“Welcome home.”
The elder said, addressing the group. He was a tall man with a gray braided beard that came down to his stomach and wore the same ceremony robes as Erith. He scanned the group before turning to Erith.
“So, where did my beloved granddaughter rank?”
“I came in 76th place.”
Erith said, avoiding making eye contact. The elders' eyebrows rose in shock.
“How did you place so low? Even your useless father achieved the 26th spot in his test.”
He looked at her intently, his eyes seeming to search, before widening in recognition.
“You only obtained a common grade, didn’t you?”
Erith’s lack of response seemed to be all the confirmation that he needed. He sighed
“Foolish girl, you know this means that I won’t be able to protect you if you don’t reach level 10 before the next wave.”
“Excuse me, but what are you talking about? All surviving members, with a single exception, attained a rank, with Erith achieving the second highest. Should we not be celebrating that?”
Ray interjected, frowning at the elder. The elder pinched the bridge of his nose while shaking his head.
“Boy, that is to be expected. Not celebrated. Every group that we send out should achieve a rank, especially one that contains my blood. I would like to know which individual exceeded the performance level of my granddaughter.”
The elder, after a further scan of the assembled group, inquired. Ren stepped forward, puffing his chest out.
“I did elder. I secured the 12th spot.”
The Elder's eyebrows rose again.
"Indeed? That implies that you received an uncommon grade. Ren, we will honor you tonight, and I would recommend the rest of you to get some rest. The Horde's likely imminent, given the beasts' unrest."
Everyone except for Ren had a fearful look dancing across their face at those words.
“I will send you three out with a hunting party from now on and for those that don’t reach level 10 by the time the Hord arrives, I am afraid that I will have no choice but to send you out with the diversion squad.”
As the elder continued talking to his group, Ray felt a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach. The thought of the screeching hordes and his parents filled his mind. After a while, the elder walked away, followed by Ren and Erith. Erith glanced back at him one last time with a sad look in her eyes before she finally went out of his view. Ray walked back to his house with a troubled expression on his face. He sat down on his makeshift bed and clenched his fists.
This will not be my fate.
He thought to himself. He put his daggers on the ground next to his bed before fully laying down and staring up at the roof of his hut. After closing his eyes, he called out internally for the strength required to change the horrible world he found himself in.
“Request received. Attempting to grant admin access. Denied. Attempting to grant artisan access. Successful.”
Ray shot up as the voice of the goddess filled his mind. He felt a pulsing come out from the core in his chest, radiating outward before it faded. He went over the words in his mind.
What is an artisan-
A new screen appeared, cutting off his thoughts.
Artisan Panel
Current skill: 0
Crafting points: 2
Please select an item to augment.
Ray stared at the screen before picking up one of his daggers and focusing on it.
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Dagger Selected how many crafting points would you like to use on this item?
Ray thought for a second before deciding to use both points on his longer dagger. Glowing runes shot out from his hand, holding the weapon before melding with it and disappearing. Not seeing anything different from the weapon, he opened his status and see if anything had changed.
Status
Name: Ray
Level: 2
Ascension: 0
Class: Beginner Artisan (Rare)
Mana: 20/70
Stamina: 10/10
Stats
Strength 1
Endurance 1
Dexterity 10
Intelligence 14
Wisdom 7
Available Points: 1
Multipliers
Strength 0.5
Endurance 0.5
Dexterity 2
Intelligence 2
Wisdom 1
Skills
Appraisal
Titles
[System appointed artisan]
Seeing all his gains shocked him. It also seemed that the enhancement of his dagger had drained some mana. He focused on the class first, wanting to find out more.
Beginner Artisan (Rare): you have taken your first steps to become a true Artisan of the world, granting access to the Artisan Panel. Gain an extra +2 to intelligence and wisdom for each level.
He felt delighted when another screen popped up and displayed details about the class. He tried to focus on his title next.
System appointed artisan: the system has recognized you as an artisan granting the Appraisal skill and access to the Artisan Panel if you did not already have it.
So that was where that skill came from.
He thought, focusing on the skill next.
Appraisal: Learn the attributes of an item, such as grade durability and special attributes.
After reading the skill description, he tried it on his dagger that he had just enhanced.
Uncommon Dagger: A dagger that a beginner artisan has enhanced, increasing its stats
Grade: Uncommon
Durability: 100/100
Attributes
Auto repair
Blade Extension: Infuse 5 MP into the blade to extend its reach for a short duration
Ray picked up the dagger and decided to try out the blade extension. He pushed his mana into the blade and a glowing edge appeared, doubling the blade's length before fading after a few seconds. Ecstatic with the changes. Ray experimented with the dagger for a few minutes, before he finally ran out of mana and rested up for the hunt in the morning. It took a while before he finally nodded off with all the excitement that he had just experienced. The next morning, he jumped out of his bed, grabbed his daggers, and strung his father's hunting bow across his back before running to the village entrance. When he finally got there, he saw Erith and Chio already waiting for him with a few of the village hunters. Chio looked like a walking corpse. He was white as a ghost and had large bags under his eyes. It looked like his parents did not take the news of his failure to achieve a ranking and his brother's death well. Ray felt bad for him as he had liked Chio ever since he stuck up to Ren for him.
“Took you long enough. You ready for this?”
Erith asked.
“Yes.”
Ray answered, thumbing the grip of his upgraded dagger.
“Are you two?”
Erith nodded while Chio seemed to brighten up a little.
“Yes. I will make sure that I make my family proud today.”
He answered. Ray nodded to him before they all walked up to the hunter group leader, who waved them over.
“Today we will hunt some boars that live in the forest. Our tracker has already sent word that he found a pack of them to the north. You all are expected to kill at least one of them, with any additional ones netting you one gold coin.”
Ray’s eyes lit up at the words. He had been hunting for himself ever since his parents passed, and now he could turn that experience into wealth and levels for himself. He excitedly followed the group as they headed out of the village and into the woods.