Jade took a deep breath, having felt like he went underwater for a moment and had just come up for air. He looked around himself, noticing an elaborate crafting bench with all sorts of tools, what looked to be a smithing furnace, and an anvil and its various tools. He was confused for a moment before a pop-up appeared in front of his face.
[Time elapsed: 0.05 seconds]
[Virtual Crafting Space set up]
[WARNING: Setting the default look of an item without giving any input will result in no special effects and the weakest stats possible]
The time elapsed portion kept ticking up 0.01 every second that passed, Jade theorizing that the Virtual Crafting Space worked on a one hundred to one time scale, making it easier to craft long projects without spending weeks on the project. Nifty.
He didn’t have time for any of the crafting, however, quickly pulling up the crafting grid to where he’d selected. The Cythralite weapons were geared towards throwing and melee, Jade picking the Cyth Chakram to craft and selecting the instant method. Better to get a sub-par weapon than to get no weapon when the Royal Slime interrupted the crafting process. He then selected the Cyth Sword, choosing a standard longsword design before confirming both selections. Most of his Cythralite bars disappeared as both weapons appeared in his inventory, Jade choosing to exit before too much time passed. I’ll have more time to look at all of that later.
#
Another gasping breath and Jade was back in the real world, cutting off Amy’s confused reply by pulling out both weapons. They honestly looked a bit fake, the lines way too straight and the metal looking dull with no shine. None of that mattered, however, when the siblings rushed over with gasps, Jade allowing Amy to grab the chakram and Yondol the sword.
“How did you-“
“Where did you get these from…?”
“No time. We’re about to get hit by a Royal Slime. A boss monster.” Both of their eyes jerked to Jade, Amy looking frightened and Yondol giving a serious nod. “I’m going to try and keep its attention. I need both of you to kill the slimes that are going to drop off of it.” I hope that’s still how it’s going to work. He barely had time to think that before a red liquid started bubbling up in between the cobblestones, Jade jumping back to not get caught inside the monster, beginning his usual strafing strategy as one of his accessory items activated.
The Gale Boots. He’d always wondered how they would work, as they increased movement speed but he always though the character’s feet would trip up if they moved that fast. Apparently, they worked by increasing the user’s perception of time, everything around him slowing down before he came to a stop in surprise. Time resumed its normal pace once he stopped, the Royal Slime fulling forming in moments and springing up right towards Jade, who barely reacted in time to dodge out of the way. He continued moving that time, time continued to slow as he noticed white dust coming from the metal boots as he did so. He chuckled at that effect, pulling out his wand again as he pointed it at the slime while resisting the urge to mimic the sound the boots made in Errant.
The fight continued with Jade firing at the boss, Amy throwing her chakram like a boomerang at the slimes dripping off with each hit Jade made, catching the weapon as it swung back. Yondol took down small slimes as well, one swing of his sword enough to pop the small slimes. Jade surprised himself with how much stamina he had, running around casually for several minutes as the boss slowly reduced in size as chunks of it were blown off.
Halfway through the fight, several people in crude leather armor ran up to join, Jade assuming they were one of the local adventurer teams. His moment of distraction let the slime get in a solid hit, ramming Jade and smashing him into a wall. He expected it to hurt more than it did, it feeling like getting casually pushed into the wall instead of sinking several inches into the wood. Benefits of the armor, he mused, pushing away from the wall to dodge the next lunge of the slime. He then kept his focus on running constantly around the slime, occasionally looking to the other adventurers and seeing some wield elemental shrouded weapons, Nice fire sword, and others firing random effects from their hands. During one of his glances, he noticed a shadowy fist firing from an open palm, Jade grinning at the obvious display of magic. I guess they don’t need items like I do.
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The Royal Slime soon burst due to the combined damage, Jade feeling his magic resonating with the kill. He ignored it, however, helping to clean up the small slimes left in the boss’ wake.
“You all okay?” one of the adventurers asked, particularly looking over Jade, who rolled his sore shoulder. Amy and Yondol looked completely uninjured, both of them now staring at Jade in wonder.
“I should be good. Thanks for the help.” He offered the other adventurers a smile, noting the odd look on the one who spoke. The… orc he guessed, gave him an assessing look before snorting.
“Part of the job. You mind if we take some of those?” he asked, waving to the various colored marbles littering the cobblestone street. “You guys get most of the loot of course.” Jade gave him a nod, noticing Yondol standing up from where he was collecting said marbles.
“Already got our share,” the elf calmly stated, moving over to Jade and giving him a conspiratorial smile. “Mind if we talk?” Jade noticed he no longer carried the Cyth Sword, probably having put it in his own inventory.
“Sure.”
#
“Now I know you guys have questions,” Jade stated after they’d gone to a secluded spot in an alleyway, safe from any prying eyes.
“Of course we do!” Amy shouted, causing both men to wince at her volume. “Where did you get this from for starters.” The chakram appeared in her hand at that, Amy looking over the somewhat too perfect design. “I assume this has to do with your weird magic and… everything else going on with you.”
Jade sighed at that, looking to Yondol for advice, the elf rolling his eyes for his troubles. “I made it. Using my new magic,” he whispered, cringing at the siblings’ wide eyed looks. “I used to just be able to loot monsters for items, but now I’m able to use materials to make the items my magic uses.” He hated lying to the both of them, but how else was he supposed to explain just dropping into their world with magic aped from a video game he liked to play.
“That… you have crafting and combat magic?” Yondol asked in a low voice, pulling out the sword and looking at it. “That’s… unheard of. No wonder you tried to keep it a secret.” He elbowed Amy at that, the woman blushing in embarrassment. “You sold some of your items to get the money right? And it’s probably why the boss monster spawned, to give you more resources during the event.” Jade nodded at that, keeping his face calm as the elf made the wrong assumption. “Does it give you hints too? Is that why you knew the mirror could work with the Plinth and there was going to be a boss?”
“It gives me… vague feeling regarding how things are going to work, yes. Like a guide. Some specifics get lost, but how some stuff functions overall is given to me like a half remembered fact.” He shoves his guilt into another box right next to his anxiety, unsure if he should even trust the siblings with this much information.
“So wait. Does that mean you know which Plinth is missing?” Amy asked, earning a shocked look from both men. “What?”
“Just… wasn’t expecting that.” Jade looked out towards the street again, giving out a sigh. “So before we head anywhere, what all did we get from the loot drops?” he asked Yondol, Amy clearly gearing up for more questions, but Jade did not feel like lying more than he already had.
“Oh, mostly slime chunks and money. You want the chunks I assume?” Jade nodded, pulling up his inventory when he felt it poke him. A new window popped up at that, showing a trade request with almost a hundred chunks and nothing else on the other side.
“Need some for crafting, obviously,” Jade responded, mentally assenting to the trade and feeling the items land in his inventory. “So I guess with that excitement over, both of you are wanting to head home?”
“Absolutely not!” Amy nearly shouted again, making Jade wince and Yondol give her a surprised look. “Do you know how much money we could earn from just being around you? I’d even pay to get more items like this.” She held up the chakram again.
“Well… I mean I would need some people to help with some fights…” Jade grumbled, sighing as Amy gave him an excited look. “Fine. But you annoy me too much and you’re going right back to… Candor?” Yondol nodded at that. “So not too many questions. Please?” Amy nodded reluctantly at that, Yondol’s smile growing wide at that.
#
Cyth Sword
17 Melee Damage
5% Critical Strike Chance
Average Knockback
Very Fast Speed
#
Cyth Chakram
20 Thrown Damage
5% Critical Strike Chance
Very Strong Knockback
Very Fast Speed