by Jason Cheek
Seeing that it was already 7:30 in the morning, I hurriedly cleaned up and slipped the rest of my gear on. Taking my position inside the egg, I laid back and started the login process as the familiar text scrolled past my eyes.
Running Pod Diagnostic – Complete
Synchronizing controller units - Complete
Neuro Synchronization - Complete
Initializing virtual combat training environment …
Like waking up from a long sleep, the Inn’s room slowly took shape around me as a heavy weight settled on my chest and insistently began licking my face. I covered my face playfully trying to hide from my furry companion’s wet tongue as the little Silver Dire Wolf bodily sprung on my head biting at my hair and batting at my nose with her paws. The conflict quickly escalated from there until I was forced out of bed. Smiling happily, I continued playing with my furry companion while preparing her breakfast. Amazingly Neysa had noticeably grown over the night. Instead of being a whimpering whelp that could barely move, now she was two times bigger and stood firmly on tiny legs. Slicing up more of the Worg meat from the night before, I started going through my gear for what I wanted to hold onto and what I wanted to sell as Neysa ate the meat with gusto. Utilizing the in-room storage chest, I quickly unloaded the equipment I was planning on keeping. With one last look around the room, I whistled for Neysa to follow and headed out the door.
One of the Inn’s server, Nettya Timiniel, was working the counter while the Innkeeper was out. She was more than okay with extending the room contract out for another night. While I wasn’t planning on staying in Delonshire for another night, I wanted to use the room for extra storage for our next run through the dungeon. Also, I needed a place for Neysa to stay. I wasn’t about to risk losing my furry companion when she was still just a whelp. For now, I planned to keep her with me for my rounds around the city. I had an hour left to run my planned errands before it was time to meet up with everyone.
My current goal was to pick-up training that I thought would be difficult to do on my own and wasn’t available from one of the refugees back at the camp. Still, I was a little surprised at the welcoming reception I’d received from the woman since in general, the town’s NPCs had been quite short with me up till now. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, I asked the lady directions for the NPCs I planned on visiting and ran out the door with Neysa a step behind me.
The players we passed in the streets stopped and stared at the sight of the little, silver ball of fur growling and snapping at my boots as I ran through the streets at a decent clip. Within a minute, I’d received a slew of private messages asking where I’d looted the pet. In answer, I just replied back with the link to my media stream. I’m sure people thought I was being somewhat of a dick, but for me, this was all about making a living and standing out from the crowd was all a part of that. Not to mention, I wasn’t just going to hand out all of my secrets to some random stranger. If luck would have it, the rest of my guild would hopefully soon be sporting their own combat mounts in the near future.
The first shop I stopped at was more a grove of trees with a rainbow of different flowering plants hanging and growing everywhere. The entrance was created from two arching trees whose limbs entwined together to form a natural alcove. Hanging at the center of the arch was a sign that read Faelivrin’s Alchemy Emporium. As soon as I walked into the unnatural grove, I saw the typical Light Elf open structure near the back with all types of cooking pots, crucibles, flasks, glass vials and various sized mortars and pestles. In the center of the bubbling chaos was an older Light Elf woman with long white hair that ran down her back like a flowing mane, wearing earth brown pants and vest with a white blousy shirt underneath. Putting on the friendliest face I could, I cleared my throat to get her attention.
“Excuse me, Ma’am. Startum Ironwolf, I wonder if I might have a moment of your time.”
“My word!” The exclamation came out like a shriek as glass tumblers were sent skittering across the workbench. “Next time why don’t you announce yourself first before scaring an old lady half to death?” The woman exclaimed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she turned around suddenly to face me. I bit down on the first angry retort that came to mind. Hadn’t I just introduced myself? Seeing the unhappy look on my face, the woman pointed towards the archway with a sigh. “I’m sorry for snapping. Next time, please just use the pull bell by the archway to announce your presence.”
“My apologies, I’ll remember that for next time,” I replied smoothing, but still somewhat nervously waiting for her to comment on my House of Kayden status to come up. Instead, the woman pleasantly surprised me.
“The name’s Faelivrin Elayoe. How can I help you, young Sir?” The Elf woman said with a no-nonsense attitude. I saw a toothy grin split the woman’s face as she noticed my confusion. “The entire town has heard about the Half-Elf named Startum Ironwolf that saved thirty-five prisoners from the Delonshire mine.”
“Just doing my best to help out where I can,“ I answered somewhat embarrassed, giving the old lady a slight bow. “If you have time, I was hoping you could teach me Herbalism and Alchemy.” I continued while pulling up my character sheet. At the very bottom, I saw my Reputation was now 800 with the Light Elf city of Delonshire. It had been a fat zero just the day before when I’d entered the city with Yun and Sarka. Hopefully, that meant my shopping trip this morning would go smoother than expected.
“If you have 200 silver for the lessons, then I’d be happy to teach you the skills.” The old woman said stepping forward holding out her hand as I quickly fished out the requested amount. Accepting the money, she immediately escorted me into the grove in front of her business and began teaching me how to identify different herbs and the technique for removing them properly from the ground. Within about five minutes a system message popped up congratulating me for learning the skill Herbalism.
The time went by pleasantly enough, except for Neysa nipped at my head and springing on my back as I worked. For her, it was all just a game. Thankfully my trainer was patient with the whelp’s antics. As soon as the confirmation message appeared that I’d learned the required skill, Faelivrin led me to her lab at the back of the store and taught me the method for making potions, which mainly consisted using a mortar and pestle to grind up the herbs and adding the mixture to a glass vial along with water to create a basic potion. A simple enough process at this basic level. As I worked, Neysa frolicked in the grass hunting insects.
Faelivrin explained that creating higher level potions required heating and distilling to condense the mixture down into a purer form. The more you distilled, the less liquid you had left over, and the more powerful the potion was, but the process itself created a higher chance for corrupting the batch and leaving the potion unusable. This was where the skill, aka level, of the alchemist influenced the end product. For another 800 silver I received the recipes for three minor potions: healing, mana and antidote, a stone crafted mortar and pestle along with 800 glass vials. She also included a small herbalist belt pouch that was basically unlimited in space as a bonus. A costly but worthwhile endeavor. By the time I’d soaked up the lessons and made my purchases a half hour had gone by. With a quick apology and friendly wave goodbye, I raced out the door.
My next stop was Calada Metal Smithing at the edge of town. Immediately upon entering the open structure, I called out in greeting to the lone smith. The smithy looked nothing like what I’d expected of a village smith. The man was muscled like a martial artist with long, golden hair tied back in a ponytail and deeply tanned skin wearing a heavy woolen robe. The shop itself reminded me of something between a traditional Japanese smithy and something directly out of a Night Elf smithy from World of Warcraft. The shop wasn’t a European design of stifling heat with massive bellows and an oversized iron forge. Instead, it was an airy open structure with small heating ovens with variously sized forges spaced out around the room where different types of work were being carried out. Stepping forward, I h
eld out my hand. “Startum Ironwolf.”
“Well met young Newfar.” The Light Elf bellowed gripping my hand in a firm clasp. “Calada Thrilmadien at your service.”
“I was wondered if I might learn the smithing craft from you, Master Thrilmadien and purchase some equipment,” I asked, setting my backpack on the ground to show him my ore.
“No problem at all, Startum,” Calada said clapping me on the back. “The easiest way to start is by learning to smelt your ore down into pure metal bars. If you follow me, I’ll show you how it’s done.”
I was surprised at how quickly the smith had me trained and smelting copper ore into copper bars in no time at all. Neysa, on the other hand, wasn’t sure what she thought about the smelly smithy as she sneezed at the unusual smells from the heating of the metal to burn out the impurities that filled the air of the smithy as I worked. Giving her a reassuring pat, I got to work. It took me about ten minutes of trial and error with the smelter before a system message appeared informing me that I’d learned the Smithing craft. After that, the whole process went a lot smoother. The first few copper bars I crafted were a little misshapen and lumpy, but by the time I was a quarter way through my supply of ore, I’d gotten the process down and was turning out bars of pure copper every thirty seconds. Every bar I smelted at first raised up my smithing skill by one point, at least up to around the first 20 bars. After that my skill-ups began coming further and further apart.
By the time I’d smelted all the copper in my inventory the skill-ups had stopped completely, and I was no longer getting any crafting points from the repetitive work. Thankfully by then, Calada had me start smelting my tin ore. I only had enough for twelve bars, but again my skill level rose up a point for each finished bar. After that, I was smelting the copper and tin together to create bronze which brought my smithing skill up to level 54. While I worked up a sweat beating the raw ore into shape, the heat of the smithy wasn’t overpowering in the crisp morning air, and I soon found myself enjoying the rhythm of the clanking hammer and the overall process of working the metal. By the time I’d finished my last bronze bar I was feeling quite Zen.
Unfortunately, the clock was ticking, so I couldn’t use up all of my copper and bronze to raise my skill even further. Thankfully, my skill-up from smelting the ore into bars allowed me to readily use a number of basic recipes for both weapons and armor which I purchased without hesitation. While none of the basic starter recipes were anything to write home about, they did give me the basics for forging every piece of armor except a helm and a wide range of low-level weapons.
Hopefully, I could learn the rest on my own from here on out, in case I was deep in the mountains on my own finishing up my Nightmare quest or was forbidden from reentering Delonshire. The two things I did end up crafting were bronze shields. I even paid a little extra for Calada to reinforce the edges with iron.
Iron-reinforced Defender
Item Quality: Good
Item Type: Common
Armor: 1350
Armor Type: Medium
Durability: 100/100
Weight: 12 kg
*25% increase chance to block.
It was better than the Ironshod Shield that had been destroyed during my fight with the Slave Master. Not to mention, I needed something for today’s dungeon excursion. I also purchased a travel smelter and a small forge that Calada said would let me craft both armor and weapons, along with some clippers, tongs, hammers and various other tools I’d need for my crafting skill. The cost was a staggering two and a half gold, which took a chunk out of my available funds, but after the Raid the night before, I had the money to spare. Loading everything up in my bag, I thanked the Master Smith and raced out the door with Neysa once again nipping at my heels.
The last crafting stop I made was to Solarian’s Enchanting Boutique. Tion Solarian looked to be a well-off man near the center of town. His shop was across the way from The Codex of the Magi Spiral which thankfully lined up my next stop perfectly. Even though he was obviously wealthy, Tion was a dour man who instantly shrieked at me to leave Neysa outside his shop. Keeping my anger in check, I quickly paid for training in the art of enchanting, which also came with the skill disenchanting as Neysa watched anxiously through the glass windows for my return. I didn’t bother reading the description of the skills. Instead, I picked up six training scrolls that gave a +1 enchantment to any one stat that could be applied to a ring and a small toolkit for detailed work. Rolling my eyes at another gold coin basically down the drain, I left the unpleasant Light Elf and headed across the plaza to The Frozen Spiral.
While I was burning through the piles of silver coins I’d picked up last night like crazy, I knew that the skills and tools I was picking up now could very well make the difference between life and death for the survivors of House of Kayden and my ability to complete the Nightmare quest I’d been given, especially since we were located in the middle of nowhere. Besides, crafting skills, in general, were good investments for making money in the long term of any game and was needed by every high-level Raiding Guild for end game content and, on top of that, the ‘How to videos’ were also another good source of subscriptions. Not to mention, it was beginning to look like I might be able to have a bunch of NPCs supporting our guild with crafting and fighting, which meant it made sense to ensure that they were geared up and had everything I could give them to keep the House of Kayden NPCs alive and well. Otherwise, training and leveling up NPCs would be a worthless time sink.
Obeteliol Filmalad, the mage Apprentice I’d met earlier, greeted me with a warm welcome. Evidently having me buy out their stock of lower level Frost Spells had made their lives a lot easier while waiting for Master Isundir’s return. Also, I was liking this change in the NPCs’ attitudes towards me. Unfortunately, before I could get Obeteliol to give me a hand, the mage Apprentice instantly lost his carefully crafted decorum as soon as he saw Neysa sitting at my heels. Plopping down on the floor in the center of the room, the young mage began happily playing with the little Silver Dire Wolf as he oohed and awed at my furry companion.
Thankfully one of the other mage Apprentices who was less enthralled by the tiny puppy’s presence and gave me a hand as I quickly paid for another seven spell, which basically meant I was good to go until level 45 for new upgrades. Waving goodbye, I whistled for Neysa to follow as I raced out the door for The Temple of Light while looking over my new level 20 spell.
Congratulations! You have learned a new spell: Ice Barrier.
Cast Time: Instant cast
Mana Expenditure: 30
Shields caster for 1 minute, absorbing 1400% ranged spell damage. Melee attacks against caster reduces the attacker’s movement speed by 50% for 5 seconds. Armor Class is not increased. Requires frost magic skill level 20. Can only be cast on self. 10 second cooldown. Expires automatically after a half an hour.
Looking over the stats, I silently whistled. Wow, now that was a nice upgrade. This would have really saved my ass against the fire mage Goblin I’d fought against earlier in the mines. Even better yet was the reduction to melee attackers speeds. While most players who were focusing on being a mage had builds that left them being little more than glass houses, aka characters that dished out massive amounts of damage but couldn’t take a hit, my build allowed me to dish out a massive amount of damage and then close with the target into melee range.
Stepping into the towering trees that formed the temple’s walls, I found Priestess Ines Eruaistaniel in the far back sitting atop her solitary stone as she’d been on my first visit. As always our conversation was short. A couple of polite words, an uncomfortable stare into the milky-white eyes followed by an extra-large donation to the temple’s coffers and I suddenly received five pop-up new system messages:
Congratulations! You have learned a new spell: Quick Heal.
Cast Time: 5 second cast.
Mana Expenditure: 30
A pulse of golden light that quickly heals target for 300% Spell Power. Req
uires healing magic skill level 5. Range 60 yards.
Congratulations! You have learned a new spell: Restore.
Cast Time: 3 second cast.
Mana Expenditure: 40
A flash of golden light that instantly heals the target for (50% of Spell power) and then (300% of Spell power) over 15 sec. Requires healing magic skill level 10. Range 40 yards.
Congratulations! You have learned a new spell: Minor Healing.
Cast Time: 5 second cast.
Mana Expenditure: 60
A ray of golden light that instantly heals the target for 800% Spell Power. Requires healing magic skill level 15. Range 60 yards.
Congratulations! You have learned a new spell: Minor Mend Bones.
Cast Time: 10 second cast.
Mana Expenditure: 80
A healing energy that heals the target of minor debilitating debuffs 200% Spell Power. Requires healing magic skill level 15. Range 60 yards.
Congratulations! You have learned a new spell: Minor Dispell.
Cast Time: 5 second cast.
Mana Expenditure: 60
Removes one beneficial magical effect on the enemy target, or removes one negative magical effect on the friendly target. Requires healing magic skill level 15. Range 60 yards
Giving a quick bow, I thanked the blind priestess and hurried for the exit not looking back. Although I was thankful that the old lady readily accepted my House of Kayden ancestry, to be honest, she gave me the hebegebees whenever we talked, and I was more than happy to take my leave as soon as I was finished training. Excusing myself, I quickly headed for the exit. Passing by the glowing pool in the center of the structure on my way out, I stopped suddenly in horror as I saw Neysa lapping at the holy water of the temple unconcerned as several younger priests looked on in anger. Crossing my fingers that this wasn’t some major taboo, I whistled for Neysa to follow as I fled The Temple of Light, breaking out into a run as soon as the Silver Dire Wolf caught up to me as she once again began nipping at my heels. Good thing this was our last visit to the temple because I didn’t even want to think of what would happen the next time they saw us. Looking down at my furry companion, I groused at her shaking my head.
