“Okay, we’re here,” I said. Looking up at the massive mountain before me, I knew there had to be plenty of secrets and treasures here. “First, let’s find some [Black Slimes] and get their metallic goo.”
Searching around the base of the mountain, I soon found a large group of them. The black gelatinous masses were bouncing around, not even seeming to notice my presence. Grinning, I drew my sword and slashed at one of them. However, its body seemed to become stiffer and shiny right before my weapon hit it. The blade of my greatsword bounced off the slime, and it felt as if I had just struck a piece of large, sturdy metal.
“I see. That’s why your drop is called metallic goo. I can also see why Karc wanted me to get some as a material for my breastplate!” I stated. Striking again and again, I was baffled as the Black Slime withstood my attacks. In fact, I noticed that the blade of my sword was starting to chip. “Dang. You guys are sturdy. At least, you are against physical damage. But what about fire damage? [Orthrus]! Bite it!”
The little hellhound eagerly bit down on the iron-hard slime. However, the heat given off by his body and fangs was enough to soften the monster’s body. Orthrus’ teeth dug straight into it and it popped like a balloon. I commanded Orthrus to continue hunting the Black Slimes, and within minutes, I had enough Vials of Metallic Goo.
“That’s a good boy, [Orthrus]! And no, I’m not neglecting you, [Fluffy], he just happened to be better equipped to handle these monsters,” I said, scratching both pets behind the ears. “Now, we just need to find the iron ore deposits.”
I once again began searching the base of the mountain. And eventually, I found what I was looking for. A massive deposit of different iron ores. However, I finally remembered something important. I didn’t have any kind of mining equipment with me.
“So, how should I do this? Should I try using my greatsword? But I don’t want to accidentally break it either,” I muttered.
“Hello there! Are you here to mine the iron ore as well?” A voiced called out. Turning, I saw a large, sturdy-looking middle aged man. “You’re not going to do very well without a pickax!”
“Yeah, it’s my first time, and I didn’t even think about it,” I replied with a sheepish smile. The man laughed and held out an old but sturdy pickax.
“This is my old one and I don’t need it anymore. You can use it,” he said. I took the pickax from him gratefully.
[You have obtained Item [Worn Iron Pickax]]
[Worn Iron Pickax]
[Rarity: Common]
[Type: Tool]
[Subtype: Two-Handed, Mining]
[Restrictions: none]
[Damage: 10 + Physical Attack Power]
[Durability: 90/200]
[Weight: 8]
[Options:
1. +5% chance of increased drops when mining iron ore]
[A well-made pickax that has seen lots of use over the years, it is used best when mining iron ore.]
“Thank you very much, sir,” I said. Gripping the tool tightly, I began whacking away at the ore. After several minutes of this, I began getting into a rhythm. Soon, I had mined all of the iron ore I needed to. “Alright, I’ll be heading off now.”
“Uh, yeah, sure. You take care of yourself now, youngin’,” the man said. He looked surprised by something, but I don’t know what. Either way, I needed to head back to the village. But as I was leaving the ore deposit, I noticed a large set of stone doors carved directly into the mountainside.
“That looks interesting,” I said, walking over to them. Placing my hands against the doors, I pushed against them with my full strength. However, they didn’t budge at all.
[You are not qualified to enter this space]
“Guess I can’t go in there yet. I wonder what that place is?” I thought. Shrugging my shoulders, I walked back to the village, my two pets by my side. Entering the [Mysterious Smithy], I noticed Karc had at work. “I’m back! I have the materials you requested.”
“That was quick. Good job,” Karc replied. He took the materials from me and set to work forging my breastplate. I also received system messages.
[+Relationship with Blacksmith Karc]
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
[You have obtained Passive Skill [Advanced Smithing I]]
[[Basic Smithing I] has been replaced by [Advanced Smithing I]]
[You have obtained Passive Skill [Metalworking I]]
[Advanced Smithing I]
[Type: Passive]
[Effects:
1. +2% chance of success when forging Items
2. +2% chance of Item being Epic]
[Metalworking I]
[Type: Passive]
[Effects:
1. 5% chance of strengthening the metal or metal-like material you are working with
2. 3% chance of improving the metal’s properties and/or traits
3. 1% chance of imbuing new properties and/or traits into the metal]
“Oh, these Skills seem pretty good. I can’t wait to try them out by doing some forging myself sometime,” I thought. I then turned to Karc. “By the way, I also got all this [Troll Leather]. Would that be of any use to you?”
“Oh? Actually, it would. [Troll Leather] is an exceptionally strong and sturdy leather that’s also flexible and lightweight,” Karc replied. “Since it wasn’t part of the tasks I assigned you, I’d be willing to pay you for all the leather you acquired.”
[Blacksmith Karc has offered to buy all of your [Troll Leather] for 30 gold each]
[You have [Troll Leather (x36)]]
[Would you like to sell for 1080 gold? Y/N]
“Sure, I’ll sell you all my [Troll Leather],” I told him. I clicked yes on the interface.
[You have lost [Troll Leather (x36)]
[You have obtained 1080 gold]
“Thank you for selling it to me,” Karc said, his face beaming.
“Y-yeah, sure, no problem,” I replied. “A-anyway, when will my breastplate be finished?”
“It’ll take me the rest of the day, so come back tomorrow. It should be done by then,” the NPC replied. I nodded and left the smithy.
“So, what should we do while we wait? I guess I do have the collection Quest from Wadd, which I already have most of the Items for,” I thought aloud. “All that’s left for me to find is the [Spider Eyes]. Guess I should find out where to find some spiders.”
After talking with some of the townspeople, I discovered that Giant Spiders could be found in the dark section of the forest. Going into the forest, I hiked until I as in the dark section. And it was indeed dark, as I could barely see my own hand in front of my face.
“This might be difficult,” I muttered. Drawing my greatsword, I prepared myself to fight at any moment. But before I could even react, a creature dropped down on me from above. It bit down on my head with mandibles.
[You have been inflicted with Poison status effect]
[You will receive 5 points of poison damage every second for 10 seconds]
Swinging my sword upward, it cleaved the creature in two. It died instantly, but I saw that it was one of the Giant Spiders I was looking for. Picking up the Spider Eye it dropped, I now knew at least that I was in the right place.
“Just gotta watch out for those ambushes,” I muttered.
* * *
“Whew! I’ve got more than enough [Spider Eyes] as well as some other materials,” I said, looking over my spoils. “I also ended up encountering some other monsters, but they weren’t anything I couldn’t handle alongside my pets.”
I looked over at the two pets. They were currently fighting against a beast of a monster called a Shadow Ogre. Not only did it have the size and strength of an ogre, but it could melt into the shadows to avoid attacks and ambush its prey. However, Fluffy and Orthrus were handling it well. The two worked to kill it within a few minutes.
[Pet [Orthrus] has leveled up]
[Stats are randomly increased]
[New Skill was generated]
[Hellhound]
[Name: [Orthrus]
[Level: 5]
[Bloodline: [Undying Hellfire Hound Tribe]
[Stats: HP (1310.5), MP (580), Str (121), Vit (125), Agi (118), Dex (30), Int (116), Physical Attack Power (605), Magic Attack Power (580), Attack Speed (236), Movement Speed (236), Physical Defense (1250), Magic Defense (580), Carrying Capacity (242), and Luck (3)]
[Skills: [Fiery Jaws I], [Fire Resist - Lesser], [Hell’s Howl II], [Overheat - Greater], [Jet Burst]]
“Hmm. I wonder [Jet Burst] does?” I wondered. I clicked on the Skill to open its info window.
[Jet Burst]
[Type: Active]
[Effects:
1. x5 Movement Speed for 1 minute
2. Increases Physical Attack Power by an amount equal to Movement Speed for 1 minute
3. Increases Magic Attack Power by an amount equal to Movement Speed for 1 minute]
[Costs 200 MP to use, 6 hour cooldown]
“Dang! That’s a powerful Skill. That would basically turn [Orthrus] into a living torpedo,” I muttered. But I didn’t want to waste time thinking about things like that. While I couldn’t see the Sun due to being in the dark section of the forest, I felt like it was nighttime. I wanted to quickly turn my Quest in to Wadd and then find a place to sleep. “Let’s go, boys.”
The three of us left the forest and went back to the village. Once there, I headed to the [Eccentric Apothecary]. There, Alchemist Wadd practically greeted me at the door.
“So? Do you have my ingredients?” He asked eagerly, rubbing his hands together.
“Uh, yeah, I have ‘em,” I replied, a little put off by the little man’s strange demeanor. “H-here you go.”
He accepted the Items happily. Shuffling into a back room, he quickly stored the ingredients. When he came back, he was holding a large potion bottle filled with a shimmering orange liquid.
“Hehe, here, other than your lifetime discount, this is your reward,” he told me. I took the potion from him.
[You have obtained [Elixir (x1)]]
[Elixir]
[Rarity: Legendary]
[Type: Consumable]
[Subtype: Recovery, Buff]
[Restrictions: none]
[Effects:
1. Instantly recovers 100% of max HP and MP
2. Instantly cures all diseases and illnesses
3. Instantly removes all status effects and curses
4. Permanently raises all main stats by 50]
[A powerful and legendary mystical concoction able to heal any wound, cure any illness, remove any curse, and strengthen the body.]
“Um, uh, what-what is this?!” I exclaimed.
“This is something from my secret stash. And things from my secret stash are only given or sold to people I like,” Wadd explained. “Keep doing tasks and favors for me, and maybe you’ll get more rewards like this in the future.”
“In that case, do you have any more requests for me?” I asked, trying not to sound too eager. The goblinoid shopkeeper eyed me before an almost evil grin stretched across his face.
“Actually, there is something you could do for me,” he replied. “My secret stash is starting to run a little low even though not many people know about it. I need some ingredients for my special potions, though those ones are a bit rarer and harder to acquire. Think you’re up to the task?”
[Alchemist Wadd would like you to collect more potion-making ingredients for him]
[Collect 0/3 [Wyvern Hearts]]
[Collect 0/10 [Apples of Strength]]
[Collect 0/15 [Ogre Tendons]]
[Collect 0/20 [Giant’s Tears]]
[Rewards: +Relationship with Alchemist Wadd, ???]
[Failure Penalty: lose your lifetime discount, -Relationship with Alchemist Wadd]
[Accept? Y/N]
“Sure, I can do that,” I told him. I accepted the Quest and prepared to leave.
“Good, good. There’s no time limit, but please do it as soon as you can. My customers aren’t always patient people,” Wadd explained. I nodded and left.
“Wow, I wonder what kind of potion he’s gonna make out of ingredients like those?” I thought curiously. “Whatever potion it is, I’m sure it’s very powerful and boosts Str by a lot. Either way, I have work to do.”