hordes to form. Mixed in will be Pit monsters, strange humanoids, and insectoids for the most part," His mentor patiently explained. Lev was surprised when Alec wasn't done.
"Now is a good time," His mentor began. "The illusion armor is made of infused copper and coated in mythril for enchantments. It will be pretty much impossible for anything below level 100 to breach. There will also be several Masters keeping an eye on everyone out there."
Lev's face fell as he heard that. Slowly, it brightened till he was smiling at the implications.
"Similarly, If I am aware of that and also the fact that no one will interfere in my fights, I should still be considered solo while getting lower essence?" Lev filled in the rest, liking where this was going.
"Glad you caught on quickly. You will still shoot through the class levels but at a slower pace. Make use of your skills as much as you can to take advantage of that."
The guards at the inner wall gate didn't stop them beyond asking a few questions, and Lev once again found himself in a vast grassland. Two distant moons illuminated the plain land more than enough for Lev to see for kilometers ahead. Far away, he could see a lot of shapes moving about.
"Good luck."
Lev found himself alone as the final whispered words of his mentor reached him. He shivered for a moment before taking deep, calming breaths.
Remember, death is a very real possibility now. You don't want to go out without a bang, do you? Lev thought to himself, hyping himself up for what was to come.
Slowly, he started running to the west, toward the rocky terrain. The swamp would be too dangerous to dive headfirst into, and he didn't want to get wet either.
His speed gradually increased until he was as fast as he could manage without tiring his body. He didn't push himself along with the armor either for attribute training would come later when he felt safer.
The first small group of goblins that he found was moving in the same direction, their backs to him. Lev summoned his bow, no longer caring about hiding his ring even if someone was observing him. Masters were rich enough to not care about a simple storage ring, though Lev expected that would change if they knew just how large his ring was.
His perception bonus from the passive skill kicked in the moment he loosed the first arrow. Lev was already firing a second during its flight.
Two of the four goblins fell with an arrow jutting out of their skull. The few dozen meters between them was too much for the remaining two to bridge, and they also fell with arrows embedded in their skulls.
[
You have slain [Goblin - Level 20]
You have slain [Goblin - Level 20]
You have slain [Goblin - Level 20]
You have slain [Goblin - Level 20]
Arcane Archery has reached Level 5
]
No surprises there. Lev exhaled in relief. Not seeing another level in his class was also a positive.
Lev continued his marathon, giving the corpses a wide berth. The gore and remains were the worst part of his chosen profession in Lev's opinion.
He had planned to take on the next group with his new glaive to test the waters but the enemy visible in the distance made him hesitate.
[Orc - Level 51]
Caution won over curiosity by a landslide as Lev summoned two disks behind him. The orc saw him approach from over two hundred meters away. Nocking an arrow, he waited till the orc was closer before firing it.
The arrow flew true but contrary to his expectations the orc ducked under it, letting it fly past harmlessly. Lev did a double-take at a monster actually dodging before changing his admittedly simple strategy.
He sent his disks flying forward, screaming as they tore through the air. They accelerated to more than half the speed of the arrows before Lev loosed another arrow.
The three attacks reached the lumbering monster at the same time. The orc decided the arrow was the more dangerous of the three, slapping it away with its large hand.
The disks, in no way less lethal, sheared through both of its thighs, robbing it of mobility. It roared in pain which sealed its fate. The sound was cut off abruptly as an arrow drilled into its brain.
[
You have slain [Orc - Level 51]
Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 27
Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 28
Opportunity has reached Level 5
10 Free attribute points
]
Lev smiled as he put 10 points into intelligence, the first attribute to cross into triple-digits. The passive skill level was also nice.
The marathon continued, and he could see the faint outline of the artificial terrain in the distance. By his estimates, it was almost three kilometers from the gate.
Lev marveled at how easily he ran there while taking down five more goblins. His class and title continued to impress him, and he hadn't even found any sort of limit.
With one last look at his status to keep track of his rate of progress, Lev entered the training ground.
[
Name: Lev
Class: Arcane Sentinel - Level 28
Titles: Reinforced Mind, Vast Soul, Youngest Prodigy
Attributes:
Strength: 45
Dexterity: 45
Constitution: 85
Intelligence: 105
Wisdom: 90
Perception: 85
Class Skills:
Arcane Barrier Manipulation - Level 2
Incisive Edge - Level 2
Whirling Rim - Level 2
Barrier Armor - Level 2
Opportunity - Level 5
Nimble - Level 3
Heavy Lifting - Level 2
Needle Precision - Level 3
General Skills:
Mana Manipulation - Level 10
Identify
Arcane Brawling - Level 3
Mana Perception - Level 1
Arcane Archery - Level 5
]