Skills:
Magic:
Evocation – Level 23 – 87%
Alteration – Level 23 – 97%
Conjuration – Level 23 – 41%
Abjuration – Level 23 – 32%
Weapons:
Unarmed Combat – Level 23 – 34%
Swords – Level 23 – 91%
Axes – Level 11 – 35%
Daggers – Level 22 – 93%
Other:
Stealth – Level 22 – 75%
Wordplay – Level 21 – 46%
Perception – Level 23 – 89%
Tradeskills:
Blacksmithing – Level 22 – 72% – (Increased 5% while offline!)
Carpentry – Level 21 – 49%
Cartography – Level 2 – 3%
Tailoring - Level 18 – 49%
Cooking – Level 5 – 54%
Herbalism – Level 11 – 4%
Leatherworking – Level 22 – 68%
Mining – Level 16 – 1%
Spells:
Flare
Light
Blink Step
Shocking Touch
Lesser Shielding
Flame Dagger
Jump
Alacrity
Leadership Skills:
Health Regeneration +10. Rank: 10/10
Mana Regeneration +10. Rank: 10/10
Stamina Regeneration +10. Rank: 10/10
Enhanced Movement +7%. Rank: 7/10
Improved Health: +0%. Rank: 0/5
Improved Mana: +0% Rank: 0/5
Improved Stamina: +0% Rank: 0/5
Improved Leadership I. Rank: 1/1
PvP Stats:
Glory Points: 472
Ranked Duel Statistics:
Current Title: Novice
Regional Rank: 4
Global Rank: 700,342
Personal Rating: 1701
Wins: 14
Losses: 3
Draws: 0
PvP Skills:
Increased Health – Increase total health by 1%. 2/5
Increased Stamina – Increase total stamina by 0.5%. 0/5
Increased Mana – Increase total mana by 0.5%. 0/5
Not that bad for an hour’s work, I thought as I read the tradeskill section of the sheet, appreciating the small progress that I’d made in blacksmithing while offline. Thanks to the war, I was quite a bit further behind than I wanted to be when it came to progressing in my tradeskills, having barely had the time to devote to improving my skills on that front. Maybe depending on how today goes, I’ll catch a break for a couple days and just spend it here crafting and building things, instead of spending it all on the frontlines.
Feeling a wistful hopefulness at that thought, I returned to scanning over my character sheet, my attention focusing on both the leadership and PvP sections, seeing the steady progress that I’d made on both fronts. Thanks to the war, getting both leadership experience and glory points had become notably easier than it had been before, each battle and skirmish I fought giving me a steady progression in both.
Which reminds me, I thought, recalling the battle summary that I’d seen yesterday, I should have enough glory points to buy two more skills now. Oh, and it looks like I managed to get another leadership skill point too.
Busying myself for a few moments, I assigned my pending points into Enhanced Movement and Increased Health, bringing the two abilities to eight and four across the two respective skill sections. In the case of the latter, buying the two ranks ended up costing me four-hundred glory points in exchange for another one percent increase in health. While the boost was minor in the grand scheme of things, it still added up the more ranks that I purchased, giving me a much-needed edge the more points that I invested into it.
“An edge that I hope will be enough in the days to come,” I said shaking my head to banish that train of thought before it could lead me down a mental rabbit hole of anxiety that I’d be better off avoiding.
“Ah, sorry, Amaranth, I didn’t realize you were there,” I replied, seeing the cat let out a massive yawn before uncoiling himself and stretching in typical feline fashion. “I’m just talking to myself this morning, nothing important.”
“Hey, don’t blame me, I thought I was alone,” I said to the cat, reaching out to scratch him behind the ear as he came to a stop beside me and sat down. “You usually don’t hang out in here if you can help it.”
“Ah, bad luck there,” I told Amaranth. “The foundry is rarely this quiet, even this early in the morning.”
The ætherwarped puma paused to shake his head, revealing one of the many human habits he’d begun to mimic in recent days.
“So, you ended up here,” I finished, receiving an acknowledging chuff from the cat in response. “Well, I have a fair bit of work ahead of me before we head out today, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep it down, but if you’re interested in helping, I could use a hand—er, paw in your case, I guess.”
“I need those molds over there,” I replied, motioning towards a rolling table that had several of the items stacked on top of it. “Along with a hammer and a few other tools. The metal here in the crucible should just about be melted by now.”
Barely waiting for me to finish, Amaranth wasted no time in trotting across the room towards the wheeled table that I’d indicated, using his shoulder to push it to me. A few seconds later, he was holding my requested hammer in his mouth while watching me fill several of the molds with molten iron.
“This? No. This is iron—a different type of metal that we will likely use for the palisade that we are building around Aldford,” I explained to my familiar, taking the hammer from him and turning towards the molds that had already had a chance to cool. “Depending on what Léandre needs, we might then turn it into nails, brackets, tools, or whatever else that we’re short on. Or failing that, we’ll use it for weapons and armor.”
“Well, it’s not quite as easy as that,” I replied, no longer surprised by Amaranth’s insight. “The metal you’re talking about, silver, is harder to find than iron is, so that makes it more valuable. But it also isn’t as well suited to make things like that because it’s softer and loses shape easier if it’s hit or bent.”
“Uh, not exactly,” I said before doing my best to try and explain the differences between different types of metal and why certain kinds were more valuable for certain uses as opposed to others. Of course, each answer that I supplied to the cat quickly branched into even more questions, causing the next hour to fly by i
n almost the blink of an eye, until the sound of the foundry doors swinging open interrupted Amaranth’s latest line of questioning.
“Of course, Lyrian’s already beat us to working this morning,” Jenkins’s familiar voice called out, prompting a chorus of chuckles from amongst the new arrivals. “Assuming he even stopped working in the first place.”
“Does anyone around here?” I asked rhetorically, adding my own chuckle to the mix as I finished pouring yet another round of ingots before turning around in the direction of the voices and seeing the aforementioned smith, along with Ritt, Léandre, and a familiar dwarf that I’d seen much of over the last week named Dunedin. “Good morning, everyone.”
Ever since finding a massive vein of iron in the Twilight Grove the other week, Dunedin and his friends having become our go-to source for all our resource needs. Working tirelessly, day after day, the group had done their best to keep Aldford’s construction needs met while those of us more martially inclined focused on the war on the plains with the Dread Crew.
“Good morning, Lyrian,” Léandre greeted in response as he and others made their way towards me, the elder craftsman’s eyes drifting to my completed stack of ingots. “I see you’ve already made a head start to the day.”
“Just trying to keep on top of things while I have the time,” I replied, matching the Tul’Shar’s smile with my own. “Unfortunately, I’ve been a little distracted lately and haven’t felt like I’ve been helping as much.”
“Ah, yes, the war,” Léandre commented, waving a hand dismissively as he moved past me and began peering into several crates stacked against the wall. “Trivial nonsense, of course. I’m certain it’ll blow over before long.”
“Here’s to hoping,” I replied, feeling the smile on my face widen at the exchange. “So, what brings you guys here this early?”
“Taking inventory,” Jenkins said, inclining his head towards the dwarf beside him. “We’re just trying to figure out what our supply situation is.”
“We’re doing reasonably okay, I think,” I supplied, knowing fair well that the answer wasn’t exactly helpful, but with how much of my focus had been devoted to the war, I’d also found myself further out of the loop than usual.
“Yeaaah, we’re going to need a firmer number than ‘okay’,” Ritt commented dryly, the young merchant appearing just about back to normal since his injury in the Twilight Grove that cost him his hand and forearm. “Especially with how fast the palisade is going up. If we run into any unexpected shortages, construction will grind to a halt, and we can’t afford that.”
“No, I suppose not,” I agreed, glancing in Léandre’s direction as the sound of a heavy crate closing filled the air, followed by the man moving to rejoin our circle. “I know I’ll feel a whole lot better once we have it finished.”
“You and about everyone else in Aldford,” Jenkins grunted as our attention shifted over to Léandre. “Well, how are we doing?”
“Well enough,” Léandre said slowly as he considered the question. “Thanks to Lyrian’s help in smelting, we have enough refined iron to last us the day, and enough ore to perhaps take us through tomorrow as well.”
“And with half the palisade still left to build, you’re going to need more still,” Dunedin stated, crossing his thickly muscled arms. “A lot more.”
“Indeed,” Léandre answered without missing a beat. “I’m thinking that we’ll need at least five hundred pieces of iron to last us the week, and if possible, additional copper and tin would be much appreciated as well, say…about two hundred of each?”
“I think we can manage that,” Dunedin replied. “Though not all at once. We’ll have to stagger the shipments day by day unless you’re willing to cut back on the wood you need. Split up, my crew and I can only log or mine so much at a time.”
“I understand,” Léandre said with a shake of his head. “But I’m afraid we need ample quantities of each and can’t afford to sacrifice one over the other. Whatever you can supply will have to suffice and we shall work with what we have.”
“I understand, and I’ll do my best to meet the demand,” Dunedin acknowledged, nodding at the Tul’Shar before turning his attention over towards me with a thoughtful expression on his face. “I don’t suppose, Lyrian, that you can spare any bodies from one of your battlegroups? I’m thinking if we could get a few more crews out logging, maybe we can try to fill our wood quota first, then my group can focus exclusively on the metals afterward.”
“Hm,” I replied, considering the dwarf’s request. “Maybe? I might be able to spare a few if there are any volunteers, but long term…it’s really going to depend on how the next couple days go. If all goes well, we’re looking to be pushing towards Shadow’s Fall today.”
“I’ll take whatever help you can offer,” Dunedin said graciously. “And best of luck for advancing on Shadow’s Fall. It would be great to finally put those bastards in their place! God, I wish I had another shot at Ignis so I could pop him right in his traitorous mouth. Had I known back then in the town hall all those weeks ago…”
“I daresay all of us would have,” Jenkins stated in a savage tone as his hand went up to straighten the eyepatch that was covering his eye. “If not worse.”
“Valid thoughts of vengeance aside for the moment,” Ritt said, waving the stump of his arm in the air to regain control of the conversation, “we do actually have something exciting to show Lyrian for a change!”
“That’s right!” Jenkins exclaimed, the anger in his voice vanishing instantly, replaced by excitement as a wide grin broke out on his face. “I almost forgot!”
“Oh?” I asked, suddenly curious. “What is it?”
“You’ll see,” Ritt replied coyly. “Hold out your hand.”
“Uh, okay,” I said, following the merchant’s instructions, seeing him reach out and place something shiny in the center of my palm.
“It’s the first coin out of Aldford’s, or well, I guess technically Virtus’s, new mint,” Ritt explained. “We figured you should be the one to have it.”
“The first coin?” I repeated in a dumbfounded voice as I stared blankly at the man, then towards the small silver disk sitting in my palm.
Stamped with a ridged edge, the silver coin was completely circular in shape, its freshly minted state bearing no signs of wear or imperfections. Emblazoned in the very center of it was a large and stylized ‘V’ along with three words written around its edges: ‘Courage – Valor – Glory’. Feeling my eyes widen as I read the words, I stared at them for several seconds before I turned the coin over in my hand, which revealed a stamped silhouette of the ætherwarped oak tree with a second inscription: “Aldford – 41 A.L.”
“So, what do you think, Lyrian?” Ritt asked eagerly, pulling me back into the moment.
“It’s perfect,” I replied as I flipped over the coin once again and looked at the other side still a little stunned about what I was holding in my hand. “I absolutely love it!”
“That’s great!” Ritt exclaimed excitedly. “We weren’t sure about adding the ‘A.L’ bit, but everyone from Eberia knows that it means ‘after landing’, and it helps link our two currencies together, just in case our two economies ever connect. It’ll go a long way toward making sure that our coins are recognized since the only difference will be regional.”
“That makes sense to me,” I said, offering Ritt a nod before bending down to show Amaranth the coin, earning a purr from the giant cat as he recognized the shiny metal. “Thanks so much for this, everyone!”
“No problem, Lyrian,” Jenkins replied with a smile. “We only have a small production run set up for the mint right now, so it’s still going to take some time for us to scale up, but we’ll get there eventually. I’m thinking maybe in another two weeks we’ll have enough coins that we can star
t feeding them into the town’s economy.”
“Which, with any luck, should head off our currency problems before they have a chance to get too serious,” Ritt added, a faint twinge of nervousness audible in his voice. “Constantine volunteered to help with the whole process once the time comes, so hopefully it all goes smoothly.”
“That sounds great to me,” I said with a nod, knowing that with Constantine’s background in economics he’d make sure that the new coinage didn’t end up causing rampant inflation or any other issues when the supply of available money in Aldford increased. “And I’m sure he’ll do a great job helping.”
“Here’s to hoping,” Ritt said wistfully. “The words ‘Constantine’ and ‘help’ don’t usually end up in the same sentence.”
“Usually,” I agreed. “But if he starts being a pain, just say the words ‘hide and seek’, and he should fall into line.”
“Hide and—wait, does that have anything to do with Amaranth chasing Constantine through Aldford yesterday and a few days ago?” Jenkins asked, prompting my familiar to let out a pleased chuff.
“Maybe?” I replied with a wide smile, reaching down to scratch Amaranth behind the ear.
“Ha!” Jenkins barked. “That is a brilliant idea! I know a few assistants that could use the same sort of treatment. Maybe—”
“Erm, as amusing as it may be to torment Constantine or lazy workers with an ætherwarped puma,” Léandre said, interrupting Jenkins with a loud clearing of his throat followed by clapping his hands together, “we do have a schedule to keep, and I still have to forge materials for all of today’s construction needs. Plus, I believe you were going to help me with nails today, Jenkins?”
“Ugh…yeah, I guess we should get to it,” the smith said with a resigned sigh. “At least the iron is ready. By the way, thanks for that, Lyrian. Making nails is a pain in the ass as it is, let alone dealing with the smelting as well.”
“Happy to help, Jenkins,” I said, waving goodbye to both him and Léandre as the pair moved to get to work, prompting Ritt, Dunedin, Amaranth, and I to make our way towards the foundry door. “Let’s see if we can find any volunteers to help you out for the day today, Dunedin. Sierra and the others should be awake and getting ready to move.”
Glory to the Brave (Ascend Online Book 4) Page 6
