I woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling… uwah! I can’t believe I actually used that line…

I took a look around and could not recognize the place at all. Regardless, one thing I could tell was the furnishings were definitely of higher quality than I have ever seen in this world.

Not long after, a human lady walked in the room.

“You are awake?” she asked.

Suddenly dread fills up to the bottom of my soul, and my face goes pale as I quickly check the equipment menu. Relief only fell after I confirmed that the [Slavery Collar] was still inactive. Once I calmed down, I took a glance at the lady.

“Yes...Where am I?” I asked.

“Ah, sorry for not giving you a proper introduction. I am Nun Kimberly and you are in the Church. You were brought here by Zack after sustaining heavy injury” Nun Kimberly responded.

“I see… How long was I out?” I inquired.

“You were out for almost an entire day, it is about 2 o’clock now” Nun Kimberly answered.

A whole day?!?! I need to hurry back or I won’t reach my weekly quota! As I was about to get up and run back to the Blacksmithing Guild, I suddenly remember something.

“Uhm… is there anything I have to pay for treatment?” I hesitantly inquire.

“You don’t need to worry about that, Zach and the priest here go a long way back. So you are free to go whenever. Of course, in the future if luck is on your side, then feel free to donate to the Church” Nun Kimberly informed.

I awkwardly nod as I make my way out of the Church. To be honest, I don’t even know which god this church worships, but It would be really awkward and embarrassing to ask.

After being seen off, I quickly ran back to the Blacksmithing Guild. On the way back to the guild, I review where I stand.

Lets see, I completed 19 [Copper Ingots], this means I have 1 more [Copper Ingot] remaining. Then I have to move on to finishing 10 [Bronze Ingots]. Only then will I get my share of 3 [Copper Ingots] to use for my own devices. This is where my new [POW] stat and increased [PER] will really shine!

I pull up my status window and review my stats.

“Ha?”

What in the world is [Pure Mana Affinity]? And again that weird messed up look... I also got [Light Magic] as well! Does that mean that Magical Girl Shiro is finally born?!?!

Ƥưȑȇ Ṁḁṋẫ Ấẜḟḭṅḯṯỷ – 99.9%

You are one with all that is mana. You live and breathe mana, it is your arms and it is your legs.

Odd...my [Smell Sense] is not picking up anything related to mana… Have I been scammed?

That said, my only spell is [Holy Light] and according to the note even that is limited! Talk about useless… I mean sure, healing yourself is pretty useful and all. But at this stage almost anything can kill me with 1 shot! So something like [Holy Light] would at best be a support spell as I am running away half dead! I mean I am not greedy or anything, but couldn’t they give me a bit more of a simple and reasonable spell...like you know [Meteor] or [Armageddon]… That isn’t asking for much right?

* sigh *

I guess beggars can’t be choosers ha? I’ll worry about those implications later, for now I have other things to focus on which take precedence.

I make my way into the guild, and withdraw my last [Copper Ore]. Now is the time of truth!

The hammer in my hand now feels a lot lighter than before as I observe the [Copper Ore] with my improved [PER] and begin the process of [Smelting]. But that is not all, I activate [All-Observing-Eyes]! Which is not limited to finding flaws in just living creatures, but flaws in all things that I have observed. This includes the [Copper Ore] and [Copper Ingot]. Unfortunately, a huge headache ensues as large amount of information floods my head.

Unlike simply looking for points of weakness in a monster, now I am looking at the entire integrity of the object as a whole. The amount of information is simply too enormous for me to process as-is! Regardless, it still serves as a helping hand in my [Smelting] as I gain new insight.

Due to the limitations of [All-Observing-Eyes], I kept usage down to 10 seconds every 10 minutes or so. After about an hour, my last [Copper Ingot] is complete!

Copper Ingot

An average quality copper ingot. Used in the production of metallic goods

Quality 5.023/10.000

Yey! I finally managed to make a [Copper Ingot] without much loss in quality!

So now that I am done with Copper, next would be Bronze. Though I really don’t that have much time as tomorrow is the last day of the week.

But before that, I need to first observe how others handle [Smelting] of bronze. And like that, I spend a few hours paying keen attention to how others are [Smelting] bronze, only after about 2 hours of watching, with sometime use of [All-Observing-Eyes] do I finally feel comfortable giving it a shot.

I pick up another [Copper Ore] and a small chunk of [Tin Ore] and begin smelting them together. The process is far more difficult and takes me 2 hours to complete. The final result is less than thrilling.

Bronze Ingot

A poor quality bronze ingot. Used in the production of metallic goods

Quality 1.442/10.000

But you know what? I am not discouraged one bit. I knew this would happen on my first attempt as I get the hang of it, frankly speaking, I did better than my first attempt at a [Copper Ingot] despite the higher difficulty.

While I would like to continue and attempt at least one more [Bronze Ingot], that is out of the question. At issue is that I am completely famished!

I missed yesterday’s dinner plus today’s breakfast. Not to mention I had to deal with all that training! And on top of that, smelting these 2 ingots. A bit more and my stats will drop from hunger!

So instead I head for the Cafeteria and wait for dinner. After enjoying the rather poor dinner, which somehow due to hunger tasted better than it normally does, I drag my tired self to sleep.

...

The next day, my final challenge for the week has started. The goal is to finish the 9 remaining [Bronze Ingots] and claim my just reward!

My first attempt of the day with the help of my [All-Observing-Eyes] netted me a quality score of 2.537. Which continued to increase at a steady pace. I would first use my Unique Skill for making 1 ingot, then make 2 more without it. This way I can solidify my knowledge without relying on my limited use Unique Skill. I barely managed to finish the 9 ingots prior to dinner, with my best record being 4.892.

Finally finished with my work and totally exhausted, I have dinner and retire for the day. With this my first week as a Junior Disciple at the Blacksmithing Guild ends, with all quotas barely met. I did remember to pick up my complementary 2 [Copper Ingots] and 1 [Bronze Ingot] out of the batch I made and stored them into my [Item Box].

With the start of the new week, I started out as usual. In the morning, I made 2 [Copper Ingots], which by the way I was super pleased that I was able to make them around the quality score of 5 even without [All-Observing-Eyes].

After the less than spectacular breakfast, I head out of the guild. My destination? Obviously the Alchemist Guild! Today is the Alchemists Guild monthly selections, and while I can’t exactly be a member of both, I can still get some production skills which I may not have access to normally. The Builders Guild already demonstrated for me that access for outsiders is limited. So this is my only chance in the short term to get some significant skill improvements.

When I arrive at the Alchemists Guild which is located a pretty decent distance away towards the south western area, I see the place jam packed! There is easily over 100 people here, maybe even 200!

The variety of people is also much larger, while the Blacksmithing Guild was loaded with mostly dwarves. The Alchemists Guild has a lot of elves and yes unfortunately humans. But there were also a few beastkin there as well.

After a while, an elf in a long robe came out and addressed the crowd.

“Welcome everyone! To the monthly selections for the Alchemists Guild! As you may know, the Alchemists Guild is divided into multiple tests that check your standing, and depending on it, you will be assigned within the guild. The first test will test your [Herb Processing] skill. As there seems to be over 200 of you here, we will divide you up into groups and test your groups one by one” announced the elf.

We were separated into groups of around 50, and I was put in the 3rd group. It took not more than 40 minutes for them to get to our group and we were show inside.

“Everyone, please sit down at a table. There are herbs in front of you that you must process. You are required to process 3 different herbs within 15 minutes. Please begin as soon as you are seated” announced the elf.

I and the other 50 or so people took our seats and began the processing of herbs. My first order of business was as usual, to enjoy stealing all the delicious skills that I can! Of course this time, unlike with [Blacksmithing], I paid far more attention to the details and from time to time activated my [All-Observing-Eyes].

It didn’t take long for the skills to start rolling in!

Your skill [NP][Herb Processing] has become Level 2

Your skill [NP][Herb Processing] has become Level 3

Your skill [NP][Herb Processing] has become Level 4

Your skill [NP][Herb Processing] has become Level 5

Unfortunately I spent so much time staring that I was left with only 7 minutes to process the 3 herbs! But can you blame me?

I diligently began processing the herbs to the best of my ability. Which was rather high considering my skill level and my improved [PER]. I don’t know about other production classes, but if they have similar quests as mine, it definitely wouldn’t be easy to get.

After I finished processing my first herb, as expected a blue box appeared.

[Creationist] quest unlocked!

[Creationist] Herbs processed

Process at least 20 herbs with at least a quality score of 1.

Type: Continuous 1/10

Status: 1/20

Reward: 1 [PER]

Of course I had no time to slack as I had 2 more herbs to process, and I was running low on time! Only at the last second, I barely managed to process the 3rd herb, and even then I feel like quality suffered quite a bit due to my haste.

Barely able to finish in time, I sigh in relief as the examiners walk around evaluating the herb processing. Unlike the talkative dwarves, all they did was say “pass” or “fail” and move on.

Interestingly enough, a whopping 37 people have passed. Me of course being one of them. Which seems like the overall standards here are quite low?

“May I have your attention everyone? For those who have passed, you have two options. The first option is to go join the guild as someone designated to collect and process herbs. The second option is to move on to the second exam. Those who wish to participate in the second exam, please come to me” announced the elf.

Out of the 37 people, only a measly 7 people went to the elf. I then walked up as well being the 8th, which seemed to have confused the elf a little.

“You are aware that the second exam requires the knowledge of alchemy correct?” the elf questioned.

“I know...” I replied.

“I see...then all of you come this way” said the elf.

It did not take long till we arrived at a room full of equipment. While it looked similar to a chemistry room, all the equipment seemed pretty foreign to me. Frankly speaking, I had 0 confidence in passing the test or probably even doing alchemy. But I am not exactly here for that am I? I expect to fail really. Though I am not just going to give up either, I will at least make an attempt, as making my own potions would help quite a bit.

“This is the lab we will be using for this test. Your assignment is to create two potions, a [Lesser Health Potion] and a [Lesser Mana Potion]. All the materials are provided here. There are also reference books and other things that are accessible. We are not testing your knowledge of alchemy here, that will be for those planning on taking the third test. During the second test we are looking for those capable of mass producing potions. You have 3 hours to complete this assignment” declared the elf.

Like that, everyone went their own direction and started preparing the processed herbs. In my case, I went towards the reference books and started skimming them a bit. Not surprisingly, it was all Greek to me…

So while pretending to read the book, I took glances at the other 7 participants and studied what they did. At first, it made very little sense until a helping hand was thrown from my good old friend blue box.

You have acquired a new skill [NP][Alchemy] Level 1

Congratulations! You have completed the class quest [Creationist: Improve your production skills]

+25 PER has been attained

Class quest [Creationist: Improve your production skills], has been reset.

Suddenly... thing started to make a whole lot more sense!

I continued to watch as they mixed herbs, brewed them and etc. With it my skill levels continued to rise.

You have acquired a new skill [NP][Alchemy] Level 2

You have acquired a new skill [NP][Alchemy] Level 3

You have acquired a new skill [NP][Alchemy] Level 4

To be honest, I never actually expected to hit level 4 in [Alchemy]. But one of the participants seemed to be very talented, he was pretty much done with the [Lesser Health Potion] in half an hour! I watched the others as they completed their [Lesser Health Potions] at varying times, but all of them were done within an hour and a half.

Once that happened, I turned back to the reference book and continued reading. I did hear some gossips going around like “Why is this beastkin even here?” and the like, but I ignored it. I spent half an hour on reading the reference book learning as much as I could about [Alchemy].

After that, I finally attempted making the [Lesser Health Potion]. To be frank, I saw health potions as top priority. I lack spells and enough mana to make mana potions any use for me in the short term. That is not to say that I didn’t memorize the details the best I could, but as far as attempting goes, my priority was the health potion.

So I started the process of making the [Lesser Health Potion] and it was fairly challenging. It looks simple when looking from the side, but the process is like a timed video game. You have to mix materials at a certain interval, have heat at certain amount at certain time, then divide them up quickly enough before they overreact. The process was really really difficult! Even with my rather high [Alchemy] skill and my really high [PER], if not for [All-Observing-Eyes] slowing down time at critical junctures. I would have been totally screwed! I am just glad this isn’t one of those recipes that can explode in your face...

After an hour though I finally managed to make my first potion.

Lesser Health Potion

A horrible quality lesser health potion. Used to restore health.

+5 HP +5 HP/min for 5 min

[Made by Shiro]

Quality 0.931/10.000

Talk about pathetic! Considering according to the reference book an average [Lesser Health Potion] should give +30 HP +30 HP/min for 5 min.

Obviously I did not have enough time to make a mana potion due to the test coming to an end.

The elf examiner went one by one, evaluating the potions. Unlike last time, he gave some basic comments here and there. Overall, out of the 7, 5 passed and 2 failed.

Then he came to me, picking up my potion he frowned for a second. Looking around, the other’s reactions were either of sneering or of pity.

“Hmm...to be honest I am somewhat surprised. While you failed to make the [Lesser Mana Potion], and your [Lesser Health Potion] is of unacceptable quality. The fact that you managed to even make a potion goes beyond my original expectations...

From the looks of things, this was probably the first potion you have ever made isn’t it? The very fact that you got this far is extremely astonishing! There is no need to be discouraged, personally I think you may have a great talent for [Alchemy], especially considering your young age.

Unfortunately, it does not change the fact that you failed this examination, and the rules of this guild is strict. I would highly suggest trying again in the upcoming selections. In the meantime, I suggest taking up a role in [Herb Processing] and becoming more familiar with the herbs.

Here, you can take the potion you made as a gift. It is too low level for us to use for anything, but it might prove useful to you in the future” evaluated the elf examiner.

“I understand” I replied, taking the potion and making my way out of the guild.

Contrary to what the elf examiner may have thought, I was rather pleased with my result then and there. Not that the extra complements and gift hurt by any means.

Resisting the urge to go peekaboo to the tailoring shop a few times to see if I can get another skill level in [Thread Weaving], thus fulfilling my last requirement for the quest. I for the time being head back to the Blacksmithing Guild. It is vexing to be so close to a quest completion and letting it go just like that, but there are other priorities I need to take into account.

When I reach the smithing area for the Junior Disciples, I take a look around and do my best to learn everything I can about [Blacksmithing] in same way I learned about [Smelting], [Herb Processing] and [Alchemy]. At this point I already have quite some experience learning from others.

After about 3 hours of learning what I could, I take out both of the [Copper Ingots] and start smithing. It took me about 4 hours to finish smithing the item I was looking for.

What was it that couldn’t wait another day?

Copper Blacksmithing Hammer

A semi-poor blacksmithing hammer made out of copper

+1 STR -3 AGI +1 ATK

+1% improvement for Blacksmithing

[Made by Shiro]

Durability: 128/128

Quality 2.567/10.000

It came out better than I thought, because the free hammers they provide us are below the quality score of 1. Thus giving no improvements whatsoever.

But that is not the most important thing! The most important thing is that to gain levels, I need my equipment to be used by someone. And at this point, I am wasting XP on every ingot I forged!

Now that I have my own hammer, despite it being inferior to average, it is still better than what I am using now. And every use should net me some XP, towards my [Creationist] class.

That said, I kind of overused my [All-Observing-Eyes] today and all the mental stress has been stacking up. So I decided to retire a bit early for today.

Only the next day did I start putting my new [Copper Blacksmithing Hammer] to good use! And as expected, the flow of XP increased tremendously. While there is no such thing as an XP bar unfortunately, I can somehow feel the flow of XP as I gain it. The feeling is akin to warmth and joy filling your heart. And the feeling I am getting from using my own hammer vs one provided for me feels to the tune of getting triple the XP!

It almost makes me regret making those 32 ingots using someone else’s hammer, regardless how silly and unreasonable that sounded. I was in such a good mood, I managed to make 18 [Copper Ingots] all in one day!

This feeling of gaining XP is so addictive, that I wonder if there is such a thing as “Gaining XP Anonymous”...Cause really its just too addictive! I was filled with so much happiness and joy, I almost accidentally fried my tail in the forge from it swinging back and forth in excitement! Talk about dangerous!

Unfortunately, with the coming of dinner, all that happy time came to an end. Despite my inner self screaming “Just one more ingot, you know you want to!”. Of course it was not up to me, as the forge closes down after dinner, so there is nothing I could do even if I wanted to…

Either way, I managed to complete the 20 [Copper Ingot] quota and all of them were around the quality score of 5. Not to mention, since I managed to make 50 ingots, I managed to complete a quest as well, with a new one appearing.

Congratulations! You have completed the class quest [Creationist: Ingot creation]

+1 PER has been attained

Class quest [Creationist: Ingot creation], has been reset.

[Creationist] Ingot creation

Produce 50 tier 1 ingots with at least a quality score of 2 and/or 50 tier 2+ ingots with at least a quality score of 1.

Type: Continuous 2/10

Status: 0/50

Reward: 1 [PER]

Left with no other choice, I went to eat dinner and retired for the day.