Jero and Jason watched the door close as Mr. Erickson took Jero’s armor into his forge to “prepare” it.
Then they looked at each other.
“500 coins?” Jero said as he scrunched his brow together.
“So cheap!” Jason said with a sigh. “Like I said, I don’t think he has spent much ti around people for a while.”
“The so-called ‘Hermit Master’?” Leaning back, Jero looked up at the dark clouds above.
Jero’s precious Level 55 armor that he had passed onto Erickson was sothing that he had only been able to purchase after gathering 1200 coins over the course of almost 6 months. During that ti, Jero lived on gruel and water.
With the armor, Jero hoped to be able to fight against higher Leveled monsters to speed up his journey to Level 50. As it was… it was extrely slow going.
But even with armor… the rest of Jero’s Squad wasn’t at a Level that they could keep up with him. And these days, it was very rare to find a monster that was possible for one man to tank. The common groupings of monsters were either a bunch that traveled in a pack or a single entity that was two stories tall. So despite the investnt, experience continued to trickle in at a very unsatisfactory speed.
But when Jero saw the shield that Jason was selling… there was one particular line that caught his eye.
(Skill Level Limited by Item Level)
Eyes flashing, Jero pressed his hands into fists. This man had killed beasts at Level 62 and 71. Likely he was part of a larger party, but there were very few groups in the world that were so capable that they could casually toss aside the bodies of their victims for chump change. Plus with the na of Erickson…
Jero quickly devolved into a daydream about summoning an impossibly tall wall of erald flas in order to isolate his enemies into reasonable numbers. Jamison wondered if he could obtain another windfall as he had earlier in the day while being filled with a deep fear of the man’s burning erald eyes when he had demanded that no more people co to bother him.
But only 30 minutes later, Erickson returned out of his hut with a confused expression as he looked at Jero’s armor. For several long seconds, the two n waiting outside couldn’t understand what was going on. Then, they both ca to the sa conclusion.
Instantly, it was like the floor fell out from under Jero. He felt a flash of panic as he stumbled to his feet. The fact that Erickson returned so quickly could only an one thing-
“It’s done,” Erickson announced.
“...eh?” Jero blinked.
Erickson offered him the armor and he took it almost reflexively. Blinking slowly, Jero looked down at the armor.
Wasn’t the short ti fra more in line with a failure? Jero almost had a heart attack thinking it was possible that the Mana Engraving had damaged the armor. There weren’t many Engravers in Donnyton, but there were enough that Jero was familiar with the advantages and disadvantages.
And for most people, the benefit of twenty or so stats from the Engraving wasn’t enough to outweigh the cataclysmically bad loss he would experience if the armor was damaged. It didn’t happen often, but it was possible. Just a few critical failures while the Engravers were gaining experience was enough to sour most of Donnyton to the prospect. These days, very few armors were engraved not by the maker of the armor.
But the armor in his hands…
Masterwork Plate Armor ® Lvl 55: A powerful centerpiece of a suit of armor designed for a knight. Increases the effectiveness of Knight related Class Skills. Also vastly increases the wearer’s physical resistance. Purified Steel II. 1001 Hamring Technique I. Skill Lvl 55: Sea of Erald Flas (Skill Level Limited by Item Level)
Sea of Erald Flas ® Lvl 55: Conjure a sea of erald flas around the user. The amount of flas conjured by the user increases with Skill Level(NA, growth impossible). User can manipulate the flas to form both defensive structures and attacks. Control and capability increases with Skill Level(NA, growth impossible). Allies within the Sea of Erald Flas will increase the Health Regeneration by a moderate amount. Effect increases with Skill Level(NA, growth impossible).
“It isn’t exactly what I set out to create, but… I did try to expand the effect.” Erickson said, shaking his head. “You are a knight yea? Hopefully, this will help you reach Level 50. Now, now the coins?”
Jero’s eyes were as wide as plates as he stared at the sa notification that had been present in the other armor. Skill Level Limited by Item Level. Did that an that this man had the ability to Engrave at Levels above 55…?
Then a crazy thought occurred to Jero and he froze. Slowly, a picture began to form in his mind.
Erald eyes, short black hair, those training spears casually stuck into the ground…
Transcendental crafting Skill… here in Donnyton…
Randidly Ghosthound frowned at Jero. “What is it?”
Jero whimpered.
*****
Feeling pleased that the strange High Knight had insisted on paying him double the quoted price for the result, Randidly returned to Engraving. For the rest of the night, he continued through a routine of Engraving, testing out his Leveling Engravings, training his images, and the Engraving solo Skills onto items.
Unfortunately, most of the equipnt he made for himself in the hut was only in the high 40s or low 50s. Without a specific blacksmithing Skill, high-quality equipnt was impossible to just make out of thin air.
Honestly, Randidly suspected most people would be as shocked as the High Knight had been that he could just casually make items at the level. Still, Randidly clicked his tongue at this rather annoying limitation. But he knew learning blacksmithing now was not the answer; he had already wasted more than enough ti working on his own engraving.
Besides, the morning ant a shift in his focus. This had been a break. After this, he had to prepare for his eting with Donnyton’s leadership. In addition… this shift would an the announcent of his presence in Donnyton
And that would an that his movents would be restricted and travel made more obnoxious.
Dawn was just rising over the waking town of Donnyton, bathing it in a golden light. Therefore, Randidly planned on heading into the city and spending the money he had earned to get more materials. After all, things would… change soon.
But as he made to walk down the path toward Donnyton, Randidly paused.
One of his Riders had just died.
It wasn’t one of the original two that wandered away, but one of the three that he had sent after the first two the prior morning. In addition, Randidly noticed that the Level of the Skill had crept up four more Levels while he had been working through the night.
What the hell was going on with those Riders?!?
But then he shook his head. Well, regardless of what happened he was gaining Skill Levels. Hopefully, they weren’t marauding across the countryside for experience…
So Randidly proceeded down the dusty trail, through the outskirts of the Production District, and then into the Northern portion of Donnyton.
There he found a crowd of wide-eyed group of people silently waiting. At the head of the group was a certain very nervous butcher. Randidly froze, cursing himself inwardly. Because his mind was on the deceased Rider, he hadn’t been scanning his surroundings at all. It was only due to that he had walked right into this waiting trap.
For several seconds the silence stretched. Randidly considered his options. Running just seed… immature. But he knew that very soon-
“Mr. Ghosthound,” A portly woman toward the front of the crowd said hesitantly. “I… I don’t suppose I can have your autograph? I’ve admired you and Donnyton for as long as I can rember…”
*****
At lunch, Randidly recounting the events of the morning had Donny snorting into his al. “Honestly, I’m more surprised you managed to keep your presence a secret for that long! Three days? Ha, what a record.”
“It’s just because so few recognize you,” Regina said with a nod. “But now your likeness is being spread everywhere. I doubt such a thing could happen again.”
Randidly dourly stared down at the tender filet in front of him. He sniffed it: musky and sour, yet extrely tender. Then he sighed. Most of his appetite was gone after awkwardly speaking with people the entire morning. They continued to gather and mob him, content to shake his hand and tell him their Class and touch Acri or Sulfur and speak about their dreams…
It was strangely innocent, almost childlike. But Randidly could feel fragnts of their images slowly sinking into him as they pressed closer to him. Those small fragnts gathered into the heavyweight of hope and expectation.
Pressing his eyes closed, Randidly finally released the tight fist of his unwillingness that had constricted slowly around his heart. Although the morning had been lost, he had truly gained sothing else.
Sothing heavy and unwieldy, but he knew that weight would co in handy soday. He forced himself to relax and accept the gift given to him. Slowly, his body and soul complied.
As his heart cald, Randidly’s eyes opened. Ti for business.
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