“Great job, youngling,” Sumuel said as I gave him the stuff he asked me to find. Twenty frost ores and ten iceiron. He leaned down to my height and cupped his hand near his mouth. “Those Miners would have delivered this late and charge me high for it. Personally, I think they’re overcharging people with the minerals they find.”

“There are monsters inside the mines. That’s probably why they charge high,” I said.

Sumuel grunted and folded his arms. “They still charge a lot for it. Even for minerals that could be easily obtained from the first few levels of the mine. I’m grateful for your help, youngling. I don’t get much help from the younger generation. Most of your fellows just trot off into the Hunter-Warriors’ Lodge. Pretty excited to join the “Hunt” rather than help around the village first. Younglings won’t count much in a Hunt, anyway.”

“You can count on me for help anytime, Master Sumuel,” I said. Just give me the reward and the next quest. I wanted to get back into the mines because I wasn’t able to fully explore the second level.

“You are pretty helpful, youngling. Here is your reward, you can choose what you want to receive.”

[Quest Completed]

Blacksmith Sumuel is impressed by your diligence in gathering his much-needed materials for crafting. He hopes to entice you into helping him again with these rewards.

Reward:

Experience +75

Choose one: [Mirdabon Tunic] or [Plated Vest]

and

Choose one: [Dagger] or [Light Spear]

I switched over the Social Tab of the Quest Completed Prompt. If I kept on taking quests from Sumuel, I was sure that I would get more and better rewards. Equipment was really a big problem for me and I was also poor as fuck so I better make friends with the guy that made the equipment. I bet I would need something better than a worn leather armor to get past whatever monster was guarding this mountain.

And I wanted to be a tank. Not simply to tank for other players but to tank against them as well. It was fun when people couldn't kill you.

A good tank needed different kinds of armor for every situation. Back when I used to play MMORPG games, I had a different armor for different bosses. Given the extent of this game, there would be surely tons of player builds. I should be able to prepare for all eventualities if I don’t want anyone to be able to kill me.

[Social]

Reputation with Mirdabon Village +25

Relationship with Blacksmith Sumuel +20

“I bet if I could get my relationship high enough, I could take Sumuel on a date,” I said under my breath.

“What would your choice be, youngling?” Sumuel said. “Remember that various gears would have different requirements to wear. A Plated Vest obviously needs more strength to lug around compared to a Mirdabon Tunic.

“Oh wow, a regular spear and not a rusted one. And I could finally have a decent armor,” I said. The Mirdabon Tunic gave ten armor while the Plated Vest gave fifteen, both of them were way better than the bullshit three armor worn leathershit I currently have that I didn’t even bother repairing. The problem was that I probably needed a level before I could wear the Plated Vest because I don’t have enough of the Strength attribute to wear it. As for the weapon, the spear was a no brainer. The effects of Charge was too good to pass up. Oh right, I have a couple of spare skill points to use.

I chose the Light Spear and the Plated Vest. Fortunately, I could already equip the spear.

Light Spear

(Spear Type) (One-Hand)

5 – 11 Damage

35/35 Durability

Requires:

Level 3

Strength 18

Given that the damage of my former bullshit rusty spear was an average of four, my new weapon was definitely an improvement. “Master Sumuel,” I said, taking something out my inventory. “I found this Glacial Fragment inside the mines. What does it do?”

“That can add cold damage or effect to your weapon or armor.” He picked it up from my hand. “Although, judging from this sample, it would only have little effect. You need something purer and larger if you want to have more effects.”

“Are there many more of these kinds of stones inside the mines?”

“Why, yes. Not only from the mines. You can also find them from the monsters crawling all over this mountain. You have to walk some distance, though. Towards the peak of the mountain live strong monsters that Hunter-Warriors don’t even dare disturb even with a full Hunt. Of course, towards the foot of the mountain you’ll meet the descendants of the mountain guardian loitering around. So be careful if you want to gather enchantment items out there.”

“I’ll be sure to remember that,” I said, imagining what sort of items I could get if I was able to kill a Lord Mirdabon. I planned to hang out in the mines for a bit, just until I was strong enough for the Mirdabon packs. Not to mention the other kinds of Mirdabon fuckers out there. I’ll probably find another one of these Glacial things. “Master Sumuel, perhaps you could enchant my spear with it? But I don’t have rings…”

“It’s alright,” he said. “If you let me take half of it, I’ll place the half in your weapon.”

I rolled my eyes. Well, not really, my four eyes could move independently from each other so but I really couldn’t control them like that yet. I was just used to rolling a pair of them. This Sumuel was taking advantage of poor me.

Sumuel said, “Even if I used all of it on your weapon, it wouldn’t have much of an effect anyway. I just needed a small piece to complete my work in refining a Glacial Orb. The Miners didn’t deliver their usual yet. I just need a tiny bit—”

“Sure, Master Sumuel,” I said. “You could have half of it. Always happy to help.” I didn’t have a choice, anyway. Refusing his request would probably mean lowering my relationship with him. Then I couldn’t take him out on a date, I thought sarcastically.

Light Spear of Frost

(Spear Type) (One-Hand)

5 – 11 Damage

35/35 Durability

Effects:

1-3 Ice Damage

Cold Effect (Slows down enemies on hit)

Requires:

Level 4

Strength 20

“Huh, cool,” I said. Then I chuckled at my stupid pun. “Many thanks, Master Sumuel.” Didn't he say that it was supposed to add cold damage or effect? He actually added both. That was actually a good deal. Maybe he wasn't taking advantage of me after all.

Sumuel then sent me off on another collection quest. I figured that I could spend my morning doing these mine stuff quests before I go to visit my new office in JYE Corp. While I’m in JYE I could read up on skills and study my skill tree. Later, at night, after work, I would play again, choose my skills then venture out, far from the village and try to take on smaller Mirdabon packs. Sounds like an awesome plan. Good job, me!

I felt giddy. I never had this feeling for a long time. I do like my job and, for most mornings, I was happy going to work. But this anticipation was different. The anticipation of getting home from school to play your favorite game. That feeling. I chuckled. It was funny that someone like me would feel that.

I didn’t touch any of the crabores on the first level of the mine, although I did mine all the frost ores I could find. And I did find an [Armorite Speck]. I wanted to save all the durability of my weapon for the spiky ones. Hopefully, I could level up and wear my new armor before I returned to the surface to have my equipment repaired. I only lacked a point of the Strength stat required for it. Surely, I would get that one point when I levelled up.

Different races have somewhat similar primary attributes.

Mardukryons have six primary attributes: Strength, Vitality, Agility, Focus, Solar Spirit, Frost Attunement. Strength was kind of obvious and so was Vitality. Agility, I wasn’t so sure. I initially thought that was for long-ranged type character but I haven’t seen any bow in the whole village. Crossbow, long bow, any kind of bow! Any kind of long ranged weapon, for that matter. We Mardukryons could probably use a bow if we get one but there wasn’t any in the whole village.

For Focus, I reckon it was for the non-combat kind of skills as well as helping a bit for combat. Focus making a potion maybe? Focus hitting something…I have no idea, really.

As for Solar Spirit and Frost Attunement, I have no information. They were Mardukryon only attributes. They were probably used for magic spells, an equivalent for Intelligence or Wisdom. Right below my life bar was the stamina bar, used for physical skills, and below that were two more bars, a yellow and a blue one. The most plausible explanation for them was that they were for non-physical skills.

Every time a Mardukryon levelled up, we would get twelve points that would be automatically allocated to the primary attributes depending on their usage in levelling up. Since I have been spearing the shit out of the monsters to level up, most of those points went to Strength. Other points would go to Vitality since I was taking damage as well. One or two points went to Agility and Focus, each, every level. And none for Solar Spirit and Frost Attunement, bolstering my theory that they were for “magic” skills as opposed to physical ones.

I haven't used any magic skills, even a simple healing skill, so it must be the reason why none of my stat points went to either Solar Spirit or Frost Attunement.

I don’t know how other races levelled up but that was how our race levelled. I kind of understand the point of the mechanic. If you used your muscles stabbing something then obviously your strength would grow. And this mechanic made the choices one made more meaningful.

Or it was just to make the Mardukryon race more irritating to play with.

If I met Nicole and her friends, I would ask them about it. Nicole was playing a healer so her Solar Spirit should be going up if my theory was right.

I levelled up twice and had my equipment repaired both times. The path to the third floor of the mine was nowhere in sight. The area of the second level of the mine was wider than the first. Much much wider. Small caverns accented the network of tunnels. These small pockets would contain the minerals that I was looking for. The problem was that Spiky Crabores also went for those caverns so I couldn’t mine in peace. The deeper I went, the more frequent my encounters became.

My usual tactic of Charging then running away, simply kiting them, wasn’t that effective if there’s like four of them packed inside a small cavern. I had to be careful that I wasn’t swiped by four claws at a time. My Light Spear of Frost was a huge help. Although the slow of its cold effect was nearly negligible on its own, the Spiky Crabores naturally slow movement speed increased the effectivity of the cold effect.

I didn’t dare fight in the cramped tunnels because I was once sandwiched by two Spiky Crabores that appeared on opposite sides. Thankfully, I continuously knockbacked one of them until we reached a slightly wider tunnel.

Wiggle space. Wiggle space was nice.

I found another [Armorite Speck] and a [Glacial Speck] along with the stuff Sumuel wanted me to collect. No one needed to tell me that these only gave minimal bonuses if I would use them. I haven’t even reached the end of the second level of the mine so I wasn’t expecting good loot.

Sumuel was delighted with my work. “I could give you a helmet,” he said. “I should have something here that would suit you. Or maybe if you preferred rings?”

“Master Sumuel, my equipment always breaks when I use it too much. Maybe you could help me with how to repair it?”

Sumuel scratched his horns and knitted his brows. “Well, youngling, you need to know the art of blacksmithing to do that. Or you could carry a repair bag. But I doubt you have the money for it."

“I don’t have money,” I said while laughing. Shit, so the only way was to choose his class? Maybe I could learn some basic repair even if I don’t become a blacksmith like the Miner’s Lodge teaching me basic mining skill without requiring me to join them. “Maybe you could teach me some basic repair skills, Master Sumuel. It would help me in choosing what job I want to do as I grow older.”

Sumuel nodded. “I could teach you something. Let’s see if you can do some hammering. It would be useless to teach you basic hammering techniques if you can’t even lift the hammer.”

I followed him to his workshop and followed his instructions. A loading bar suddenly appeared on top of the anvil. The more I hammered the hot iron, the more if filled. Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing, I was simply hammering with all my might. Sumuel had me hammer in different kinds of ways. Parallel to the anvil, at an angle, near the edge. What the hell am I even making? Neo-modern Art?

[Skill Learned]

Lvl. 1 Increased Arm Strength: Heavy hammering and long hours working the forge gave a blacksmith strong arms and increased strength.

Passive:

Strength:+4/ +7

“A pretty decent skill,” I said. This would be awesome if leveled. But not what I was looking for.

“It seems like you’re still lacking in strength. If you attain the strength I require of my apprentices then you could come to me again,” Sumuel said.

Sumuel didn’t have any more collection quests to give me for that day. What he needed could be found in the lower mines, so I called it a day and went out the back of his workshop. Now, where do I go? Foraging quests? Or look around for quests near the mines and try to find the third level entrance?

“You’re trying to become a blacksmith apprentice?” a voice said.

I looked up and saw a Mardukryon larger than me, a couple of heads taller and twice as wide. Two horns curved forward from his forehead while two smaller horns were starting to grow out of the sides of his head. He also had a small tusk curving out of his mouth. A colossal double-headed ax was strapped to his back. It was Battle ax guy, I had no idea what his real name was, the highest level Mardukryon player according to Nicole and friends.

“If you came from behind the workshop then Sumuel taught you some skill?” he continued. "I don't think anyone's allowed back there unless you're applying to be an apprentice."

“Just the passive that increased strength,” I said. “I still didn’t have enough strength to be his apprentice, apparently. And I’m not aiming to be his apprentice, just looking for some way to fix my equipment without shelling out rings.” Let’s see, how could I keep this conversation going. “You’re a blacksmith? I mean…since you know about Sumuel teaching players.”

“Nope, I’m a Hunter-Warrior. One of my friends used to be a Mardukryon blacksmith. He was the one that repaired our equipment for a cheaper price. I feel you, I'm really missing those discounts.”

“Used to?” Then I took a step back. “Not that I want to pry.”

“My friend quit playing as a Mardukryon and switched to another race,” he said, with a tinge of annoyance in his voice. “All of my friends quit as Mardukryon when we failed several times trying to get past the guardian.” He sighed and then said, “I hope that you won’t quit. We need many players to work together to get past that monster.”

Huh, looks like it wasn’t Norman who first thought of making an all Mardukryon team. “I don’t plan on quitting,” I said indignantly. “I’m only level six and I’m sure it will be very hard to get to your level but I won’t give up.” Wow, what a cheesy shit thing to say but I surmised that it was the best personality I should adopt to be friendly with him. Unfortunately, it clashed with the hapless noob personality I introduced to Norman’s party. “I don’t even have friends to play with and help me out so it would be probably harder for me. But I’m sure I’ll be able to get out of this mountain,” I said firmly. Surely, the statement that my situation was harder than his would provoke some reaction from him.

He nodded while thinking about something. Then he looked at me and smiled. He patted my shoulder with his massive hands. I willed myself to stop my cheek from twitching. My shoulder has been patted a few times too many these past few days by people who think it was alright for a mere mortal to touch a god. The god was me if that wasn’t clear.

Battle ax guy said, “That’s good, but I’m warning you now that it will be very hard. It’s best if you make friends with some Mardukryons near your level and party together. It’s good to build teamwork early. We would need all the teamwork we could muster to survive through the Ice Tunnel leading out of this mountain.”

“I’ll try talking to others here. But I’m not sure of the regularity of my playing time so it might be hard to have a party to level with me.”

“You could choose to become a Blacksmith. Everyone would love you here. Most people here choose to be a Hunter-Warrior since it’s the easiest to level up and it’s fun to fight. Although there are people who enjoy the crafting aspect of the game or supporting others.”

I tilted my head. “I’m not sure about that. I also love to fight,” I said with a grin. “Actually, I plan to make myself into a tank. I simply love being a tank. Any advice? I hope I’m not keeping you from your Hunts.”

“I’m actually going to a Hunt right now, just wanted to sell my loot to Sumuel. But I can give you some tips. Take all the skills that the professions here would give without requiring you to join them. Hunter-Warriors give two free skills. Make sure that they give you two. Most people think it’s just one free. It’s Hunter’s Instinct and a Stance. Miners will give you one skill. Master Sumuel actually gives another skill without needing to be his apprentice. It’s an attack skill though but very useful. Just continue doing quests for him.

“And since you want to be a tank, it’s important that you take the skill that Healer Gula will give. Good thing you talked to me when you’re still at level six. Healer Gula teaches a basic self-heal spell. It will become useless later when Ancestral Constitution levels up but it’s very important that you take the skill now”

“It’s for the Solar Spirit, right?”

“Did someone already tell you about it?”

I shook my head. “I just guessed that it was for the Solar Spirit since we don’t have mana. Solar Spirit is our Int stat right?”

“Not really Int stat. In most games, Intelligence or Wisdom is for mages, not in our case. If you want to be a tank, there are some skills that would need high Solar Spirit. You need to be level fifteen before a quest will be given by the golden fire in the center of the village and only then will your Solar Spirit be formally activated.” He tapped his horns. “And you’ll get this. Sort of a coming of age ceremony. But you can take it earlier if you ask Healer Gula to teach you a heal spell.

“I’m sure you know how stats work. If you continue what you’re doing now until you reach level fifteen, you’ll have high Strength and Vitality but next to no Solar Spirit. You’ll have a hard time levelling your skills that need Solar Spirit. Effectively, you would be delaying building your tank. We do need tanks to get through the Ice Tunnel.”

He patted my shoulder again but that was fine since he was providing me some awesome information. Talking with people was a skill in itself. An art, even. Almost anything could be gained through diplomacy. “How about Frost Attunement?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea. We suspect that you need to get past the Ice Tunnel for that.” He scratched his tusk. Maybe he had picked up that habit from the Mardukryon NPCs or were we getting affected by our virtual physique? Scratching the tusk was equivalent to scratching the chin. “Hmm, what else. The Miners’ skill, I’m sure you have that since you’re doing quests for Sumuel. And the Foragers skill for collecting herbs and food.”

“The Pathfinders?”

“They have extremely useful stealth and disabling skills but you need to join them for that. The freebie they give you is item detection. I bet you have played several RPG games before. Item detection is like finding loot in a barrel or a chest or under a boulder. Nearly useless if you ask me since you won’t get the advanced version of that skill so you won’t be able to find items of high rarity even if you tried your best but if you want to solo level, the random items you find here and there would help you somewhat.”

"I really thank you for your help, or should I say I tank...you...haha," I said with a smile. "I'm sorry for my stupid pun. I couldn't help it. I really do appreciate your help."

"I want everyone of us to get stronger. All of us will get through that Ice Tunnel. I'll sell my loot inside the workshop," he said. "See you around."