“You know, this isn’t any better than waking up with you on top of me.” I said from the floor. Sometime during the night, Inkler had usurped my bed and was chuffing at my reaction. “I think you should have been called prankster, not Inkler.” I muttered, standing up and stretching. Inkler copied me, doing that odd stretch cats do with their hind paws on the furniture and his front paws on the ground. I just shook my head at his antics, and checked outside the door to find five of the cassowack legs for him and sausage and eggs for myself.
“Are you really gonna eat all five of them?” I asked the beast, as he licked his lips in anticipation. “Alright, here you go. Just don’t expect any of mine.” I said, digging in to my breakfast. Who says you can’t have breakfast in the early afternoon? As far as I’m concerned, it’s an any time of the day meal. I had just polished off the last of my food when I noticed Inkler had been staring at my plate.
“You ate five cassowack legs, you don’t need any more!” I tried reason. It wasn’t very effective, as he darted forward and spent nearly half a minute licking away what I had to assume was even the slightest bit of leftover smell from my food. “Alright, alright. Enough! You do that anymore and there won’t be a plate left. Come on, we need to go see Mardigan before we go hunting today.” Heading downstairs, we were almost to the door when I heard the innkeeper speaking to me.
“Um, excuse me good sir.”
“Yes?” I asked, turning around.
“If you wish to keep using the room, I’m going to have to ask you to pay.”
“Oh, terribly sorry.” I said, patting my pants. “I lost track of time. Here’s for another week, though I doubt I’ll be here that long. In addition, can you give these three gold to your cooks? Inkler has truly enjoyed their cassowack legs and I wanted to thank them for going out of their way to make sure he’s been fed.”
“Of course sir!” His eyes lit up at the praise. “I’ll be sure to tell them. Thank you for the kindness.”
“If there’s nothing else, I really must be going. I’ve got a good ways to travel today.”
“No, no. That’s everything. Good luck with your adventures, kind sir!”
“Thanks.” I replied, heading out. The streets were bustling, as it was only around three in the afternoon. Luckily I had a crowd parting plow in the form of Inkler.
I think he had a lot of fun giving a toothy grin to those who started turning in anger to find out who bumped them and immediately freezing when looking into the eyes of a very large cat. The other half of the reactions were people oohing and aahing over him and asking where they could get one. I ignored those.
“Hey, can I try something?” Trying to ignore the voice that kept repeating the question, I made my way through the crowd. Unfortunately, she kept following me, eventually catching up and grabbing my arm. “Please? I want to try something with your nightliger, I swear he won’t get hurt.”
“What is it? I’m rather busy today?” I asked in an annoyed tone. Turning, I found myself staring at a rather well-endowed elf archer.
“I was. Um. Just wondering.” As she tried to stutter her way through a request, Inkler came over and sat down to look at her for a bit. Completely dismissing me, she bent over to talk directly to his face. “Whose such an adorable kitty? I have a little one at home just like you only a tenth your size. I do. He thinks he’s just as ferocious as you are, but we know better. I just wonder if you like to kill the red dot as much as he does? Do you like to hunt red dots?”
What the hell? Did I just find the crazed cat lady? “Sorry, but we.”
“[Snipe shot].” She activated a skill, but had no weapons in her hand? All of a sudden, I saw Inkler’s eyes get big and he tensed up. Looking down, I finally figured it out, slapping my face at the absurdity. Pointing her finger like an aiming device, there was a red dot. Snipe shot let an archer see where their arrow would likely impact with a small red dot, and she was using it like a laser pointer. Until a platter sized paw slammed over the top of it.
“Hehehe! Kitty does like to play!” Oh god, she giggled. In public. Waving her finger back and forth, Inkler started chasing the red dot with his paws, slamming them down one after the other. She only had the time to lead him a few steps away before her skill ran out, and this seemed to totally confuse Inkler. He would slowly lift one side of his paw to look underneath before slamming it back down in the hopes that he had finally killed the red dot.
“Are you done Inkler?” I asked, thoroughly annoyed. “As for you, please don’t ever do that again.” I said turning to the player. “I get it, he reminded you of your own cat. And I thank you for letting him play a little bit, but we are busy today. Maybe some other time you and him could play.”
“Reeeeallly?” She asked with a squee, before slamming into Inkler’s side with a hug. “Yay! Ok kitty cat, you go with the grumpy guy and I’ll see you some other time.” Turning to me, she asked, “Um. Would it be ok to get your. Um. Name?”
“Fine.” I said, annoyed that she couldn’t seem to string together a complete sentence without talking to a cat. “Angus_MacG.” I said, watching as her eyes got big.
“Wait. Wait. That’s.”
“Shhhhhh!” I hissed at her. “Don’t say it out loud. There’s a reason I’m in disguise in the city.”
“But, how can I play with kitty? We won’t be able to meet up again.” She asked the ground in a forlorn voice. “Light siders have been banned from there.”
“Ugh. Try heading to the city, you know the one I’m talking about. Give it, say, three or four days. I’ll talk to the guards and see if we can let you into the city. Ok?” I knew I had to give up at this point. Inkler was practically plastered to her side as she absentmindedly stroked between his ears.
“Really?” God, I couldn’t take her roller coaster emotions and didn’t know how she did it either.
“Really.” I answered. “Besides, Inkler likes you and he’s been a good judge of character so far.” The traitor. I added mentally as I saw his smug look. Honestly, what kind of battle pet gets excited over a magical laser pointer? Better not let Derrick know, I’d never hear the end of it. Having gotten enough attention, Inkler padded over to me and we entered the shop.
“New armor set?” Mardigan asked, looking me up and down. “Not bad. And what have you done with that nightliger?” Walking over, he circled Inkler a few times, checking him over. “So, am I right in assuming this was what promoted you to master alchemist?”
“Yep.” I agreed.
“I see. I was expecting you almost immediately. What happened?”
“Nothing. We had just gotten back from exploring and weren’t going to have mana for a day. I figured we could at least sleep it off. We still can’t really go exploring today, though I am going to have to raid some of your supplies if you don’t mind.”
“As long as you have the coin, that’s fine. Before we do any of that, we have to address the issue of the alchemist guild.”
“Issue?”
“Yes. See, you still haven’t been promoted within the guild yet. Last I checked, you were still listed at apprentice. Usually there is a journeyman rank somewhere in there.”
“Ugh.” I groaned in annoyance. “Let me guess, people are going to be jealous, right?”
“Weeeeeell, in a nutshell, yes.” He said, dragging out the first word. “We do have.”
“Stop.” I said, holding a hand out and interrupting him. “Just stop with the excuses. I agreed not to get promoted when I figured out the elixir recipes. That was fine. But now I have several elixir recipes and have successfully created a variant creature. Not only that, but you must admit it’s a useful variant species. Tell me, how many of your journeymen have a list of accomplishments like that?”
“None.” He said after a moment of reluctance.
“So, in order to pacify the jealous people who may or may not exist, and save you and Guildmaster Willow the headache of dealing with their yapping, you are going to deny me promotion to master rank. Again.”
“Damnit, I hate it when people use my own thoughts of politics against me.” He said with a sigh, confusing the hell out of me. “What?” He asked with a laugh. “I don’t care about those idiots who can’t seem to advance. I was just ordered to try and get you to see reason.”
“Oh, okay then.” I said in a near whisper. “I thought for a second it was partially because I’m a monster race.”
“Fuck that. You’ve got more spunk than three quarters of the guild, no matter what races they are. And try not to hold it against Willow, eh? He’s been getting pressure for years because of Djarleen, and it tripled when you joined up.”
“Alright.” I said in a put upon tone. “I suppose I can forgive him, on one condition.”
“Name it, I’ll see what I can do.”
“Tell him to find a potion that’ll let him regrow his spine. If he keeps negotiating with those idiots, they’re just going to keep pushing him around.”
“HA! HAHAHAHAHA! Regrow his spine, oh that’s glorious kid. I’ll pass it along, don’t worry about it.” After a few moments of chuckling at my request, he placed a large hand on my shoulder. “Ok, here we go. I now confer on you the rank of master alchemist. You will receive a 75% discount at all guild stores, and have the option of issuing quests for rare ingredients. The guild will set the requirements for the quest and the cost. You will receive a percentage of gathered materials commensurate with the amount you paid towards the quest rewards. You may also enter the restricted sections of the first and second floor libraries.”
After his explanation, the badge on my cloak glowed as it changed. Where it was a silver mortar and pestle, it now changed to gold. In addition, the solid gold border changed to a striped gold and platinum. “Huh, are there any ranks above master? And how do I get them?”
“Yep. They’re pretty easy to get too. Just gather the reagents and craft a legendary potion and you can become a grandmaster, with the option to become guildmaster after fifty years or so.”
“Yep, piece of cake. I don’t have the fifty years to wait, so I’ll just have to settle for grandmaster then.” I said with a sarcastic chuckle.
“You’re a piece of work kid. So what are we outfitting you for today? Eliminating a minor noble house? Regicide? Your path to ruling the world?”
“Oddly enough, you aren’t far off with those guesses.” I chuckled as he lost his amusement for a bit. “I’m going after the last of the desert kings, and am going to need some elemental resistances and boosts.”
“Oh thank the gods it’s that kind of regicide, as I would have had to start a fight here in the store if it were something else.” He said, exhaling in relief. “So which one is it?”
“Djinni king. I’ll need that phantom steps potion for myself and Inkler, as well as a few deluge crystals. Anything you have that’ll give Inkler some elemental protection.” He smiled as I rattled off the list, then something came over me as I saw the blasted winds in his case. Crystalized elements. “Hey, Mardigan? Is there a lightning version of the blasted winds?”
“Crystalized lightning mana? Of course, what are you thinking of doing with it?”
“Well, I’m going to throw it at the marid queen. If the king intercepts it, he gets blasted by lightning magic and takes a good bit of damage. If not, I’m sure even a magic resistant water elemental will take a lot of damage from magical lightning.”
After my explanation, he stared at me for a few minutes, tapping his chin with his finger. “Devious. How in the world are you so devious? You could start off the battle with that, and I’ll definitely sell you the charged fulgurite. But I want you to go to the exotic weapons shop down the street, and tell them you want to see Winter’s Advent. If Abdaul doesn’t recognize me sending you, remind him.”
“Alright.” I said, confused a little. It was obviously something ice based, but what kind of weapon I would have to wait to find out. “So, what does all of this come out to?”
“Hmm, let’s call it 5 platinum after your discount. If you can manage to kill some, try and harvest the teeth of the sand sharks. Abdaul will probably buy them from you.”
“Sure thing.” I said, paying for my items and dropping them into my bag. “Where did you say his store was again?”
“Head out and to the left, it’s three doors down. Giant bird creature on the sign, you can’t miss it.”
“Thanks. Any reagents you will be needing while I’m out?”
“I’m good.”
“Alright, take ‘er easy.” I said with a wave.
“If she’s easy, take ‘er twice!” Mardigan yelled after me. People gave me an odd look as I walked out of the store guffawing. Even Inkler was giving me the side eye as we walked down the street. Three doors down, and I saw what had to be the sign Mardigan was talking about.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“The Red Garuda’s Exotic Weapons.” I muttered, looking over the creature on the sign. Mostly humanoid but with a bird’s head, it was certainly not a creature I had come across yet. As we entered, a string of bells across the doorway started tinkling.
“Good day! Welcome to the Red Garuda!” The guy greeting me looked like he could hang with Mardigan in an arm wrestling contest, and had no qualms leaving his robe open enough to expose the majority of his chest.
“Hello. I was sent down here by Mardigan, he said I should ask you about Winter’s Advent? Still not quite sure what that was.”
“Oho, now that’s quite the request. Come on to the back, I keep the specials locked up there.” Walking around me, he actually closed the store. Following him back, I looked around a bit at his wares. A lot of it followed an eastern theme, with throwing weapons of all kinds. Not that it was all bladed throwing weapons. One weapon looked like someone had taken a massive club, trimmed it to look like a baseball bat, and put rivets on it to smash armor. There were several varieties of sickle and chain weapons, some bolo type throwing weapons, as well as what looked like a spiked gauntlet welded to the end of a lance. Not quite sure how well that last one would do in combat, but it would surely make a fearsome charging weapon.
“So, how did you happen to get mixed up with Mardigan?” Abdaul asked, leading me through a curtain.
“Met him through the alchemist’s guild.” I answered. “What about you? It seems like there should be a funny backstory there somewhere.”
“We have had our share of misadventures. Most of them were his fault though. Word of advice: never, ever, get in a drinking contest with a Minotaur.” He said with a shudder. “They only drink a fermented milk drink, and insist all challenges do it as well.”
“Ugh, that sounds horrid.” I said, cringing in horror. For some reason, I imagined drinking something like a liquid blue cheese.
“Oh, it actually tastes pretty good.” He said with a chuckle. “Mardigan thought so too, until I pointed out to him that Minotaurs don’t raise any livestock.”
“Hurk.” I gagged at the implications as Abdaul laughed.
“Ha! I see you get it, wonderful!” Pulling a key from some hidden storage, he opened up a blue chest that was sitting on a shelf. Muttering some words, there was a flash and the chest opened. He withdrew a weapon covered in cloth, and placed it with some reverence on a table. Uncovering it, he said, “Behold, Winter’s Advent.”
On the table, was a crossbow bolt. I was five feet away from it, and could feel the waves of cold radiating from the weapon. It was a pale blue, almost white.
Winter’s Advent
Bolt
This specialty bolt was crafted by Abdaul Garudabane for use against fiery enemies. The shaft is made from the bones of an ice dragon. The tip of the bolt was harvested from the tip of an ice wraith’s claws. The feathers for the fletching came from the flight feathers of a Cocytus Harpy Queen. You would need to venture into the realm of legendary weapons to find one that will deal more ice damage than this.
Damage: 150-175
Adds 700-775 ice damage (triple against fire elementals)
Freezing flames: If piercing a fire elemental, has a 20% chance to freeze their internal flames. All skills requiring fire will be sealed for three minutes or until dispelled. Can only be dispelled by a Greater Dispelling or stronger.
“Gorgeous.” I whispered in awe. This. This would absolutely devastate the djinni king.
“There’s only one issue with it.” Abdaul lamented. “It’s got such a strong aura, unless you have it in a bag of holding fire elementals will flee in terror.”
“So, you haven’t seen it in action?” I asked, surprised.
“Not against what it was truly made for.” He said, shaking his head.
“Would you like to?” I asked, getting a crazy idea. If I could visit the mages guild here, they had a way to transfer video recordings from players into a stone that NPC’s could view. It cost a pretty penny, but in this case it might be worth it.
“I would love to, but just how are you going to guarantee it?” He asked.
“See, I’m on a quest to kill the djinni king of the desert. I figure, I could transfer the fight to a memory crystal at the mages guild for you, and you could see it for yourself without putting yourself in danger.”
“I see. And just how would you prevent his wife from swapping with him?”
“By using it immediately after they swap places. They have to wait a certain amount of time after they use it, right? That means I have an entire minute to swap targets, immobilize the king, and blast him with the bolt.”
Abdaul pondered this for a while, staring at me. “You know it won’t be that easy in real life, right?”
“Nothing ever is.” I replied with a chuckle. “We have a saying: No plan survives first contact with the enemy. I’ll have to be flexible, but that is easier when you only have the barebones requirement for plans.”
“Hmmm, I like that saying. Let’s assume I go along with your plan. I assume you were just about to offer an outrageous sum for me to pay?”
“Before we discuss cash, may I ask about the crafting of the weapon? Did you harvest the reagents yourself?”
“I did. Crafted it myself as well.”
“Excellent. In lieu of cash for the battle, would you be willing to train me? I recently found myself lacking in several skills.”
“What skills?” He asked, eyes narrowing.
“Butchery, animal harvesting, and anything related to those. I never realized that they could be that important for monster drops, and am kicking myself over how many possible reagents I could have used for my alchemy.”
“Yep. Definitely an alchemist like Mardigan.” He said with a chuckle. “I don’t really have the time or materials to train you, but I can call in a favor. Provided you don’t mind working this afternoon and evening for it?”
“That’s absolutely perfect. I just so happen to be under a status that seals my mana for the rest of the day.” I didn’t elaborate when he raised an eyebrow, simply stared at him and let the uncomfortable silence drag on for a bit. Though I did have to bite my tongue a bit, the urge to fill that silence was strong.
“Right. Come along this way.” He led me to a side door, and once we headed through the alley we came to a large open courtyard right next to the walls. Several tables were set up, and people were working their way through several different creatures.
“Heya Butch! Got a recruit for you for a day, says he needs some skills.” Abdaul said, grabbing the attention of someone whose clothes were stained with so much blood it was hard to determine their original color.
“Abdaul? ‘Bout time someone dragged you out of your cave and into a place you belong. Come on, hop in. Between us we could triple production.”
“Still not listening. Butch, this here is Angus. He needs several skills in a hurry, and you are the best I know who can get it for him.”
“It’s not that I wasn’t listening, I just wanted your help old friend.” He said, turning to me. “Hmm, lose the cloak and armor or it’ll never get clean again. Trust ol’ Butch on that. There’s some old clothes and an apron over there, just leave ‘em in a pile when we are done.”
“Thanks Butch.”
“Eh? None necessary, that’s what friends do.” He said, clasping Abdaul’s hand in a shake. “So, Angus? What’re you lookin’ to pick up?”
“Anything I can to help out with monster drops. Butchery and animal harvesting are the only two I know of, but I trust you to guide me.” I answered, watching as his eyes lit up.
“Oh, Abdaul. I believe I may still owe you one after this. Let’s see what the boy can do.” He chuckled slightly evilly as I finished changing out my gear. “Firsts things first, shut off your notifications. I know the gods tell you adventurers when you’ve learned something, but I prefer to do it myself. Now, come over here and learn what knives you need for what, and how to hold all of ‘em.”
The next eight hours had me going through the wringer. We started off easy, plucking the feathers from the cassowacks. After I got the hang of it with my hands, I tried to use shadow manipulation to create several extra hands to speed up the process. I ended up with a spike of pain through my skull. Never try and use mana abilities when your mana is sealed, it will only end badly. Lamenting my lack of extra hands, I got back to work.
Thankfully we only spent an hour on the birds, as plucking wasn’t going to do much for skills. After the birds, we went through and gutted the fresh creatures. Butch got incredibly excited when I revealed my mystic vision skill, and pointed out how I could use it to find mana cores in certain beasts as well as what organs and glands could be useful in crafting. The trick was how fresh the kill had to be, as anything over an hour or so had the magic dispersed. I was doubly thankful for the clothes they lent me, as I was covered in goop up to my elbows. After digging through what Butch deemed was enough creatures, he had me thoroughly wash before heading over to a different station.
“Alright, now this is slightly different.” He pointed out. “We are skinning and butchering here. The best way to go about that is to let the blood drain out after gutting it for a day or two. There’s a few cold rooms beneath us that we get it done in, and we have several people whose only job is to rotate the stock and keep everything fresh.”
I’ll admit, having extra hands would have been a godsend with the skinning. They could pull the skin and keep it taut while I worked the knife in long, smooth strokes. Instead, I was forced to do it with only two hands and try not to mangle them when my knife slipped. I’m fairly certain the beginning ones I did would be worth nothing but scraps, but eventually I improved to the point where I could get the majority of the pelt off intact.
They started me out on the lizards, as they had the thickest skin and let me work my way up. The incredibly thin skin of the cassowack didn’t have any uses, but it was great for building skill. After that came the butchery. The lack of blood was a huge boost, as it let you see the grains of the muscles. Proper butchery was an art and a science. Tougher cuts kept the fat cap. Things like the tenderloin got trimmed. Always remove the entire muscle in one piece. Follow the grains to determine the muscles. And never forget the prime rule: the more the muscle is used in life, the tougher the meat will be. Once the major groups were removed, I was given two extra knives and told to strip the meat to the bone. The miscellaneous bits would be combined and used for ground meats like sausages and burgers.
“Alright, use your mystic vision again.” Butch ordered, and had me sift through the bones. “Unlike the muscles, the bones are often steeped in magic and hold it much longer.” He explained. “Different creatures use them differently as well. Dragons, well. They have so much mana to spare they just soak everything in it. You’d be hard pressed to find a non magical part of them. The cassowacks use the magic to strengthen their leg bones. It lessens the chance of them breaking when attacking. Beetles use it to boost their shell’s properties.”
“So basically, find the bone or structure the creature uses the most, and that’s the most likely culprit?” I asked.
“Yep. After you’re done with that pile, head on over to the clerics. They should remove any traces of curse on you and then come see me. We’ll go over what you’ve learned.” He said before walking away. Wondering why the clerics would need to see me, I hurried through the pile of bones. The non-magical ones were sent off to be crushed for some reason, while the magic ones went to the various crafters.
Following a line of people with baskets of meat on their hips, we came to a table of rotating priests. Three were on duty at all times, while six more rested to recover their mana. Handing over the meat, I stopped by one of the resting ones and hoped he would answer some of my questions.
“Greetings brother.” I said, sitting down next to him in a stone chair I conjured. “Would you be willing to answer some questions for me?”
“Brother?”
“Sorry, it’s how we greet each other in the Church of Thanatos. I guess it’s become a habit. Names Angus.”
“Charles. It’s nice to meet you Angus. Forgive me, but I wasn’t aware Thanatos had sent an envoy.”
“No worries there Charles.” I answered. “I am here on an unrelated reason, and was just curious about blessing the meat.”
“Oh, that. I suppose it does seem weird. Do you know the history of the desert?”
“The three fallen kingdoms? Yes, I’ve recently heard the story.”
“That saves a lot of time then. See, the orchestrator of the fall of the kingdoms has corrupted the land. Even the creatures that walk upon it are being affected by his curse. We bless the meat to remove the curse.”
“I see.” I said. Looking through my inventory, I pulled out a bit of meat from a lizard tail. “Is this cursed then? I’ve eaten meat from the desert several times and am worried a bit.”
“Ah, I see the confusion. This is dropped from a monster you killed, yes?” He continued as I nodded. “Those drops are never cursed. If you had a skill that let you harvest from animals, you would get some cursed pieces and some that were clean.”
He walked up to the table and came back with a piece of meat, holding them side by side. “The one on the left is yours, a nice healthy red. See this other one? It has faint streaks of black, and the meat itself is paler in color.” Sure enough, his description was spot on. The black streaks glowed in mystic vision, as well as some that were spread throughout the meat that I couldn’t see.
“Wow, it literally infests every portion of the meat it can.” I said, cancelling my sight skill.
“Infestation. An apt description. Hmmm, I wonder. Do you have any cleansing skills from your order?”
“No.” I said. “I’m more of a paladin type than a cleric.”
“I see. Well, let’s try something. Picture your god, and how you envision his power.” He said, handing me the cursed meat. “However it appears to you, know that it flows through you and you are always connected to it.”
In my head, I saw the green flame of Thanatos. Calm and gentle, it burned cold. “Take a small portion of that power, and send it out against the curse. However you serve your god, you need to make a connection between that and the curse. Paladins fight, so your power should see the curse as an enemy. Drive it back, corner it and destroy it.”
Interesting. Try as I might, it wouldn’t move. The longer I tried, the more I tried to force it, the stronger my headache got. Eventually I had to give up with a sigh.
“Don’t worry, hardly anyone gets it on their first try. It’s a bit tricky to mix your own mana with the divine and not let it get overwhelmed.”
“Mix the mana?” I asked, slapping myself in the forehead. “Of course it didn’t work, I won’t have mana usage until tomorrow. Thank you, though, for trying. If I may, can I come in the morning to try some cleansing?”
“That will be fine. It was nice meeting you, Angus.” He said while sticking his hand out to shake.
“You as well Charles.” I answered, shaking his hand. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I do believe I’ve kept Butch there waiting long enough.” Leaving the kind priest behind, I headed toward the table where Butch was while Inkler fell into step beside me.
“Sorry buddy, I’m sure this has been tough being around all this meat all day, hasn’t it?” I asked while rubbing his favorite spot, right between his ears. “I’ll see what I can whip up for us in the kitchen tonight, ok?” That got him purring right as we arrived at Butch’s table.
“We appreciate all the help you’ve done today. Did the priest answer all your questions?”
“Not a problem, I’m sure I’ve gained a few skills out of the deal. I just hope I didn’t ruin too many of the pelts. And yes, he did thanks.”
“No worries on that, we get apprentices comin’ through here all the time. They’ll just cut it into strips and use it where its’ needed. Now, you’ve completed one of the most vigorous days I’ve ever stuck a new guy into, and I’m as excited as you are to see what you’ve gained. Why don’t you pull up your notifications.”
New skill
Level
Bonus
Skinning
Beginner level 7
+7% chance to obtain pelts or leathers as extra drops. Quality limited to Average
Butchery
Intermediate level 1
+15% chance to obtain edible cuts of meat from slain enemies.
Animal harvesting
Intermediate level 1
+15% chance to obtain crafting components from slain enemies
Skill synergy detected!
The skills Skinning, Butchery, and Animal Harvesting all synergize with Anatomy. As long as you have done a field inspection of three bodies of a creature type, your bonuses from these skills will increase. At current anatomy level: Double chance for drops, maximum tier drop increased by 2 (average becomes superior), +30% chance to increase tier drop by 1, +3% chance to increase tier drop by 2.
“All three skills? Excellent! We will welcome you back here any time.” As he was reading the notifications I got and talking, I went through and changed out of my borrowed clothes. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s this anatomy skill though?”
“Hmm? Oh, I got it for studying the dead bodies of enemies looking for weaknesses. Organs, joints, how the muscles and bones fit together. It gives me a boost to certain combat abilities, and now increases the drops I’ll be getting.”
“I see. Any idea how I can get it?”
“Stop by the church of Thanatos. They’ll put you in the right direction.” I answered. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I do need to get this beast here some treats for being so well behaved today.”
“By all means. Tell Abdaul that if he keeps sending people with your work ethic out to me, I’ll never be able to pay him back.”
“I will.” I said with a chuckle, before heading away. I stopped by Abdaul’s store, where I convinced him to sell me Winter’s Advent for the low, low price of 20 platinum. After that, it was back to the inn where we enjoyed several varieties of lizard tail. The cooks all tried to outdo each other, especially when they saw the sheer amount of meat I was able to provide. Stuffed to the brim, we headed upstairs to sleep.