Smiling at the thought of having a Masterpiece, I asked Drune “You need anything else for this ‘Masterpiece’?”
Thinking for a bit he said, “With your luck in finding rare items, anything is possible. However if you come across any other rare materials, just bring them to me when you can.” Specifying, “Specifically a Unicorn Horn, a Dragon’s Heart, or a Phoenix Feather. Any one of those along with the Tear, and I could make you something truly one of a kind.” Holding his hand out for me.
“I'll be on the lookout.” Shaking his hand.
Odelia questioned Drune, “Do you not think those items are a bit too rare and expensive to ask for?”
“No doubt, but there’s something about this kid that makes me optimistic, you’ll see when you talk to him.” Winking at her. “Well then, I better go get Mako to start her training, it’ll take a long while until she's ready to even attempt forging Adamantite.” Running out of the shop saying, “Watch the shop while I’m gone.”
Turning back to Odelia, I found her right behind me intensely examining Infinity still on my back. “At least let me remove it first, Odelia.” Unstrapping Infinity and placing it on the counter. Going around the counter, I sat down on the chair while Odelia spent the next few minutes examining, and even using the same identifying magic Drune used. Trying to make conversation, I said “Odelia, the Captain of the Guards called you Lady Odelia, should I be calling you that too?”
Still examining, she answered “No need, just Odelia please. I have known Little Dayla since she was young, talking to her every time I visited Drune. She only calls me Lady because she thought I looked like a princess when she was younger, and I guess it stuck with her.”
“I see." Thinking, "To be fair, I thought you were a Dark Elf princess too.” Still awkward, I kept talking. “So you and Drune seem close.”
“I would hope so, he is my husband after all.” Raising Infinity above her head.
“What!? He said his friend was coming, not his wife?” Taken back by the news.
“We are friends.” She smiled, “ We believe having a good friendship will lead to a good marriage, and it has so far.” Her smile lessened a bit, “Especially since we live apart, myself in Ven’Thyl, and Drune in Asheton.
“What’s Ven’Thyl?” I asked, trying to get more information about this world.
Putting the quiver down, she gave me the same strange look from earlier. “First you did not know about the slavery in the Kingdoms, and now you do not even know the Capital of the Elves?”
Remembering something, I thought, “Wait, her name is Odelia Ven’Thyl. Is that just a name or could she really be a princess of some sort?” Staring at her intently, “Let’s see if I can get her full name.” Trying to play it off, “Oh Ven’Thyl, I thought you said something else. But by the way, Drune's name is Stoneheart, so does that make you Odelia Stoneheart?”
“No, I use my maiden name, Odelia Sylvis.” Handing back Infinity.
“Is she hiding her name? or could it mean she doesn’t know? I should keep it to myself for now.” Then asking, “Could you tell me about Ven’Thyl? I don’t know much about it.”
“The Hero or the city?” Interested more in the sound of the Hero, I asked her to tell me about it. “The Great Ven’Thyl was one of the Five Great Heroes, along with Leon and Sya from the Human Kingdom, and Beldra and Norik from the Dwarven Kingdom. All the major cities of the Kingdoms were renamed after them after their passing.” Looking at me to see if I wanted her to keep going, I nodded. “The Great Ven’Thyl was the greatest archer the world has ever seen, and the first to create and become a Trinity Archer. His skill with a bow was unmatched, and it is said to have been so godly that nothing was out of his range. Truly the pinnacle of Archery that all Elven Archers strive for." She paused for a moment, and said "Then one day all the Five Great Heroes just disappeared at once. Most believe there is a Dungeon somewhere so terrifyingly powerful that not even the Five Great Heroes could overcome it, taking all their lives and leaving all their Legendary gear in one place for whoever may claim it.”
“Wow, thanks for educating me Odelia. Now do you have any questions I know you have for me?” I asked.
With a sparkle in her eye, she began asking questions. "Where did you get it? How does it work? Why can only you use it? And can you show me how you fixed my bow?"
I lied to her and just said I came across the quiver somewhere, but I did tell her what Drune said about it being a God-Make item, and also showed her how the things I think of just appear out of it and disappear when they are put in it. Then I showed her how to silence her bow with the fur strips—also giving her ideas of alternative silencers—but explained that doing so will lower the power of the shot a little. "Wait, my bow's name changed earlier. Maybe its stats changed too." Looking at my changed bow.
Silenced Shame
Rare
Attack: 200
+25 Strength
Effect: Increases damage by 1% the closer you are to the target, up to 30%.
Requirement: Lv.20, Str 100
"I think the attack was 250 before, so it went down by 50. That sucks but it still seems good, I should look at the modified bow next time." Strapping Infinity back on my back, I said “So were you satisfied with my answers and the quiver?”
“I am for now, to feel and touch a God-Make item in person was a true pleasure. I still have questions about the quiver, but I don’t think you would know the answers. As for a thank you…” Thinking to herself, “You seem to be a decent archer from the short display I witnessed outside of town earlier, but you could be better, so I would like to formally invite you to come train with me for a week in Ven’Thyl.”
Quest Completed Drune’s Friend has been completed. Reward: A week's worth of Archery Training from Odelia.
“I don’t know what to say.” Unsure about the reward, “What type of training is it exactly?” Already more than confident in basic archery.
“Well before that, Drune told me you were only Lv.3 yesterday, but seeing how you could use my bow means you are at least Lv.20, and that would take months of constant leveling even at the lower levels. So why did you lie? What are you hiding?” Giving me a questioning look.
“N-Nothing.” I quickly answered, thinking “It takes months? That must mean the Npcs level slower than Players."
Giving me another look, Odelia continued. “Whatever the case, I will assume you are still a Ranger Class or Archer Class, yes?”
“Yeah, an Archer.” I answered.
“Well as for myself, I am a Master Trinity Archer, which means I have learnt all 3 Elven Archery Styles. A week's worth of training would consist of you learning the bare basics of 1 of these 3 Archery Styles. Most likely the Wood Elf Style seeing that you are one, though you can choose one you would rather learn.”
“Can you train me in the others too?” I asked, excited at the thought of learning new types of Archery I've never done before. “I’ll pay if needed.”
“Money is not an issue, I am just not that good of a teacher, and I do not wish to waste that much time.” She stated, “Not to mention teaching even just the basics for all 3 would take much more than a week, years in fact.”
Unshaken by her words, I said “Don’t worry about being a bad teacher, I’m used to having one. And because of him, I quickly learned to become a fast learner.” Confidently stating, “I promise you that not only can I learn the basics, but I can also learn all 3 Styles in less than a month. No matter what. Just as long as that’s not too much time for you to ‘waste’.”
Laughing at my confidence, Odelia said “We shall see about that. I will be leaving town in 7 days, so finish up your business in town before then.”
Drune then bursted through the door with Mako following behind, saying “Thanks for watching the shop, Kid.”
“No problem, I had a great chat with your wife, and she even invited me to train with her in Ven’Thyl.”
Surprised and then smiling, Drune said “Really? O'di you’re gonna teach again?”
Smiling back, she said “Not exactly, but seeing how fond you were of him, even offering to be his personal blacksmith, I thought he could be someone I could trust a little. Plus he allowed me to see a ‘God Make’ item for the first time, so he deserved a little reward for it.”
As Odelia and Drune talked to each other, Mako walked over and whispered “I don’t know how you did it, but I think I got accepted as an apprentice already, cause I randomly just got the Apprentice Blacksmith Subclass, and somehow also got forced into being your personal blacksmith too.”
“You found out? I was supposed to keep it a secret, but congrats anyway.”
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“Thanks, and yeah I did, a message told me.”
“Interesting, but look on the bright side, you’re now the apprentice of one of the best blacksmiths in all of the land. And that means you could be the best blacksmith out of all the Players.” With the thought of being the best in her head, I could see Mako face loving the idea. Then telling them goodbye, I left the shop and headed to the Inn.
Entering the fairly empty Inn, a bunch of the workers were cleaning up the massive mess made from last night’s attack—moving the still good tables and chairs, throwing out the broken ones, picking up the fallen food, and mopping the splattered blood and ale all over the floor.
I walked to the bar where Rayna and Kassa were talking, and upon seeing me Rayna said “See I knew he would alright, Sherry was worrying over nothing.”
“It’s nice to see that you’re alright too.” I replied.
“We probably wouldn’t have been if it wasn’t for that monstrous woman last night.” Kassa mentioned.
“So true, but what do you need, Eyes?” Rayna asked.
“I was gonna go take a nap in my room, but I was wondering if one of you could wake me up when it’s nightfall?”
They both looked at each other and then said at the same time “We can do that.”
“I think I just caused some trouble.” Heading up to the 4th floor, I entered my room and removed all my gear—hopping into the shower right after. Drying off and putting on my sweats, I stepped into the closet looking at myself in the mirror, and seeing that my muscles were slightly more toned. “I guess the Fitness Skill and the Stats are really helping my muscles grow.” Then I laid on the bed and rested—closing my eyes.
Waking from the noise, I got up and heard Sherry’s muffled voice outside my door. “No, you can’t go in like that.”
“Sherry, he asked us to.” A muffled Kassa said.
“I don’t think he wants you to wake him up like that.” Sherry insisted.
“It was implied, and are you just mad he didn’t invite you?” Rayna asked.
“Of course not! Why would you say that?” Sherry shouted.
“We got her Rayna, look at her face, it’s turning red.” Kassa teased.
Hearing the scuffle outside, I looked out the huge window to see that it was already dark. “Better get going then.” While I was equipping all my gear again, the door flew open and the 3 women fell onto the floor. Rayna and Kassa picked themselves off the floor, covering themselves with their thin robes, and Sherry—still on the ground—covered her face from embarrassment. I said to them, “Thanks for waking me up, but I gotta go to the Guild to deal with the source of last night’s attack, so another time?” Giving them a wink, and walking past them to the stairs.
Hearing them as I walked down the stairs, Kassa said “Look what you did Sherry, now he’s leaving.”
“What a missed opportunity.” Rayna added.
“Wait, why did he leave?” Sherry questioned, and then all the girls laughed together.
Entering the fairly less busy Guild, I approached Thaddeus at the counter, and he said to me “You’re here. The chosen Party have already arrived, all except for the Iron Rank who declined the request. Don’t worry though, the Iron Rank was probably weaker than the Copper Ranks, and we would've had an overfull party for the Dungeon anyway.” Leading me behind the counter and into the hallway again, “The rest of them are waiting in here.” This time showing me to the first door on the right.
Just standing outside the door, I could already hear them loudly arguing with each other. Turning to Thaddeus, I said “They don’t sound like they get along very well.”
“What can I say, not every Party likes each other, sometimes you just get the people that are the best for the job.” He smiled, opening the door.
The room was square with a rectangle table with 3 chairs on each side, and 1 chair on each end. To my surprise 4 familiar people sat across from each other—a chair apart.
Faust and Dream argued across from each other, with Dream shouting “I’m telling you I counted right! 358 was my total!”
“Liar! You said your number a second after I said mine, and we're not even close to being the same level!” Faust shouted back.
Beside them was Lavie and Tobias. “What kind of Guild is this? Why would they let a murderer like you join?” Lavie questioned loudly.
“Look girl, the Mayor died from the goblin attack, I didn’t murder anyone.” Smirking at her, “Don’t blame me for not being able to protect him.”
The arguments stopped the moment we entered the room, and Thaddeus said to them “This is the last member of your Party, he will also be the Party Leader.” Gesturing to me.
They all gave me a judging look, except for Lavie who looked happy to see me. “I don’t think they realize they already know each other. And if they’re keeping their names a secret from the Guild, I should just send all of them a Party Invite.” Creating a Party, I sent them an invite, and was happy to see they all quickly accepted.
You have created a Party, and have been designated as the Party Leader.
Faust has accepted your Party Request, and have been added into your Party. Dream Manic Pixie has accepted your Party Request, and have been added into your Party. Lavie En Rouge has accepted your Party Request, and have been added into your Party. Tobias Casper Grim has accepted your Party Request, and have been added into your Party.
Party Hey, we are all in the same room.
A moment passed and they all got the message, and I watched them read it as they looked at each other in the room.
Faust- Wow how did we end up together?
Dream- So this is wat u guys look like?
Tobias- These two look like they're still children.
Lavie- Tobias you murdered the mayor.
Look, we can talk about it later, for now just pretend you don’t know me, and keep the chat open so we can talk
Seeing them all nod, I asked Thaddeus “Did you find the location of the Goblin King?”
“Yes we did, but please have a seat. I’ll tell you what we discovered.” I sat on one end of the table and Thaddeus sat at the other. “As you already know, a Goblin King was able to amass a massive army of goblins to send to Asheton last night, this means they must’ve been in a location nearby with a lot of space. With that information we were able to narrow the search, and were able to find out that the Goblin King has occupied Lord Creedmor’s Castle.”
“I don’t know the area, where is that?” I genuinely asked.
“Apologies, Lord Creedmor’s Castle is 2 days away by foot, straight North of here. It is surrounded by the Crescent Mountain Range.” Thaddeus explained.
Raising her hand up, Dream asked “What happened to Lord Creedmor? Did he get scared and give up his castle?”
“Lord Creedmor was no scared man, he was a great warrior once, and would not let anything happen to his castle.” Explaining, “Being the Lord overlooking of this land, he frequently visited and check up on Asheton. Sadly he passed away in his castle 10 years ago, and since then his castle has become very appealing to monsters looking for a place to stay, having the natural barrier of the mountain range around it.” Adding, “It gets occupied by new monsters every few months, but never to this extent.”
“More goblins is easy enough, let’s just go kill them already.” Faust said eagerly, already getting up.
“Wait.” Thaddeus said, “You probably don’t know because you're Copper Ranks, and new to the area, but Lord Creedmor’s Castle is always a Closed Dungeon.”
“Ooo, what’s that?” Dream asked, “Can we not go in or something?”
“Allow me to explain.” Thaddeus said, starting to tell us. “There are two types of Dungeons, Open ones and Closed ones. Open Dungeons allow any number of people to freely enter and exit, making most of them fairly simple to clear with time—having multiple Raid Groups alternating going inside and dividing the Dungeon. Closed Dungeons however are generally the more difficult of the two, having a maximum of only 5 people inside the Dungeon at once, and only ever opening up space when someone dies. Once you enter a Closed Dungeon, it closes you in and you are unable to exit until you kill the Boss.”
“Do you know how many goblins we have to deal with inside?” Lavie asked.
“The reports say at least as many as last night's attack, though the exact number could be more than 10,000.” Thaddeus answered, “We’re also led to believe that last night's attack was just a test to help judge how many goblins they needed to succeed, and how well Asheton could defend.” Adding, “Their main forces are most likely twice as strong, so avoid being surrounded at all cost, or you could be overwhelmed quickly and exhausted by their greater numbers.”
Tobias laughed out loud, “What a job you got me accepting, and you expect us to kill all 10,000, right?”
“Preferably if you want your extra reward, but killing the Goblin King is the top priority.” Thaddeus replied.
“Sounds like they have the same Quest as me, but they have to kill all the goblins instead of keeping each other alive.” I thought to myself.
“2,000 each?” Faust asked, pointy at everyone in the Party.
Everyone then smiled agreeing to it, and Thaddeus couldn’t help smiling too. “Wow, I have never seen a Party as dauntless as this, especially Copper Ranks faced with an army of thousands. I hope your overconfidence won't lead to your downfalls, and instead lead to your triumphant success.” Thaddeus added, “The Guild has high hopes for you five.” Everyone got up and exited the Guild building.
Is everyone ready to go?
Lavie- I am.
Dream- Yup
Tobias- The sooner the better.
Faust- Let’s gooo!
Leaving the city from the west gate, we all passed the many burned corpses of the goblins, and headed northward. Stopping us, Faust said “2 days is a long time by foot, you should all get on.” Getting on all fours, Faust's body suddenly changed and shifted into the form of a white furred bear.
“Oh, I’ve seen this bear around.” I said.
Faust then responded, “Really, where? Oh right you can’t understand me.”
“I can understand you just fine?” Unsure what he meant.
“What? You speak bear?” Fausted asked.
“I guess I do.” Remembering that I could now communicate with things regardless of language.
Dream asked Lavie and Tobias, “Do you guys understand what they're saying?” All of them looked at Faust and me with a weird look.
“No clue, but I don’t think we’ll all fit riding on that bear.” Lavie said.
“Oh, I might have a solution.” Dream said, running off into the forest.
“Well that’s one down.” Tobias said, jokingly.
Then after about 5 minutes of waiting, Dream came back with 2 wolves walking on each side of her. “Okay this one's mine, and I guess the other is Lavie’s since she probably weighs less than the guys, no offence Tobias and Eyes.” But Tobias and I didn’t care, “Oh and don’t worry Faust, these guys came willingly.” Seeing Faust’s bear face judging her. “Shall we?”
"I guess so." Lavie said, hopping on the back of her wolf, while Tobias and I got on Bear Faust, and we all headed North.