Volume 1 Chapter 9: Potions, Knives, a Dog, and a Turtle?_Seeker of Myths

Chapter 9: Potions, Knives, a Dog, and a Turtle?

Akaro took a day off from the game after what had transpired the other night. He spent the whole day with his grandfather and aunt reminiscing about stories of his mother and grandmother. His eomma had two weeks off and like him enjoyed Royal Road as well. So they both logged in the next day.

“Akaro I'll bring you to the potion shop.”

Nodding Akaro followed his adopted mother to the shop.

“Here it is. Now be nice to her regardless of the smell inside. She is one of our loyal customers and my friend in this game. I do not want to hear that you have been rude to her. I must go and get ready at the restaurant.”

Juhee would be the only one who would take a vacation from her regular work to start working in the game. That was how much she enjoyed cooking.

After his eomma left him he entered the shop. Various foul stenches and smells wafted around the room. Akaro was trained to endure these smells and some of the tools and herbs he used in Japan were very similar.

'It's as if it is a constant use of a ninja black egg.'

“Hello?”

He called out as there seemed to be no one around. Akaro knew better thanks to his awareness skill. There was one other person here.

“Welcome...”

He heard a lazy drawl of a voice coming from the other room.

“I've come to purchase some mana ether or elixer.”

“They are called mana potions here.”

At last the voice from the room appeared. She had ebony hair that covered her face and large spectacles around her eyes. She walked like a zombie towards the counter as she moved quite slowly. She was about the same age as Cooking Queen in terms of look.

“How much do they cost?”

“10 copper for the basic, 10 silver for the better ones and 1 gold for the really good ones.”

Akaro stared at her as she seemed to be quite bored with his questions.

“How much mana recovers with the basic one?”

“50...”

“The better one?”

“500...”

“Really good one?”

“1500...”

Hearing her answers he started to ponder. Right now he had about 4000 mana so the really good one was sounding the best one to get. Looking at his current money situation he had about 10 gold, 78 silver, and 41 copper.

“I can only get 10 of the really good ones... is there a way I can get it for cheaper?”

“No...”

The one answers were beginning to annoy him. He then tried to persuade.

“Is there anything I can do to get them cheaper? Maybe help you with a request?”

“No...”

His persuasion failed immediately.

'Well that didn't work. I need a lot more potions to even start working with inscribe skill and the pen.'

“You do not need any help around here?”

Taking a look around at his surrounding he found that everything was a mess. He found various ingredients on different shelves and were not very organized. What caught his eyes were that some of the books were used as place mats for liquid beakers and other strange looking glassware.

“No...”

“That's a lie. Look at all this mess. Even if you won't give me a discount I can't let those books be misused like that.”

Akaro's switch was turned on as he started organizing everything. One of his pet peeves would be the mishandling of literature as he treasured his own books and believed people should do the same.

The woman just watched as the red head was practically almost finishing tidying up. She saw how he treated the books as if apologizing to them.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Well you looked like you wouldn't do it. So I helped.”

Akaro was not a busy body normally but this woman looked helpless.

“Thank you...”

Akaro smiled at her after she thanked him.

'At least she's polite.'

“Well I can only buy 10 of the really good ones. Can I get those?”

“Discount... Free for help...”

“No I cannot do that. I helped you on my own free will.”

“Free...”

“No.”

“Free...”

“No.”

The woman scowled. She never had such a long argument other than a certain chef who dragged her into a restaurant.

“Then what do you want to do?...”

“I'll buy them normally. If you want to give me one potion free I am fine with that. I don't want all of them free.”

“But you helped me...One is not enough...”

She was really thankful as her shop did look a lot cleaner. She just didn't have the personality to say it clearly.

“Well can you teach me how to make a mana potion? By the way my name is Akaro.”

“My name is... Poison... I can teach... but it is hard...”

“Hard for you to teach or hard for me to learn?”

“Both...”

Akaro shook his head. He did not really have the time to learn a new skill at the moment. He wanted to finish his knives and he was going to be late to work at the forge.

“Can you teach me next time? I'll buy the potions for now and come back later to learn more from you after?”

“Not free... you take twenty now... you make twenty later to pay back...”

“I'll even make a contract with you. I'll take twenty really good mana potions now and I will help you make twenty more later.”

A simple contract but they both signed it. Taking the potions he smiled at Poison.

“Thank you for your generosity Poison. I'll be sure to come back to repay this favour.”

She smiled back. “Your welcome... your promise... don't forget...”

Akaro saw her smile and thought that she had a hidden beauty as her smile was quite honest. Although she was an NPC he treated her like any other woman who showed a pretty smile.

“You look prettier smiling like that. I will come back to repay this favour. I won't forget.”

He left the store.

Ding

Likelihood to influence decisions of women 5%.

Requirement:

Persuasion Beginner Lv. 5

Can be increased by the attractiveness stat.

Do you want to add the attractiveness stat?[/col][/box]

“No.”

Again he denied the stat. He is starting to learn that his face was quite pleasing to a lot of people although he did not know why.

'I'm just normal.'

All the normal men in the world have cried at that thought.

***

Arriving at the Rusty Nail Akaro was greeted by a grumpy blacksmith.

“You're late. Did working for my daughter cause you to get lazy?!”

“I'm sorry master. I was trying to get potions.”

“From the old man in the centre of town?”

“No from Poison-ssi.”

“From that creepy woman eh... Well I can understand why it took you longer. Actually I have no special work today so you can focus on finishing your damn knives that are taking up space. I'll handle the repairs.”

Groans from the line can be heard as the women quickly left to just watch Akaro from a distance.

“Thank you master. I'll be sure to clean this up.”

Akaro got to work on the knives. Now with twenty mana potions he should be able finish inscribing the knives before he runs out of mana. Using up about four mana potions he finished marking each knife with his name.

He grabbed two clamps and placed the knife between them so that the centre of the handle was visible and not obstructed by the clamp. Using a hammer and a sharp steel puncturing tool he poked a hole in the middle of the handle. He continue to do this for each knife but it was a long process because he had to clamp the knives properly or he will damage all the work he had already completed. It was about lunch when he finished puncturing holes on the handles of the knives.

On queue, the delivery of food came. Cooking queen came with three bentos as she was going to eat with Melchior and Akaro.

“Melchior-nim. Is Akaro doing well as your apprentice?”

“The boy has more than enough talent to smith. That is why I was making him repair so he can learn the class skill. I'm not going to just give him the class skill. He has to earn it.”

“Wouldn't it be easier for you to teach him?”

“Eomma. It's okay. He's letting me use his forge and materials to do the work I want. If it takes longer for me to get the class that is fine with me.”

“Well as long as you are okay with that. Well I have to go and get back to the restaurant. I heard from Poison-ssi that you helped her clean up the shop and that you called her pretty.”

“The boy is starting to learn. You better be careful he might break a lot of hearts.”

“Be that as it may, Akaro please be careful with your words. They can be very effective for an attractive person.”

“I will eomma.”

Once his mother left, he went to the pile of wood on the side and just picked up any rectangular piece. He then cut it with the proper length for a handle and cut that in half length wise. Using his photographic memory he grabbed a small sharp chisel and started working on one half to make a groove that the knife handle end would fit in firmly.

Ding

He smiled after learning the skill. This was a skill very similar to sculpting. But as he was making handles and not pieces of art it was used differently. It was still considered a crafting skill and was affected by his class restrictions.[/col][/box]

'Now I can use it to make the same grooves with no problem.'

Placing the knife in the groove he just carved out Akaro made sure it fit firmly in it before taking a manual hand drill and drilled through the hole and through the piece of wood. As he drilled the squeaks of turning the gear for the tool could be heard. Once the hole was made he put an adhesive on both pieces of wood before putting them together to seal the knife metal handle portion. He then using a leather twine wrapped the two pieces of wood as tightly as possible to prevent the two blocks of wood from separating.

He did this ninety-nine more times and stacked all the knives in the corner. They needed about six hours to set and dry before working on them again.

“Master. I am running out of food to keep my stamina up so I will be heading to Hunter's Delight. Did you want me to bring you back some more food?”

Melchior who was still repairing replied, “Yeah bring me another bento. I've forgotten how tedious repairing was.”

Leaving the Rusty Nail he started walking to the restaurant. As he got to the alley where the back door was he noticed a furry creature lying down on the alley way. Upon closer inspection it was a shiba inu (type of Japanese dog). It looked malnourished and needed water.

“I'll bring you food. Just stay alive.”

He hurriedly opened the back door and asked his older brother chef's for a bowl of water and some of the meat. As they saw that Akaro was in a rush they quickly gave him the items. Some of the younger chefs had gotten curious and followed Akaro out the door. He then watched as the red headed boy fed the dog outside.

The shiba inu first drank the water and after gaining back some strength started to eat the pieces of meat from Akaro's hand. It did this slowly at first but started to gobble up everything presented to him.

“Younger brother. You are so kind. I'll grab you more food. That dog still looks pretty hungry.”

Hearing that her son was just outside Cooking Queen came out. She smiled at the scene as the dog who had recovered was now licking her son's face.

Akaro inspected the dog. It had redish orange and white fur. The two tones created a shape on the forehead that looked like a lightning bolt.

“Hey do you want to sign a contract with me?”

The dog seemed to understand him as it wagged it's tail.

“I Akaro, as your master will take care of you, provide you food and shelter and give you the name Rai. You will listen to every command I give and protect me.”

As it was a dog it couldn't sign a paper but it barked in response as if saying yes.

Ding.

All companion contracts will be found under the contract window.

Successful commands will be determined by their loyalty to you.

You own 1 companion contract.

Contract proficiency has increased.[/col][/box]

“Rai stat window.”

Status WindowNameRaiRaceDogLevel1Health630Mana0Stamina150Loyalty100%Strength30Agility80Vitality60Instinct100Wisdom1Intelligence1Leadership0Luck60Attack30Defence30Combat Skills:Running HeadbuttATK +75%

Consumes 20 stamina

Damage received 10% of damage given.BiteATK +20%

Consumes 10 staminaSpecial Abilities:Scent DetectiveAs a canine his sense of smell is much stronger than most animals. He can pick up the scent on anything he had smelled before.

Akaro pat Rai on the head.

“You will be quite useful to me Rai.”

Rai barked and wagged his tail.

“My a boy and his dog. Now this is a scene that's for sure.”

Looking up from Rai, Akaro saw that his mother, Gasper, and many of the other chefs came to see the two. They all had pieces of food with them.

“Let me feed him.”

“Rai an easy name to remember.”

“Well at least it's here in the game and not at our house. I'm allergic to them.”

“Such a good boy. They totally match well together.”

They all started petting and feeding the dog.

Remembering what he came here to do and asked for a resupply on the dried meat and bread. They gave him extra so that Rai had food as well. He also had two bento for him and Melchior.

Returning to the forge Rai barked at Melchior as if saying notice me.

“I send you out to get food and you come back with a dog. Are we going to eat him?”

Melchior eyed the dog which in response Rai whimpered.

'He really does seem to understand us.'

“Don't worry Rai. I won't let anyone eat you.”

Happy to hear his master say that Rai sat beside Akaro as the two ate their dinner.

“Rai. Simple name for a simple boy.”

“Yup.”

Akaro didn't take that statement as an insult.

“Well you two look like you belong together as you both have red fur on your head. I checked your knives and they will still take a bit of time for the glue to hold. You should go and play with your mutt.”

Akaro took that as permission for him to play with Rai. He never had an actual dog. He raised a wolf in the mountains until it was old enough to hunt on it's own but this was an actual normal pet. He did not know what the regular reaction to play was. He decided to use the remaining four hours to explore the outskirts and train his dog.

Reaching the field he saw a bunch of level one rabbits.

“Rai attack!”

Rai rushed at the closest rabbit and finished it off with a bite. As it disappeared it left behind rabbit meat. Rai brought it to Akaro in which he stashed it in his bag.

Akaro was already level 13 and was not going to get experience even if he attacked the rabbits bare handed. So he focused on training Rai.

Clearing the rabbits he decided to walk towards the river. Akaro was looking for clay to use for when he was ready to forge his swords. As he was looking he heard Rai barking.

Akaro could see at a distance that the dog was barking at a rock from what he can tell anyway.

'Too bad I can't understand you... wait.'

“Translate!”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Any language learned will be found in the Language window.

INT up by 1

WIS up by 1

LUCK up by 1

Speech up by 50

Level up: Translation (Beginner Lv. 2 39%)[/col][/box]

“Master! Master! A moving thingy!”

Akaro was surprised as now he understood the overly excited Rai.

'Although he's a bit stupid.'

Remembering Rai's INT stat was rather low, Akaro sighed. He then walked towards his talking dog.

“Rai what is moving.”

“This master. I tipped him over and he cannot get up.”

Looking closely at the rock he noticed that it was indeed moving. Upon closer inspection it was a turtle or it looked like one. The colour scheme matched all the rocks around him and even his shell had the camouflage matching the rocks. He picked up the turtle and turned it over.

“Sorry for my dogs behaviour. You can go now.”

The turtle looked at it's saviour as it eyes sparkled. It walked towards Akaro and made a noise.

Already learned the canine language he might as well try to learn this one as well.

“Translate.”

Level up: Translation (Beginner Lv. 3 20%)

INT up by 1

WIS up by 1

Luck up by 1

Speech up by 50[/col][/box]

“Thank you for saving me. I want to follow you hyung!”

'The turtle just called me big brother.'

“Well do you want to form a contract with me?”

“Yes. I'll do anything to stay with you and furry hyung.”

“I Akaro, will provide food and shelter for you and will rename you Genbu. In return you will follow my command and protect me.”

“Anything for you hyung.”

Ding

Level up: Contract (Intermediate Lv. 2 20%)

INT up by 1

WIS up by 1

Mana up by 100[/col][/box]

“Genbu's stats”

Status WindowNameGenbuRaceTurtleLevel1Health1000Mana0Stamina150Loyalty100%Strength10Agility1Vitality100Instinct10Wisdom1Intelligence10Leadership0Luck0Attack10Defence100Combat Skills:Clay SpitterATK +15%

Consumes 10 stamina

50% chance to cause blindStone FormDEF +50%

Consumes 10 Stamina

10 Minute durationSpecial Abilities:Earth EaterDue to being a rare species that live in the mountains, these turtles are able to eat rocks and soil as a way to replenish stamina.Metal ChewerWhen chewing on metal ore they consume any of the impurities in the metal. Leaving behind a much more pure ore.

Akaro eyes showed complete surprise. This turtle will be very useful for a blacksmith.

“Genbu and Rai... you both are still weak so we need to train some more.”

It has only been an hour since they started training and it was still be a bit before he had to return to the forge.

Genbu was really slow but had very high defence. Rai was quick but stupid which usually led him to hurt himself more than the opponent.

Then a thought came to him. Lifting Genbu he noticed that he weighed like a rock but he still placed it on Rai's head. It looked ridiculous as Rai was just barely able to lift his head. The turtles head was just above Rai's lightning mark.

“You two will work together. Rai you hurt yourself trying to headbutt the rabbits but with Genbu on your head you will not take that much damage. Genbu whenever Rai rushes for a head butt use your Rock form to build up your defence so the both of you won't get hurt.”

With this new battle plan they trained against the grey and brown rabbits. After a few incidents of Rai dropping Genbu and tripping over him they soon started to work well together. Then they started aiming for the level 5 deer as well.

Ding

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#202020 bgcolor=#f5f5f5][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#202020 bgcolor=#f5f5f5]You have trained two animals to fight for you. You can learn to be a beast tamer. Your animal companions will get a boost in their abilities. You can unlock special skills if you have sufficient enough leadership and charisma. Did you want to have Beast Tamer as a recorded Combat Class skill?[/col][/box]

“No.”

Akaro was just training his companions so they can work together. He was not just going to use his pets to fight for him. It sounded cowardly and his pride will not allow him to put them in any danger he is not willing to be in himself.

“Did he just stick a turtle on that dog's head?”

"So cute. I want to pet them. But I don't want to bother him.”

“Did he get a beast tamer skill. I'm going to ask the information guides on how to get that skill.”

Players who were observing the red head were quite amazed at his actions. Some just continued to watch him train as they either wanted to watch his animals or liked watching his face.

Not once did Akaro intervene in the training of his two pets. He did not need to as they followed his every command and he did not steer them into any danger. He had to feed Rai from time to time to replenish stamina but Genbu would just stick his head into the ground and start chewing on soil and grass.

'Genbu is a good turtle. I do not have to worry about him.'

This continued for the next couple of hours. Both Genbu and Rai grew quite a few levels.

“Contract Companion window”

Contracted CompanionsCompanion #NameLevelLoyalty1Rai7100%2Genbu6100%

He did not need to look at their stats as they grew by 2 every level up with the exception of health and stamina which grew by 10. Since they did not have any magical attributes they had no mana. So the current stats would only show increased stats but the ratio will stay the same. Genbu will never be faster then he is now and Rai will remain an idiot.

Akaro sighed at Rai who was chasing his tail causing Genbu to get dizzy.

“Alright guys. Let's go back to the forge.”

***

“You leave with a dog and you come back with another animal. Are you trying to make my forge a zoo?!”

Melchior gave him his opinion on the matter.

“They are my companions. I cannot just leave them somewhere.”

“Yeah yeah. A strange looking turtle you got there anyway.”

“He's special.”

“I bet.”

Not noticing the sarcasm Akaro nodded with a pleasing smile.

'Ingenious at times and then an idiot right after. My apprentice sure is entertaining.'

“Well I already removed the twine for your knives and drilled the holes through the other side. I also hammered in the wooden lock to keep them in place. All you have to do is carve the handles. It was quite slow when you were not here. I kept hearing the adventurers talk about a turtle on a dogs head. That was definitely you.”

“Thank you for your help master.”

“You think I did it for free? I'm taking it off your pay.”

“I understand master.”

“Good.”

Akaro then saw the knives that Melchior did some finishing touches to. He grabbed one and used a proper carving knife to work on the handles.

Genbu was dropped into a bucket with water and whetstones while Rai had lazily slept near the entrance as it was too hot at the forge. Genbu did not mind the heat as he was technically made out of rock. It also barely floated in the water thanks to how the shell was designed but he would be bobbing in and out of the waters surface continuously.

Finishing the shape of one handle, Akaro grabbed sand paper and started smoothing out the edges of the handle. His wood carving skill was slowly growing as he did the same process for every handle. On the last handle he received a pop up message.

He then got varnish and a rag and started sealing the wood with the varnish to give it the glossy look and keep it safe from moisture. Once all the knives were varnished he place them in warm dry place for it to set once more. This only needed about thirty minutes to do.

The last step was the final sharpening and polishing of the metal to give it that shine. As he tried to grab a whetstone he was interrupted by Genbu.

“Hyung use me. I'm much better then these lousy stones.”

“What do you mean use you...?”

“My belly can sharpen those blades. I want to be useful to hyung. That and I'm bored.”

Genbu had been watching Akaro for the last six hours as he worked.

Grabbing the turtle, Akaro set him up on his shell on the ramp he would usually use for a whetstone. Once set up, Genbu tucked in his two front legs and his head before he started talking in a muffled voice.

“You can start hyung.”

Akaro started to use the turtle as a whetstone and it was working quite well.

“Sharpen.”

Using his skills once more he finished the last sharpening for the knife.

Ding

Using a rare whetstone no durability was loss.

You have created a kitchen knife without the blacksmith skill. Using different methods from regular blacksmiths you have learned a secret subclass.[/col][/box]

“Yes.”

“No”

STR up by 30

VIT up by 30

STA up by 30

DEX up by 30

HP up by 500

MP up by 500

Blacksmith skills that have been learned will no longer be restricted

Learned Handicraft (Beginner Lv1 1 0%): Enhances crafting skills and has extra effects to certain combat skills

Learned Weapon Break (Beginner Lv. 1 0%): Enables the user to decrease a weapons durability in combat.

Can decrease the durability by 2

Consumes 300 mana

Learned Deconstruction (Beginner Lv. 1 0%): Enables the user to completely deconstruct equipment to its rawest form. The amount is determined by the level and size of the equipment and the level of the deconstruction skill.

2.5% chance to succeed

30% of the material to make the equipment will be recovered

Consumes 500 mana

Learned Weapon Modification (Beginner Lv. 1 0%)Enables the user to adjust weapons to either increase durability, add special affects, or to completely change the shape.

To increase durability raw ore is needed.

To add special affects gems and crystals are need.

To change the shape a proper hammer is needed

2.5% chance to succeed to add additional properties or durability

Changing shape will be determined by the blade smith's skill

Consumes 500 mana

Learned Weapon Smith (Beginner Lv. 1 0%): Enables the user to smith any type of weapon.

2.5% Damage increased

2.5% Durability increased[/col][/box]

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#202020 bgcolor=#f5f5f5][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#202020 bgcolor=#f5f5f5]Special traits of the class:

Weapons wielded have 25% more damage

Weapons wielded have 25% more durability

Armour that has been created will have durability set to 1

Armour that has been created will have defence set to 1

Reduces level requirements of weapons by 100

Reduces level requirements of armor by 50

Enables you to equip weapons regardless of class restriction

Enables you to equip weapons regardless of stat restriction

Enables you to equip armour regardless of class restriction

Enables you to equip armour regardless of stat restriction[/col][/box]

Akaro reviewed his skills and then he looked at Melchior.

“I got a black smith class I think...”

“What does your class say?”

“Ancient Bladesmith”

Melchior smiled at his apprentice.

“Looks like you got a blacksmith subclass. Usually are really good but there are steep penalties. What are your penalties?”

“Any armor I make will have durability of 1 and defence set to 1.”

“Pretty much telling you to never make armour. That's too bad as now you can probably wear any armour. Just none that you have made.”

Akaro scowled a bit. If he had known he may have just waited until he got the regular blacksmith skill as at least he can make his own armour. He always wanted to try it out after watching his master the last few weeks.

Melchior looked at his apprentice and grabbed something from a hidden compartment in the back.

“Don't be so discouraged. You will be able to make fine weapons with that class. My wife also has a subclass. She is also can only make weapons as a Dwarven Weapon Smith. Her armour skills are horrid. Only reason I believe she married me was that I was really good at making armour.”

Akaro then saw the item that wrapped in dirty rag.

“This gift I'm giving you as my first official apprentice. You have graduated and this will help you smith quite a bit better.”

“Thank you master.”

Retrieving the gift he opened it and revealed a mythril imbued hammer.

“Identify.”

Ding

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#202020 bgcolor=#f5f5f5][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#202020 bgcolor=#f5f5f5]Melchior's First Hammer

The first hammer that was gifted to Melchior by his own master. It has many years of use and has experienced making many different kinds weapons and armour.

Durability: 890/900

Damage: 55-75

Improves created equipment by 20%

Requirement:

Must have a blacksmith related class

Strength 200

Level 100[/col][/box]

“Now stop slacking off. You and your turtle have 99 more knives to go. Also feed your mutt. It's been over 6 hours!”

Akaro smiled at his master before replying.

“Yes Master.”

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Volume 1 Chapter 9: Potions, Knives, a Dog, and a Turtle?

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