〔--- NOTIFICATION ---〕

〔--- Welcome to the Epoch of Liberty ---〕

〔--- Please select your character ---〕

When Manco woke up, he was alone in the room. Brennda's scent was still lingering on his body. The developers had pretty good attention to details, but the kind of details they paid attention was quite strange.

On the nightstand were a bundle and a note. He picked up the note and read it.

"Thank you for the wonderful night!" ('Yeah, right!' he grumbled)

"You were sleeping like a baby so I didn't wake you up."

"I'm going back to Deon. Back to the old job of making sure the idiot doesn't kill himself."

"I…" (The rest of the line was covered with ink and unreadable)

"… hope you'll do well on your adventure."

"Brennda ♡"

.

"P.S: If you ever find yourself in Deon and want to catch up, you can go to the Baker estate and ask for me."

Manco read the note once again. Feeling a little bit touched, he put it away into his inventory.

Reaching for the bundle, a notification screen greeted him.

〔You've received Brennda's gift. Items added to inventory〕

〔 Elven Light Leather Armor 〕

〔 Leather Belt 〕

〔 Fancy Hunter's Cap 〕

〔 Hunter's Pack 〕

〔 Hunting Boots 〕

〔 Hunting Pants 〕

〔 Bolt Quiver 〕

His eyes almost popped out at the unexpected boon.

He hastily took out Brennda's letter and read it once again. On the other side was another postscript.

"P.P.S: I 'persuaded' Anthony to giving you a set of hunting clothes. He's got THREE identical sets. What's he gonna do with them all?"

Manco had the urge to poke his head out the window and shout "I love you too, Brennda!"

The set had to cost at least 80 ducats, which was peanuts to Anthony but was a small fortune to him!

He might have forgotten many things, but he was pretty sure that there had never been an NPC who treated him that well on their own accord.

Making a note to visit Brennda someday, he began inspecting the gifts.

〘 Elven Light Leather Armor 〙(Uncommon) ☆☆

- Type: Armor - Slot: Torso - Material: Leather

- Armor: Chest (5) Back (5) Belly (5) Left Arm (2) Right Arm (2)

- Resistances: Stabbing (5%) Slashing (8%) Crushing (5%)

- Description: Created by novice Elven craftsman, this padded leather armor offers decent protection without sacrificing mobility.

- Weight: 3 kg

- Durability: 40/40

—o—

He compared it to the dirty shirt he had been wearing since yesterday, marveling at how the girl could have ignored the smell.

〘 Traveler's shirt 〙(Common) ★

- Type: Armor - Slot: Torso - Material: Cloth

- Armor: Chest (1) Back (1) Belly (1) Left Arm (0) Right Arm (0)

- Resistances: None

- Description: Rough cloth shirt.

- Weight: 0.5 kg

- Durability: 5/15

—o—

The difference was as night and day. The shirt barely offered any protection and was practically falling apart at the seams.

Grinning from ear to ear like a kid opening Christmas gift, he checked the rest of the equipment.

〘 Leather Belt 〙(Common) ☆

- Type: Accessory - Slot: Belt - Material: Leather

- Capacity: 4 small vials or 2 medium vials

- Description: A leather belt with trappings to attach knife scabbards and slots to hold potion vials.

- Weight: 0.2 kg

- Durability: Unbreakable

—o—

〘 Fancy Hunter's Cap 〙(Common) ☆

- Type: Armor - Slot: Head - Material: Cloth

- Armor: Head (2)

- Resistances: None

- Description: A green felt hat with a feather on top. Offers little protection, but is very fashionable.

- Weight: 0.4 kg

- Durability: 10/10

—o—

"Fashionable?" Manco muses.

〘 Hunter's Pack 〙(Uncommon) ☆☆

- Type: Backpack - Slot: Back 1 - Material: Leather

- Capacity: 60 slots

- Description: A finely crafted pack. Enchanted with Elven magic to hold much more than its size would suggest.

- Weight: 2 kg

- Durability: Unbreakable

—o—

〘 Hunting Boots 〙(Common) ☆☆

- Type: Armor - Slot: Feet - Material: Leather

- Armor: Left Leg (4) Right Leg (4)

- Resistances: Stabbing (7%) Slashing (7%) Crushing (7%)

- Description: Made by novice Elven craftsman, these fine buckskin long boots offers decent protection without sacrificing mobility.

- Weight: 1.5 kg

- Durability: 40/40

—o—

〘 Hunting Pants 〙(Uncommon) ☆★

- Type: Armor - Slot: Pants - Material: Leather

- Armor: Belly (2) Left Leg (4) Right Leg (4)

- Resistances: Stabbing (7%) Slashing (7%) Crushing (7%)

- Description: These padded leather pants offer limited protection, but are much lighter than metal armor.

- Weight: 2 kg

- Durability: 40/40

—o—

〘 Bolt Quiver 〙☆

- Type: Accessory - Slot: Hip (attached to belt) - Material: Leather

- Description: A quiver to hold crossbow bolts.

- Weight: 0.3 kg

- Durability: Unbreakable

—o—

He took off his ragged clothes and put on the new set. Looking at his character model Mahn Li saw a man in a set of hunting attire identical to the one gifted to master Gwyndham yesterday. He was wearing armor, pants, and boots in varying shades of brown and a bright green hat with a green feather on top (most likely picked by Anthony).

Shaking his head at Anthony's lack common sense he checked his defense stats.

〕 ===〘 Defense 〙

〕 =〘 Armor 〙

- Head (2) Chest (5) Back (5) Belly (7)

- Left Arm (2) Right Arm (2) Left Leg (8) Right Leg (8)

〕 =〘 Resistances 〙

- Chest: Stabbing (5%) Slashing (8%) Crushing (5%)

- Back: Stabbing (5%) Slashing (8%) Crushing (5%)

...

—o—

The game had a simple system of calculating physical damage. First, the armor value of the equipped armor was subtracted from raw damage. After that, the result was further reduced by the armor's damage resistance stat. The process was repeated again with the body's natural armor value and damage resistance.

Each body part was under varying degrees of protection, so hitting the arm, for example, did more damage than hitting the back, which was often more heavily armored. Also, skilled players could bypass outer armor completely by hitting an unprotected part on the opponent.

After basking in the joy of an unexpected windfall, Manco made his way downstairs. The tavern was empty. A barmaid was sleeping, her head resting on a table. Another was lethargically sweeping the same spot on the floor, and the third one was swiping the air with a rag.

He ordered breakfast, which consisted of bread, smoked meat, cheese, and (once again) ale. After several minutes, his basic buffs for the day was complete.

『 Well-rested 』 Duration: 7h35m

- Xp increase +15%

- Mp regen +50%

『 Well-fed 』 Duration: 3h59m

- Hp regen +50%

- Sp regen +50%

Satisfied, he checked his to-do list. Today was going to be a busy day.

The first order of business was to buy a crossbow.

Epoch of Liberty did not have guns as a weapon class, and, as a result, had no mastery for it. Fortunately, the previous owners of the gun had disclosed that it benefited from many crossbow techniques and perks such as Fast Reload or Focused Shot. That was why Manco needed to train his Crossbow Mastery.

Upon leaving the tavern, he took in the sight of Mistwood Village in the early morning. Guards were coming back after a long night watch. Farmers with carts and cattle were leaving for the farms and orchards outside the wall. The blacksmith, butcher, and leather worker were already busy at work. Someone was shouting about a caravan from the town coming in at noon. The air was filled with the clamoring of people, animals, and tools.

Manco approached the leather worker and sold most of the pelts he has along with the leather he crafted yesterday. He already had a set of armor, so he no longer had to craft one himself. The thin man paid him a little over 5 ducats for everything.

Next stop was the butcher. Giving Manco 3 ducats for the meat, the big man nodded in satisfaction, saying he had got enough meat for the next week.

After clearing his inventory, Manco went to the general store. Nodding at a muscular man sitting near the door, he headed inside.

The general store was the only proper store in Mistwood village. It sold a bit of everything: weapon, armor, food, medicine. The place was a long room with racks and shelves containing the goods. More items were hung on the walls and behind the counter, where the shopkeeper was fiddling with something.

Manco made his way to a rack on the wall. There were about a dozen crossbows of different sizes and shapes. As he focused on each, a screen with their information was displayed.

"Anything catches your fancy?"

A voice behind him asked.

Manco turned around. The shopkeeper was looking at him inquisitively while wiping his hands on a piece of cloth. He was a small man in his forties, short and wiry but energetic. His grey hair, lean face with grey eyes gave him a weathered and experienced look. His name was Araun Pearce.

"Can I try them?"

"Sure, but no shooting."

Selecting the crossbows with the lowest Strength requirement, Manco tested them one by one. With the first one, he tried pulling the string back by hand but finds it impossible.

"Need help with that?" Araun asked, amused.

"Yeah!" Manco admitted sheepishly.

As business was slow, Araun did not mind demonstrating the proper techniques to ready each type of crossbow. One type had a metal loop at its front called a stirrup. He readied it by pointing it at the ground and putting one foot in the stirrup, then used his hands to draw back the bowstring.

"If you're not strong enough, you can use this belt hook. Put your foot in the stirrup, bend your knees, put the hook over the string, and straighten your legs. Your whole body will pull the string back."

With his help, Manco readied the crossbow. After some fumbling around, he managed to get the movements right.

Putting down the first crossbow, he tried the other types. The biggest difference between them, as far as he is concerned, was the mechanism to span the bow. Some crossbows used the stirrup-and-belt-hook combination, others used cranequins, others used winches, goat's foot and so on.

Eventually, he felt most comfortable with the ones using stirrups. Another comparison of stats helped him decide on the final purchase.

〘 Belzhorian Light Crossbow 〙(Common) ☆★

Type: Crossbow (Two-handed)

Requirement: STR 8

Damage: 18-20. Range: 25m. Ammunition: Crossbow bolts

Description: A light crossbow mass-produced for the Belzhorian army. Simple, cheap and reliable.

Weight: 3.5 kg

Durability: 29/35

—.—

"I'll take this one," he said to Araun.

"Not a bad choice," the shopkeeper commented "4 Ducats. I'll throw in a hundred bolts."

After a bit of haggling, they settled on the price of 3 Ducats and a half.

"Do you have any other kind of bolts?" Manco asked, inspecting one of the bolts.

"Nay, cleaned out my stock two days back," the shopkeeper replied, "Group o' newcomers. Said they were goin' for a big hunt in the woods."

"Is the leader name Rust, by chance? Mid-thirties, fancy clothes, smiles all the time?"

"Aye. That's the guy. Smarmy bastard. He an' his buddies came here few days ago. Always skulking around. I betcha ten Ducats they're up to no good. "

Looking at Manco, he shook his head and said: "Ya seem a good lad. Don't get tangled up with them."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

Manco kept browsing in the store, and bought a few more things: a basic alchemy set, some bandages, and two dozen small empty vials. With the leftover money, he traded his worn out iron studded club for a slightly better club.

After sorting the items in his inventory, he nodded at Araun and left the store.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Author's notes:

Some of you might be asking "What's with those stars?"

Well, I'm thinking of using them to represent the power potential of upgradeable equipment. The more stars the better (well duh). A white star means already upgraded. Black star means can still be upgraded.

For example, two swords rated ☆★ and ☆ have similar stats. After the first sword is upgraded, its rating becomes ☆☆ and it becomes better than the second sword (though not exactly twice as good). That's the gist of it.