The wagon needs to go on and finish the mission, the group rests a bit to recover health and soon bid goodbye to Yushin. Nobody, Whirlwind, and Calanag decide to add Yushin as a friend before leaving, and he has no reason to reject.

The trio changed their modus operandi, now Whirlwind scouts the area looking for dangerous spots. Yushin sees this and thinks he doesn’t need to worry about them anymore. Of course, nowhere is going to be completely safe as long as Pking is allowed, but at least their mindset has changed. As he starts to head to Red Clay to finally get rid of the loot, the system recognizes he is out of battle:

[System: You have reached level 03!]

[System: Spear Mastery has reached level 02!]

[System: You have learned [Furtivity] Skill!]

[System: As Spear Mastery reached the second level, you learned [Double Thrust] Skill!]

[System: By using a [Sword] often, you learned [Sword Mastery] skill!]

[System: As [Sword Mastery] is learned, you learned [Quick Cut] Skill!]

[System: Parrying (Passive) has reached level 02!]

[System: Running (Passive) has reached level 02!]

‘...!’ Yushin wasted no time in checking his new stats:

[Player Yushin Class: Small-Time Captain (Hybrid Warrior-Magic Class, Low Leadership) Level: 03 Race: Half-Human]

Title: None

Bounty: None

Fame/Infamy: 0

Strength: F

Magic: F

Defense: F

Agility: F

Intelligence: F

Magic Defense: F

Dexterity: F

Endurance: F

Charisma: F

Health Points: 3200/3200

Mana Points: 200/200

Soul: 240/240

Wealth: 19 sc

‘What? Did they change the Status Window?!’ Yushin checked in-game for patch notes, only to find a small announcement with a few ‘Quality of Life Improvements” and other design fixes. Not only the status window changed, but items and weapons now have their attack power and attributes shown in stars instead of fixed numbers!

This goes in line with Tales concept of giving less info if possible. Only blacksmiths will be able to estimate a weapon min-max damage and other ranges. Yushin checked his spear:

[Common Wooden Spear Lv1 Rank: One-Star Condition: Normal]

Attack Power: Half-star

Speed:1.0

Range: Mid

‘Such sudden changes… what are they thinking?’ He then checked his skill window:

[Skill List]

[Athletic Skills]

[Furtivity (Passive)] Level 1.

Info: Helps user move silently, reduces chances of detection and improves other related skills.

[Physical Skills]

[Double Thrust] Lvl 1. Atk 120%. Speed: 1.0. Soul cost: 10. Required: Spear.

Info: Thrusts twice in a row with the spear.

[Quick Cut] Lvl 1. Atk 105%. Speed: 1.3. Soul cost: 3. Required: Sword.

Info: A fast cut with a sword.

Double thrust is a bit slower than Spear thrust but hits twice in a row, which considerably increases damage but also the impact on the spear and the overall Soul cost.

All in all, Yushin was definitely happy with the powerups. While going to Red Clay, he checked the skill book the bandit leader dropped before: [Hidden Weapon Skill: Throw Hidden Weapon]!

Yushin smiles, getting a new skill is always a good thing. The skill book can only let him learn the basic skill and has a single use. The skill mastery will have to be learned over time with repeated use, like what happened with [Sword Mastery]. Right now, skill books are in high demand but limited, going for at least ten gold coins. In the future, they will become cheaper, as players will reach the mastery level needed to teach others about skills and even create their own books.

Which poor soul lost this skill book, he might never know.

Back in the city, his first stop is the City Guard. Yushin reports the caravan attack, sees if players complained about the theft, especially about the skill book. No theft was reported at all. From what he understands asking around, it is very hard to report things without solid proof.

In Vavell, the crime can be reported and if the items are recovered you may get them back. However, this also depends on the [Rule Of Law] and proof. Player reports are not reliable, can be forged, will not spur the City Guard into action easily. This changes if some form of official authority is present during the event, such as a [Guest Of The City Lord], [City Guard Member], [High Ranking Guild Member Of The Three Big Guilds], High Ranking Guild Member of Any Big Prestigious Player Guild, an official investigator or other.

As for the raid on Nobody’s Wagon Protection Duty, it can be reported because there were four City Guard NPCs with it. As soon as they return, Yushin’s report will be fortified and considered true. If they don’t return, then it will be considered as a low-grade report and thrown away. This system is called [Rule Of Law].

[Rule Of Law] is the system of rules in a determined place, such as Vavell, that has its own rules. Smaller power, like cities, settlements, forts, and villages, can put forward their own rules as long as they don’t conflict with superior rules, such as the kingdom’s. This is done in a pyramidal hierarchy, with the Royal Family and The King at the top, and the village chief at the bottom. Going against superior rules may even be considered treason.

Places without the Rule Of Law, such as beyond the Frontier, are called [Lawless]. Unless someone claims that territory for himself, normal rules will not apply there and kingdom’s sphere of influence will not reach either.

Also, even without the report, unique items may have tasks and quests assigned to their recovery. Common items are not easy to distinguish or worth the effort, so places won’t allow those types of quests to appear. Unique items are considered those that have some kind of specific, non-generic feature that distinguishes it from others. For instance, if Yushin lost one of his spears, he would have no way of putting a quest for its recovery, as it is a common weapon. Yet, if he asked Bitter Cat to engrave a unique symbol on it, it would become a unique item, and now he could put up a quest for its recovery.

Even with this system, [Forgery] is still a thing. Yushin also asked around to see if someone commissioned a quest to recover the skill book, in vain. Also, the skill book is now definitely his. It is not a unique item, so no way of finding its owner, especially among tens of thousands of players. Even if he feels bad about it, there’s nothing he can do, so he decides to use it on himself.

[System: Through a skill book, you have learned Throw Hidden Weapon!]

[Throw Hidden Weapon] Lvl 1. Atk 110%. Speed: 1.2. Soul cost: 3. Required: Hidden Weapon Type.

Info: A simple throw with a Hidden Type Weapon.

Yushin is lacking in ranged and surprise attacks, so this fits him nicely. Also, the reason he did not send information over, neither to the party nor to the City Guard, on Red Clown, Red Bird, and Red Leaf guild, is simple. Right now the guild is not old, is not strong, is just a beginner's guild. If they are hunted, even captured, and pay for their crimes, it is still easy to start over. They can even disband before getting caught. He has the upper hand, knows about them while being in the shadows. Even if without telling the City Guards on site about the two of them, he cannot produce enough evidence, he is not bothered by it.

Somehow, all of this seems to be linked to the Guild Wars, so he wants to give them space and see if there is more info to be gotten. Someday, if Red Leaf crosses his path again, or even keep their unruly ways, by then it will be worthy to exterminate them. Right now, it’s the same as taking out a single star from the skies!

After separating loot to give Aurei and Bitter Cat and selling the rest, Yushin now has 50 silver coins again. Hidden weapons come in many forms, from daggers to shurikens, but also varied greatly in price. Yushin finally set his sights on a few cheap throwing knives and bought around 50 for one copper coin each. He needed to use it repeatedly to increase his skill level anyway, so he didn’t have to bother with expensive ones.

Private messaging Aurei to meet, he stood in a corner of the crafter’s street, trying to avoid getting noticed. That, of course, is also to check and understand the mechanics of the game. Can his furtivity increase by doing things like this?

Soon that impressive red-haired giant form attracts all stares. The Giant race is always impressive, but an awakened one is even more so. Aurei is by the side of Bitter Cat, looking tiny as ever. His equipment is also a bit better than before, but also nothing special.

Bitter Cat is happy, finally started to make some okay weapons. Her long struggle against the system bore fruit, will not lower her head in front of little brother anymore.

“Here!” She tosses a [Bonehead Spear] to Yushin, made with the loot he always shares. The spear has a wooden shaft, but the tip is made of solid monster bone!

[Common Bonehead Spear Lv1 Rank: One-Star Condition: Good]

Attack Power: Between Half-star and One-Star

Speed:1.1

Range: Mid

Modifiers: Small increase in Penetrating power.

This spear even has a bonus modifier!

Bitter Cat eyes are sparkling as if demanding praise. She is very tough on the outside, but inside, more praise is always better!

“This is amazing, the best weapon I have seen so far!” Yushin, of course, doesn’t forget the praise.

“Heh, a small thing~” She tried hard to pretend is a common occurrence, but her giant face betrayed her with thoughts of happiness easily. Unlike Aurei, she didn’t share much of the process with Yushin, but the Fangs and Claws are basically polished until they form the tip of the spear and are then strengthened using bone powder. The process isn’t as simple as stacking a bone tip onto the spear!

Yushin smiles, gives them the next batch of materials. There’s no change since it all came from Faint Forest again, so they don’t have much research to do right now. Bitter Cat repairs his weapon and armor, this time they were not broken so durability loss didn’t occur.

Aurei also improved his [Simple Healing Potion], is already at the level needed to sell, considered [Low-Grade Healing Potion] with 20% heal over 10 seconds. Now he needs a lot more herbs for research and experimentation, is even trying to mix bone powder and monster blood into his formulas.

The results of the experimentation before he gives Yushin, two [Simple Experience Pills]!

Experience Pills are full of soul and mana, able to increase the leveling speed of both player and skills for a set amount of time. To mix those, Aurei needs not only a few rare herbs but also to spend his own soul and mana! This means he cannot let go of leveling and focus on alchemy. Both of them are linked.

If he falls behind in Alchemy, he will not discover better formulas. If he doesn’t level, he won’t be able to produce better pills and potions or even experiment with higher level ones. Aurei’s Simple Experience Pill only has 5% efficiency, but for a newbie alchemist, he is already on his third formula!

Even this last formula, if he gives to the guild, can get a lot of contribution. Alchemy has a myriad of paths, same herbs can mix thousands of different formulas. Which one is better, only time and research can tell. Every small formula is useful, might open a path unknown before.

Yushin is full of praise and asks, “Do you two want to party together somewhere?”

Now Old Man Young and Collapsing Snow logged out, but he didn’t want to. His goal is to be the best, needs to keep going and experience many things. He also wants to test Aurei and Bitter Cat, find out their skill level. When an opportunity arises, he will mention guild and ask them to join. Guilds are usually not restrictive in Tales. Joining two or more guilds is a possibility, except if any of them forbids it. They can even forbid certain member ranks to join others, but allow common members to. This also opens possibilities to send spies!

“E-em..u-um…” Aurei is a bit reluctant, wants to run away and focus on medicine, is not good on the field, even if he knows his path in alchemy also needs strength.

“You’re not running away, smelly brat!” Bitter Cat nags at him, pulls him by the arm. At first, she was skeptical of Yushin, but he has helped them much, even treated her little brother very well. She decides to accept him for now, see what kind of person he turns out to be!

“We need a bit of time to finish some things irl, then we can go somewhere,” Bitter Cat added, “What about Free Forest’s dungeon?”

Yushin nods, “Can I go in without joining?”

“Sure, we can get you a [Guest Pass]. You’ll need to leave behind a few of the drops as payment, but otherwise, there’s no problem.” She answered.

“Let’s do that then.” Yushin smiled.

“We’ll meet back here in an hour! Come, brat!” Aurei also nods shyly, he almost sighs out loudly but logs out after his sister.

Yushin is curious about Free Forest’s Dungeon, it is supposed to be a dungeon that fits all players and still does not run out of monsters. He decides to take a small break and eat something.

Remembering he is low on food, Yushin decides to make a trip to [Old Lady Buns Homemade Food]. The trip doesn’t take long, there he sees the Grandma and Silverbelly again. Silverbelly waves with the tail, puts the tongue out and plays around happily as if Shin was his best friend.

“Oh, you came!” Elderly woman sees Yushin again and smiles.

“Grandma, I’ve come for your food,” Yushin smiles, then asks her to make side dishes often for him. He lives alone and must eat better food from now on, this way can also help her business. The Old Lady nags at him, tells him to find a wife. He is no spring chicken after all!

“Ma granddaughter is also single, smart and kind. She is twenty-two this year, in college. She would make a great wife!” She quickly puts out a photo from the pocket, a beautiful and innocent looking lady is there holding silverbelly. She has kind brown eyes and medium parted hair, with glasses. Her smile is definitely angelical.

Yushin is taken by surprise and laughs, immediately thinks that he should refuse, but jokingly calls her Grandma again!

They both have a good laugh. The Old Lady is definitely not joking, but how can Yushin think about marrying in his situation?

Is not that he couldn’t love someone or find a girlfriend. But, marrying? How sad would it be to marry a dying man? Even if someone agreed to it, Yushin wouldn’t. In this world, he hated doing things that would harm others, especially if it had to do with him. After agreeing to get side dishes delivered often and getting some to eat, Yushin smiled and left. He wanted to finish eating as soon as possible and log back into the game.

------

Inside the game, in another big city in the Kingdom of Vavell, an azure long haired female carrying twin swords enters an [Information Broker] hangout searching for news. That beautiful lady sighs, the news she is looking for is not easy to find.

Many players started to admire her as soon as she logged in. Beautiful, like a goddess in blue, invites came by so often she had to block them together with whispers. Ignoring everyone and playing solo, she is quick to disappear and hide, sometimes like a shadow. Everyone knows in-game appearance is linked to real life, you can change a little bit around, but mostly stays the same. She is definitely also a real-life fairy!

Her in-game name, is “Faith”.

‘When is he going to check his messages…? That Shin bastard!!!’ She makes a scary face but is not really mad at him. They’ve always been that way. She had her own share of disappearances as well.

Faith finally sighs, then decides to issue quests in as many guilds as possible: to find information on the location of Shin, Former Guild Leader of the Golden Spear Guild in Project Legend! All she knows is that he is in Vavell, is fond of the spear and the nickname is possible ‘Shin’. The reward is 10 gold, a favor from her and a common mobile dungeon!

After the azure goddess walks away, many players become curious and ask what she was doing. When they know about the quest, their hearts speed crazily. The quest that goddess gives? A favor? A common mobile dungeon?

Even if it is somewhat vague, if one can solve it, they can get closer to the Goddess!

Many sighs also, this bastard “Shin”, how dare he be lucky enough to make the goddess look for him this way?