Chapter 9
The Young Hero
I spotted him while at a tavern in small town of Rickens. Outside the tavern he was carrying a pile of wood when he was tripped by a group of men who then proceeded to spurn and laugh at him. The one carrying the wood was a boy of ten or twelve, the men in their thirties. Most would back down but the boy stood up to them and demanded an apology. The refused and laughed again. The boy picked up the wood and moved to go on with his business but the men made him trip and spill the wood all over again. Instead of crying or yelling, the boy picked the wood back up and left without another word while the men continued laughing.
I used Dark Heart to ‘convince’ an NPC bar patron that the girls at the bar would desire him if they saw him beat up those laughing men.
Without checking on the results I left to follow the boy. I made my sprite invisible so he would not notice the tail and looked over his data as I followed him. His name was Sam and he was a level 134 swordsman with an impressive amount of battle experience. He was currently on a quest to collect wood for an elderly woman that lived out of town so that she could use her fire place to stay warm at night. The quest was definitely a chain quest but I was not familiar with it so I would have to logout to check the details or see the data of the quest giver. For now I followed the boy back to the old woman’s house.
The boy knocked on the door and I got down to hide. The boy could not see me but the NPC might.
-What are you doing?
The dark spirit within my armlet could see everything I did and asked an obvious question.
“Gaining information on my next target.”
-Will you offer him fame, fortune, or power?
“We’ll see. If he is worthy of it I’ll guide him to all that and more.”
The armlet said nothing else. Until now it rarely spoke, but it had been observing me every step of the way. It had yet to refuse an order, but if it choose to, it could refuse to cast magic at a crucial moment that could end in my death. If I dropped the armlet on death and it was picked up by someone else, it could do great harm upon the world. The reason it did not was two fold. The first reason was that I spent a great amount of effort strengthening its spells so the longer it was with me, the stronger it became. The second was that it was interested in me, that is to say, in my hobby. The being inside was once a powerful proud creature, and even under the threat of oblivion it would not work under someone if it did not really want to.
The door opened without the old woman leaving and the boy entered. I got back up and moved to a window.
I saw the old woman inside, but could not see her object data. This is because my data sight could not see through walls, and although it was see-through, the glass of the window was still a wall. I snuck closer and soundlessly opened a crack in the window to see her.
According to her data, the woman was once married to a nobleman, but the man was killed by bandits before she had any children. Without any blood ties to the family, the woman was cast out due to being born a commoner. The quest chain the boy was on could only be done by a child with the sword mastery skill. It ended with the woman lamenting that her husband’s sword, the family heirloom of his house was stolen when he was killed. She regrets she could not bare any children to wield it, and if the quest chain was completed well, the woman would say she thinks the child would be like the one she and her husband would have had, and asks the child to claim the sword for himself. Or herself, the quest was not gender specific.
I closed the window and backed away. Later I logged out and looked over the details.
The boy had good hero potential. The problem was that the end quest was C rank and the Bandit Chieftain that had the sword was too strong for the boy to handle.
I logged back in and returned to the town to pay for a room at an Inn. I would be here for a while.
I ‘bumped’ into the boy the next day, then apologized before saying, “Hey, you were that kid who those jerks tripped yesterday right? Carrying the wood?”
Sam answered, “Ah, yes, that was me.”
“That was pretty cool the way you stood up for yourself.”
He smiled shyly and replied, “Not that I was able to do anything. hehe.”
I proudly responded, “Don’t worry, karma has a way of coming back at you. Both the bad and the good. Those guys will get theirs and you will get yours.”
The boy looked uncertain.
I said, “Hey, how about you come with big sister for the day. I’m heading off for the Cursed Goblin dungeon and could use a strong bodyguard.”
Cursed goblins were about level 130. Too low for me but would make good training for the boy.
He shyly responded, “Well, I..”
I caught him between quests in his chain, he still had three more minor quests to go before the big quest.
“Come on,” I encouraged.
“Well, ok. I’m Sam. A swordsman.”
I smiled, “I’m Curi the Enchantress.”
“Enchanter class? I heard that’s really rare.”
The boy knew his stuff. A Mage who knew enchantments is one thing but there are few if any Enchanters who knew magic and fought in the field.
“Yep, I’m one of a kind. Not much good on the battlefield alone but I can make anyone else super strong.” A blatant lie at this point but I wouldn’t be using my Dark Spell Armlet.
Some time ago I purchased an Enchantment spell book for health regeneration called Troll’s Life force. It was a powerful enchantment that could not be learned without a Intermediate level 7 Enchant skill. It required Troll blood as a component but I have quite a bit of troll blood because it is also a component for Infuse strength.
When we reached the dungeon I gave the boy every enchantment I could. When we entered I then Enchanted the Dungeon with Increase Monster experience. Since Mana channeler and Troll’s life increased regeneration more than the dungeon drained it with only one stack it would not harm Sam at all.
On the contrary, he admired the intricate designs my firelight enchantment gave to the walls of the dungeon. “Woah, what’s that? It’s so cool.”
I smiled like a big sister who received praise from a naive but adorable younger brother.
I said, “Ok, the stage is set, lets go kill some goblins.”
Cursed goblins descended from a breed that was enslaved by a dark magician who forcible injected the goblins with dark energies to strengthen them. The resulting creatures were hideous beyond words and dark of skin, but they were stronger than normal goblins and had a high resistance to magic. Especially dark magic. They could cast a bit of dark magic as well, though from a different branch than what my armlet used. They used a branch that focused on enhancing physical strength through dark spells and skills.
The branch of dark magic my Armlet uses is basically Demon magic. The true identity of the dark spirit was that of a fallen demon whose spirit was, by chance, summoned and bound to the black gem I found it in. Demons use those spells to wreck havoc and destroy lives. It is also one of the most versatile branches of dark magic, but even it doesn’t have everything. Demons have an incredible amount of physical and magical might, therefore they have no need for self enhancing buffs. I could get around this with enchantments, but if I ever faced down a demon the same level as myself with the same skills at the same proficiencies, they would beat me ten times out of ten. I could summon and maintain more beasts for a longer period, but the physical might of a demon would be enough to tear every creature I could summon to shreds even after I enchanted them and their magical might would cast the spells with a magic attack power far greater than anything I would be able to cast or defend against. Not to mention their own defenses and health being nigh impenetrable. Not that I ever intended on facing down a demon in this game.
We first came across a group of three dark skinned goblins. With increased movement speed and strength Sam was able to make short work of them.
“Woah, that was awesome.”
Just wait till you notice the experience.
That being said, “Hey Sam, where’d you learn to use a sword?”
“Huh? I just swing it.”
Yeah, noticed that.
“Figured. Most guys in this game don’t know how to swing a sword. Want a few pointers?”
“Umm, what do you know?”
“Heh, I don’t look like it, but I’m a top notch practitioner. My dad owns a dojo and made me practice since I was four. When I started an account I chose a magic class just to spite him.”
“Ohh.”
He didn’t look like he believed me, but that was more because he couldn’t see me as a swordswoman than it was he didn’t believe my lie. My lies are very convincing.
I continued, “Well, for this place and with my buffs you can just swing a sword. But if you need something stronger, I can show you a few moves later. Now, lets go kill more goblins.”
I let the thought settle in first. Pushing it right at the get go forces defenses up. I knew how his quest chain would end with him not being strong enough to finish so I had to plant the idea early on that I could help him if he needed to become stronger. When the time came, the two points would connect and he would come to me thinking it was his idea.
We continued for the rest of the day like that. He had never been here before so he didn’t know how much experience the goblins gave without my enchant dungeon spell, he just thought the experience here was really really good.
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At the end of the day Sam had increased his level by 2. We parted ways and I said I would be at the Inn for a few weeks while training in that dungeon. In essence I told him where he could find me when he needed me.
My method of manipulation is more than devious than it first appears. While with me and under my enchantments fighting was easy and productive. I’m sure he has never had a more productive training day. Without me he will feel that fighting is less productive. All I need is one more training session with him under my enchantments and he will decide that without me he is too weak. Then he will crave the strength I can offer.
When put this way it seems cruel, but it is not.
There is a difference between normal people and heroes. It is what makes them heroes. Heroes are those who can break the boundaries that others cannot. They are people who show others that those boundaries can be broken. The existence of heroes, the idea of heroes, they advance culture and worlds in a way even beings known as gods fear to do.
Is it a wonder why I’m so fascinated with them or that it is my hobby to create them?
Anyways, in order to break the boundary a person needs strength. But more than that, they need to want strength themselves. When he asked for my training I would provide him with the strictest regime his avatar body could handle. It would be the trial for him to overcome. If he passed, he would have all skill he needed to overcome boundaries others could not, to become a hero.
For the next few days I stayed in Rickens I intended to train a spell I had been neglecting.
]Mystic Enchantment. [1] 0%
Weapon Enchantment: Firelight Enchantment that alters the weapon's existence, forcing it from the physical plane
Mana Cost: 250
Converts 5% of physical damage dealt to magic damage
Health and mana regeneration of wielder reduced by 1%
It wasn’t that I had forgotten about it, it was just that this was a tricky spell to train. It was permanent so I could only use it once on a weapon meaning to train it I had to use it on hundreds of weapons. The problem with that is that it is not a safe spell to use. Only someone who was an Enchanter or Blacksmith could read the description that the sword reduced regeneration speed.
I approached the blacksmith of Rickens and asked if I could train the spell on the rejected weapons he forged before they were melted back into scrap. He had no problem with it since he had a very large pile of failures for every successful weapon. The failures themselves were still fine weapons, but they were not up to the blacksmith’s standards. It was the difference in potential ranges. He only sold swords that were at their highest value range, ones I could not make any better without going over the range.
I sat down with the pile, picked up a sword and used Mystic weapon on it. From the point I held it, the same intricate red lines appeared and spread over the sword. They glowed lightly which meant that the enchantment was active. If these swords were put on a shelf too long or in storage too long without anyone equipping them the glow would eventually fade.
When I had used the last of the blacksmith’s scrap swords I helped him melt them down and assisted him in the forge. I knew a great deal about making weapons, and even within this game it was natural for me. If I kept assisting him for a few weeks I would eventually generate the blacksmith skill. Craft skills like tailoring, blacksmith, and sculpting can be acquired instantly from guilds if you pay for it or have the appropriate pre-requisites, but they could be learned manually as well if you just did it on your own for a long period of time. Few of course choose to learn the skill this way, but those who did would be better at it than others who instantly acquired it in the long run.
Of course I had no intention of forging weapons for the same reason I would not create enchantment jewelry. If you don’t remember why that is, go back and read it.
When the blacksmith ran out of weapons and told me to come back in a few days I left for the caves hidden in the hills outside the city. In their deepest depths was a spawning ground for cave trolls.
I summoned seventeen hellhounds, the maximum number of beasts I could control and enchanted them all with Troll’s Life Force and Bear’s Strength. Then I found a small crack to hide in and began meditating.
The hellhounds killed many trolls, but were eventually wiped out. Trolls have the highest regeneration in the game, and four powerful arms to attack with. And within this cave was hundreds of trolls.
This time I again summoned seventeen hellhounds and enchanted them, but before sending them off I had them wait for me to meditate my mana back to full. Then I summoned more hellhounds, and more, and more. I sent the seventeen I could control and ordered them to guide the pact to attack the trolls. It worked well. I alternated between using Mediate to regenerate and summoning more hellhounds. It was tricky because if I ran out of mana they would all vanish in an instant, but every moment I was not meditating I was losing 60 mana a second.
I never got to the point where my mana regeneration while meditating and the hell hound’s costs evened out. Casting the summon spell cost mana as well so I had to meditate a bit between casting, and in that time hell hounds would die, meaning the number never reached the point where my mana declined even while meditating.
Summon hell hound, meditate to recover mana, hell hound dies while fighting, repeat.
Due to my mastering meditate and my high wisdom, I could stay like this forever if I had enough food. Just gaining experience, training my Dark magic mastery and Dark summon skill until they all reached max. Not that I would. I had to check on Sam sometime.
It took about a week but one day I returned to my Inn and there was a note from Sam asking if we could spend another day fighting in the Cursed Goblin cave.
I met him at the entrance and we went inside. I cast Troll’s life force and all my other enchantments, making him a super Sam and we went on another day of leveling him up.
This time he rose three levels, he was now level 140 and could take on a cursed goblin group without my enchantments.
Eventually came the day his quest chain reached its conclusion. I had logged out and was watching him from inside the data of the game itself. I could affect nothing but observe everything.
The elderly woman spoke, “Dear, you have done so much for me. If my husband and I had a son, I hope he would have been just like you.”
Sam blushed and smiled at this praise. She continued, “In fact, there is something I want you to have. I told you that my husband was killed by bandits. What I didn’t say was that they took his family sword. That sword was supposed to be passed down to our children. If you found that sword, I think he could rest in peace. Will you do it?”
The lost Heirloom.
The widow’s deceased husband will know rest only when the family heirloom, the Long sword Grass, is held by a worthy member of his family. As the child chosen by his wife, you may wield the sword and awaken its true power.
Rank C
Requires:
Trusted and loved by the old woman.
Sam smiled and held the woman’s hand, “I will retrieve that sword.”
It was already revealed to Sam through the woman's story that the bandits that killed her husband were in a hideout a long distance away. It was also widely known that the bandits in that dungeon were level 200 at the weakest with the bandit chief being level 250.
This was the point I was ready to log back in to help when he came to me, but instead he left for the north. It seemed he did not think he needed my help.
I watched him throughout his travel. He did not ask anyone on his friend list for help, he did not buy new equipment, he just went straight to the hideout. This meant that either he did not know how strong the chief was, he was overconfident due mostly to me, or both.
I watched him enter the dungeon. I watched him encounter a pair of bandits. And I watched him slowly die. I mentioned this before, but over level 200, monster intelligence becomes much more advanced. There is a big difference between level 150 and 200 when it comes to monsters.
Besides just being pushed back by the bandits high stats, he was being toyed with by their superior swordsmanship. Mobs higher than level 200 knew how to fight well. Sam died not long after. He cried the whole time.
I moved a day ahead in real time and returned to watch and see if Sam would log back in. He didn’t. I waited for him for a whole day, then two. Eventually he logged back in. His avatar lost its sword and shoes when it died and he came back in the last town he visited before going to the bandit’s hide out.
He journeyed back south. I watched him all the way until he reached Rickens before I logged back in and waited in my room.
It took another half hour before I heard a knock at my door at the Inn.
“Umm. Big sis.. Could you teach me how to use a sword?”
I smiled. Let the trial begin.
Chapter 10
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