Ray woke up the next morning and pulled on a new set of leather armor that he had recently finished crafting. He had infused it with auto repair and a defensive enchantment that would create a small magical shield around him when infused with at least 50 MP. Next, he belted a new project that he had finished yesterday. It was a finely crafted short sword with a small chanal on both sides of the blade running from the base of the handle to the tip. Ray had gone all out on the new gear. Freia had paid him around 20% of the profits for any orders that he helped her with. While this had netted him a small hoard of gold coins, he was already back to being poor between the materials for his arm, armor, and short sword, but it had been worth it not only had his arm ended up being an artifact-grade item but he turned the short sword into an epic one after completing the construction and enchantment process.
Reflective Shot Short sword:
A sword meticulously forged by an Advanced Tinkering Smith and beginner bio-artisan before being enchanted by the beginner bio-artisan elevating it to new heights
Grade: Epic
Durability: 100/100
Attributes
Lesser Mana Repair
Impact absorption
Reflective shot: Store any energy nullified by impact absorption. This energy can be expended at any time to fire a set of twin mana bolts down the two channels in the blade. Damage and range are proportionate to the amount of stored energy.
His tests revealed that the blade fully charged after absorbing approximately 10–15 strikes, and continued use without firing the stored energy after that would cause it to overload. He also added a new enchantment for the weapon, like auto-repair, but instead of using ambient mana to restore it, it would use his mana. As a result, it would repair almost instantly when enough mana was infused. He finished dressing himself for the hunt to come by tying the red tattered cloak that still bore the raven on its back around his neck. It now had a few new singe marks and holes that had accumulated from his past battles, but Ray could not bear to have it replaced. It had originally belonged to his mother and was one of the few things that they were able to recover when she was sent to face the horde. Ready, Ray opened the bedroom door and made his way down to the training grounds, where Arabella and Erith waited for him.
“Hey,” Erith called out when she saw him exit the castle. “You ready for this?”
“Yeah, why?” Ray asked with a puzzled expression.
“Well, you know this will be the first time that you get involved in a true fight since that day.” She said
Hmm, I guess it will be. Ray thought.
“To be honest, that hadn't crossed my mind until you brought it up. I guess I'm just too excited to get out there and test my new creations.” He said
“Well, that's good, I guess.” She said, rubbing the back of her neck.
“Alright, you two, it's about time that we get going. We don’t want to make the others wait after all.” Arabella said.
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Erith and Ray both nodded and followed her towards the exit of the castle training grounds. After walking for around an hour, they finally made it to a building that was smaller than Ray expected. The sign above the door displayed golden lettering in the scale kin’s native tongue, a language Ray had been quickly learning thanks to the Draconic library. The sign read "Monster Hunters Guild" in large letters, and just below it was a recently tacked-on sign that read "Hiring".
“Hmm, that's new,” Erith said, looking at the smaller sign. “Do you know what that is about, Lady Arabella?”
“If I had to guess, that would mean that a powerful monster has appeared or a group of beasts has started amassing in large numbers near the city. Either way, it's seldom good when that sign goes up.” She responded. “Anyway, it's no use worrying about it now. Let's go in and meet up with the group we will be hunting with today, shall we?” she said, opening the door to the building and gesturing for them to go inside.
Ray walked in to find a small waiting room with a few chairs and a large counter that sat against the opposing wall.
“Just a minute.” A white-haired scale kin woman said from behind the counter as she sorted through a stack of papers.
“Hey Iris, are Igi and the newbies that he is training here yet?” Arabella asked.
“Oh, lady Arabella, sorry I did not know it was you. Yes, they are waiting in the 3rd room on the right for your arrival.”
“Good, Thanks.” She said with a slight nod before walking towards a small halfway that led further back into the building. She pulled open the third door and ushered the two inside.
“Erith!” a large man with short, flaming red hair and bulging muscles yelled out.
He was wearing a cured leather vest that he left unbuttoned revealing an enormous bear that was tattooed in a tribal style on his left peck. He sat on the far side of a circular table with four others who appeared to be close to Ray and Erith’s age.
“I'm glad to see that the sword witch has not worked you to death yet.” The man said, with a wide grin on his face which quickly faded as he saw Arabella’s scowling form walk into the room.
“Igi, need I remind you that those with loose tongues tend to lose them?”
“No Mam, sorry Mam.” The large man said while bowing his head.
“Good, now that you've remembered your manners, let me introduce you to Ray, another student of mine who will be joining us today.”
Ray gave a short wave at his introduction and was surprised to see a pitying look on Igi’s face that quickly vanished when he noticed Arabella was still glaring at him.
“Wellcome aboard Ray, I am not sure you're… teacher has informed you of what we will be doing today so my apologies if you are already aware but my students are not yet. Today we are going to be hunting some of the owl bears that live in nearby caves. While we normally get along with the creatures, they have started to suffer from overpopulation, causing some of them to grow bold and come too close to the roads and city walls. We have been tasked with culling the population back down to a manageable degree so that we can return to having a peaceful relationship with them. Questions?” He asked, looking over the group. A young girl with a mostly humanoid face except for her large yellow slit-like eyes that were cast in the shadow under the large brim of her wizard's hat raised her hand.
“Yes, Katelin?” Igi asked.
“If we find a small one, is there any chance that I could make them my new familiar?” She asked.
“Should not be a problem as long as you have finished the reading that I assigned on taking care of carnivorous beasts.”
“I have, thank you, sir.”
“Any other questions?“ Igi asked.
After waiting a few moments and having no one else raise their hand, he rose from his seat.
“Alright. Let’s get going then.”