Nox logged in the next day, school was finally normal again today. Which means for him getting awkward looks and his classmates mostly ignoring him, but despite that he was happy. He found something he wanted to do so with a smile on his face he looked around the forest surrounding him. Achieving his goal felt great and now he could properly test his new class, skills and affinity.
Checking his equipment first to see if everything was there and in good condition, the rifle over his shoulder, the dagger in his belt. His starter clothes were covered in dirt and moss from laying on the boulder. His gaze shifted to the corpse of the bear, it was still there and surprisingly in good condition. Curious, he approached it and drew his blade. The bear was 15 Levels above him when he killed it, without his new weapon he would have died instantly. Killing a Level 23 monster while being Level 8 himself? A grin appeared on his face when thinking about it.
He plunged his dagger into the thick skin, but even if he managed to penetrate it, even at Level 14 there was no way he could cut it properly or maybe there was? Pulling the dagger out he focuses on the blade, trying to push his mana into the metal. Before he couldn’t even see his mana only felt it moving with his limited senses. But now a black and green hue drifted towards the blade from his fingers, covering the blade like a thin mist.
Nox moved the blade around a bit, the mist loosely hanging on the blade, trying to catch up. He turned away from the corpse and plunged it into a tree, the mist seeping into the wood and it slowly started to decay around the metal. The venom on his blade attacked the bark. With a frown he pulled the dagger out of the wood and inspected it with his fingers, the wood crumbled between his fingers, it had taken a sickly green coloration.
“So infusing weapons gives it some kind of decaying property, hmm I wonder what else I could infuse.”
He said out loud and looked at the gun hanging from his shoulder. Quickly he shook his head and walked over to the bear again, no way he would try it on the rifle without talking to Brookr.
Plunging his blade into the bear again but this time he channeled his mana into the blade and pulled it down, like a hot knife through butter he cut the skin, more accurately. The skin and flesh decayed under the effects of the blade which made it a lot easier. Nox grinned and started to skin the bear. He wasn’t doing a good job but he managed to cut out a large rectangle from the bear. It was a massive piece, the edges decayed a bit but he believed a good crafter could work with it. After all, the hide was easily twice his size. Cutting it up into smaller more manageable pieces he rolled up and stuffed in his bag.
“Damn, venom affinity is sick.” He grinned and started his journey back towards the city, there was lots of testing to do and he looked forward to it.
While walking he first tested his rifle skills. Even grabbing it from his shoulder felt different, the weapon didn’t feel detached from his body. Like the skill described, the rifle became an extension of his body. Aiming with it, moving with it, switching his targets. Everything was more fluid than before.
To test his new focus skill he followed the way back towards the town until he noticed a fox between the trees, eating something from the ground. Nox took a kneeling stance and raised his rifle, looking over the barrel while studying the fox. He felt his eyesight getting sharper and everything getting closer, in focus. It didn’t take long for small green spots to appear on the fox. Its eyes, heart, brain, lung, even the hindlegs if he wanted to incapacitated it. Taking a slow breath he channeled his mana into the rifle, trying to keep his affinity under control but still some was leaking into the weapon. But it seems that wasn’t a problem, the bullet flew true like before and hit the fox’s brain.
What he didn’t expect was after the shot landed and the fox fell to the ground, his affinity must have been around the bullet because the head of the fox slowly started to dissolve. Nox quickly turned around bile rising from his stomach before he got it under control. The venom affinity became a lot more scary but also useful.
He turned away from the gruesome scene and continued on his journey, his steps just a little bit quicker than before. Leaving the forest didn’t take long, soon he found himself on the open plains again. The grass got taller and healthier with every minute he walked in silence. The town came into view a while later. it looked the same as before but he came back changed for the better. Still he couldn’t stop himself from throwing a venom infused dagger at one of the bunnies but this time he watched it decay. Those fuckers needed to die a lot to make up for their attack in the past.
Entering the city in a better mood he made his way over to the crafting district, the sun was slowly approaching the horizon when he managed to push and squeeze his way through the crowd. Looking around the courtyard he found a dwarf working on leather armor, Nox approached him and pulled roll after roll of hide from his back.
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“I hope you can help me, I need better armor, something light and flexible. If possible in black.” At first the dwarf looked bored but after he pulled out multiple hides his eye began to grow, a smile tugging on the corners of his face.
“I can help you boy, you’re that one Brookr told us about right? Well you brought enough hide for multiple armor pieces so if I can keep the rest you don’t need to pay a single piece of gold.” Nox nodded with a smile and entered the smithy. This time he approached the, now repaired door, with more caution. Staying near the wall before knocking.
“Brookr…I won’t explode when I come inside right?” He just got a snort as an answer, the door getting pushed open. “Lad, why are you standing against the wall? It’s not like you died from the explosion! Come inside I wanna hear what you’ve been up to since the last time we met.”
Nox followed the dwarf inside and put his rifle on the table. The smith was already sitting and waved towards a chair on the small table, two mugs getting filled with golden liquid. Mead maybe? Nox sat down and pulled the mug towards him, taking an experimental sip and surprise was painted on his face. It was good! He had the fear for some time now that food would taste like cardboard because adventurers only needed it for buffs. But damn, this was something else.
Taking another sip before explaining what happened. How he made his way to the north into the forest, finding the paw prints, setting up his ambush and killing the bear in the end. Why did he try something this stupid only to tell Brookr about his class. “Well and then I got my affinity, it’s a hybrid affinity called venom.”
Brookr looked at him, nodding while he told his story but frowned after hearing his affinity. “Hmpf, well lad you had a small adventurer out there huh? But I must admit your affinity is a bit troubling, people call it useless but they don’t know how powerful it can be. Hm, wait I'll show you.” He rummaged in his own pouch and pulled something out Nox didn’t expect here. It was a wooden case filled with cigarettes.
“Light one of these and infuse your mana into the cigarette okay? Trust me.” he pulled a mask over mouth and nose and waited. Nox felt weird, he never considered smoking but I was only a game after all right? Lighting the cigarette with a small red crystal, after that he slowly started to channel his mana into the cigarette, but instead of the thin mist like with his dagger, the color of the smoke changed. Turning black and green and forming a cloud under the ceiling.
Brookr's voice was a bit muffled with the mask on. “Infusing a weapon is nice but venom can have many applications, like right now you created a poison cloud that easily can kill a person, with more control you can even move the cloud towards your desired location. Also it is easy to carry some cigarettes with you. Smoke bombs work too but they’re hard to find here. We found this out from a merchant that visited our clan when I was younger. I just want you to know that this affinity can be dangerous but also useful, so be cautious and experiment far away from the city.”
He nodded and stopped the flow of mana making the cloud slowly dissipate into the air. Putting the cigarettes into his pouch and focusing on Brookr again, the dwarfs' worried expression was gone. “Still congratulations are in order! You unlocked your class and affinity so we should celebrate. But first, I have something for you. Let’s call it training and a way to earn some coin.” He pulled a piece of paper from his bag and handed it to Nox.
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Bounty Quest received: Slavers in the forest!
For weeks now slavers have terrorized the residents, family members vanish without a trace and the people can’t sleep at night. Hunt down the slavers and free the slaves!
Kill or capture the slavers that kidnap the townsfolk.
Free all slaves and guide them to safety
Hand in any prisoners (or their heads) to the guard post near the south gate.
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Nox smiled and looked at Brookr with determination in his eyes.
A bounty quests sounded exactly right, after all he needed the training.
Those assholes will get what they deserve.