The next morning Ren walks over the tailoring shop and find Jason sitting behind the counter sewing. He calls out to him as he approaches
"Old man, I've returned with the pelts you asked for." Ren says as he pulls the requested pelts out of his bag, dropping them on the counter in front of Jason.
Jason looks up from his work and counts the pelts.
"Good, they’re all here. I guess I should give you your reward.” Jason says.
System Message
Congratulations! You completed Jason's quest!
Rewards:
Learn the Life Skill Tailoring
He reaches under the counter and pulls up a book, placing it on the counter between him and Ren and looks at Ren hard. "Krono," he said in a surprisingly serious tone, "I'll give you a choice, you could take this book, which contains all you need to know to learn the basics of tailoring. Or you could also forego the book and learn from me. Because you seem to be serious about learning tailoring I’m giving you a chance I’ve never given anyone else. It'll take longer learning it from me and if you fail any of my trials you will not learn my Art of Tailoring but, if you succeed, you’ll be able to make thing beyond you’re wildest dreams. It's your choice." Jason takes his hand off the book leans back against the wall, crossing his arms and waiting for Ren's answer.
Ren thinks for a moment,
I could take the book and learn the skill immediately or learning from him, which would take longer and has a chance of failure but seems to have greater benefit. I don’t even need to think about this.
Ren thinks for a few minutes before placing his hand on the skill book, which causes Jason to frown, and pushes it back towards Jason with a smile. Jason's face, which seemed to fall in disappointment, lit up with a huge smile instantly. With more energy than you'd think someone his age possessed, Jason almost sprinted into the backroom of the shop, calling out for Ren to fallow him.
Ding!
System Message
Quest Accepted!
You have accepted the hidden quest
The Secret of Tailoring
Difficulty: ???
Reward: Life Skill: Art of Tailoring
Failure: Fail any of Jason's trials
Failure Penalty:
-Intimacy with Tailoring Master Jason lowered
-Cannot attempt learn Life Skill: Art of Tailoring
(Life Skill: Tailoring can still be learned)
This quest cannot be abandoned.
Jason stuck his head out and call to Ren, who still hadn’t followed him. "Why are you standing around? Come, come, there's work to do!" before disappearing again.
Ren quickly followed Jason’s instruction and entered the backroom, a little surprised by the quest notification and Jason's sudden enthusiasm. When Ren enters he sees a large room with long tables along all of the walls and a few large tables in the center of the room, one of which Jason was cleaning off. Covering some of the table along the wall were piles of varying sizes the held different leathers and fabrics. Project in varying stages of completion took up the rest of the tables with some actually hanging from the ceiling. Jason had finished clearing one of the large tables in the in the middle of the room and was beckoning to Ren to come and take a seat at it. Once Ren was seated the old man began his lesson.
"The first thing that you want to remember is that every piece of leather and fabric has a flaw and it's important to learn how work around it or even use it to your advantage, you can do this by......" and so the lesson began.
__________________________________________________________________
*That evening*
Ren was exhausted. Jason had spent the entire day lecturing him about Tailoring while he desperately tried to pay attention and remember everything. Sure some of it was interesting, like how different parts of the pelts are good for different applications and how the placement of the stitches and seams can affect the durability of the final product, and some of it was not, like the importance of taking care of your needles and different ways to store them. Overall it was just way too much information for Ren to take in at one time. The high point of the day were two notifications he had received towards the end of the lecture.
Ding!
System Message
Congratulations! You have created a new stat! Concentration
By forcing yourself to focus on a specific action you have gained
the ability to assign more of your attention to a single task
-Chance of spell failure due to an attack reduced
-Any skill that can benefit by concentrating receives a bonus from
this stat while the user is concentrating
Current Concentration: 5
Ding!
System Message
By actively memorizing new information
your Intelligence increased by 2
Not only had one of his stat increased he actually got a new one! After the lecture Ren got up and started walking toward the door to the shop but was stopped by Jason.
"Where are your going?" Jason asked
"Too find a place to sleep" Ren said still walking towards the door
"nonono, you can stay here until I’m done teaching you." Jason said, catching up to Ren and steering him towards a set of stairs, "a good night’s sleep will help you learn better. You can use the guest room."
Ren tried to refuse but Jason would have none of that and Ren eventually gave up and let Jason guide him to the guest room. The guest room was small but cozy. It had a single bed, a small bedside table, a dresser and a small desk. Jason lit a lamp that was sitting on the bedside table before leaving. Ren lay down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling for several minutes, thinking about the events of the day before blowing out the lamp and falling asleep
_____________________________________________________________________
*Next Day*
Tomorrow at 10:00am in the real word Second Awakening would launch. That meant Ren would only have the game to himself for maybe one or two games days, after which the game will be inundated with new players. Ren didn’t care about that though, he just wanted to play the game and more people would just make it more interesting. Today Jason would start the hands on training and Ren would have the first of his trials. Jason said that it should take a total of four to five days to complete the trials and training of all goes well. Ren walks downstairs to the workshop and found Jason preparing for the day's trials and training. He looked up as Ren approached.
"Good morning Krono, did you sleep well?" Jason asks
"Yes I did thank you." Ren replies.
"Good, you're going to need it," Jason says, "Today you'll start learning the hands-on training so prepare yourself because I won't go easy on you."
Jason starts of the lessons by showing Ren how to cut cloth and leather to maximize yield while avoiding flaws. After showing how to do it once Jason had Ren practice it for an hour, after which will began his first trial. Ren makes numerous mistakes at the beginning but quickly gets better thanks to his natural talent and the concentration stat giving him a slight boost. After the hour is up Jason has Ren rest for a few minutes and Ren notice several notifications he didn’t realize he had gotten.
Your Concentration has increased by 1
Your Concentration has increased by 1
Your Concentration has increased by 1
Your Concentration has increased by 1
Your Concentration has increased by 1
System Message
Congratulations! You have created a new stat!
Perception:
You have become accustomed to looking for irregularities around you.
Because of this you can not only perceive flaws in objects but can also
see openings while fighting an opponent. You also have a chance of
locating hidden traps, enemies, doors, etc..
Current Perception: 5
While Ren was resting Jason brought out the pelt he was going to use for his trial. It was at least three times the size of the largest pelts and pieces of fabric Ren had been practicing on and its dark color made spotting flaws on it was more difficult. Ren took a deep breath to try and calm his nerve. He had an hour to process the pelt into the fewest number of pieces he could while not letting any of the flaws decreases the strength and quality of the pieces. Needless to say but it was going to be a challenge though Ren was determined to beat it. Stepping up to the table Ren began his first trial.
Ren stepped up to the table and ran his hand across the pelt, using both his sight and sense of touch to find the flaws in the pelt. Ren quickly found one of the more obvious ones. It was a small hole near were the heart would be on a live animal. It had clean edges so Ren assumed that it was made by an arrow, though he doubted that a single arrow could bring something this big so he continued his search. Ren spent around 20 minutes exploring every inch of the large pelt, finding old scars the beast had accumulated over its life and a few more well-placed holes. This beast had to have been brought down by a skilled hunter or it wouldn’t be in this great a shape. Ren spent the fallowing 15 or so minutes planning out his cuts. He was trying to get the least amount of flaws per piece while also trying to get the least amount of pieces. Once all of his cuts were planned Ren picked up the knife lying on the table and began his cuts. Ren followed his plan to the letter, making slow, precise cuts in the think hide and not deviating even a millimeter from his plan. It took Ren the rest of the allotted time to finish.
When he was done Ren collapsed onto the stool behind him exhausted. All of the practice earlier plus the trial sapped his strength, both physically and mentally and causing him to strain his eyes by looking for flaws in the pelts and fabric. Jason was going over his work, counting the number of pieces and gauging their quality. After several minutes had passed Jason turned around with a smile on his face and clapped Ren on the shoulders
"Congratulations boy, you passed the first trial!" Jason said beaming, "now go get some food and rest, the next trial will be tomorrow."
Ren makes his way upstairs to the room he's borrowing and lies down on the bed, pulling out a piece of cooked meat snack on.
Tomorrow at 10am in the real world Second Awakening officially opens and the servers will be flooded with players eager to make their mark on this new world. That means I have one to two days in game before people start showing up. He thought as he closed his eyes.
Ren was soon fast asleep, dreaming of his old life and what was to become of his new one.
__________________________________________________________________________________
*Next day*
Ren got up and went downstairs to the work shop, eager to continue his training. Jason was again waiting for Ren when he entered the workshop. On the table behind Jason were various cloth and leather parts, as well as sewing supplies. Ren was a little happy at seeing this, his mother had taught him how to sew at an early age, saying that it was an important skill to have. When Ren reached the table he turned to Jason and asked if he could do two trials today. Jason was shocked and it took a couple moments for him to recover.
"How about this," Jason said, "if you can pass the second trial within three hours I’ll let you take the third one today. Deal?"
"Deal." replied Ren.
Jason preceded to show Ren what he wanted sewn. Afterwards Ren picked up his needle and thread started sewing. He set a pace that both fast and allowed him to keep his accuracy with his stitches, all of his experience from sewing in the real world coming back to him, making the needle look like it was dancing across the materials. He finished the first one, the stitches were good but Ren knew that they weren't good enough so he picked up the pieces for the next practice piece and started again, concentrating on everything from the placement of the stitches to the tension of the thread. It took Him two hours to get to a point where he was confident he could pass the Second trial. Ren took a break to rest and get something to eat and drink while Jason set everything up for the trial. When he got back to the workshop Jason had finished laying everything out on the table. Ren sat down and Jason proceeded to explain how he wanted it done. Ren would have one hour to complete it. Ren took a deep breath and began the second trial.
What Jason wanted sewn was a pair of leather pants and a leather vest that were for the son of one on the local hunters. Ren looked down at the raw materials and quickly planned his cuts. Ren moved fast as he accurately cut out the pieces he would need. Next Ren lined up the pieces and took an awl and punched holes in the leather where the stiches would. Next Ren sat down and pick up a needle and the thread he was going to use, which in this case was very thing leather strips. Ren began my sewing the vest first since it would be the easiest to do. Once he was done with that Ren picked up the pieces for the pants and set about sewing them together. The needle in Ren’s hand looked like it was dancing. All of the stiches were perfectly placed and the tension was just right. Time was running out when he finished the sewing. Ren quickly picked up a nearby mallet and hammer the seams flat so that they wouldn’t irritate the wearer. Time ran out just as Ren finished,
Ren stepped back and allowed Jason to examine his work. He had put all of his skill and concentration into it. He was tired but confident as he watch Jason examine his work. After several minutes Jason put down the trial piece and smiled.
"Well done boy, you pass the second trial with flying colors." Jason exclaimed, "Now why don't you go take a nap or do something restful while I set up for the part."
Ren wearily nods his head and makes his way upstairs the room he's staying in and collapses on the bed. Ren sleeps for a couple hours before waking up refreshed and ready to continue. Jason's working on one of his own project when Ren arrives back in the workshop.
"Ready to continue?" He asks Ren, who nods, "Very well than, we'll begin. This time you'll be learning embroidery. Now before you say or think anything about embroidery being useless let me tell you it's not. While most people are willing to pay a little more for equipment that looks nice, well placed embroidery can also reinforce existing stitches and reinforce the armor itself if there are multiple layers. Now to begin first you'll need to..." and so began the lesson.
The lesson and embroidery practice lasted for several hours and it was starting to get dark by the time they finished. There was a lot to learn and Ren struggled a little at the beginning but had gotten the hang of it by the end of the practice. Best of all he got some stat increases while practicing.
Your Dexterity has increased by 1
Your Dexterity has increased by 1
Your Dexterity has increased by 1
Your Concentration has increased by 1
Your Concentration has increased by 1
Now it was time for the third trial. For this trial Ren has to Design and create an embroidery pattern that both looks good and strengthens clothing it's put on. He has six hours to do it. Ren grabs a pair of leather gloves as the object he has to improve. He started sketching an enlarged version of the design he wants to use on the worktable with a piece of charcoal. After about an hour Ren start working on the embroidery for the gloves. He moves slowly, putting all of his skill and concentration into each stitch, determined to make the gloves functional pieces of art. As Ren works he gradually loses track of his surroundings, his whole world eventually revolving around the pair of gloves he's working on, nothing else exists for him. Around three and a half hours pass like this and Ren finishes the embroidery. He looks up and hands the gloves to Jason to examine. The design he choose has that of lightning bolts, starting on the back of the hand and branching out to the fingers. The workmanship is between that of a novice and someone experienced in the craft. Jason takes almost half an hour examining the gloves before putting them down and looking at Ren.
"You passed the third trial." He said, "While you could have done more, it was better than I was expecting considering your earlier attempts. You're going to need to practice embroidery more but good job none the less." Jason let out a slight smile. “Now go get some sleep, starting tomorrow you have two days to finish the final trial. I'll explain more tomorrow now off you go."
When Ren got upstairs he turned notifications back on, he had turned them off during the trial so he wouldn't get distracted.
Ding!
System Message
Congratulation! You created a new stat!
Art
you have uncovered your hidden potential as an artist!
This stat represents your skill as an artist and will give
a small bonus to any work of art or any art related
skill. This stat can only be raised by viewing pieces of art
made with more skill than you currently possess, visiting
beautiful places , and by creating works of art or adding
an artistic touch to any object.
Current art: 10
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Ding
System Message
Congratulations! You created a new skill!
Extreme Focus - Active
(Beginner - lvl 1 - 0%)
While this skill is active you receive a bonus towards
any crafting or art based skill but your awareness of
your surroundings is reduced to the absolute minimum
cost: 5 mp/min
Ren looked at them and, while they were good, he was too tired to express and emotion over them. He was asleep the moment he touched the bed.
______________________________________________________________________________
*Next Day*
When Ren woke up the sun was streaming through the windows, indicating he had slept longer than usual. He got out of bed and walked to the workshop, still a little tired from the day before. This time when he entered the work shop he just saw Jason working on a project. There was nothing on the table. Jason looked up as Ren entered the room.
"You’re finally awake. I was beginning to think I’d have to go wake you up myself." Jason said as he put down what he was working on. He waited for Ren to sit down before continuing. "The last trial I have for you is different from the others. This one is a culmination of all that you have learned so far. For this trial you will design and create something of your choosing, using all of the skill I've taught you over the past few days. You’re free to use anything in the workshop for your creation. You have, at most, two days to do it. At the end you'll be able to keep what you make regardless of whether or not you pass. Good luck." with that Jason leaves the workshop to give Ren all of the space he needs.
Ren was thinking about what he wanted to make. Since he can keep it, it should be something that would actually be useful to him, like a set of armor. He sat there for close to an hour thinking about what would be useful to him before deciding on three things. As a craftsman, he'll be using his hands a lot so he decided to make glove to protect his hands. He'll also be working with or near rough or dangerous materials and tools so Ren decided to make a good pair of pants and a long coat to protect his arms, legs, and torso. He started picking the materials he would need. He decided to go with a layered design for the pieces as it would make them more durable and more comfortable to wear. For the materials he chose a moderately durable but very supple leather for the outside of the gloves and some light, breathable cloth that could be layered for the inside. The coat and pants would have an outer layer of durable leather while the inside would be layers of cloth and thin pieces of leather for reinforcement. The joints on all of the were also given extra padding and the coat have more leather over Ren vital areas and metal rings sewn inside the coat for extra protection without adding to much weight.
After picking his materials and finalizing his design, which took a few hours, Ren was finally able to begin. Ren took his time so not to make any mistakes. After cutting out the numerous pieces he started sewing them together, carefully placing each stitch, closely watch the thread tension, making sure the material didn't slip as he worked with it. He did the coat first, and then the pants. He had a little trouble with the fingers on the gloves but it turned out fine. The sun was starting to set by the time Ren started the embroidery. He would do the glove tonight as they were small and wouldn't take too much time. Ren activated Extreme Focus and started working on the design he thought of earlier. Ren worked for around an hour and a half, his mana ran out within the first half hour so he had to wait for it to regen before continuing. In the end he finished his design, it was a simple dragon holding a hammer in one hand and a chisel in the other. There was a piece of thread attached to a needle circling the dragon. On each of the gloves a small dragon did a short spiraled out from the crest and and let lose a breath of their color that flowed down the fingers. The left dragon was colored with thread of white and off-white while the right dragon with black and dark grey. Ren puts down the gloves and head off to the guest room for some rest.
___________________________________________________________________________________
*Next Day - Launch Day*
Ren got up early and continued to work on the final trial. For the pants he embroidered a simple design of what looked like roots crawling up the legs. The color of the the thread was close to the color of the pants so the design was a little hard to see but once you noticed it you could tell that, while it wasn't expert work, it was a a well done design. After finishing the the pants Ren moved onto the final piece, the coat. For the coat Ren put a larger version of the crest on the gloves on the back as well as one on the front in a position wear it would rest over his heart.
Your Concentration has increased by 10
Your Dexterity has increased by 10
Your perception has increased by 7
Your Art has increased by 30
System Message
Congratulations! As one of the first people in Second Awakening you
get to choose one of three unique skills.
Skills
Supreme Taunt - Active
(Beginner - lvl 1 - 0%)
Make it impossible for enemies within a certain distance to
attack anyone but you. Higher levels increase duration, defense
bonus, and range.
-100% increase in defense while active
-Duration: 1 minute
-Range: 10 feet
-Cost: 50mp
Glamour - Active
(Beginner - lvl 1 - 0%)
Temporarily increase charisma by 100% and make people around you
only think and say good things about you. Glamour is broken if actions
contradict expected behavior. Increase minimum duration, decrease cost
and raise the threshold to break it.
Duration: minimum 1 minute
Cost: 50mp + 10mp/minute
Sage Eye - Active
(Beginner - lvl 1 - 0%)
Similar to the Identify skill, Sage Eye allows you to identify items
but it can also tell you what materials were used to make an item,
who made it, when it was made, and at the highest levels how it
was made. It can also be used to apprise enemies as well as having a
few other funtions you’ll just have to discover for your self
Cost: 5mp
hmmmm.....well i'm not going to be a fighter so Supreme Taunt is automatically out, only some kind of narcissist would choose Glamour, so I guess Sage Eye it is.
System Message
You selected Sage Eye
Ren closed all of the notifications and looked back of Jason who was just finishing up is examination of the pieces Ren made. Jason put the armor down a turned to Ren and breaking out into a huge smile.
"Congratulations boy, you passed!" Jason practically yelled.
System Message
Congratulations! You completed The Secret of Tailoring quest!
Reward: Life Skill - Art of Tailoring
"These clothes are very well made for a beginner," Jason continued, grasping Ren's hands, "you have proven yourself capable enough, so I wish to pass to you my Art of Tailoring, which I have been perfecting my entire life.
System Message You have gained a skill!
Art of Tailoring - Life Skill
(Intermediate - lvl 1 - 0%)
This skill, while similar to the Tailoring skill, is much better
because it has been perfected over decades by a master of
the tailoring skill. Clothes and Armor made with this skill
are of better quality than those made with the standard
Tailoring skill and the highest quality pieces can be
considered pieces of art. You have advance to intermediate
in this skill do to your performance during the trials
Ren's eyes went wide. Not only was the skill better than Tailoring but he also skipped an entire rank. Jason removed his hands and picked up the armor Ren made.
"Here, these are yours." Jason said, handing the armor to Ren, "I'm curious though, what made you put that crest on there?"
"I see dragon as paragons of knowledge and wisdom. As some of the oldest beings, their crafts men would have forgotten many more time what even one of the elves can possibly learn. To me they represent truly mastering a craft and I wish to follow in their footstep in that regard" Ren replied with hesitation, taking the armor from Jason, examining it, then putting it on.
Gloves of Darkness and Light- Rare Type Hand Quality Good Defense 5 Durability 150/150Gloves created by a talented novice tailor to aid him in his future endeavors.
-2% increase in crafted objects quality
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Coat of the Craftsmen - Rare Type Coat Quality Good Defense 20 Durability 200/200A sturdy coat created by a talented novice tailor that can stand its own with armor
of higher quality made protect him during his travels.
-2% increase in crafting quality
Pants of the Craftsmen - Rare Type legs Quality Good Defense 15 Durability 180/180A pair of pants created by a talented novice tailor to protect him during his travels.
-2% increase in crafting quality
When Ren finished putting on the last piece armor he got surprised by a notification.
Ding!
System MessageYou have completed the Craftsman armor set!
~additional 4% increase in crafting quality
~additional 10 defense
Ren was shocked, he didn't expect to create an armor set and was very pleased with the all of the effects his armor had. Ren looked around for Jason to say good bye but he had disappeared. Shrugging his shoulders Ren walked out to the shop to leave.
"Krono wait a moment." a voice called out behind him.
Ren turned to find Jason walking up holing a small leather bag.
"I would like to give you one last thing before you leave." Jason said, pulling something out of the bag, "Here, take this pendent, it's my final gift to you."
Jason gave the pendent to Ren. It was a small circle of some black metal with a strange character a language Ren didn’t know in the middle. Ren looked up after examining it but Jason has disappeared again. Ren walked out of the shop and examined the pendent with Sage Eye.
Unknown Pendent TypeNeckQualityUnknownMaterial UnknownA pendent carved with an unknown symbol given by Master Tailor Jason
Looks like Sage Eye isn't at a high enough level yet and I had no idea Jason was actually a master tailor!
Ren put the pendent around his neck and looked around. There were a lot of new people on the village and it took Ren a minute to remember that today was the official launch day of Second Awakening. He quickly ducked behind a bush and put on his novice armor, he didn't want to stand out to much, and went to the fields to hunting rabbits and foxes with the rest of the newbies.
When a player starts they have to spend 30 in game days within 2km of their starting town. Ren already spent a week in Jona so he only has to stay a little over 20 more days there though he was going to stay longer so he didn’t stand out.. Ren almost broke his sword after the first few days of hunting and had to pay to get it repaired. After that incident Ren decided to learn smithing so he could repair his weapons but the town smith refused, saying that he would be better off learn from a master smith in a city. A little disheartened, Ren went back to hunting. For the next four weeks Ren would hunt in the morning and sew in the afternoon. By the time the other players started leaving the village Ren had leveled up to level 13, leveled up a few skills, and even learned some new ones. Ren checked his stats.
Status Window Name Krono Alignment Neutral Gender Male Race Human Level 13 Class None Fame 0 Titles None
Health 210 Mana 300 Stamina 340 Defense 6(+5) Strength 30 Endurance 34 Agility 40 Dexterity 40 Intelligence 30 Wisdom 30 Charisma 13 Luck 10Concentration22Perception12Art40
Status Effects None
Skills Active
Flurry Strike: Beginner lvl 4 - 36%
Extreme Focus: Beginner lvl 4 - 92%
Dash: Beginner lvl 2 - 32%
Sage Eye: Beginner lvl 1 - 0%
Passive
Fall Damage Reduction: Beginner lvl 1 - 0%
Life Skills
Harvesting: Beginner lvl 5 - 23%
Primative Fire Creation: Beginner lvl 1 - 10%
Survival Cooking: Beginner lvl 1 - 0%
Art of Tailoring: Intermediate lvl 3 - 2%
Sewing: Intermediate lvl 4 - 14%
Embroidery: Intermediate lvl 2 - 46%
Blade Mastery: Beginner lvl 3 - 22%
Sword Mastery: Beginner lvl 5 - 12%
Elemental Affinities [/b[None
None
Elemental Resistance
Satisfied with his stats Ren put on his craftsmen armor and left the village of Jona. His first destination is the nearby city of Crale in the city-state of Crale. His target? The craftsmen Guild.
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