Chapter Seven: Mysterious and Dangerous, Just How I Like it.

Aurei was standing there dumbfounded. Seems like he was not used to seeing those kinds of conflicts in a game. That either meant he was a newbie or dreaded any kind of drama.

“...You don’t understand why they acted like that?” Yushin asked via Private Message. Unlike the group before, he cared if people overheard.

“...N-no… They looked like friends...I-Is a good character that important?”

“To some people, yes. Maybe even to everyone. But not all are willing to sacrifice friendship over it.”

“I don’t really get it… I-I would never do that.” Aurei said in a sad tone.

“That’s because you are a kind person, kid.” Yushin smiled. Aurei seemed very happy, and both of them proceeded to the Blacksmith’s Guild. It didn’t take very long, and even before getting to the door the kid’s eyes opened wide.

There was a huge female figure sitting beside it.

It had over three meters and a very large, bulky body with rune designs and horns. It was clearly a [Giant Race Variation Species]. Fire like long hair and scarlet eyes turned the sight into a terrifying image.

So far it was the most impressive race Yushin had seen. Races in tales were not easily distinguishable before their [Trait Awakening], except for some unmistakable characteristics, like dwarf’s height or beastmen’s tails and ears. Even on those, it was shallow. On that giant, however, the features were fully displayed.

“S-Sis…” Aurei approached slowly…

“You’re late, smelly brat! Did anyone bully you?” It was a voice mixed with teasing and worry.

‘...So that giant is his sister? I don’t remember seeing any class like that during selection.’

She finally noticed Yushin, “Who is that?”

“Oh, m-my [Contract Partner]. I finally f-found one!”

Yushin bowed slightly, “I am Yushin.”

The giant looked at him with distrustful eyes, “...Are you sure he can be trusted? He looks shady.”

So direct!

Yushin smiled awkwardly, “Ha ha ha…”

“H-He is a good person… A-and needs a Blacksmith as well, Sis.”

“Eeeeh…” She kept looking at him funny. “Fine, I’ll enter into a contract with you too, the same as my brother. If you scam us I’ll kill you though.”

Yushin nodded, “T-Thank you...Can I ask you something?”

Seems she already knew what he wanted.

“I don’t know how I became like this. I went into the Beginner’s Dungeon, killed a few giants and my traits awakened.”

‘So it was an awakening… That’s so cool.’ His eyes sparkled.

“Ugh, gross! Stop looking at me with those curious eyes, it’s worse than leering!”

“S-Sis…”

“Oh, sorry. I got too excited.” Yushin bowed slightly in apology.

“Geez, what a weirdo. Give it to me already.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Your broken weapon! Isn’t that why you need a Smith?”

“Oh, yes… That is indeed one of the reasons. Here.” He turned over the broken spear.

“A spear, normal quality. You know it will become poor after I fix, right? Come, and don’t blame me after.” Both of them followed her into an open spot in a side street. She had no smithy and her rank wasn’t high enough to use the Guild's ones.

The sight of an over three meters tall giant holding a small hammer was something to behold. Maybe even a little bit funny, since she could not put her entire strength into it. She hammered away, again and again, until the spear was fixed.

‘Just don’t ask me how she fixed the wooden shaft with a hammer. I guess the realism didn’t come this far after all.’

“There. That one is for free since you were nice to my little brother. Remember to bring materials if you want something done later on after we sign the contract.”

Yushin nodded and bowed slightly. He wanted to ask her about smithing but kept holding back. He was definitely a little afraid of her.

She sighed, “You want to ask me about Blacksmithing, right? It’s written all over your face. If you want something, just say it.”

‘Maybe if you weren’t so scary, lady.’ But there was no way in hell he would say that to her face.

“There’s no secret. I know a few [Molds] for several kinds of weapons, armors, and objects, and depending on the materials I use it comes out differently. Higher skill level allows me to use more molds and even create a few of my own. It also increases weapon stats, durability, and quality. I can also use the [Repair Skill]. That’s about it.” At least her voice had a nice ring to it. Quite the contrast to her current appearance.

‘So it is very similar to alchemists, as expected. I should head over to the Engineer’s and Hunter’s Guild since those are my current skills. This is way too much info for the first day, but I suppose it’s unavoidable. I haven’t even gotten to the merchants yet either, but I’ll skip that since I gave the items to Aurei. I’m more interested in exploring around.’

They both went over the contract and then “signed”, making Aurei very happy again. The giant’s username was “Bitter Cat”, but Yushin did not dare to say anything about it for fear of his physical integrity. They finished adding each other as friends, and it was time to move on.

“Let’s go, little brother.”

“G-go where…?”

“To join Free Forest and use the Dungeon there, what else?”

“Eeeehhh... I-I don’t wanna do dungeons…”

“So you’re just gonna wait for materials to come? What about your other skills? You’re. Coming. With. Me. NOW.” She dragged him away while he cried and waved goodbye to Yushin.

She did not call him to join them, neither did he expect her to. They just met and she was very distrustful of strangers. That was probably for the best.

Yushin didn’t waste any time either in getting to the other guilds. The first one he went to was the [Engineer’s Guild]. It was very different from the others since there was a lot of advanced machinery around, like gadgets, trinkets, and gears. Outside of that, it wasn’t very impressive personnel-wise. It seems engineering wasn’t huge in Red Clay City.

He did join the guild and learned about designing, crafting and building prototypes and actual tools. Like most crafting classes, working as an engineer was a lot based on research, experimentation and actual testing. The [Research And Experimentation System] was an interface where he put several different kinds of items and tested their quality, special effects, durability, and resistance. This needed a workbench or similar place and the items could range from [Raw Materials] to [Metal Alloys] and [Other Materials]. In fact, he could even use items developed by other crafting classes, such as [Clothes], [Leathers] or [Tools].

Simple to use yet very complex in the end. If he knew what uses the materials had beforehand, he would be able to see more info on the final product. If not, he would have to research the new product all over again. After the research part, [Blueprints] could be designed. This was the core of the engineer’s profession.

It was impossible to see the depth of this class, but the potential seemed limitless. The [Designing Interface] had several options, where one could insert objects in specific key positions and receive a different result each time. It didn’t always have to be a different object, but it would still have different characteristics such as augmented or reduced durability or mobility.

For example, the first kind of blueprint Yushin could design was a simple [Gear]. By itself, it had no special use. Unless he wanted to throw it on someone’s head…

However, it could be made from different materials like [Wood or Metal], with a single [Mechanism] or several mechanisms together. It could either be very simple or very complex, connected by a large string or a shaft. Just by thinking of the possibilities one could see it developing into a lot of different devices.

With that in mind, it was possible to develop tools like Advanced Revolving Doors, weapons like Advanced Crossbows, Traps and Siege Weapons. Maybe even Magic Powered Cars or Mechanical Chariots! It wasn’t too far-fetched to think that way.

The last part was building the prototype. This one could be done by himself, for simple projects, and with help for more complex ones. The system itself recommended the use of other professions in the mix, such as smiths. There was no way he would be able to finish a [Siege Weapon] by himself without materials made by a Blacksmith.

In the end, Yushin was quite happy with his crafting choice. It wasn’t easy to make money out of it right now and there were no clear benefits, but the potential was huge. Since joining a Crafter’s Guild had no binding obligations and his benefits would be according to what he contributed, he had no reason not to join. As proof of membership, he received a small [Wooden Gear]. It symbolized he was a lower rank Engineer.

His next stop was the [Hunter’s Lodge]. Even though it was still considered a Guild, it wasn’t very big and stood in a corner of the city. There also were no binding obligations. Hunters banded together there to trade information, sell rare items and track specific targets. If the adventurer’s guilds had a broader range, the Hunter’s Lodge focused more on finding, researching and killing monsters and beasts. Scouting and Cartography were also on the cards.

Yushin decided to join so he could get info on different types of monsters and update his [Living Info]. He contributed with what he knew on [Kruiknansians] and learned there was a specific [Monster Research] division. Since this world had so many monster species, the more the Heroic Kingdoms knew about them, the safer it would be.

There were also [Monster Taming] and [Monster Hunting] as separate divisions, but he needed to be at least Rank 3 to choose one. They were even situated in other parts of the city. The info he gave on Kruiks put him about halfway to rank 2 though. Seems hitting different spots and killing them in multiple ways awards more [Contribution Points], since it generates more information.

As a bonus, he got multiple info on several common species that were available to his rank. He definitely found that lodge useful.

In Tales, the multiple communication forms were of course only available to players. Those were free and had a wide range. But sending messages between NPCs and players were done via [Couriers] or [Magic Crystals].

The former was a normal delivery system with nothing special. It could take ages to find someone with it in this huge world. The latter was a more expensive and rarer method since mana was thin. Magic Crystals were condensed Mana. Yushin found this out while joining both Guild’s, since they provide a small mana crystal inside their symbol, such as the Wooden Gear in engineer’s case. The symbol of a Hunter’s Lodge member was a Wolf’s Fang.

Those were really limited and could not send any messages in it other than one that symbolized an emergency summons. If the crystal resonated, it was an emergency summon. Because of that, they were the most common ones and even smaller guilds could afford to give them to new members.

After that, he had finished everything he set to do and was itching for exploration. In the Hunter’s Lodge, he also found a few interesting spots to investigate around Red Clay City but refrained from buying a map because he did not have enough coins.

Maps were expensive. After all, knowledge was power.

Since he didn’t want to join an Adventurer’s Guild yet and check out their dungeons, that was all he could do. He had already lost interest in [Red Clay] or [Golden Rose], so either Free Forest or other player made guild would be his choice.

On the spots around the city, Yushin heard about [Creon’s Grotto], [Southwind Ranch], [Faint Forest], [Red Clay Burial Grounds], [The Inked Tower], [Hidden Guard Outpost], [The Rabbit Hideout] and [Hard Clay Way]. Those were only a few of the many spots around Red Clay and a fraction of those in the entirety of the Heroic Kingdoms.

[Creon’s Grotto] was the entrance to a dangerous place with many linked caves. The reason it didn’t threaten the surrounding cities is there is a powerful [Array Formation] that only allows things to go inside and only leave with adequate permission. What exactly is inside its depths is unknown even to High Ranking members of the Hunter’s Lodge, or so Yushin heard.

[Southwind Ranch] is a common place with many different types of food production. Even though Southwind is the most famous, there were many farms and ranches around, and there are always Quests and Tasks. Most of the City's supplies come from there, so it is highly regarded.

‘...That reminds me, I forgot to learn about food and stuff. Maybe this is an educational game and not an action VRMMO…’

[Red Clay Burial Grounds] was just that, a cemetery. It didn’t have anything special about it. No undead either from what he heard. Disappointment. [The Inked Tower] was a remnant before the [Mage’s Downfall]. All its systems stopped working and the place is only an abandoned bandits hangout spot. It seems The Kingdom had no interest in reclaiming it.

[The Rabbit Hideout] was a famous secret bandit group spot. Even though the name was well known, the location was very well hidden. The reward for any tips about it has passed one hundred gold coins. That bandit group also had no clear name, but they were known as “The Rabbits” anyway. Yushin only knew they targeted people at [Hard Clay Way], the main road to the Kingdom’s Capital.

[The Hidden Guard Outpost] was Red Clay City main defensive power, used in case of emergencies and monster attacks. It was also its job to support surrounding settlements and villages. Although it was not really hidden, it was called that way because the [Hidden Guard] was originally a force under direct command to the former City Lord.

But the most interesting place was the [Faint Forest], and the one Yushin decided to explore first. It was a common beginner’s spot, but wide enough that everyone could explore freely. It was also full of Elven [Relics].

There were also many mysteries, including the one related to the forest’s name. It had double meaning since it was considered a weak place and people also fainted often inside, many being carried away into the depths.

Was there a better place to start?

Definitely not.

‘Mysterious and Dangerous, just how I like it.’ Yushin thought. He began to leave the city, but not before spending his 10 Copper Coins (cc) on a sword and a backup spear in some random store. Of course, for 5 cc each, they were both poor quality...