She took the ear, examined it briefly, then said, “All good. So, how many orcs did you kill for the mission?”
“I killed 11, but the quest requires kills in groups of 5, so I want to complete it twice.” He handed his backpack to Ruby.
Ruby counted the ears, placed them in a box, and then took the mission paper and his hunter card, processing something with a machine.
A moment later, she said, “The mission is registered as completed, and you’ve earned 2,000 contribution points! Do you have the cores as well? If so, are you looking to sell them? They’re worth about 200 points each for orc cores.”
“Thanks, but I’ll keep the cores for now. By the way, can I retake this quest?”
“Of course, but don’t you want to take a break?”
“I’ll rest. I retake the quest for tomorrow.”
Ruby found this a bit odd. Normally, after completing a quest, hunters would either train using the resources they earned or spend time relaxing at a brothel or pub.
She did something behind the counter before saying, “Sure, this mission is on your record for the next week!”
“So now that I’ve got some contribution points, where can I use them?”
Ruby grabbed a book and handed it to him. “Check this out.”
Mikael flipped through the book and saw it was organized by rank, from F to S. Of course, the contribution points needed for an S-rank item were ridiculous and also needed the equivalent hunter rank.
What caught his attention were a few things: a good E-rank full-body leather armor for 500 points, an average D-rank short sword for 1,000 points, a D-rank body refining technique for 1,000 points, and a promotion to C-rank for 5,000 points.
Mikael decided to buy the leather armor, the body refining technique, and a lower-quality D-rank short sword for 500 points and a total of 2K points for all these items.
He showed Ruby the items he wanted, and they walked to a room guarded by two strong-looking men.
Ruby said a few words to the guards, then went inside for a couple of minutes before coming back with the leather armor, the short sword, and a small booklet.
Next, he took the items and went to the changing room Ruby had indicated. He was glad to take off his blood-stained clothes and quickly put on the leather armor.
Mikael looked in the mirror. "Damn, I look like I just stepped out of a medieval movie!" And he really did. The leather armor covered his body, with also reinforced clothes that felt surprisingly comfortable.
“I’ll check the sword and body refining techniques later when I’m back at my apartment.”
He said goodbye to Ruby before leaving the guild. Some hunters were still casting glances because of the fight, but he didn’t care. Next, he headed to the library, where he read a book about monsters that described them in detail. For example, the section on orcs was like this:
***
Species: Orcs
Danger level: Individually C-rank
Description: Orcs are humanoid monsters, approximately 2 meters tall, with muscular builds and green skin. The orcs that hunters will most often encounter are the males, as they are the hunters in orc society. Male orcs are extremely strong and resilient, even compared to other C-rank monsters. Their vitality is remarkable; they can survive for a time even after their hearts are pierced. Their only major weaknesses are that they are slow and incredibly dumb, and they view the use of weapons as a sign of weakness. Imagine the destruction they could cause if they wielded clubs with their strength…
In comparison, female orcs are much weaker, with the strength of an average D-rank monster, but they are far more intelligent. Their intelligence has been estimated to be similar to that of a 10-year-old human child.
***
Mikael felt foolish. ‘I should have come to read this book the moment I chose the orc hunting quest! I could have avoided getting hit by that first orc if I had. Ever since I’ve been linked to the Records, I’ve made a lot of stupid decisions! I need to stop getting caught up in the thrill of exploring a fantastic world and having "superpowers" and start thinking more carefully. It starts by reading this book so I’m better prepared next time!’
He then spent the next hour reading the entire book before leaving the city, entering the forest, and finally returning to his apartment in his world.
Mikael took off his newly bought leather armor before taking a shower and putting on his usual outfit: a white shirt and black cargo pants. He didn’t put on his jacket, though, because he planned to do some training, and the jacket would get in the way. Of course, he didn’t throw away the stained clothes; instead, he washed them by hand, as his small apartment didn’t even have a kitchen, let alone a washing machine.
Mikael then took out his old steel sword and his new D-rank sword. The two swords were of similar length; the steel sword measured 88 cm, while the D-rank sword was slightly longer at 94 cm. In appearance, they were also alike, with metal blades and wooden handguards.
Looking at the swords, Mikael thought, ‘So how do I know which sword is stronger? The D-rank sword should be better since it comes from a fantastic world, but by comparison, the other one is created by Earth's more advanced technology.’
He had an ‘idea’ to test the durability. Placing the steel sword on the ground, he pressed the D-rank sword down onto it, applying his weight so the two blades collided to see if their durability was at least comparable and one wouldn’t cut through the other.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Clang
After a few seconds, he stopped and examined the state of the swords. Both blades were chipped at the point of impact but were still in relatively good condition. ‘Well, at least I still have two swords, but this test was pretty pointless. All it did was chip my blades…’
‘Chipped... ah, damn! I forgot—you need to sharpen swords, or something like that, right? I’m pretty sure I read about it somewhere.’
Sigh
‘Now I need to buy a book about how to sharpen a sword and the related items... goodbye my money.’
He then bought a book on how to care for a blade for 5 LP. After taking the time to read it, he now had a better understanding of how to maintain his swords. Most importantly, he learned how to sharpen them! Armed with this new knowledge, he bought a whetstone for another 5 LP.
‘Only 10 LP? I’ve gotten used to being broke after each purchase, but this time I still have…
[Life Points (LP): (+390) 530]
530 LP left, so I’m doing pretty well.’
‘Now that I’ve checked my armor and my new sword, let’s save the best for last: the body refining techniques!’ he thought, taking the small booklet in his hands.
He started reading, and the text began like this: "Body refining is a complex art created by the Light Goddess Daana to help her beloved creations fight the Night Goddess Ghnimera and her evil spawn—the monsters. These techniques were later modified by talented individuals from the light races (humans, elves, demi-humans)
‘The content is pretty interesting if you can ignore the obvious propaganda against the Night Goddess and the monsters.’
Mikael didn’t care about the good and evil sides discussed in the book. What mattered to him was what could benefit him. He had learned at a young age that morality is just a matter of perspective, and he always chose what served him best. In the real world, good and bad labels are irrelevant—only the strong survive. On Earth, wealth gave power, but now, real strength is what counts!
The text continued like this: These techniques have varying efficiency depending on multiple factors. First of all, the only permanent factor is your talent. Your talent will determine how quickly you can use a body-refining technique and how much progress you can make. Sadly, talents are fixed at birth and are unchangeable. But even if your talent is weak, don’t lose hope; there are other factors that you can change!
The second factor is the rank of the body refining techniques. It’s logical that an A-rank technique will be more efficient than a C-rank one. The third factor is the material you use for your body refinement. If you don’t use a material, your progress will be extremely slow or even nonexistent. However, if you use, for example, a B-rank monster's core, your progress will be faster. Finally, the last factor—one that allows even the talentless but determined to progress—is the pain factor.
Yes, body refining is painful. Body refining is divided into 10 levels, and each level is more painful than the previous one, but also much more efficient. So even if your talent is weak, if you work hard, you can make rapid progress.
What we’ve discussed so far is the history of body refining and how to progress quickly with it. But now, we’ll talk about the different types of body refining. Indeed, body refining is divided into two categories. The first type is quantitative body refining, which consists of increasing your raw strength. For example, if your strength is represented by a number—let’s say 10—quantitative refining would aim to raise that number to 11 or higher.
The second type is qualitative body refining, which focuses on improving the quality of your strength without changing the number. Using the same example, someone who trains in qualitative body refining might still have a strength value of 10 but be significantly stronger than someone else with the same number.
To become truly strong, you’ll need to train using a combination of both methods, with a heavier focus on quantitative body refining for optimal time management. If you want to begin your body refining, you will need to sit in the lotus position while taking deep breaths, following these instructions: Close your eyes and slowly count 1-2-3-4 as you inhale through your nose, then exhale for four seconds. You’ll also need to recite this mantra in your mind: I am refining my body. I am my body, and my body is me. I train my body for myself and only for myself. I choose to brave the pain to become stronger. My goal is a (quantitative for quantitative body refining/qualitative for qualitative body refining) upgrade. I choose the level (between 1 and 10 depending on the chosen pain level) of body refining.
Take the time to read and memorize these instructions because you’ll need to know them by heart to start your body refining. Good? I’m going to assume you’re ready. The last thing you need to know is that when you are performing body refining, you need to have the necessary materials near you—ideally, if it’s a core, it should be between your hands. Never forget: if these instructions are followed properly, your progress will be fast, but if you make mistakes, your progress will slow down. You now have everything you need to know—happy body refining!
Mikael finished reading. ‘This booklet has some really interesting information, especially about body refining, which is surprisingly simple. You just need to know how to breathe and recite the mantra from the book, so there’s no reason not to try.’
Next, he sat in the lotus position, holding an orc core between his hands, and began breathing according to the book’s instructions. After 15 minutes, he got into the rhythm and started silently reciting the mantra.
‘I am refining my body.’
‘I am my body, and my body is me.’
‘I train my body for myself and only for myself.’
‘I choose to brave the pain to become stronger.’
‘My goal is a qualitative upgrade.’
‘I choose level 1 of body refining.’
The moment he finished the mantra, his body began to itch all over, but it wasn’t painful. The sensation lasted for about two minutes before it stopped.
‘That’s it? It’s already over, and it wasn’t painful at all! Maybe it ended because you need to keep reciting the mantra, and the lack of pain is probably because I chose the least painful level of body refining.’
He was about to try again when he received a notification.
[Your knowledge of the body refining technique of the Aedris world has reached the required level.]
[You have learned the skill: Body Refining Technique]
[Body Refining Technique: Tier 0, Level 3 Skill
Description: This is the D-rank body refining technique of the Aedris world. By using this skill you can refine your body using the quantitative body refining or the qualitative body refining. The efficiency is affected by the multiple factors spoken in the book about this technique. This skill affects all the physical stats (STR, AGI, END, VIT, PER) but doesn’t affect the spiritual stats.
Current Progress: Quantitave +0 stats
Qualitative Stats value: 1.00
Warning!!: Your current progress is extremely slow because of the lack of the Training System, and the extremely low physical potential of the Human(Earth) race.]
‘Nice, I need to spend my LP again for an upgrade... Seriously, I always need more money for something!’ he thought, annoyed.
Sigh
‘Anyways, let's review the level-up conditions.’
[Body Refining Technique: Tier 0, Level 3 Skill: this skill can reach the next level if the following conditions are met.
Find a way to upgrade the body refining techniques.]
‘Hmm, so this time it’s different there isn’t a progress bar and it doesn’t cost LP so that's already a plus. To upgrade the body refining techniques the easiest way I can think is to get the C-rank version from the Aedris world.’