Earlier
--
Mission Added (1):
Escape…
Optional Mission Added (1):
Discover the depths of the Main Street.
--
“Skoltor gave us a free option, which I’m definitely doing,” Daniel confidently said. “It’s gonna be bloody.” He stood right at the door with his hands on the handle, ready to depart.
“Ransacking the entire underground, right? I don’t mind. They took shit from us for too long,” Celeste commented, then turning to Solomon. “I remember you used to build a lot of crap for them. You are here with us because they took your workshop. Anything might still be in there since you were booted?”
Solomon wrapped a bandage, substituting for a cast, tightly around both of his knees. “The forge better still be there. That’s one of the relics crafted by the Blacksmith God of Yinhai. I can’t afford to lose it to some crook.”
The fourth relic is down here? “How many relics do we know of exist in Raal?”
“I heard rumors of twenty but could be more.”
“What does the quantity of it signify?” Daniel asked, upon the thought of never getting the chance to learn the true meaning of the Yinhai relics other than fanatic reasons.
“Well…I don’t know about the situation of the ongoing war right now, but one of the other causes was countries and empires going after each other to gain control of most of it as possible. In turn, they rule Raal.”
Intriguing. “And they are all different purposes, like the forge for example,” Daniel muttered to himself while piling up with another question. “I’m thinking maybe in that situation, there could be tons of other relics that have never been mentioned by word of mouth or paper. What if there’s something that we could grasp and have a better interpretation to say quality over quantity?”
Sally, tying her long green hair, turned right when he finished the question. “When did you become an articulate rambler?”
Daniel shrugged in response, rather having those moments and theories than being an outcast. Worth the time as everyone else was finished packing. He pressed on the handle, pushing the door outward. Going left.
He pointed to the left and quickly nudged away from the doorway for others to get out. Hierax, being the last in the bunch, closed the door gently. Daniel began to speed up, heading deep down through the hallway.
Each footing does no justice as it was loud thanks to the flooring structure established throughout the hallway. Eventually, alerts were dropped. Now, they have got our attention. Daniel grinned in the semi-dark hallway, calling in Licht. “They heard us. Let’s keep moving.”
All followed Daniel through the dark hallway with one sharp right leading to a three-way intersection. This is where he had no knowledge of where to go, and Skoltor’s new map feature recently received was just like a game, only showing the discovered regions.
“I’ve never been up to this point, so we might have to split up,” Daniel said.
They all exchanged momentarily, gathering in a circle. Daniel, on the other hand, was waiting for their decision after deciding the middle route.
“I’ll go with you,” Celeste stated.
Solomon raised his hand with Sally trailing behind him.
“I’m taking the middle route,” Daniel said, pointing at the straight path.
“The three of us are going together, we are taking the right,” Hierax confirmed, along with Summer and Armando.
“Alright, well see y’all on the other side.”
They waved and the two groups separated.
As Daniel and his group turned around and sprinted through, they saw a stampede mob with flashing red eyes haunting the darkness while turning.
“Run!” Solomon yelled, grabbing Sally.
Crap! Daniel deployed a narrow slash out of the blade, exerting a thin white slash towards the stampede. Abolishing one of the rules of the Underground Main Street, he lifted both his feet up in the air and glided right up to the three, boosting them away and longing the distance of the company trailing behind.
For more than a year without flying was evident through his directional skills, Daniel misjudged the speed his body could exert. This makes the matter awkward and dangerous as the speeds are not consistent, creating multiple moments of near misses as the hallway went left and right on multiple occasions.
“Hey, slow down!” Celeste cried.
“I’m trying to!” Daniel yelled as he applied the opposite force right towards his body, causing an erupting thrust and pushing their upper bodies backward. He descended his feet down to the floor once a dead end appeared far away, appearing to be a door.
The concrete disintegrates as Daniel’s feet cut through the floor, slowing down enough speed. “Prepare to land!”
“Way ahead of you!” Celeste said, dropping off from his grip. Solomon and Sally do the same, giving Daniel leverage to brace against the door as he is still moving beyond ordinary moving speed. And he wielded Licht in front as a shield.
Bang!
The heavy structured door popped open like a gust of wind forcing anything in its path to disperse. Daniel pierced Licht into the floor, igniting a hard straight line filled with a hard-ridden trail of flames. He stopped for one shift, prompting him to turn backward and face the entrance. His back struck the brick-pillared column wall, and he witnessed Celeste and the other two sprinting through.
More company. Daniel pushed away from the hard surface with a full lift of his katana, generating an index finger-sized twister spinning over the tip of the blade.
“What is that gonna do with the whole mob?” Sally commented, gesturing to Solomon to close the door.
Swoosh!
A barging whirlpool came out of the gesture, inverted from its characteristics that led to an offensive tactic that escalates more air and capabilities the further away from the blade. The mob decomposes upon contact with the pressurized wind and ignites a heavy blood bath, flowing right towards the entrance.
“I stand corrected—”
“Close it!” Daniel yelled, tugging his katana away from its path.
Solomon smacked it with no hesitation, instructing the door violently back in place. The gears that were responsible for the lock healed itself, anchoring to the wall all its perimeter and thrust out cylindrical wide bolts subsequently. Followed by multiple clanking clicks, the door settled on what was behind it, stabilizing the workshop and structure.
“You got to teach me that,” Sally continued, “the katana is very distinctive with its abilities.”
“Why not just improvise your magnetism abilities. It’s just as beneficial as a relic can do.”
Celeste smirked, “Come on, Sally gets bored all the time. She’s been bored of her own ability since a couple of months ago.”
“That’s why I said improvise. She never got the chance to.”
“I just want a wind,” Sally self-complained.
Daniel shook his head by this point, “One more time, improvise. It’s not limited by anything unless you force the restriction on yourself…anyways where are we?”
Solomon walked past the three, rubbing his hands. “Welcome to my place. This is where I used to do all the crafting.” He pointed to the humongous anvil next to the furnace. “That’s the fourth relic, that big black piece of craftsmanship and the iron blood that comes with it.”
“I’ve never seen an anvil that big before.”
“Two blacksmiths can do the deed at the same time depending on circumstances.”
Solomon donned a thick pair of gloves and one heavy touch to the anvil summoned a glowing sledgehammer, positioned flat on the face of the anvil. He grabbed, using both of his hands like wielding a greatsword. He turned to the three, ordering them for preparation. “If we want to get out of here, we need to be heavily equipped and upgraded. Being a long-term wielder of the Schwarze Fallhammer and from the knowledge of knowing each of you, we need significant upgrades.”
“What about Summer, Hierax, and Armando? How are they gonna arrive?” Celeste mentioned while swirling her head.
Solomon pointed to the other door which corresponded to the right of the main entrance. “They should come through there. That would also be our exit once we finish our time here. Any more questions before we proceed?”
“What do we start with?” Sally asked.
“Daniel is getting his first, while you two can tour around the whole place. There should be an armory and storage somewhere in the workshop. Make yourselves useful. And take your time, this place is heavily secured and with us in here, everything should go as planned.” Solomon dismissed Sally and Celeste. Daniel walked up to the anvil, and Solomon offered him plenty of options to start off with.
“Give me a minute,” Daniel muttered, placing his katana on the anvil’s face.
< Licht? Do you accept upgrades? >
<< I should be able to. It shouldn’t affect my personality. >>
< Is that a yes, or no? >
<< Of course, but please make it worth the trouble. >>
Daniel nodded and turned to Solomon. “Let’s begin with Licht.”
“Why were you staring at it?”
“Telepathy, Licht can talk between the wielders.”
“Wow, alright,” Solomon muttered, reviewing Licht. He handed the sledgehammer to Daniel. “Hold this for a moment.”
Daniel grabbed the metal handle and watched Solomon’s analysis at the katana like it was his own, slowly feeling the finger rubbing on the steel. He put down the sledgehammer and leaned it right at the anvil’s tall base.
“Can you get me a rag and those tongs right at the table next to the wall column, please?”
“Sure,” Daniel said, striding to the opposite side. “How many rags?”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“If there’s two, take both, otherwise one is fine.”
He returned with two rags and metal-coated tongs, and Solomon placed the two rags and the tongs at a table, adjacent to the anvil. Lifting the sledgehammer, he gave Daniel one more notice. “Being a wielder of the Schwarze Fallhammer doesn’t mean there are no limitations, and I’m telling you this is because the upgrades pay off in the end, but the outcome is uncertain upon my limitations. Just a warning.”
< You heard that? >
<< Yes, just get it on already. Don’t make things wait. >>
“I understand, do what you will.”
Once the banging of the sledgehammer began, Daniel backed off and headed to where Celeste was. He strolled around the workshop first, impressed by the brightness despite all closed in without any traces of light amid the two furnaces. Relatively to the right of the entrance from the position where somebody walks in, there’s a corner that is like a detached garage where there’s a breezeway to walk from the house to the other side. Here, it’s leveled similarly and narrowly as one but with a thin opening on the ceiling for air to circulate. Passing through a lengthy hallway, the ceiling reopened at such height like the workshop area.
He saw Celeste on the second floor. She waved back with a heartfelt smile, eliciting him up the stairs.
“What did you get?” Daniel asked, tugging his shirt.
“So, much shit up here, look.” Celeste handed Daniel a tomahawk.
“It’s just—” The ringing effect activated, creating a massive dead weight on his forearm. His veins popped right beneath the surface of his skin. Quickly, he turned away from Celeste, dropping the tomahawk to the floor. “What on earth is this?”
“Did you use your qi?”
“No.”
“Try it again.”
Daniel flexed his right forearm, directing the qi to the edges of each fingertip. Hovering the hand underneath the handle lightened the blade and the signs imprinted on the surface of the axe head, blue. “Woah, incredible. This better not be another relic.”
“No, it’s not,” Celeste answered. “Carefully hand it back. And keep the qi on.”
He kneeled his tall body to the floor and proceeded to hand it over to her with a heavy grip. Celeste took it out of his hand easily. She overrode the blue color with a mulberry tint of pink, then dropped it on the floor.
“What else did you get?”
“Behind me were a couple of spare-sheathed swords. Ordinary shortswords. I’ve always wanted to try wielding one. Sally would like one too.”
“Maybe Solomon could upgrade them if he has time.”
“I’m about to finish. Maybe grab those spare backpacks downstairs. Four of us can each wear one. They are very sturdy on the battlefield and rare to find in city stores, so no harm done if we have it for ourselves.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Daniel said, heading down the stairs and walking through the pack of shelves at the bottom level. “Sucks, this all has to be destroyed once we leave.”
“Everything has a sacrifice.”
--
Strapazierfähiger Rucksack
Weight limit: 500市斤, 250.02 kg, 551.2 lbs.
Vol: 50L
--
Fifty is already a positive and huge for a tactical backpack before becoming a hiking or a duffle bag in terms of size. This material is tough, it can’t be fabric. Daniel rubbed along the surface of his thumb before wearing one, grabbing three out of the shelf and walking out of the area.
Celeste came down the stairs with a pile of arsenal in her hands, following Daniel out of the armory.
Bang! Bang! Sizz!
“Oh, you’re back just in time,” Solomon said while holding something through the slack tub.
“We got some stuff to forge—” Daniel stopped, seeing Solomon holding something while using his robust body to hide what was behind him. “Are you done?”
“About to, I’m letting it cool down for a couple more seconds.”
“I got three Rucksacks, and she has a couple of arsenals that might be interesting to forge if you are willing to.”
“Yeah, perfect. However, I have another request.”
“What?”
Solomon pointed directly at him, “Your coat.”
“Why? What are you planning?”
“Over there, there’s a bucket filled with bricks of Elefantstahl,” he directed over at the second furnace where it’s at. “Strongest metal on Raal. It’s a man-made steel divided by a layer of tungsten and masked over with stainless steel followed by a finish of elephant blood on top, giving it a darker tint.”
“Is that what you used for my katana?”
“Mhm, however, it’s not a katana anymore,” Solomon said, lifting a composite sword out of the slack tub. Sizzling steam is emitted from the tank's worth of water where the surface of the blade is still lingering with burning smoke. “Congratulations, Licht has been upgraded.”
Solomon’s qi increased through his hands as he took the grip of the hilt, wielding it off the slack tub. The qi acted as the coolant, flowing like air along the surface of the blade and removing all the remaining hotspots. He gave a feel of the hilt before putting it in reverse grip with the blade’s tip pointing to the floor. “As noted, the blood makes the blade pitch black.”
Daniel walked upright to the blade, “May I?”
“Give it a wield.”
Solomon handed Daniel the upgraded Licht. Like the tomahawk, the blade dropped to the floor, shattering the concrete tiles at the first touch before it fully relaxed to the ground. Woah.
“Give me a second,” Daniel muttered, coordinating his arms around the hard-ridden hilt.
<< Sorry, I think you need to use actual qi to bring me up. >>
< Ah, darn it. I’ll never be stealthy anymore. >> Daniel felt disappointed.
He finally clutched the lengthy hilt, triggering the engravings hidden in the black blade. It shined bloody red in the shape of a halved dragon’s head, and both sides of the blade represented the lateral reflection of the head. Daniel leveled the sword outward, pointing the tip right at Solomon.
“Get that shit away from me!” Solomon punched it away.
“Woah!” Daniel howled, wielding off course.
“Ok, never do that again. Unless it’s an enemy,” Celeste commented.
“What do you see?”
“You can’t see it?!”
Daniel shook his head.
Solomon grasped Licht out of Daniel’s grasp and pointed the blade at his face, revealing the manifestation of a red, menacing dragon roaring at his face.
“Thanks for letting me know,” Daniel said, unfazed by the appearance. “I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Now the coat?” Solomon demanded.
22.2
Skoltor’s world clock didn’t work but the stopwatch remained functional.
--
32:01.67
→ Stop!
--
Daniel took a breather. I think I got it. Celeste threw him a water pour, almost choking him from replenishment. “You can never give up, do you?”
“Nope, I never will.”
“Am I the only one you have done this to?” Daniel asked, coughing the remaining water stuck at the back of his throat.
“No, you are the second.”
Daniel paused, unsure what she meant by that. It sure does sound freaky, and a wild thing to double down on. He didn't ask further.
Skoltor and Licht had been concentrating for the entire run of the stopwatch by Daniel's side. A progressive lesson in handling the new upgraded Licht was brutal to his biceps, as he could feel the soreness through the deep interior of his muscle fibers. Like a darn rag being pulled from both ends simultaneously at a long tension waiting for the leak to break it loose.
Celeste served as his watcher with Sally being the damage control while Solomon continued his blacksmith forging.
Daniel lifted Licht, letting it rest on his right shoulder. “Back to where I was, was it better now?”
Celeste stood still, glaring directly at him. “Your qi is stable. What does Skoltor say?”
--
Stamina: 89% ↓↑
--
32-minute activity evaluation: ongoing.
--
“Stamina is stable at 89% and an Ongoing evaluation to determine that.”
“As we wait, my viewpoint is that your movement is still not returning to the same speed as before Licht’s upgrade. However, by the half mark, it was close.”
“Better than nothing…”
“Luckily, Skoltor and Licht also assisted you in reinterpreting your qi control otherwise the damage would have been evident,” Sally added while observing the furniture around Daniel’s vicinity.
He headed to a spare table, placing Licht on it. He then stretched his upper back and shoulders followed by a manic push-up, boosting his blood flow according to the increasing heat circulating around his body. Looking at Solomon, “How’s he doing?”
“Almost done, he’s doing all of our stuff at once, so it’s less wasting time.”
“I’ll be praying for the success,” Daniel muttered with confidence. And a sudden realization flocked within the edge of his head. “Hold on, I haven’t anything from the other three.”
“Maybe we should have all went together…” Celeste mumbled.
Daniel refuted it, viewing it from a different perspective. “All go together, close together. Separating gives a higher chance of survivability. Thank the Yinhai we made it at least, but I pray for them to be in hiding.”
“Your emotions are so all over the place. Sometimes I can’t even be sure if you are serious.”
“Harsh.”
--
32-minute activity evaluation Completed:
Stamina ↑↑; Endurance ↑↑; Durability ↑↑; Power ↑↑; Qi Containment ↑↑
Stamina Level up: 3 → 4
Endurance Level up: 3 → 4
Durability Level up: 3 → 4
Power Level up: 3 → 4
Qi containment Level up: Level 2 → 4
Reminder:
Please choose one:
o Blacksmith
o Librarian
o Archer
o Swordsman
--
“God damn, yeah massive increase in performance,” Daniel concluded from the evaluation. “Oh shoot, I forgot to choose my second class.”
“Oh my gosh,” Celeste muttered, facepalming herself. “Now you see why I can’t take you seriously.”
“Ok, ok. I’m sorry.”
--
→ Swordsman
Confirm Selection: Yes!
↓
Swordsman - A class that is focused on honing and improvising the arts of swordsmanship. Movement, speed, combat, and reflexes are the main objectives. The outcome is case by case and will be up to the user to reach that level. +10% Stamina Recovery; +15% Endurance when wielding a weapon that is a [Sword] or has a [blade] (No Cooldown)
--
Daniel waved the flag, feeling dumbfounded. “Darn me, I should have picked the swordsman class before I even started. My life would have been so much easier with the benefits it gives me.”
Celeste broke into a chuckle, losing it.
“Come on Cele, that’s not funny,” Sally said, showing no amusement.
“Nothing ever gets through your skin does it. Perhaps you really do need some fresh air the most once we get out of here.”
“Piss off,” Sally blurted. “Your optimism is annoying to me.”
“Alright, alright! That’s enough! The two of you get bored too quick right now. Luckily, I just finished the last touches,” Solomon expressed highly. “You three, come here and observe.”
Daniel went first. He glared at the anvil and his newly established coat flattened evenly on the table behind it. Oh wow! He was amused by Sally and Celeste's short conflict and is now in the happiest mood after witnessing his fresh coat. Lifting the coat, the Elefantstahl had taken over the material. The blending between the smooth and rough texture by touch was impressive. He put his arms through the sleeves and articulated his shoulders.
“How does it feel?”
“It’s like an armored car. You don’t feel a thing inside but absolutely on the outside. Thanks,” Daniel commented approvingly. “Did you use the same process as you created Licht?”
“No, I had to use a liquid form of Elefantstahl at two temperatures. Hotter liquid for the interior while slightly cooler on the exterior. The difference between the two isn’t wide, but the physical characteristics are drastically different.”
“So much for Chemistry,” he muttered, “again thanks. I appreciate your efforts.”
“Happy customer is good enough for me.”
“Nah, once we get out of here. You all are getting free meals.”
“Free meals?” Celeste excitedly asked.
“I made a promise to someone that if I make it out, free meals are promised. Darn, I can’t believe that was a year ago.”
“We are looking forward to it,” Solomon said, going along with Celeste’s expressive desire for free food.