Desmond moved the enchanter and alchemist stones back and forth a bit.

“How important is the workbench for you? If you have a base you like, you’d have a safe spot to always return to, which you could also modify to perfectly fit your needs. On the other hand, you can just rent a room with a basic workbench in most cities or villages. And besides, I’m sure that even cartography could benefit from a workbench, albeit in a less traditional sense.”

After he also fiddled around with that cartography stone, he looked at the three mind stones.

“Didn’t you pick the dexterity boost after getting your archetype? That already counteracts your race, making your mind and dexterity attributes gain points evenly. Besides, even with a lot of mind, you can still make up for it with skill and lots of practice.”

“And with the free points from leveling up,” Yunya thought to himself.

“On the other hand, an arcane archer with a massive mind attribute would make you stand out from the others. I’m sure a smart lad like you could figure out a way to stand out in a positive way,” Desmond grinned.

“And lastly, choosing a profession is for life. Ignore all those attributes or other things. If you purely look at the professions themselves, which ones would you actually like doing? No point in picking a profession if you’re not gonna bother doing it. A high level arcane archer/jeweler who can’t even work with a common jewel will not be as strong as a similar level arcane archer that is capable of working with jewels, since he’ll have honed his dexterity (among things) in a different way, making him only more versatile. Actually, it also goes the other way around. If that same arcane archer/jeweler never used a bow in his life before, his dexterity prowess would also be hampered, making him inferior to other jewelers.”

With those words, it became clear to Yunya that MENS fully intended for players to pursue both a class and a profession, at least up to a certain degree.

Desmond’s second remark was perhaps the easiest for Yunya to understand. A good player could make any kind of build work, even if it was somewhat less optimal. A double mind boost and a single dexterity boost (race+profession vs archetype boost) could still work for an arcane archer, he’d just have to play in a different way. It also went the other way around, making the enchanter profession less attractive, since he didn’t need a dexterity profession. As he took away the enchanter stone, he explained his reasoning to Desmond, who nodded approvingly. Nobody dislikes it when people actually listen to the advice you give them.

Yunya did hum about the workbenches. Even if he wasn’t planning to be glued to a single place, he would probably end up with a favorite one. And what to say of the capital, where the truly good npcs and quests were located. Even if it would take weeks or maybe months before he even gained access, it was worth keeping in mind. As for constantly renting basic ones, Yunya did not count on those. They were convenient once in a while, but not reliable long term. Either he’d have good stuff or no stuff.

And for what he liked about the professions? That’d be either cartography or investigator. All the others seemed like a chore, whereas those two were something that Yunya was actually interested in. So, he just removed everything except these two.

“Down to only two, huh? They do suit you. The way you calmly and visually explain things, it would suit both a cartographer or an investigator.”

“Yes. Although I still don’t know what to pick between these two,” Yunya sighed.

“You don’t need to choose.”

Desmond quickly clarified as he saw Yunya’s confused look, “Not yet at least. You’re still not able to enter the big city, right?”

“Ah, I’m not. You’re right.”

“Means you got plenty of time to think about it, lad. You want another suggestion?”

“Sure.”

“Don’t think about it. Go do some quests, fight enemies, get strong enough to enter Eagle’s Watch. By the time you are strong enough, more than likely, you’ll have already made up your mind.”

Desmond ended the conversation with a grin: “And no, I do not have any quests for you.”

“Tsk.”

The receptionist had already finished talking to the tiefling player and was back at his usual spot. On the quest board, Yunya found one that would give boots that boosted his dexterity, but they were level 8. Sadly, he could get only one quest from here at a time. He did however spot a map that showed the location of three nearby villages. It was a crude map though, causing Yunya to half-jokingly complain to the receptionist.

“Then make a better one. We’d gladly buy better maps if you have any.”

“Really?”

“Of course. In the same way as we pay the blacksmith to make us arrows or a carpenter to craft a bow.”

“Hmm, I’ll keep that in mind. Anyway, how much for the map? And to refill my quiver as well.”

“Six silver, 50 copper.”

Yunya only had about five silver left, not earning too much since selling the skill book to Path.

“I’ll pay one silver if you’ll guide me to Violet Valley.”

Yunya turned back and his eyes met the player who just said those words.

“Violet Valley?”

“One of the POI’s on that map. I need to go there for a quest.”

“And you’re not buying the entire map because…”

“Because I’m too poor. Besides, I only need a little part of the map, not all of it.”

Yunya thought about it and agreed. Getting one silver just to play guide, but still gain the entire map? Not too bad.

“Sure. Also, why is there a warrior in the archer outpost?” he said as he pointed at the spear on the player’s back.

“To get a map,” the player laughed. “I’m Burning Eclipse by the way, but just call me Eclipse.”

“Ashen Fall. But a fair warning: all I currently care about is getting to level 15, so if we meet enemies along the way, I’ll be treating them as a simple delivery of experience.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Eclipse grinned, “That’s like music to my ears.”

Now completely broke (he was missing a few coppers to pay the full price, but the receptionist waved them, as a final reward for winning the earlier contest), Yunya messaged his friends to see if they’d join. Zephyr was still busy with his rogue quest and Path was offline, but Breeze said she’d join.

As they made their way to Violet Valley, Eclipse explained that he heard that there was a quest which would allow him to acquire a halberd.

Pointing at the spear on his back, he said, “This feels a little too light for me. I want to not only stab people, but also slap them away. So, a halberd is perfect.”

“Why not an ax?” Breeze asked.

“Too short. And the big, two handed ones are not meant to stab with. I want both.”

And when Breeze remarked that Eclipse was being greedy, he just laughed. “Strength dictates everything. Who’s going to complain that I’m greedy when I actually am strong enough to do both?”

“Hmph, care to prove it? The reason I joined this little excursion is because there is a quest along the way, to kill an elite wolf. Will the big, strong man take care of this feeble young lady?” she said to Eclipse as she blinked her eyes.

“I’m always in the mood,” Eclipse said, “whether it’s you or Ashen who asked, I’d never back down from a fight.”

Yunya had to suppress a laugh as he asked a stupefied Breeze where the elite wolf of her quest was located. It was a little detour, but not too far. Soon enough, they found the cave that served as the wolf’s den, but they had to clear out the normal wolves first before the elite even showed up. That alone took more than an hour, but what it did give was plenty of experience! And for the first time in Infinite Odyssey, Yunya could fight along with someone who actually belonged on the front lines. Eclipse was an orc and had chosen the vitality boost, so even if it wasn’t perfect, he made for a somewhat decent tank. At least a lot better than either Yunya or Path had done so far.

With two ranged attackers behind him, all Eclipse had had to do was hold back the wolves from reaching them. And with a long spear, it was not a difficult thing to do. But in reality, he had even gone one step further. He had actively been attacking the wolves, without letting any get past.

As the last normal wolf died, Yunya turned around to look at Breeze and asked seriously, “Well, feeble young lady, is that big, strong man to your liking?”

Breeze snorted and didn’t even deem him worthy of a reply. However, she couldn’t deny that Eclipse truly was strong. Even if he was a little dense.

Eclipse turned around to look at them, “You guys good to go and fight the elite?”

“Lead the way,” Yunya gestured.

They had killed all the wolves outside of the cave, making the open space in front of it bloody and messy. Inside the cave however, there was only emptiness. Creeping through the cave, they had to constantly hunch over due to the low ceiling.

“There better be a big cave at the end for this bossfight,” Eclipse muttered angrily. With his long spear, he had to constantly watch out not to hit anything.

“There should be,” Yunya assured. “Besides the fact that this is a game and MENS will give us plenty of room to fight in, don’t forget that for an alpha wolf, it’d be humiliating to be confined to a small place. After all, this is what, a level 7 quest?”

Breeze simply nodded. Mages didn’t need to worry too much about limited space, since they just shot magic from afar.

“You’re quite good with that spear of yours, Eclipse,” Yunya said. “Are you sure you need a halberd instead?”

Compared to Soren, the elite wolf had been a pushover. Especially when taking Eclipse into account. The orc warrior was a natural at combat. The elite wolf was a lot stronger than normal wolves, but so was Eclipse. So, when Eclipse fought defensively, he could easily force a stalemate. Which was then immediately broken by the two players behind him, who obliterated the poor wolf. Eclipse himself said he estimated to have a one in three chance to win the fight by himself, albeit with severe injuries. Yunya and Breeze? They didn’t want to make the comparison, since a squishy ranged player could not stack up against a front line warrior in this scenario.

“I do. ‘Quite good’ is not good enough,” Eclipse grinned. “And it’s only a beginner halberd. If I don’t end up liking it, it’s not like I’d have wasted a lot of effort in obtaining it.”

“Fair enough. Anyway, is your quest done, Breeze?”

“Mhm. I need to actually hand in its head, but that’s back at Red Reef. But I still want to visit Violet Valley first. Maybe there is a unique magic related quest there.”

In good spirits, they continued making their way over to the other starter village. Yunya was still busy thinking about the professions and ended up asking Eclipse what he would pick, only to end up with a disappointing answer.

“Professions? Oh, the non-combat classes? Haven’t thought about it. Isn’t that only available in the big cities anyway?”

“Yes, but you can find information about them if you want to. In the same way you can already look at the classes, even if you can’t acquire them yet either.”

“Well, I don’t want to,” Eclipse laughed. “Although I have looked into the warrior classes. But I haven’t decided yet.”

“Oh, what are the classes?” Breeze asked.

“I don’t care about the others, but I’m between weapon specialist or berserker.”

“What do they do?”

She had to ask the question, since it didn’t seem like there would be any further explanation otherwise.

“Either the most standard warrior class, but with a focus on a singular weapon type, or the high damage/low defense class with two handed weapons.”

“Oh, Path said she wanted to eventually get that first one I think,” Breeze said, to then give a full explanation about all the different mage classes and which ones she liked or disliked. Yunya only needed to hear the first two sentences before he ignored her, not wanting a half hour explanation about classes he wouldn’t pick. In the end, he didn’t even hear what class she was planning on picking. Thankfully, she had Eclipse’ full attention, so she didn’t notice Yunya’s absence from the conversation.

When they arrived at Violet Valley, Eclipse gave his thanks for the help and went to the local warrior outpost to find the quest he was looking for. Similarly, Breeze went her own way as well. Yunya didn’t have any business here, so after he sold the drops he’d gotten along the way and filled up his quiver again as much as he could, he left to go complete his own quest.

Quest Archer avenged Description Somewhere near Violet Valley, an old archer had been attacked near a lake. His dead body had been found, the culprit remains. Find it and bring back proof of its death. Reward The boots of the fallen archer

Yunya didn’t have much to go on except for the location provided, ‘near a lake’. He’d asked at the local archer outpost and they happily provided him with a clue, since they too wanted an archer to be able to rest in peace. Thankfully, there was only one lake in the vicinity of Violet Valley, so the search area had narrowed down significantly. He also searched for rumors about the lake, but none of them stood out.

With only some vague pointers, it took him quite a while to find the lake. At the lake’s shores, Yunya spent around another half an hour before he finally found the traces he’d been looking for. On the side of the lake with the forest, he found the remains of a battle. Broken branches, a destroyed arrow, dragmarks further ahead.

“Strange, the body was discovered right here. Why are there dragmarks? Was there a second person? Or am I missing something?”

Standing inside the dragmarks, Yunya frowned.

“These marks are way too big to be from a body. Is it from the monster? It’s wounded? No, I don’t see any blood. And I don’t think that archer npc could’ve wounded something without spilling blood. Not like he used a club or anything.”

Except for the broken arrow, nothing stood out to him. Everything else was from nature itself, from neither the archer nor the unknown monster.

“Maybe the monster moves around by dragging itself? But the marks point towards the trees. Wait, is it not an aquatic monster? But what kind of monster lives inside a dense forest while dragging itself? It’d have so much trouble going from place to place.”

Suddenly, Yunya stopped walking, as he had been following the dragmarks into the forest.

“If it lives inside the forest, why did it come out? Was it thirsty? No, since then it would have regularly gone out to drink. The npcs of Violet Valley would’ve known about it and I’d have heard at least some talk about it.”

He sighed, “I’m never gonna figure that out all by myself. I’ll probably have to find the monster first before I can understand its reasons. But how am I going to find it if I don’t even know what I’m looking for?”

While Yunya was talking to himself, he didn’t notice the vine that was slowly crawling towards him.