Back in my cozy little room, I let out a sigh of relief that could have deflated a hot air balloon. "Whew, dodged a bullet there. They didn't suspect a thing."
Alright, let's pick up where we left off, shall we?
"Let's take a peek." I summoned the Forgeatron which miraculously integrated with my body. It was such a weird feeling, honestly. The thing just decided to join the party when I was messing around with pure arcane. Back when I tapped into the energy reservoir in my mind that pyramid thing floated up abruptly, dissolved into a shower of golden glitter, and before I could even blink, it merged with my body. An electronic voice echoed in my head, and my limbs froze up. Oh, shit.
I searched for where it went, but there was nothing. It's gone. The weird pyramid had vanished into thin air, or more accurately, into my body. Now that I thought about it, as long as it wasn't messing with my insides or giving me some kind of magical cancer, I figured it was okay. At least I wasn't feeling any pain or anything of the sort.
Again, and my stats glared back at my face. That 0.1 in Luck was like a big, flashing neon sign screaming "loser." If only I could trade those points for something more useful.
With a sigh, I muttered, "I kind of have a hunch about the answer, but in case I’m wrong, who knows?”
"Hey, system, what's the average strength for a grown man?" I braced myself for the answer, hoping it wouldn't give me a heart attack.
Instead of the usual monotone voice in my head, text appeared on the side of the floating pyramid. And it was in plain English, thank goodness.
[The normal strength, constitution, and agility values for an adult man are around 0.5-1.0]
"Sigh, figures. I'm basically a weakling. Like, weaker than a wet paper bag." Disappointment washed over me. I had hoped for at least average stats, but nope. I was below average. "Might as well become a stay-at-home dad at this rate," I joked bitterly.
"But the old me wanted to be a knight? With this pathetic body? Did he have zero self-awareness? Was he blind or something?" I couldn't understand my predecessor's delusional ambitions.
"And my magic power is only 0.4 too! This is gonna be a long, hard road."
At this moment, a notification sound came.
[Survival Objective completed]
[Mission System cleared]
[Achievement unlocked: Integrate into the harmonious family lv 1]
[You have obtained a new fusion recipe: Satan Rings]
[Satan Rings >> Materials needed : "Goblin embers" + user's blood + rotten flesh + fruits + fish bone]
[As this is the host's first time obtaining a fusion recipe, the following tips are provided to increase the success rate]
[Fusion items must be composed of 5 items, and fusion is guaranteed to succeed]
[This recipe item is single-use and will be consumed upon use. It can only be utilized once, and after fusion is complete, there is no additional material consumption needed.]
"Eh." I blinked, dumbfounded by the robotic voice echoing in my head.
"So that was an official mission? I was starting to think the system was just a lonely old grandpa looking for some love. Jokes aside, I even got a fusion recipe as a reward. Sweet! It's a one-time thing, but... Goblin embers? Hmm?" I noticed that the other items seemed ordinary and quite similarly written, but this material called "Goblin embers" was a bit different. The prompt had quotation marks around the name, is it merely the creature goblin's corpse burnt or something entirely different, like a title of some items, maybe ?
After racking my brain for a bit, I dug under my bedsheets and quickly found the book with the changed cover from his memory.
"Goblin's embers." My predecessor seemingly learned the magic from this book and performed a blood sacrifice for demon summoning, which led to his demise.
I wasn't about to use this scroll for fusion just yet. Instead, I snuck downstairs and grabbed a pear core and a fish bone from my dinner leftovers. I brought some paper back to my room and started copying the contents of "Goblin Embers."
The scroll only had seven parts of content, with some special symbols that I couldn't decipher. Even the old Riktor's memories were fuzzy on the details. And with that half-assed knowledge, he'd tried to summon a demon? I shook my head at the kid's stupidity.
Copying the content was quick, but it took me several hours to draw the strange runes.
"Ha~ Finally done." I put the copied text aside and gathered the ingredients for the fusion, but I still wasn't sure how to actually do it.
"Now where the heck am I supposed to find rotten flesh?" I racked my brain, dashed out of the room to see if there were any forgotten leftovers in the kitchen.
"I wonder if this will do. " I found a pair of dead house lizards. "Are they rotten enough, though?" On closer inspection, their skin was still soft, and they didn't smell that bad. Maybe they'd only been dead for a day or so.
"Bro, how do I begin fusing the items now?" I asked the system nonchalantly, as if I was conversing with a long-lost brother who had miraculously descended from whatever place he was coming from.
In response to my question, the Forgeatron reaction was... nothing.
"Uh! It seems the system is deaf." I really wanted to tell the system that I didn't know and ask for some hints. But it seemed that the guy wouldn't provide any prompts, so I decided to try it myself. I had always gotten full marks in reading comprehension when I was a child, so this was nothing new to me.
I let my main consciousness enter the mental space while taking a bite of the pear, placed my hand on the bitten pear. Multitasking was a bit difficult but for me, who had decent mental strength, it didn't seem that hard. My fingers faintly emitted a bit of magic power, and the pear on the table disappeared into thin air.
"Well is it succeed?" I was overjoyed and immersed myself in my mental space again.
In the System's interface, the pear was quietly placed in the second fusion slot. There were a total of five fusion slots. I mobilized magic power and placed the rotten lizard in the third slot. The pear in the recipe was in the second position, and I didn't want to risk trying to swap positions. If something went wrong, the results could be unpredictable. Fruit, fish bone and the like were easy to obtain, but there was only one copy of "Goblin Embers.'
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
With the successful experience, I began to put the required fusion items into the slot one by one. After all five items were complete, I pressed the button.
[Recipe fusion in progress: Please wait]
..
.
[Fusion successful]
[You have obtained Satan Ring (Magic Equipment)]
"Ooh Yes!" I couldn't contain my excitement upon confirming the successful fusion, despite barely managing to scrape together the materials from my meager resources.
[Satan Ring]
Grade: Magic Equipment *1 (one star)
Effect 1: Equip the ring, the user will have the ability to cast magic spell : [ Hide ] (Time limit usage 10 minutes ( 1 hour Cooldown ))
(+) Additional stats + 0.5 Agi + 0.3 Int + Crit rate 3.5% + 0.5 Luck
Effect 2: Unleash a powerful fire spell upon usage spell [Hide]
Effect 3: Able to summon a small demonic entity (1 time use)
Description:
Inside the ring resides a demonic creation entity that can be summoned at will until the enemy is eliminated. It contains a Dark element attribute and can be broken down into elemental sparks through recycling.
"..." I stared at the ring my hand for a long time, speechless. If the description wasn't lying, then this was a genuine extraordinary item. Its surface etched with quite bland design to be honest, whether from the feel or appearance, it looked like just an ordinary ring without any sinister aura it should have got, but I somehow knew that this couldn't be an ordinary ring.
" 1 star grade equipment?" After holding it in for a long time, I finally managed to blurt out a wondering question to myself. My memories didn't even contain information about any magic tools at all.
“What? To think it can unleash a fire spell as well as perform summoning too?” I was flabbergasted. It was as if several skills from many professions had combined into this one ring. I was shocked to find that the first unique item I got was this overpowered.
Back in my dev days, I'd whipped up my fair share of virtual gear and gadgets. But I never really got into the nitty-gritty details. Clients told me what they wanted, and I just made it happen. No need to overthink things, right?
Although I didn't know what level of item this magic tool belonged to, just holding the ring got me the feelings that probably its able to make one to do professions and even tiers to use the formal profession's spell. This was already too good to be true, actually.
"Riktor, stay calm, don't get carried away." I muttered softly to myself and put on the Satan Ring on my finger.
Calming down, I continued to observe the thing's functions. The recipe fusion wasn't a regular synthesis, as the system had previously explained. So, normal fusion still required me to explore on my own. it seems.
In the Forgeatron, only two sides were lit up.
[Fusion] [Information]
The fusion interface was the one I had just used, while the information interface was the one that displayed my personal attributes and the item attributes when I checked the ring. The other two sides were gray-black, and I didn't know their specific functions.
I casually picked up a book from the table. When the magic power at my fingertips touched the book, the information interface lit up.
[Ordinary quality book (Social Knowledge)]
Controlling my magic power, I sucked the book into the fusion slot and pressed the fusion button. The information popped up again.
[Missing fusion materials]
"Well well what do we have here!" I picked up another book from the bookshelf and placed it in the second slot of the fusion interface. I paused slightly before pressing the fusion button.
The power within my body was involuntarily drawn into the Forgeatron. I could clearly feel my magic power rapidly draining away.
[Fusion Materials: Book (Common) + Book (Common)]
[High probability of obtaining a common item, low probability of obtaining a Curio]
[Fusing in progress, please wait]
[You have obtained a new item: Story book (Common)]
A sharp pain shot through my temples. According to my memory, this was a sign of magic depletion. I looked at my personal attributes again; my previous magic value of 0.4 had now become:
Magic Power: 0.1(0.4)
Fusing one item required 0.15 unit of magic power. This was much more than making bread earlier, which consumed less than 0.1 magic power per loaf.
I lay down on the bed, feeling a little miserable. I had expended so much magic power and sacrificed few books, only to end up with a story book. It was truly a sad story.
However, my gains weren't limited to the magazine; I had also obtained valuable fusion experience and information.
The forgeatron's effectiveness had become apparent during the previous fusion. Even with two common books, there was a small chance of obtaining a Curio, a magic imbued tool. I wasn't sure how small the probability was and would need to experiment further.
"Curios! They are truly tempting." I had no idea what other things could be fused. So, whether driven by curiosity or the potential for profit, I felt compelled to continue exploring its capabilities.
"Two books turned into one. So there's gotta be some kind of link between the ingredients and the final product, right? Or is it just a random crapshoot based on luck?" My curiosity was piqued, and I was itching to try another fusion.
"It seems like I'll need to go on a shopping spree tomorrow." The 20 Iyets my mother had given me would come in handy.
The exhaustion from magic depletion caused me to fall into a deep sleep without even taking a bath. It wasn't just fatigue but also the sense of relief from taking my first step towards integrating into this world that made my sleep exceptionally sweet.
The next morning, I woke up early and checked my magic attribute. As expected, it had fully recovered to 0.4. ‘It’s a nice morning to start working on my new schedule, I guess. Hahaha,’
My mood was bright because of the good items I had received yesterday.
Filled with curiosity about what I would be fusing today, I couldn’t wait to search for as many materials as possible for the experiment.
I walked up to the partially open door of my room hoping to find some forgotten breakfast scraps in the dining room. As I glanced at the door, I noticed its excessive ornamentation. Though it wasn’t bad-looking, it was actually hiding the many luxurious engravings and intricate details beneath it. "Can something this massive be used as material, though?" I wondered, feeling increasingly curious. Unfortunately, despite my heightened hopes, the system didn't respond to my various attempts to insert the object into the fusion interface, indicating a no-go. Oh well, I was prepared for the consequences of passing out from magic depletion otherwise.
I proceeded to tidy my bed, which was in a mess. Who knew what dreams I had had last night? Though I didn’t seem to remember anything that had occurred in my subconscious mind while sleeping, I reckoned it could have been some cliché about playing the hero and defeating some old, crazy-looking monster that had somehow made its way into human territory, startling everyone. Yeah, thinking about my past self, that seemed like the logical thing he would do.
After freshening up from a pleasant bath, I readied myself to head out to the nearby hunting grounds. This area was renowned for hunting beasts or gathering herbs, serving as a livelihood for many. Being close to human settlements, people didn’t need to fret about encountering dangerous wild beasts as long as they stayed near the forest's edge. It could be considered the safest place for them to carry out their work.
However, no corner of this magical world was entirely safe. The deep wilderness could be as dangerous as a city where a robbery might occur. The latter was a common occurrence because ordinary people rarely ventured into the woods, as they preferred to work in the city as bodyguards and protecting those with low aptitude or children from the ever-increasing number of robbers. This trend exacerbated as resources dwindled across all urban areas over time. Such occurrences became nearly routine in every city throughout the Atheanora nation.
"I'm heading out to meet up with some friends," I announced as I reached the front door, where I encountered my father, who was preparing to head to work.
The man looked composed and dignified in his official attire from the educational institution.
Despite his imposing stature, who would have imagined that such a figure would be responsible for guiding scholars in an elite institution for exceptionally gifted individuals?
“Where to? Just remember to keep your guard up, okay? Don’t stray too far,” my mother chimed into the conversation and asked.
A hint of worry could be sensed from her voice as well as her caring expression.
"Do you even have any friends? I don't remember seeing anyone with you. Ah, it must be your other 'zombie' friend. Okay, I get it," the little girl retorted, seizing any opportunity to strike back at me. The previous dinner had been quite taxing for her, and she was eager to retaliate at the slightest chance.
"It's a friend from primary school that I made a promise to."
"They live a few kilometers to the north, just next to the Borough Public Office," I responded casually to mother, completely disregarding the vengeful little girl.
"Little kids don't understand; they need to grow a bit taller first to know," I added, noting the cute angry expression on the little girl's face.
After some preparation, I headed off to the designated meeting place.
...
Upon arriving at the designated place, I moved a bit further from the area where a group of people with newly acquired classes usually trained. I preferred a quieter place far to the north, afraid that my secret might be revealed.
I lied to my family about my true destination, knowing that if I told them the truth, they would forbid me from going to the hunting ground, where most people with combat aptitude usually trained.
'Well, I do feel bad for lying to them,'