The woman wasn’t young and was at the doorstep to becoming a senior. The passage of time had left traces and scars on her face, but her physique was a fit as a bull, her buffed arms comparable to the muscular Greenstone. Drako Yau also noticed the countless scars that were on her palms.
The young NPC who received him just now was respectfully and obediently following behind the woman. She glanced at the spear pole and the bag of metal shards, then stared deep into Drako Yau’s eyes and asked, “How did it break?”
“It saved my life, so it broke.”
“You can’t be that strong when you let your weapon break like that.”
“I know.”
The two engaged in a period of silence. The woman shot another look at Drako Yau and said, “Repairing it… I can give it a try, but the chance of success is quite low. Thirty per cent at best. You’ll also pay for anything used during the repair process.”
She then gave him a quote. The price was enough for him to buy a brand new Level 15 Epic spear.
“Sure.”
The woman was somewhat surprised that Drako Yau readily accepted her offer. His response had caught her off guard a little.
“Weren’t you going to repair it?” Drako Yau had a troubled look.
“Are you sure what you’re doing? There’s only a thirty per cent chance that I can fix it. If I fail, I won’t refund the money either.”
“Yes.” Drako Yau nodded and stared back at the woman. “Please proceed with it then.”
“Gotta say, kid, you’re an interesting one.” The chilly look on the old woman’s face broke into a smile, her wrinkly lips now tugged upwards a little. “I’ll give it a go then.”
“Hidden quest completed: Weaponsmith’s Trial.
After getting acquainted with the weaponsmith store’s owner, you may receive various quests from her in the future.”
Drako Yau was a bit surprised upon hearing the system notification. He never thought he would stumble upon a hidden quest in such a way.
NPCs in the game each had their own Favour system. Once their favour metre reached a certain numerical value, players could receive quests from the NPC or even receive an encounter quest exclusive to that NPC.
“Follow me.” The boss signalled him over before entering the inner part of the store. Drako Yau quickly recovered from his daze, picked up his spear pole and bag of metal shards, and followed her.
Hot—it was his first impression of the place. However, the boss who led the way was completely unperturbed by the heat as she continued with her manly wide stride. When the heat reached a certain degree, the boss also came to a halt; they had reached their destination.
A rectangular smithing table stood beside two one-metre wide pools. One of the pools was filled with water, while the other one was full of boiling hot magma. How she managed to get magma inside her store was a mystery. The two liquids seemed to be polar opposites, but they were both necessary components of smithing.
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“Put your stuff there.” The boss pointed at the smithing table.
Drako Yau responded with “Mhm” and did as she instructed.
“Take ten steps back and stay there like a good kid.”
“Okay…” The boss was a rough and hardy person. Knowing that she meant what she said, Drako Yau obeyed her instructions and simply looked from the sidelines.
The boss took in a deep breath and picked up the bag. Under Drako Yau’s astounded gaze, she tossed the entire bag into the magma pool. The bag immediately disintegrated and disappeared, while the shards of various sizes gradually turned red hot and were approaching melting point.
At that moment, the boss flicked her right palm. The pieces of shards that were about to melt shot out from the magma and splattered streaks of red hot liquid all over the floor, but they soon blended into the floor which had blackened from all the burning.
The metal shards landed on the smithing table. With large steps, the boss caught up with the shards with a smithing hammer in hand and hammered at the shards.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The power behind each hammer strike made Drako Yau’s face cramp. If he was on the receiving end of those hits… He shuddered and decided to knock the thought out of his mind. He continued to look at her silently.
After only three hammers, the shards were no longer shards and integrated into one piece, giving off a gentle glow. The spearhead now reforged, the boss picked up the spear pole, connected the spearhead to it, and tossed it into the air.
The spear spun a few circles before diving head first into the pool of crystal clear water. Steam emanated from the pool, further increasing the room’s temperature.
“Kid, I broke the rules to repair this for you, only because you made the effort of picking up the shards one by one. I didn’t alter the spearhead’s form in any way and only re-forged it into what it used to be. It has grown stronger after rebirth, you could call it a pleasant surprise.”
After a while, the boss pulled out the spear from the water pool and tossed it at Drako Yau. He quickly received the spear along with a notification.
“You have received the repaired Moon Gazer. It has evolved into Moon Breaker.”
“Moon Breaker, forged from the shattered Moon Gazer. Level 20 Epic spear.”
It evolved into a Level 20 weapon! This Moon Breaker could probably follow him for a long while now. Its shape hadn’t changed much either, just that the spearhead had changed from its previous metallic sheen to livid.
“Thank you.”
The boss shook her hand and said, “Pay outside.” She then shooed him away as if he was a pestering fly.
After paying the repair fee, Drako Yau left the store. He could finally focus on the next issue—class progression!
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The place where Drako Yau was headed for was none other than the Highlands of John. It had only been roughly a month since he had entered the game, but it had been eventful: encountering Zephyrwolf, Greenstone, Hades, and the others; The Siege event; the battle at the Demon City; and the battle with Nin.
Every single time, he danced between the boundaries of life and death, but that also accelerated his growth. It had been seven years since he last had this feeling—back when the old geezer had hunted him down for the very last time.
His impending class progression would undoubtedly bump up his combat strength further. He had come to terms with his situation as well. There existed too many uncertainties in this world; if he couldn’t affect those uncertainties, he would improve himself until he could!
The Highlands of John was a vast region because it was designed to house all players beyond Level 20 when it officially launched. In fact, the name was just a general name for the entire region. It could be further divided into dozens of levelling zones, each with distinctively different types of monsters and environment.
These were all things he couldn’t create no matter how delicately and thoroughly he went about designing his game. Even though he knew his idea was plagiarised, he had no choice but to admire the people who made the current Real World. It was a gorgeous tower built upon the foundations he had laid.
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Tormentor
Description: A class progression branch of the mage class, they are wielders of tormenting powers.
Skill type: Different from elementalists, tormentors wield terrifying powers of lightning and darkness. Although their skills deal less damage than elementalists, their tormenting powers are control-oriented, which is why tormentors excel at controlling their enemies and maintaining control over the battlefield. Dark magic can apply silence, slowness, binding, and curse debuffs on enemies, while lightning magic can cause paralysis and make up for their somewhat lack of damage output.
Skill tree: Lightning magic, Dark magic.
Weapon type: Short staff.
Class progression: ???