Nearing the end of the fourth week, Rion heard something pleasant.
Strength increased by 1 point. (+1 STR)New Stat: Endurance
Level Up: Sword Mastery [2]
Increases Attack Power with a sword. (+20% ATK)
Increases Attack Speed with a sword (+6% ATK SPD)
Endurance
Reduces the loss of vitality and stamina. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat.
After four weeks of hard work, Rion leveled up Sword Mastery to two, gained a new stat, agility became 22, stamina became 20, and most importantly, strength became 25.
Rion went back to the shack only to find that there was no one there.
"That damned blacksmith lied to me." The room looked like it had been abandoned for weeks.
Fuming, Rion glanced around to look for something to let her anger out on and noticed another door. Curious as to what was behind the door, Rion opened the door.
It was a door back to the outside, and there was nothing there. Dejected, Rion walked out. After one step and Rion was hit by something forceful, and collapsed.
It was as if gravity multiplied by a thousand. Only being able to move her head, Rion turned to see what hit her, and saw two NPCs fighting.
This game has a lot of immersion.
The NPCs that were fighting was an NPC Rion never saw before, and the blacksmith. The blacksmith was holding the sword he was forging earlier. Both of them were heavily injured.
The other NPC seemed to be gaining the upper hand. The blacksmith was losing. That was, until the black sword was suddenly thrust into the NPC. It looked as if the sword had absorbed the data for the other NPC.
The blacksmith walked towards Rion.
"I'm going to modify your equipment."
Rion's equipped items were replaced by similar ones from the blacksmith.
"Try standing up now."
Rion was able to stand up now, although the gravity was still heavier than before and gave her a hunchback.
"What did you do?"
"I will explain, but first let me explain the situation."
"I was a normal NPC working as a blacksmith. One day, I was drafted for the Rosenheim army and went into the North. I discovered everything, that this is a game, and I am merely a product of this world. I discovered a lot on the journey.
I saw the code for this 'game'. Since then, I have seen the world differently. Monsters, players, NPCs. They all had health and levels. I could create things, custom classes, custom weapons, custom everything.
Because of that, the Goddess Freya has sent other NPCs to track me down and eliminate me. What you just saw was the reason you are like this now. The blast that hit you was a stat-deleting blast. I was able to ward off most of it, unfortunately not all. Because of it, you have zero strength and cannot add stat points into it."
Rion was shocked. No strength meant not only would trivial tasks suddenly become difficult, but being a warrior was impossible.
The blacksmith suddenly got up and squinted at the sky.
"There's not much time. They're coming again. As compensation for your loss, I will give you this sword and a class of your choice."
The blacksmith handed the black sword over to Rion. It was extremely light, and she could hold it just fine. This only strengthened her resolve."
"I want to be a warrior."
"..."
"What's wrong?"
"Because you have less than ten strength, the system won't allow me to give you the class."
"..."
"However, I can give you a modified version of it."
"I'm OK with that."
"Good. This class is different from all the others. Because it is not made by the Goddess Freya, it has no limits. What you do will heavily change how your class progresses."
*Ting*
Custom Class!If you accept it, the class changes as you progress. Do you want to convert now?
"I accept." Rion's avatar was enveloped in light.
Character NameRionAlignmentNoneLevel1ProfessionCustom WarriorTitleNoneReputation0Health100Mana100Strength0Agility22Stamina20Wisdom10Intellect10Luck0 (-5)Leadership0Attack0Defense0Magic ResistanceNone+ Enables you to equip certain items specialized for warriors.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
+ Class will change with progress.
+ Item Identification has been enabled.
Rion was pretty disappointed. She did not gain any of the stats usually earned from class changing, she even lost stats in Luck! However, she could change the class when she needed to if she didn't like it, and having a class at Level 1 helps tremendously.
"The sword I have given you is a recent invention of mine. Like you, the weapon will also level."
A weapon that levels. Something like this was unheard of. Not only could this sword surpass all other weapons, Rion would not have to buy a sword ever again!
"I must go now. I wish you luck on your journey. If we ever meet again, pretend to not know me. Everything you will need to advance your repair skill to intermediate is behind the furnace."
And with that, the blacksmith was gone.
Rion went back inside the shack and went directly to the furnace. She checked behind the furnace but could not find anything. She checked every nook and cranny, but to no avail.
He lied to me! Unless...
Rion put out the flames of the furnace. There was an obvious, suspicious trapdoor under the pile of ashes. Surprisingly, it opened when Rion pulled the hatch.
Woooooaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
It was an underground chasm that had a seemingly endless amount of worn weapons. They must have all been the blacksmith's creations. Each one was different from the other, sometimes by miniscule details.
Rion looked back at her own weapon. It was much different from the others. While the worn weapons were made of mostly a white metal, hers was sleek black. Upon further inspection, it looked like the weapon was sucking in all light around it. Sunlight did not reflect.
"Identify!"
Angst Level 0: Durability: ?
Damage: 5-8
An extremely skilled blacksmith created this weapon. It is the first of its kind. Because of the material used in this weapon, it can gain extra effects as it levels.
Equip: +1 STR
An incredibly overpowered weapon was in Rion's hands. A durability of infinity would mean that the weapon would never lose power and battle, and it never had to be cared for. But that wasn't the overpowered part.
A weapon that could indefinitely gain extra effects would be insane. If one of those effects were life drain, Rion was essentially unkillable in battle. It was all up to luck.
If each weapon was just as powerful as she hoped, Rion could sell the repaired weapons for an immense sum.
Although her weapon would never break, Rion's armor still would. The repair skill was still necessary. But right now, strength was more important.
Rion headed back to the Training Hall. Picking up the wooden sword was a task at this point. It took all of her strength to swing the sword. Hitting the scarecrow was a huge feat in itself. However, she was determined to not give up. Every strength point mattered now, she would be weaker than other players with zero strength.
Ten minutes later a message surprised Rion.
Strength increased by 1 point. (+1 STR)
There could only be one explanation for gaining a strength point this fast. The more strength you have, the harder it is the gain a point for it through unconventional means. This would mean that Rion could quickly gain back all the strength she lost.
The wooden sword was a bit easier to swing. Rion continued on hitting the scarecrow.