"So Liam", Mia asked, "where to next?"
Liam replied, "Let us focus on what we came here for. First, we try to fix my weapon. Then we shall go and do some more quests to gear up better."
Soon, the party arrived at their destination. Smoke curled above blackened chimneys. In front of a massive stone building stood a sign: "Bronzewind Forge: Master Blacksmith Hegnar's Workshop."
Mia nudged Liam. "This must be it."
They stepped inside to find an expansive workshop filled with smelters, anvils, and racks of weapons. The heat was stifling, and the smell of molten metal permeated the air. Amid the bustle of apprentices scurrying about, a hulking man with a thick beard barked orders. Scars marred his forearms, testament to a lifetime of forging.
He turned at their approach, sizing them up with a single sweeping glance. "Name's Hegnar. What are you looking for?"
Liam looked at Hegnar, evaluating the blacksmith in front of him
Master Hegnar
Level - 75 (Blacksmith)
HP - 50.000/50,000
"Do you require any help? We are adventurers and would love to help you if you require anything." Liam said.
He grunted. "Good, young lad. I need fresh Rockscale Lizard skins—uncracked scales, mind you—and Tusked Boar horns. Quality ones, not chipped or rotted. If you can get me those items, I will pay you handsomely"
Liam inclined his head. "We'll do our best. Is there a quota?"
"Ten full sets of scales, five horns," Hegnar said, crossing his arms. "But bring extras if you can. I pay by the piece."
Satisfied, Liam nodded. Gently, he reached behind his back and lifted Stormcaller. "Actually… I've got another matter. Could you take a look at this axe?"
Hegnar's eyes flickered with interest. "Axe, eh?" He accepted it carefully, only for his brow to furrow as he registered the faint arcs of lightning dancing along the surface. "Hmm."
He pressed a hand to the metal. Sparks jumped to his fingertips, making him twitch. He huffed, handling the weapon with surprising ease. "Strange aura. Rusted in places. These lines here—" he pointed to faint runic engravings "—they're incomplete. And the forging style… can't place it among standard Eldorian or dwarven methods."
Aria leaned in. "We suspect it's a high-tier weapon that's gone defective."
Hegnar's gaze turned sharper. "High-tier indeed." He lifted Stormcaller, scanning each inch. "Weapons above Tier 7 can shatter mountains if forged by a true master. This piece might even be at Tier 10. And it might just be a godslayer weapon as well."
Liam's heart gave a jolt. Tier 10—that implied power well beyond Level 1000 in normal game terms. But that was not what caught his ears.
A godslayer - a term used to describe weapons that were of the highest grade in Liam's previous life. Each weapon was so strong that even celestials would fear the adventurers who wielded such weapons.
But then, why was such a weapon in a beginner village? And why had no one heard of such a weapon being in a beginner village in his previous life?
Were things changing this time around?
"I want to restore it," Liam said quietly, swallowing a lump in his throat. "Or at least partially restore its potential."
Hegnar set the axe down, crossing his massive arms once more. "That's no simple feat. You'd need extremely rare materials to wake that weapon's core. First, it craves a catalyst—something to stabilize the broken runes. Next, you'd need an essence that resonates with lightning. Lastly, a forging medium strong enough to handle Tier 10 metal. Plus, are you even strong enough to wield such a weapon?"
Aria frowned. "You mean…?"
"In simpler terms," Hegnar rumbled,
"get me these three materials, and I'll at least unlock some of it''s potential:
Arcsteel Filaments—thin wires made from lightning-charged steel. Old dwarven mines sometimes yield them.
Stormheart Crystal—a raw gemstone that accumulates electricity over centuries.
Everrat Spine—it's a bizarre bone found in certain vermin that channel lightning to repel predators.."
Sunndenly. Liam suppressed a grin. Aria, noticing Liam's change in expressions, gave a questioning look, but Liam had regained his impassive look.
He maintained a neutral expression, though. "That's quite a list," he said. "Any idea where we can start?"
Hegnar shrugged. "Check the city market for Arcsteel Filaments and Stormheart Crystals. If you're rich or have good connections, you'll find them—though not cheaply. As for the Everrat Spine… I don't know. Some folks say it's a myth."
Aria exchanged a glance with Liam. She noticed the slight flicker of confidence in his eyes. "We'll see what we can do," she told Hegnar.
The blacksmith nodded. "Handle it in any order you like. Bring me these three, and I'll see if Stormcaller can be partially reawakened. If not… well, no one else could do better."
With that, Hegnar turned to bark at an apprentice who was mishandling a stack of metal bars. Liam, Mia and Aria took their leave, stepping back into the cooler air outside.
They walked in silence for a moment before Aria quietly asked, "Do you recognize anything about these materials? I have never heard of them before."
Liam finally let his grin show. "Let's just say I know a trick or two. Getting the Arcsteel Filaments and Stormheart Crystal will be expensive, but we can manage eventually. As for the Everrat Spine… I know precisely how to guarantee a piece, but it'll be a grind."
That last ingredient triggered a vivid memory. In his previous life, there was a hidden achievement: "Rat Exterminator" for killing ten thousand Everrats. The guaranteed drop was exactly the spine. Most players never bothered with it. But Liam knew he could farm them methodically in a certain location.
-------------------------------------------------
Soon, Liam and his party were back at the city square.
"You seem really cheerful ever since you heard about the materials for repairing your axe Stormcaller. Mind sharing it with me as well?" Mia asked Liam, noticing his good mood.
"Actually, I just remembered a lot of things we could do in order to get rich quickly and gain a decent amount of strength as well."
Saying that, Liam pulled up his stats from the system interface
--------------
[Player: Liam Carter]
Level: 30 (Soldier)
HP: 21800 (110 HP regen/s)
MP: 1460 (9 MP regen/s)
Attributes
Physique - 100
Dexterity - 15
Willpower - 21
Endurance - 15
Charm - 6
Luck - 50
Weapon: Defective Stormcaller: Physical Attack - 100 Durability - 100/100
Lightning Damage - 20
Passively procs 3000 lightning damage every 20 s
Defective, can be repaired
Armor: Iron Vanguard: Set Bonuses +200 Armor , 3% additional physical resistance
Total Armor = 150+200
Ring of Protection [Epic]
Protects user from 1 lethal attack from any source, as long as user is aware of the incoming attack. It will not activate on sneak attacks or attacks that the user cannot detect
Total Physical Resistance = 3.75% ( 3% set bonuses + 0.75% from armor)
Rings - Ring of Protection [Epic]
Skills
Waveforce - Slams the weapon heavily, creating a wave of destruction - 50x total weapon attack
Cooldown - 10s ; Mana Cost 125 MP per cast
Overhead Strike - Strike a weak point of an enemy, dealing massive single target damage - 100x weapon damage. Also applies a 0.5-second mini-stun
Cooldown - 20s ; Mana Cost 100 MP per cast
Shield Block - Passively blocks 1000 physical damage every 10 seconds from any sources
Perk: Veteran's Knowhow [Epic]
--------------
"Hmmm, this will do. My waveforce is now strong enough to kill through multiple enemies quickly," Liam muttered as he closed his stats window.
Liam had intentionally delayed a lot of low-hanging achievements with all the things happening around him in the recent past. Just like with the Venomfang pearl in the beginner village, there were many achievements he could aim to complete quickly, which would net him a significant amount of wealth.
The everrat spine reminded him of this easy get rich quick method which he had been sitting on.
"Let us go to the inn. I will make a list of things we could do easily and make some preparations first."
Soon, the entire party headed out again towards the city outskirts, back towards the Duskwind forest
Liam had made a list of all the easy achievements he could target in the short run
First player to reach level 50 – 3000 gold. +500 Eldoria Reputation
First player to slay 10000 monsters – 500 gold, Dagger of madness
First player to gain a favourable reputation with a class other than humans – 500 gold , Charm of Goodwill
First player to unlock a second class – 2000 gold, Random class-specific unique skill
The first three achievements were fairly straightforward, but the fourth achievement required one to find a missive that contained details of the second class and learn it.
For an ordinary first-time player, it would take weeks or even months to unlock the class, even after getting a missive. And since they needed to learn it on their own, a lot depended on their own affinity as well.
Many people would fail to develop certain subclasses even though they found the missive.
Later in the game, missives could be bought easily, as more and more people found them and preferred to sell them rather than learn them, as learning multiple subclasses did not make any sense.
Their skill points would never be enough to max out skills from many classes.
Liam did not have any interest in developing multiple classes either. He had already decided his path ahead
Gain favorability with a certain necromancer hiding in the city, gain a missive, and unlock the necromancer class as his secondary class.
A person with both the soldier and the necromancer classes would be classified as a Dark Knight. It was a very powerful class with a lot of tankiness of the soldier class combined with powerful spells of the necromancer class. Plus, they had a passive resistance to negative effects, which Liam hypothesized might even counter Veteran's know-how perk to a certain extent.
Of course, to get to this class, he also needed to get to level 50. And gather gold.
Lots of gold
He needed to bail out a certain necromancer, who was jailed in this city, with the bail costing 10,000 gold!
Turning back to Mia and Aria, Liam finally divulged his plans/
"We are going to kill a lot of everrats. We need to kill 10,000 everrats in order to get the everrat spine."
"10,000? They are completely scattered throughout the forest. Even if there might be 10,000 everrats scattered throughout, how do we find and kill them all?"
"It is easy, we just find the king and queen rat, and use them as bait. They will continuously call out others, which will make it easy to kill a lot of them"
"What? There is such a thing?" Aria asked, her eyes expanding.
"Yup, and I know just the place to find this rat couple"
Liam led the others deeper into the Duskwind forest once again. They met a few beasts, but Liam made quick work of them with support from Mia and Vix.
After all, most monsters would not stand any chance if they faced a human player with similar levels, not to mention an experienced player like Liam
As Liam and Aria pressed deeper into the forest, the undergrowth grew thicker. The ground was littered with vegetation, and the air smelled faintly of decay. Liam halted near a cluster of fallen logs. He knelt, studying fresh rat tracks in the moist soil.
"Looks like we're close," he said in a low voice. "Stay alert."