Chapter Seven: Winners, Losers And Comebacks

One of the huge men moved forwards "good day sir my name is sergeant Merek and i'm here because of a complaint of assault and theft"

Atlas stayed quiet he wanted to hear it all before talking back

"No that's not true" explained Dracken

"were you there sir" the sergeant looked at Dracken

Dracken looked back hard in the face of the sergeant "no but i would bet that no one was there to see"

"No one accept Mr Roark" the sergeant gestured towards the dwarf "and Mr Atlas, do you have anything to say"

Atlas knew exactly what sergeant Merek was talking about but decided to play dumb "i don't understand"

"Well according to Mr Roark you over power him and pushed him to the ground where you assaulted him and took 50 in silver" explained the sergeant

Atlas thought about lying and the best lie's are the one's covered with truth " i don't understand Mr Roark, didn't i work hard for you if you didn't want to pay us we could have worked it out" Atlas was going to make this about greed

The sergeant looked briefly at the dwarf then back at Atlas he opened his mouth but Atlas cut across him "he doesn't look injured" pointed out Atlas

"THAT'S...that's because i got healed" explained the dwarf

"The church" asked the sergeant

"Yes.. that it" the dwarf was happy to get a life line

" Sergeant can i have a word with you" asked Atlas

Merek moved towards Atlas and whispered "yes what do you need"

"I want you to look at this, show stat and skills to sergeant Merek"

[Character Name: Atlas] [Alignment: Neutral]

[Level: 3] [Profession: None]

[Title: None] [Fame: 10]

[Health: 275] [Mana: 525]

[Strength: 17] [Agility: 10]

[Vitality: 17] [Endurance: 10]

[Wisdom: 27] [Intellect: 27]

[knowledge: 34]

[Luck: 0] [Leadership: 15]

[Attack: 3-5] [Defence: 0]

[Magic Resistance: Fire resistance 1%]

Careful listener is a passive skill which alouds for knowledge to be retained easer by listening also able to hear further and even small whispers can be made out

level 5 enables you to hear 50 meters away form you and 30 meters if wood in the way and 10 meters if stone is in the way

Mana manipulation lets the user use spells faster and makes spells stronger or weaker depending on the users will

Increases and decreases Attack Power with a magic by -30% to +30%

Increases Attack Speed with a magic by 9%.

Mana deflection is a basic shield of magic, not true protection where the shield stops the attack but redirects the force, later levels will increase duration and power

A true personal skill where each mana deflection skill is different to each other

Decreases mana consumption by 20% for manna deflection

Increases speed of mana deflection speed by 30%

skill takes 16 mana a second, can concentrate mana to make mana deflection stronger

With the 3 principals of heat movement, mana deflection has the ability to move heat and flame around the user

[Skills: Spear mastery level 1]

Increases Attack Power with a spear by 10%.

Increases Attack Speed with a sword by 3%.

"As you can see i'm just a beginner with low stats i couldn't over power a dwarf who is a blacksmith by trade and has been alive for longer than me, also all of my skills except one are defence skills" whispered Atlas "i suggest that you ask Me Roark for his stats"

Sergeant Merek was doubtful about what the dwarf had said, he had heard bad things about him and now with this very unbelievable story of a weak character over power this dwarf blacksmith

"Can i see your stats Mr Roark" asked the sergeant

"WHY.. do you need to see my stats" asked the dwarf he looked a bit red around the cheeks

Sergeant Merek explained that to overpower some one they needed a greater power to do so

"THAT'S NOT TRUE" shouted the dwarf " HE DID IT, I SWEAR TO THE GODS"

"That's all very well but only the most devoted people can talk to the gods.... and have them answer back" the sergeant added on "so just show me your stats sir", sergeant Merek was getting tired of the dwarfs delaying

"Wait sergeant" said Atlas "stats can be very personal so i can understand why Mr Roark wouldn't want to show them"

The dwarf was stunned and so was the sergeant

"So why don't you go and talk to the church that Mr Roark visited to be healed" explained Atlas

"THEY won't remember me" said the dwarf "it was packed with lots of people"

"That's ok i'm sure if you give the time you went to the church to the sergeant he could easy find a person who healed one of the only dwarfs in this city" Atlas let that sink in to the brain of the dwarf

"Hehe"?

"That..... won't be necessary, i think due to the fact that your such a hard worker i'm going to drop the charges"

The sergeant looked at Roark, he had a pretty good ideal what happened but couldn't do any thing about it unless Atlas was willing to say some thing

The sergeant pulled him self up and flatten his chain mail "is that all" he said

"Yes yes we got a lot of business to go though, you can go now" spoke the dwarf

As the sergeant was leaving with the two privates he looked back to Atlas, "mmm" he just didn't understand why he was so calm about this, he turn to leave

"WAIT" shouted Atlas

The dwarf jumped and the sergeant turned around quickly

Atlas had the dwarf where he wanted and intended to make full use of it "i would like a witness to this sergeant if you would please"

the sergeant came back and stood beside Atlas "im listening"

"Thank you sergeant, first i can't believe in your word any more Mr Roark so i would like to be paid up front for each day that has passed and up front before every day, i think that would be 50 silver per person per day coming to 6 gold included to day" Atlas had agreed to 50 coppers a day for his apprentices as long as he worked for free but he wanted to hurt his money bag and knew he was in a corner

"NO, YOU SAID THAT YOU WOULD WORK FOR FREE AND THOSE LITTLE SH..." the dwarf stopped and looked at the sergeant, "the kids would work for 50 copper"

"Who would work here for 50 coppers a day let alone for free" asked Atlas "Are you trying to cheat me like when you said that you got healed at the church"

At those words the dwarf knew what was happening, it was a shake down and he couldn't resist "of course how forgetful of me" he was grinding his teeth, he handed over 6 gold from a drawer to his right

"Also i want to renegotiate with you about the quest we have with you, i want you to teach us the blacksmith skill no matter what and the complete skill base not just weapon smiting but armour, repair and identifying, also i don't want any condition of failure or time limit and me and the kids will be treated with respect at all time and no harm will come to us, do you agree to those terms"

The dwarf was a strange colour of purple, the same colour as a kid that's holding there breath

"DO YOU AGREE" Atlas had raised his voice and pointed at the sergeant

"YES, GOD DAMN YES" shouted the dwarf

"HEHAAAAHA"?

"Ding"

Taming of the Blacksmiths

The blacksmith has agreed to train you and your apprentices completely and pay you and the apprentices 50 silver a piece per day

no time limit

Difficulty level: ???

Quest requirements: none

The dwarf know as Roark will treat you and your apprentices with respect and promises not to harm any of you at all times

Cannot fail quest

Will you accept the quest.

"Yes" said Atlas

Ding

You accepted the quest.

That being finished Atlas turned to the sergeant "thank you sir i hope this has not been to much trouble for you"

"mmm this has been a real eye opener, what you just did was good really smart infact, when you've got some time come and ask for me in the barracks, i might need the help of a smart man one day" said sergeant Merek, with that he patted him on the arm and left

Atlas was left alone with the kids who had huge smiles on there faces and the dwarf who had turned red and most surely was not smiling

"What now" asked Atlas towards the dwarf

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S NEXT YOU BI" shouted the dwarf

"STOP little man, did you forget that you agreed to the negations in front of a sergeant of the watch, so i think you'll find that YOUR MY BITCH" SHOUTED Atlas

The dwarf face was pale as a ghost when Atlas said those words, he had no where to go and hung his head down

Atlas didn't believed he was beat, not for one second "lets get down to work"

The rest of the day went smoothly, the dwarf had gone deathly silent and pulled out the sword he worked on yesterday, the back half of the sword was covered in mud "what have you done there sir" asked Mary

The dwarf sighed "i've covered the back of the blade with a mix of clay and ash so when i temper the blade the back will cool slower and bend the sword in to the shape of a katana

The dwarf carried on with the sword while Atlas and the kids made more swords form moulds

Half the day had gone by and the dwarf had closed all the windows so the room was as dark as night

"Wh..what are you doing" asked Mary she was still weary of the dwarf

The dwarf seemed to like this but carried on with what he was doing "i need to see the colour of the blade so i can pull it out of the fire at the right time, when the blade is the same colour as the rising sun i pull it out and quenching it

Most of the day had passed and the dwarf was sharpening the finished sword,Atlas and the crew had done a huge amount of swords 248, the amount was due to the fact that they knew what to do now and the high morels of not being shouted at, it almost worked as a mass production belt, two of them would melt the metal and when they waited for it to melt they would sharpen swords and prepare the next moulds, at the most they had about fives swords worth of iron in each stone bucket and had seven stone buckets in the furnace at once

In total almost 500 swords had been made by Atlas and the kids, it was quitting time and Atlas and the kids were out side walking to the square "listen kids" Atlas said "as you can see by being calm and thinking ahead i was able to turn that whole thing around to my advantage but never let your guard down even if you think you have won that's when it can be the most dangerous"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"What do you mean" asked Kevien

"When a wounded tiger is cornered, it will have no choice but to strike out without thinking the consequence, to be blunt the tiger has nothing to lose and that makes him dangerous, so that's why i want you to keep showing respect to the dwarf, do you understand"

All three of the apprentices nodded, Atlas wonder if they truly understood but left it at that

"Now kids as you can see i've got 1 gold 50 silver each for you and i want to give it to you but i all so want to give you a chance to make more cash with this cash" explained Atlas

"What how, what do you mean" asked Kevien

"Well take Mary, she wants to be a blacksmith but to start a blacksmith shop would take time and money but if we make a little forge near the dojo we all could make lots of money by creating swords and selling them, but ore and coal cost a bit of money, so i will make the forge on the cheap and the money you earn will go towards the ore"

"That sounds good" said Mary

"That's because it what you want to do" Kevien said sarcastically

"What do you want in life, if i remember correctly you want to be famous" asked Atlas

"I don't know" Kevien was shuffling his feet "i might want to be ...." Kevien whispered

"You want to be a mage" asked Atlas, with his careful listener skill he could her a pin drop

Kevien was still shuffling his feet "yes, yes i do"

"That's good but spell books cost a lot and magic equipment cost even more, you need to pool all of your power together to earn and learn" Atlas knew life was hard and had to bring the trio together so they could be happy

"What do you want in life Dracken" Atlas asked

"Money, power a home something to make my life easer,

"Yes but what about a job some thing to pour your effort and life into" asked Atlas

"I don't know, it doesn't matter as long as i'm happy" Dracken explained

"So the plan is simply, earn money and invest in your self" explained Atlas "but first we need to get ready for the skill of blacksmithing"

Atlas order his apprentices to clear the ground opposite the dojo, while he did some shopping

When he entered the grounds of the dojo he could see that the grounds where he planed to make the blacksmith was cleared, the place it self was on the back wall in the corner that divide the training hall grounds to the every day streets, the space between the dojo and the place where the smith would be placed was about 30 meters, Atlas had all ready asked Borin the instructor if he could build a forge, Borin at first was not happy about it in till Atlas pointed out that the forge would be built separate from the dojo and would only add to the over all price of the grounds

Near the dojo, the apprentices were practising magic missile, but none had activated the spell, Atlas would help as soon as he finished his preparations

Atlas pulled out chalk, string, paper,pencil and a meter long thin stick. The first thing he did was to measure 2 meters of string using the stick and then drive the stick into the ground where the two walls meet, in the corner where the stick stood he tied the two meter string and tightened the string in till there was no slack, with the same hand the string was in he had a hold of the chalk and placed it on the ground to draw a quarter circle on the ground

With the out line of the forge drawn Atlas pulled out his spade and dug down 120cm so there was a quarter circle ditch after that he stamped down the floor with a piece of wood in till it was even and hard ground, Atlas then pulled out wood and a saw from the bag, Atlas was amazed that such long wood could be kept in a short bag, Atlas would have to investigate it later, he cut some wood into long planks and stacked them up,

Atlas couldn't finish the forge because he had no stone but he would get it later, instead he went over to the kids and asked them how there training was going

"How far have you got with the magic" asked Atlas

All three of the kids showed what they could do, they were all at same some stage, the stage they were at was a floating ball of energy about 1/5th the size of mana flare but with no movement for Mary and Dracken and only a slight movement for Kevien, "have you tried punting a independent force behind the mana flare

"i don't understand" said Kevien, he looked a bit desperate and flushed

Atlas used his chalk and drawled a circle in the ground " this is magic missile and on its own it's a ball of power with no direction, he then drawled a smaller circle just over lapping the magic missile " this is the magic missile direction power source that you make explode but that on it's own isn't enough, the magic missile will merge together with the direction ball of mana, so try to make magic missile rotate, this way it will give more power to the attack and give the direction power some thing to push, Atlas was using his experience from Mana deflection to guide the apprentices

Atlas had a go him self, first he manifested mana out side his body about football size but then rotated it and compressed it to a tennis ball, then followed the steps he explain early

"CRACK"

Ding

Magic Missile was learnt

Usually a week magic attack but with compression and rotation the power has more than doubled, with added power comes less accuracy

Skill takes 20 mana to use 1 magic missile

"That's no good" Atlas explained, sacrificing accuracy for power is like trying to hit a fly with a cannon ball in other words power means nothing if you miss

Atlas tried a different combination, he did the same as before with the rotation and compression but this time he made a very thin line of mana and placed it in front of the magic missile a direction for the mana to travel down like a barrel of a rifle

"CRACK"

Ding

Precise Magic Missile was learnt

Usually a week magic attack but with compression and rotation the power has more than doubled, accuracy is no longer a problem

Skill takes 22 mana to use 1 magic missile

Simply magic seemed to be easy to adjust and change Atlas was thinking to him self "that work really well"

"That's really good, how did you do it" asked Kevien

"The same way as i've describe, i think you should be able to easily do it, just use the same principles you use for mana flare and what i just told you, i don't think you will have any trouble"

"At the moment just practice and i'll get some straw dummies ready for our training"

With that Atlas went in to the training hall and asked Borin for 4 scarecrows

"No problem but they still cost some money 6 coppers per scarecrow", Atlas handed over 24 copper "ta, the extra scarecrows are in that room over there

Atlas picked up the scarecrows and left to the dojo, it was easier to lift thing now and Atlas had more stamina, back at the dojo he dug little holes into the grounds close to the wall that was beside the dojo and placed them all evenly, packing the earth back Kevien screamed out

"YEAAAA I DID IT", there was a burnt mark two meters away from Dracken

"WATCH OUT, YOU FOOL", Dracken was angry and was shaking his fist at Kevien

"I'm sorry, i'm not to good with it yet" apologised Kevien

"Enough with that, Kevien go and practice on the dummies over there but before you do make sure to pour a bucket or two of water over the dummy you are going to use, seeing as you have a fire type magic we can't just let it burn

The rest of the night went on teaching Mary and Dracken, near the kids bed time Mary and Dracken managed to produce magic missile, Mary's was the same as Kevien a flame magic missile but Dracken's was a crackling light blue ball

"Ahh lighting... Dracken i think your element that you are in tune with is lighting" pointed out Atlas

Dracken looked odd "what good is that then"

"Right now?... i'm not sure but we will talk to the mages about it" said Atlas

In truth Atlas was enjoying magic, it gave flexibility that he never before felt and the different styles and techniques were ever changing, in short when he used magic he felt he was truly making some thing unique

"Time for bed" Atlas said and at that he log off to get 2 hours sleep

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2 hours real life was 8 hours in game and Ben log back in to get to work at the blacksmith, at the smith they were doing the same as normal but then the dwarf turned to them

"To use the identify skill you need to look carefully at items, feel the textures and examine each part and it's whole" explained the dwarf "so have a look at all of the shi.. swords you made" the dwarf was getting better at controlling him self

Atlas picked up one of the competed swords he and the kids made and examine it closely, he looked over the edge with the different shading of edge and fuller feeling the edge with the thumb and brushing the swords flatness with the hand, concentrating at the end of the swords point, Atlas pin pricked his finger at the point of the sword, cleaning the blood on his trousers he griped the handle and swang the sword around, there was good balance and weight the sound of the blade cutting the air

Ding

You have learned identify

"What, so soon" Atlas had only looked over three swords, now with the complete identify skill he picked up the swords from before

"identify"

Steel Sword

Durability: 70/70

Damage: 25-35

Made by a beginner blacksmith with good instructions

This long sword is less than normal attack because of the makers sate of mind the basic type weapons that are available in a blacksmith’s workshop.

Equip:

+25 STR

Limits:

STR 60+

VIT 45+

Atlas used the rest of the day to identify the swords he made

Near the end of the day the dwarf started to get edgy "i just going to leave for a while you Carrie on working" Atlas was very suspicious

The dwarf left "listen up kids, that monster is up to some thing, as soon as the sun goes down i want you to go straight home and stay there

As soon as Atlas said those words the dwarf came back in with two big guys but unlike last time these were dirty and scruffy

End Of Chapter Seven:Winners, Losers And Comebacks