Willow walked through the market through throngs of players haggling for items of questionable quality and dubious origins. Now and then a merchant’s assistant would spot her coming and flash her a smile, pointing at freshly polished weapons or promising high quality inventory. Most of the time, she gave a warm smile in return and kept walking. Once, a merchant recognized her and corrected his assistant’s catcalls with a slap to the head.
While she had spent most of her life hiding her lineage, it did come with its benefits.
She made her way to the Player Society’s outpost in Seongsoo. A large structure that towered above everything else in the area which wasn’t saying much. The neighborhood had been ravaged by monster attacks during the Break. Even now, there was a sharp border drawn along the south where players kept guard against monster attacks.
Willow moved past the Society’s structure into a nondescript brick building next door. As she walked past, the heads of several artisans working an open air forge bowed in greeting. A greeting Willow returned before opening the unlocked door and walking in.
It was a simple home. There was only one bedroom with a roll out cot along with a simple kitchen and sparsely decorated living room. Willow drew in a breath and smelled the unmistakable scent of apple-honey curry.
“Mom?”
Jaena poked her head out from the kitchen. There was plenty of lighting in the small home, but Willow’s mother’s smile alone could have lit the room.
“You’re here!”
There was a clatter of silverware as Jaena dropped a ladle and rushed to hug her daughter. For a few moments, Willow could forget about the world. There were no thoughts about ominous messages, dangerous travels to the northlands or family troubles.
For a few moments, she could just hug her mother.
***
The next morning, Hana and Jinyoung met Willow at the train station. The two siblings spent the night at an inn while Willow gathered the rest of the party’s supplies. The Player Society arranged for a private train to take them north, turning what could have been eight days of travel into one day and one night.
Just like before, the train car was empty. Trains were rarely open to the public and used only for official business, And each member of the Phoenix got the impression that the Society didn’t want knowledge of whatever was happening up north to be public.
Once the train car left the station and Hana made sure that there was no one else on the train except the conductor, the party sat down in an open train car to discuss the days ahead.
“I have eight Fire Stones, three winter jackets, Blessed Gloves of Cold Resistance and some heavy winter boots.”
“Good,” Hana responded. It was late in summer, but the northlands were well below zero at this time of year. And without any contacts, it was difficult to know whether any encampments or safe zones would be available to them.
“We have to assume the worst and go in prepared. Nothing like Seorak this time. We stick together or we’re dead.”
The others nodded.
“Okay,” Hana continued. “We’ll be on this train for a few more hours. Status update.”
Stolen novel; please report.
It was a common occurrence for clans to keep a member board in order to keep track of player abilities and progress. For larger parties and clans, it was a way to assign tasks and jobs according to specialties. For smaller clans and parties, status updates were a chance for veterans to help and advise lower level players.
Willow hesitated before speaking. “Level 17, scholar. I’m pushing stat points into wisdom and luck.”
Jinyoung’s eyebrows furrowed at the last word.
“Luck?” he asked.
The scholar class was one of the worst classes in the system because it was a gateway class. It led to bigger and better classes with powerful and wide-ranging skills, spells and abilities. But as far as he knew, none of them required luck
"She's going for 'alchemist'."
Jinyoung blinked. The alchemist was a well-known class, but for all the wrong reasons. On paper, the alchemist looked like a top-tier support class. Thanks to its inclusion in the scholar tree, players had access to a full-range of magic spells. In addition, alchemists could cook potions and elixirs much in the same way blacksmiths could craft weapons and equipment. In theory, an alchemist could both cast offensive spells while carrying and crafting a bevy of support items for a team.
But the alchemist class also had its drawbacks. Potion and elixirs were orders of difficulty harder to craft than weapons or enchantments. The most basic potions had a 60% failure rate which only got worse with higher-level items.
By far, the biggest problem was the alchemist class' skills. None of them were geared towards MP or mana control. This meant players had nothing to rely on for spellcasting besides innate talent and control. In short, alchemists had the spellcasting abilities of basic scholars with unreliable crafting mechanics. In other words, they were nearly useless.
"There are maybe 15 alchemists in the whole of the city," Jinyoung said. "Only two or three are worth their salt. The rest are basically worker bees that craft and refine magic stones. What possible reason-"
"Show him," Hana interjected.
Carefully, Willow opened her pack and removed a pair of very worn gloves.
Nimble Hands of Fire Light
Item: Gloves
Attributes: Increased crafting (+20% up to max of 80%) (BROKEN)
"Even broken, those gloves are worth a year's salary. Each."
Jinyoung sat quietly, processing the information he had just been given. And when he didn't speak, Willow voiced her opinion.
"You're right, there are maybe 15 alchemists in the whole of the city. And even with these gloves, it’ll be years before I’m able to craft anything helpful consistently. But that's why we need them,” the words tumbled out of Willow like a torrent. “If you haven't noticed, injured players in the field have a low survival rate. It wasn’t much higher before when there were more alchemists, but it was higher."
She was right. Most players in the field didn't survive unless they received immediate medical attention. That meant a doctor or, more likely, a mage who could teleport you to a hospital.
"You know, it's only a matter of time until those gloves are unusable. And finding another pair isn't likely. What if you end up with some useless class that's worthless?" Jinyoung countered. "What if you end up just another weak player?"
Willow stood up. "I want to help people, Jinyoung. I don't have to be strong to do that. And if all I cared about was strength, then I'd never have enough."
“Not to mention…” Hana started.
It took a second before Jinyoung understood what his sister was getting at.
“My [scan] skill…” he finished.
Willow nodded excitedly. “You were able to help me cast spells better. Why wouldn’t that apply to crafting, too?”
Jinyoung nodded. He had to admit that it wasn’t a bad idea. During their time in the forgemaster’s workshop, Jinyoung hadn’t just [scanned] weapons and armor, he had [scanned] everything there. His skill allowed him to see details of crafting materials, crafting equipment, and so much more. He’d had to let the skill fade or risk being completely overwhelmed by the onslaught of information.
“Jinyoung,” Hana said. “You’re up.”
Jinyoung stared back before sighing.
“Level 21,” Jinyoung stated simply.
The others stared for a second before realizing there wasn’t much else. It was quiet for a few uncomfortable seconds in the train car as the scenery rumbled past.