Chapter 4: Starting Point

Staring blankly for a few seconds, he suddenly realized how this happened. It wasn’t that hard to deduce actually, just that the previous Arthur had no information on Mag, so he didn’t really think of how to train it.

To train all other stats, you had to use their respective function. For example you could train Str by lifting heavy weights, and vitality by tiring yourself out. Agility by doing stretching exercises. By this logic, training Mag should be trough using magic, which he’s been doing for the past day and a half.

It was also a rule that the lower your stats are, the faster they raise. Since his Mag was a pitiful 1, it was actually about time to increase because of his continuous use.

This new information made Arthur extremely pleased. He quickly checked his stats to see what changed and was surprised to see that only his Mana increased by 1 point. His mana regen was still the pitiful one per hour. This still increased his options in creating stuff.

Happy about this sudden gain, he entered the weapons shop. The owner was a bald, muscular, middle aged man. If this man had a beautiful daughter about Arthur’s age, he’s be the standard “Weapon shop Uncle” seen in novels and games. It even took Arthur a moment to get his bearings and not laugh.

“Good day lad, what do you need?” the man asked. It could be seen that his disposition was much better than the innkeeper, but it also had to do with the fact that he didn’t look like a beggar anymore.

“Good day sir, I’d like to see some weapons. What do you recommend to a beginner?” Arthur asked, hoping the man would provide some advice. He did want a sword, be he knew swords were quite dificult to handle, he may even cut himself.

“Hmm, a beginner? You thinking of becoming an adventurer, kid? With your scrawny build, even a horned rabbit will kill ya’. Better leave this to the stronger kids.” Even if the old man sounded rude, it was actually good advice. He knew a lot of kids who dreamed of becoming strong warriors and ending up dead in the forest.

“Haha. How could I. I’m so weak, I could barely lift a sword. It’s for my big brother. He’s already become an adventurer but doesn’t have a weapon. I was thinking of gifting him one.” Arthur lied, not having the patience to convince the man.

“Oh, ok than. I guess I’d recommend a spear. It has better reach than a sword and it a bit safer to handle. But do note that it’s harder to master and only a beginner would find it easier to point and thrust than to swipe with a sword.” The old man, not appearing entirely convinced, still gave his opinion. This made Arthur breathe a sigh of relief, and not wanting to spend more time her, he asked for the type of spears and their prices.

“Well, I could forge your whatever type you want if you bring materials. If you wonder what I have right now, forged with my own ores, I’m afraid you can only afford the Iron Spear, made of an iron tip and a wooden shaft. It’s 120 iron (1.2 copper) coins. A spear with a steel tip is slightly more expensive, reaching 2 copper coins. The most expensive one here is the full steel spear, at 5 copper.”

Hearing the price, Arthur was quite surprised. He immediately taught how expensive his gun was. It was then that it hit him.

[If I can increase my mana, can’t I make a gun? Why would I need a pear for?]

It was not like he didn’t think of a gun before. He even imagined his old gun that he used to take to the shooting range before. It wasn’t really expensive, only 6.6 mana. But at the time, he had no idea of a way to increase his mana that didn’t involve killing monster.

With a smile on his face, Arthur politely declined the shopkeeper stating that even the iron one was too expensive for him. The uncle at the counter bereted him for wasting his time, but he wasn’t really harsh as he had no other business around.

……….........................................................

At sundown, Arthur was sprawled on the cloth he first woke up on full of sweat. After 6 hours of enduring exhaustion over and over again, he was rewarded with a message.

Due to diligent training, you have gained +1 Vit!

“This is too much! How can it be so hard to increase stats?” Complained Arthur out loud. After 6 hours of hard work for only one stat, it was indeed a tiresome deal. Were it not for the Healing potions that refreshed him slightly every now and then, his body would not have been able to hold on.

He decided that while he trained his Mag, in the time he waits for the regen he can train his other stats.

“Haah… if only I had exp increase potions like in games-”

Not even finishing his sigh, Arthur sprang up. An impossible idea surged into his mind.

[If I don’t have it, can’t I just make it?] Thought Arthur.

Immediately he began imagining the wonderful “Elixir of Increased Experience”. An item given to every new player on their first character in a MMORPG he used to play. The potions’ use was simple, using one potion will make you gain experience 10 times faster than normal for 24 hours. This item may seem overpowered to most people who play games, but it was actually not so. It was only given on the first character of that account. Giving a full day of increased experience to a new player will make him reach max level in around the same time as a veteran. The only advantage was leaving the early and not so fun levels faster, making people not get bored of the game.

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Right now, this potion was Arthur’s biggest hope. Just as he finished imagining, he was downcast. It cost a whole 155 points of mana. It was so expensive his scalp went numb. Going with the logic from the health potion, the bottle must be 5 points, meaning he still needed to cough out 150 points of mana. At this point he could at most make slightly more than 1 percent.

Not giving up on his idea, Arthur created the drop of potion that used all his mana into his cup. While training he made a bowl a cup and a spoon to use for his meals. Taking the cup and drinking the potion. All that he hoped for was that only the time and not the effectiveness of the potion to be decreased. After he drunk it, he didn’t feel anything. Slightly baffled, he opened his status.

Level1 (0)Health100% - [10x Exp – 16m 38s]Mana0/2 (1 mana/1 hour)Str: 7Agl: 9Vit: 5Mag: 2Unspent Points0

Seeing this, he was delighted. Even if it was only a bit more than 15 minutes. He had 15 minutes of intense training every hour.

In his excitement, he even forgot about the heavy exhaustion on his body and started doing muscle exercises. When the timer was at 1:33, he finally saw the change.

Due to diligent training, you have gained +1 Str!

With that, he finally collapsed with a smile on his face. It had to be mentioned that he did exercise for 6 hours before taking the potion, and the whole 15 minutes of potion use before the stat increased. But he was delighted because of another reason. It worked which meant he could train his Mag a lot faster.

By creating the potion, waiting for his mana to recover than drinking the potion, he could then create another potion and gain experience at an increased rate for his Mag. The rest of the time he could use to increase his Vit and Str. This revelation even made him give up the idea of going to an inn to sleep. His alley was secluded so it could allow him a bit more privacy than a cheap inn.

Like this, Arthur passed the night and the next day and night in seclusion in the alley.

It was the third day since Arthur came into this world. He woke at sunrise like last time and checked his stats.

Level3Health100%Mana8/8 (8 mana/1 hour)Str: 11Agl: 10Vit: 13Mag: 8Unspent Points0

It was a complete change compared to the day before. After reaching 5 Mag, his mana regen increased to 5 per one hour. After that every subsequent point in mag will increase the regeneration time with one. He didn’t know the cause of this, but it did make him feel a lot better.

The ground was cold, but as it was late spring, it wasn’t that bad. It’s not like he didn’t think to go to an inn, but he was afraid of being robbed. In his walk around town the other day, he saw no small amount of brawls and pickpockets. The only reason he was not targeted was because of his weak looks. Plus, he had no money pouch like the every other passerby.

Even if his alley was out in the open, it was so secluded that only one or two people would pass by in the day, and at night it was completely silent.

Getting up from the floor, he was happy to see the items in front of him.

Over the course of those days of grinding he made several items. First, a pair of sneakers, identical with the ones he used to wear in his last life. Second, and probably the most important possession he had now, a desert eagle. It was the gun he used the most in his games. In real life he only had one chance to try it because of a friend from the army.

He was actually quite passionate with guns. He liked to go at the shooting range every so often and test out his aim.

Equipping every item on himself. He went towards the center of the town. It was time to try out this new world and see how he would fare.

Arthur was actually treating those three days as a tutorial. He was thinking of this world as a game. Even if he knew that treating life as a game was not a good thing, he couldn’t help it. Everything about this world was a game in his mind. And, even if he knew this, he wasn’t going to change it. What was there to fear? At most he’d just die and go to the void again.