“Weed the elf, level FF/20” finished announcing Theodore. Weed had gained 7 levels through the annihilation of baby scorpions campaign.
By this point Weed was nearly having a fit of stage fright. He hadn’t realized there’d be so many people here and even the media was present. As he stood there lost in his nightmares of failure in front of the crowd, he felt a hammer on his shoulder and realized it was Theodore’s hand, motioning him to begin.
As Weed scurried towards his stove, the NPC’s watched with a bemused expression on their faces. Imagine an elf trying to become a blacksmith. It was like a worm trying to become a bird, or a cat trying to roar. As Weed fumbled on stage the NPC crowd roared with laughter at this scruffy low leveled elf of all people trying to win a blacksmithing competition.
However, all the players in the room flocked as close to the stage as they could. The audience of players was pushing each other to get a single glance at a blacksmith at work. The other finalists who had captured the attention of the audience were now nothing but a forgotten memory. The players were desperate to get a close view of the elven blacksmith, who’s christened his in-game character Weed.
Originally, Weed was a common term for Cannabis. When, Lee Hyun used the name Weed, for Royal Road, he never thought of it more than the lowliest of the low in the plant kingdom. But over time with mounting triumphs, the name came to be associated with those who were the sturdiest, the most stubborn to win and the toughest of gamers. Only, those who could would never surrender to insurmountable obstacles were truly Weeds. It wasn’t a title that was handed down from one gamer to the next, it wasn’t something a player could nominate themselves for. It certainly wasn’t something you could self proclaim. Only when acknowledged by the gaming community, would you be considered a Weed. Of those acknowledged for their relentless determination and thirst for perfection and success, only a handful dared to use the name Weed. By doing so, these players, were considered as the candidates to be considered as the next Weed in the coming gaming era.
None of this meant that there weren’t noobies and newbies that didn’t take on the name Weed. There were plenty of idiots, who christened their in game character as Weed. Some did it out of self proclamation of unfounded awesomeness; others did it out of being inspired by the original Weed’s success. However, even a single folly, tainting the name of Weed led to being shunned by the gaming community. Thus, they quickly dropped the name or deleted the account or changed the name.
Needless to say, Weed the name became a title never achieved by any. Players tried and tried to climb the high standards of Lee Hyun’s legacy, however no matter how much they accomplished it always fell short of being as amazing as Lee Hyun. With new emerging games and new emerging gaming heroes, the race to be crowned as Weed, was left unfinished. It could also be the reason why the world began to forget about Weed to begin with. With Lee Hyun out of the picture and no successor to the title, the world forgot about Weed.
However, with Lee Hyun’s return, the gaming industry was turned upside down and inside out. Forgotten heroes of each major VRMMORPG title released in the past, stepped out of retirement. The uncrowned candidates who were the closest to achieving the title of Weed, declared their return to the world of gaming as well. The race was on, once again, for one last time. It wasn’t a race to be crowned as the next Weed, but the last chance for the former generations to beat Weed’s legacy. Lee Hyun’s return wasn’t only marked with the return of older retired enemies. His fans followed him as well. Some began playing Elementarem Vim and others joined media houses as commentators. The name Weed was once again a glorified title that players were chasing after.
The name was feared, admired and revered. There was no one foolish enough to christen themselves as Weed, unless they were ready to be scrutinized with a magnifying glass of the gaming community for each and every waking second of their life. The attention was not the same as a celebrity being chased by the paparazzi. It was the attention one received from the examiner in an exam hall. To put it into perspective, claiming to be the next Weed was equivalent to foolishly accepting the position of being hated by those who truly hated the original Weed, admired the original Weed, were envious of the original Weed and admired by original Weed. In short, making yourself an enemy of everyone.
The only ones, who could dare to do so, were the younger generation, the toddlers in gaming, who could not comprehend the original Weed’s feats. To sum up, every player in the room wanted to see the face of the brat who dared to take on the hate, the love and the admiration of the world.
-x-x-x-x-
Covering the black diamond with both his hands Weed slowly took it out of his satchel. As he uncovered it, the flashed black for a moment. Weed immediately concealed the stone with his hands and carefully and secretly examining the black diamond. It truly was the most majestic piece for this room. Weed, checked his inventory, it looked like he only had a little bit of gold and mithril which would just be enough for what he had planned…
*Cut* *Cut* *Shink* * Cut* *Tink* *Tink* *Shink* *Cut*
In the center of the stage, sat an elf hunched. As quietly as possible, he began carving a precious stone hidden from everyone’s view. He was so absorbed in his task that he could not feel the burning glare he was receiving from others.
*Cut* *Cut* *Shink* * Cut* *Tink* *Tink* *Shink* *Cut*
With every movement of his hand came a ringing sound, similar to crystal glass being rung by a spoon. The curiosity if the audience was overwhelming, in their shock and confusion most missed their chance to pay attention to the elf’s face. There was the added interest owing to all the secrecy the elf maintained by wearing a hood and partially covering his face. And as if to tease the audience, the elven blacksmith sat hunched with his back facing the audience while he worked on something.
“Alak.” Weed whispered. “Please find Rodriguez.”
“WHHAT! Master admirable great Rodriguez is here!” Alak screamed back into Weed’s mind, while maintaining its invisibility.
Weed subtly nodded. He had asked the old man to come and bring Lisa, this was the biggest event in the area and he was sure they’d be here but he had to bring them to the front. He quickly instructed Alak to bring the pair near the stage. Alak however was too excited about the prospects of meeting Rodriguez once again, that it didn’t bother listening to what Weed said and it zoomed off happily to find the couple. ‘Why do I ever rely on that stupid fairy for help? Weed tracked the subtle distortion in the air, tracking Alak’s position, till he could barely notice the fairy.
After sneaking a few glances back into the audience, he could see Rodriguez and Lisa waving out to him. Weed could see both Rodriguez and Lisa making their way to the front, nearest to his forge. Snappy appeared to be licking his old temporary master’s hand in gratitude for taking care of him earlier. Alak was invisible, however, Weed could imagine Alak buzzing round and round in circles greeting her master. Weed was glad that the invitation had been accepted, he was unsure whether it would be accepted since it was delivered by a kobold. He had written, requesting the old man to attend the event with Lisa, otherwise not to turn up at all. Although, he only needed Rodriguez to complete the quest…Lisa was a crucial element in his plan to help him win this round.
‘Wonder what the old man told the lady to get her here. I cannot screw this up.’ Weed said as he was completely oblivious to the ferocious audience that was trying to get a glance of his face.
With Weed’s grandfather clock next to his workplace, Weed was immediately benefitting from the power of the clock; time had slowed down for him. Weed smiled with the benefit he had been graced with, his tardiness - the disadvantage was nullified by the clock’s benefit. For Weed, the audience, appeared to be moving in slow motion whereas for the audience, Weed appeared to be moving abnormally fast. Weed began to work the metal thinking about the kind of ring he would make, it had to be different from usual, something that was special and would mean something to Lisa.
He frequently shot concealed glances at Lisa, trying to summarize what he knew about her and decided simplicity was the best approach. Since Lisa was an archer, then something that had to do with archery would be the best choice of design. Through the numerous designs that he had dreamt of, the most appealing choice was carving the diamond in the form of an arrow head. It worked perfectly well for Weed as he had no experience in engraving / carving precious stones. However, he was well versed in making arrow heads.
Thus Weed embarked upon the task of shaping the black diamond into the shape of an arrow head. However, the sight of seeing the old couple together, it struck Weed that an arrow head is weapon and not a symbol of love. As he pondered about how to employ his worthless sense of art and originality, an idea struck him like lightning. Weed gleefully smiled away. It was probably the best original idea he had ever had.
A simple gold band with mithril etchings around it and the stone in the shape of a heart shaped arrowhead.
The original Weed’s sculpting skill were godly, he could engrave / carve diamonds and shape it into beautiful works of art. However, Weed of RREV had never tried it before. His experience from the weapon’s license test warned him that RREV punished those who never practiced. Yet he was confident it would work. The stone was pretty large making it easy to work on compared to the smaller stones used in rings; at least two inches in height and an inch wide. It was already polished and carved into the shape of a teardrop. The only task Weed was left with, was to shape it into a pointy heart. This would create a romantic gesture while at the same time leverage on his arrow head smelting and carving practice. Simply worded, the disadvantages and Weed’s limitations in experiences were cancelled out by the many small advantages.
*Cut* *Cut* *Shink* * Cut* *Tink* *Tink* *Shink* *Cut*
‘Dammit! It did not work!’ Weed was puzzled, he was sure he had enough skill to carve the diamond. Even, if he lacked the skill, he was confident that all the small factors would weigh in his favor at he would be able to cut the diamond if not carve it properly. Yet, the diamond remained unscathed even after an hour of him scratching it with his crafting knife. It only saddened him further, when he noticed that there wasn’t even a scratch.
*Cut* *Cut* *Cut*
Out of curiosity, he tried cutting the rest of materials he had available. Soft gold was no problem whatsoever. Silver was also very easy to cut. The little mithril he had put up a little resistance but otherwise no trouble. A single diamond among the last of his wealth was the toughest of the lot but still carve-able.
*Cut* *Cut* *Shink* * Cut* *Tink* *Tink* *Shink* *Cut**Tink* *Tink*
‘Huh.’ Weed knew it was a black dragon’s scale. But he did not imagine himself unable to cut it! Weed put the stone back into his inventory and began to meditate. He needed to think of a solution quickly otherwise this could well be the end of adventure.
The players in the audience were now in a frenzy, after seeing the elf work speedily they could only wonder why he chose to sit and meditate. Did he hit an obstacle? Or was he already finished, despite coming late? Was he some unheard off uncrowned prince of VR gaming? All the players were burning with curiosity. Even the professionals, were curious to know who was foolish enough to take on the name Weed. Was that person a threat to their ambitions to beat the game? A potential ally or a fool?
Even the NPC’s could feel the audience’s restlessness. The players curiosity and excitement began trickling over to the NPCs. The nobility, who had no interest in the competition, suddenly seemed more curious. It became obvious to them that one blacksmith wasn’t doing the same thing as the others. That ridiculous elf, whom they scorned and laughed at, was just sitting there. The NPC audience once again began to talk about and laugh at him once again. Weed frowned, there was too much noise for him to concentrate and gather his thoughts. The dilemma of not being able to carve the stone was quite serious. There was the added problem of not being able to do anything else as he had no other precious stone of similar exquisiteness with him.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Weed dug through the materials in inventory; there were only some precious stones left. He pocketed these before handing over the keys to the Kobold Elder....
‘Got to get back on track. Focus!’ Weed slapped both his hands against his cheeks. If he continued with the black diamond, there was no certainty that he would succeed. Contrary to that thought, there was no certainty that not using the black diamond would lead to success either.
‘If I keep my end game plan the same as before finding the black diamond, then in this situation, I would have simply used any other precious stone as substitute and continued on. The penalty would be....reduced impressiveness of the ring, But who would notice, right?’ Weed wore a huge frown across his face (not visible to anyone owing to his hidden face). As he ran through Theodore’s words / clues, Theodore did clearly state that players were required to practice in the training halls of Northern Mountain City. It might be the reason why he was struggling so much right now. ‘If only I had never fallen for Kendelbreu’s lies, I would have avoided the trap and been able to practice...’
Weed looked at the metal he had melted; he only had a little gold and mithril. If he undertook making anything now, it would be very small. As he was sitting, he had to shift his belt and his finger felt a sudden prick.... Weed suddenly jumped up. That is it! The crafting knife! He had completely forgotten about the crafting knife he had made in the first round! It was the unaccounted for factor!
With renewed enthusiasm and determination, Weed tried carving the black diamond again. Taking advantage of the bonuses offered by the knife and the clock Weed took his time and brought his concentration to the limit, after all he had said he would make the best ring and he wouldn’t let himself go back on his word at this point. There was always the option of raising deceit and betrayal….but Weed had no intention of upsetting the NPC who gave him his first quest. There was an unspoken bond of friendship between the two which Weed was most happy to preserve at all costs.
*Cut* *Cut* *Shink* * Cut* *Tink* *Tink* *Shink* *Cut* *CUT* *CRACK*
Weed’s frown gave away to a large smile. The black diamond finally chipped by the pointy tip of the tear drop. It was an extremely small piece but the right size for a solitaire ring. Scrapping away his initial plans to carve the entire diamond into a ring stone shaped like a pointy heart arrow head. Weed bitterly gave up this idea; it was his first original idea…which became irrelevant before he could even use it. He however consoled himself, with the hopes to sell the remaining black diamond later for a larger profit. Weed now aimed to polish the small chipped portion.
With the diamond taken care of Weed began shaping the gold and an even smaller piece of mithril. Some of the crowd noticed him at this and pointed out to other nearby. Soon everyone was wondering what the elf was doing this time, since it clearly wasn’t enough material to make anything very big like the other blacksmiths. Weed began molding the gold and mithril together in the shape of a ring band. Using his elemental abilities, he was able to knit the two metals perfectly. Still, bitter over not being able to carve the entire black diamond, Weed etched a mithril pattern around the band of hearts in the shape of arrow heads (something like a cupid’s arrow head).
As Weed continued to work a hush fell across the halls. Soon he was the only one still working, despite the fact that his piece was much smaller than the other smiths. The remaining finalists stood beside their pieces of bejeweled armors, swords and sculptures. Although curious none of them tried to sneak a peek at what the elf was doing.
By the time he had finished, he noticed the crowd running away from the stage; Snappy appeared with him Lisa and Rodriguez. Lisa appeared flustered as she seemed to be embarrassed by all the attention she was receiving from the players. The players in turn were wondering which NPC in their right mind would walk alongside the large dog with a bark enough to rip their ear drums. Rodriguez looked somewhat sick and a little scared.
As Weed placed his crafted item on the third task show piece table, a window appeared…
TRRRIIIINNG!
Solitaire Ring – Durability 25/25
A ring made with the desire for perfection and the hope to help bring two people together. This gold and mithril band features a cupid heart arrow head. It is topped with a tiny diamond of the highest quality and rarest type.
When you are cold or lonely look at the ring and feel the warmth of another’s love for you. This ring binds you together and allows you to help others connect as you have. Everything about this ring is unique. The etchings of mithril across the gold band, enable you to etch and share a memory you cherish into this ring. Also, once cleansed, the black diamond will return to its former glory, bequeathing other’s with its healing touch to the heart.
Restrictions: None.
It wasn’t too shabby, owing to his low skill level; the black diamond did not shine as much as he had hoped he would. Weed looked at his ring one last time before setting it on the table.
‘This will have to do….this was never what I aimed for anyways…’
The players and the NPC audience were most disappointed with Weed’s end result. Many had secretly high hopes from the elf blacksmith christened Weed. However, the small ring was of the poorest quality. It did not shine like the other blacksmith’s creations. The Christmas tree Cynbel forged, was a clear winner. All the users who looked at it received immediate buffs, but what made it stand out was its detailing of each leaf and ornament. It was at least a master piece. Thor too could not help but acknowledge his defeat this round. All that was left was for the winner to be declared. With Weed finished with his item, the competition was brought to an end and it was time for the judging and the results to be announced. As Theodore made his way to the stage and began to inspect the pieces Weed stepped forward.
“Theodore, though the last piece has been completed the task is not yet done. You asked us to create a thing something beauty and I will now do so.”
This announcement confused the crowd, the contestants, and even Theodore…Weed smiled like the devil. This was the opportune moment that he had been waiting for. It had never been about making a beautiful diamond from the start….Weed had already given up on the black diamond when he had been betrayed by Kendelbreu…so finding it with the Kobold’s was a sort of a bonus, making something beautiful out of the black diamond was never really a part of his plans to begin with, it was only a stepping stone to secure his victory…
“Err, excuse me but what do you mean elf” the perturbed dwarf judge asked.
Weed only smiled at the dwarf as if to say, please wait and see. Weed jumped of the stage and walked over to Rodriguez.
Players immediately broke into a whisper, ‘So he knows those two that walked with the dog?
‘I wonder is he on some secret type of quest?
‘Do you really think this is Weed?’
‘What do you think he is up to…’
Weed handed the ring to Rodriguez. “Now is the time.” He whispered into Rodriguez’s ear.
“But Weed this is not the most beautiful ring, you lied to me. I can’t do it. Not with this. It is black!”
Weed smiled back, hiding his worries. Everything hinged on this…“Of course you can. Trust me; to Lisa this will be the most beautiful ring in the world. This is the rarest of the rare diamonds…although black….see for yourself…”
Rodriguez checked the diamond carefully with his skills and dejectedly accepted Weed’s words. The ring although not beautiful had very romantic properties to it. “But…”
“Do IT!” Weed insisted as his tone slightly gave away his frustration.
“But…. I’m afraid, what if she says no.” Rodriguez wailed.
“She won’t, because you can share the memory you cherish the most of her and she will understand.” At this point Weed gives him a little push forward. The NPC audience still confused however the players caught on and watched in silence. It was on par with watching a romantic movie unfolding in front of them and nobody in the room dared to play spoiler especially since there were many women and nobility in the room, both who enjoyed romantic moments.
Lisa looked somewhat bewildered as Rodriguez approached her.
“Err, Lisa, that is, umm…. I mean….Darn..” Rodriguez fumbled and stumbled with his words, the NPC was programmed well in the ways of men getting weak in their knees when proposing to the woman they loved. Realizing that he was still standing, Rodriguez got on his knee.
Lisa continued to look at him…she appeared to be somewhat horrified and terribly embarrassed.
Rodriguez opened his mouth again, but his tongue completely failed him. Some of the men in the crowd laughed; they had experienced that before. Rodriguez hurriedly looked back at Weed beseechingly; begging the devil who threw him in the frying pan to help him. However, Weed only glared back angrily. ‘Just ask her to marry you idiot!’ Maybe a 10 year old did not understand the difficulties of the heart so well as one could hope for...then again this particular 10 year old should be the last person, one should turn to...given his only interest at the time was winning the competition.
Mustering all his courage, Rodriguez finally popped the question in a barely inaudible tone…
“Lisa for a long time now I have loved you, will you marry me?”
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Authors Note:
1. Thank you so much Tewlve, V4LKYR13, Zapper for helping out!
2. Hope you all like it. :) Cya in 5.9
3. Will be edited soon. PS: Vol 4 C1 - Vol 5 C7 has been Pr'd just need to update that. ^^
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Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?YesNo
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