Disclaimer: Nothing in this FF is actually mine, except the plot of the story~!

This FF depicts scenes of violence and some cursing .

'' speech ''

' thoughts '

* sounds *

* * *

In the following days, Curun?r practiced his swordsmanship for at least ten hours per day. As he predicted he was able to finish his Basic Combat Training Program in only two weeks since he first came to this world.

Strength increased by 1

Agility increased by 1

Vitality increased by 1

Fame increased by 20

Health increased by 100

To his surprise, he earned a little fame.

'' Never hurts to have some fame. ''

The more fame you have, the cheaper you can buy goods from stores or workshops, and you can get more respect in talking or negotiating with NPCs. Furthermore, the higher his Fame is, the less suspicious are the NPCs about him.

Additionally to his Sword training Curun?r spent a lot of time smelting ores, turning them into pure metal bars. Along with smelting he also trained his Mana Manipulation and the Heating and Cooling skills. Heating and Cooling was by far his highest level skill, since he also trained it when he was making some low level potions.

'' Let's see how far my skills have come. ''

'' Open Skill Window ''

Skill WindowDual Minded: (Lvl. 5: 25%): Your mixed ancestry makes you resistant to mental attacks.

(30+5)% Resistance to mental attacks

Observe: (Lvl. 2: 00%): You can get information on the allies/enemies you use the skill on. Observe can give basic information on the target as long as he/she/it is the same level as you and below. Higher level Observe gives additional information. Bosses are harder to Observe.

Sword Mastery: (Lvl. 5: 03%): Increases the attack power and speed rate of swords.

+50% attack power

+15% attack speed

Heating And Cooling (Lvl. 8: 46%): Passive skill that helps you determine the disarable temperatures of the materials. Different ways of heating and cooling exist and each of them has different results.

Identification: (Lvl. 1: 29%): Enables you to learn the true value of unidentified items.

Mana consumption: 30.

Advanced Meditation: (Lvl. 2: 68%): Permanently raise Mana Regeneration

+20% Mana Regen

Mana Manipulation: (Lvl. 4: 65%): Ancient form of Magic Mastery. The user has the ability to control the mana inside his body.

+40% m.atk

+12% casting speed

Body Anatomy: (Lvl. 3: 06%): By getting knowledge of how the bodies of living organisms work, you have knowledge of it's vital parts, which means you can do fatal damage to your enemies easier and faster.

+15% critical chance and critical damage

Herbalism: (Lvl. 4: 88%): Higher level Herbalism can give additional information about herbs.

Smelting: (Lvl. 5: 72%): Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy and its main use is to produce a metal from its ore.

The day after his embarrassing moment with the needle, he and Caleb performed the ritual which bound him to the castle. The Ritual wasn't something difficult or time consuming. In fact, all Curun?r had to do was to stand inside the ritual circle which Caleb produced by writing weird symbols using his and Curun?r's blood. With a few words Caleb finished the ritual and the letters glowed only to vanish a couple of seconds later, as if they were absorbed in the ground. Curun?r got a message about a new skill generating, which he couldn't get until he had a Profession, since he already had ten skills.

With BaCTP (Basic Combat Training Program) already finished, Curun?r changed his schedule. He had to spend ten hours of reading instead of sword practicing until he finished his BaMTP. According to Caleb he will need it so he can meet the qualifications of learning magic faster and without wasting his SP on Wisdom.

Caleb taught him a lot of things and he also gave him information not many people knew in this world. Like how he was able to master magic, combat and craft. If Curun?r wants to master them too, he will have to reach 350 wisdom to learn magic and be able to level it up to Intermediate 1, 700 wisdom to level it up to Advanced 1 and 1050 wisdom to level it all the way to Master level. As for craft, he can already reach Intermediate 1 in Sculpture, Painting and Cooking Mastery(Apparently Cooking is considered art crafting in RR). To reach Advanced 1 he needs 500 art and for Master at least 1000 art.

The only problem lied with Blacksmithing, Alchemy and Enchanting because there aren't any stats affecting them. The solution to that problem was found apparently by Calethas. He was able to create a skill that included all these skills together. That skill was what Caleb was actually trying to teach him.

Then, there was also the Tailoring skill, which Curun?r swore to never learn since he had bad memories of his mother dragging him to every fashion show when he was little. His mother is a Fashionista, not someone that follows or believe in trends, but she prefers to be

Informed. She is always up to date on her celebrity gossip when it comes to fashion.

Of course Karen wanted her one and only son to be fashionable but most of all she liked him wear little no tail tuxedo suits, he just looked so cute in them. She had brought many famous tailors to make suits for him and Chris hated all of them. They demanded of him to stay still while they were making fitting adjustments using pins. For a vivid kid like him staying still wasn't possible. As a result, he was getting pricked by the pins all the time, which made him fear of anything similar, like needles.

* * *

Another two weeks passed and Curun?r was steadily increasing the level of his skills and his mental stats. About that time anyone else would gear up and run outside the city to kill rabbits and foxes. Curun?r however, was in the Vampire Kingdom, where the weakest of the monsters were at level 150.

He was at the underground library reading another bestiary trying to improve his Body Anatomy even a little. Increasing critical chance and critical damage would make hunting much easier for him. When he asked Caleb where he could get a Profession, he was told that it wasn't him who would find the Profession, but the Profession that would find him. Curun?r didn't know what to think of it so he just dropped the matter and continued with his training.

The books he could actually read at the library weren't that many. There weren't any history or story books and most of the books were advanced skills and magics which Curun?r couldn't learn. There were enough books for him to finish his BaMTP though. The bestiaries were intriguing, the books with herbs gave him some ideas which he tried in the Alchemy room and the craft books were about different crafting techniques.

There was also a book about mana manipulation exercises which he didn't want to read until now. The book in the beginning stated that someone needs at least Mana Manipulation level 5 to do the exercises. Having achieved that Curun?r started reading the book. He was trying every exercise after reading and understanding about it. His skill didn't get any significant experience but he could move the mana inside his body with more ease.

It was when he finished the book when the long awaited sound finally came.

* Ding *

Concentration increased by 1

Wisdom increased by 1

Intelligence increased by 1

Fame increased by 20

Mana increased by 100

'' Finally, I am done with BaMTP. The books where interesting, but it can get really boring after some point. ''

He picked the books on the table and returned them each in their right place. While he was walking from one bookcase to another, he got startled by a sudden light that was coming from a bookcase two rows behind him. He moved to the way the light was coming from and soon he found a big old shining book on a bookshelf.

'' Open......Come......Waiting......Now......Fast......Time. ''

He could hear whispers coming from the book, but only some of the words were understandable. He picked the book and sat at his table. As soon as he opened the cover he jerked from pain. After examing it, he found a tiny razor which gave him a small cut on his finger. Before he could do anything to wipe the blood a drop fell on the blank page of the book.

Curunir saw the drop slowly getting absorbed and a few seconds later the page was blank again. Then a sudden and stronger light came out of the book which blinded him. When the dizziness left and he could open his again, he found himself in another place.

* * *

He was standing on top of an endless mirror-like ground. The sky seemed to be so close to him that if he reached out with his hand he thought he could touch it. A few meters away from him was a man with his back turned. He had about the same height as him and was wearing black clothes. He had a yellow-orange light aura around him and a yellow glowing sword in his right hand.

'' I've been watching you from the moment you entered my castle boy. ''

'' Your Castle? Does that mean you are Caleb's master, Calethas? ''

'' Yes indeed I am, although I prefer to be called his father over master. You two performed the ritual as well, which means you should see him as a father and not as a master. ''

'' I guess that makes you my grandfather in a way. So what is this place and what am I doing here? ''

'' We are currently in the book you just opened. As you know I am dead already and what's left of me, only a voice really, is inside this book along with my legacy which I trusted on Caleb a long time ago. ''

'' If you are a voice only, how come I can see you and why do you speak to me with your back turned? ''

'' What you see is not my form, actually I don't look anything like that. It's weird and interesting, I shall say, because this form was given to me by you. ''

'' By me? How? Why? I didn't do anything. ''

'' It's doesn't really matter. What it matters is, what is your purpose in life. What do you want to achieve? ''

'' I want to be strong enough to stand alone, I want to be strong enough to succeed even when all the odds are against me and I want to be strong enough to protect everything and everyone important. ''

'' A long and thorny path. No one was able to reach this path's end including myself. Are you sure this is what you want? ''

'' Yes! I won't change my mind. ''

'' Then you won't mind if I put you to the test, right? ''

'' A test? What kind of test? ''

'' The kind that rewards you with the profession you need, if you were to succeed. But if you were to fail, then you have to walk another path I am afraid. ''

'' I see..... I'm accepting the test. ''

New Quest acquired!

Candidate's TestOn the first underground floor of the castle exist the Dungeon Generator. After you summon the lowest level Dungeon possible, you have to face the hundreds of monsters in it. Kill each and every one of them at least once, and prove yourself worthy of the honorable profession. The completion of this quest will open a right path for your destiny.

Difficulty: Unknown

Quest Requirement:

Kill all 500 monsters(0/500)

Kill the Dungeon Boss (0/1)

Restrictions: You must complete this quest in the next 6 weeks.

Your Profession changes to ' Candidate '

The Candidate Profession doesn't give any bonuses or skills. This Profession will disappear after the quest is successful or it fails. In case you fail the quest all additional to the first ten skills will be locked until you get another Profession.

'' You don't have any time to waste, go and I wish you achieve everything you desire from now on boy. ''

'' Thank you Calethas, If the circumstances make it possible for us to meet again, I will share my stories with you. ''

Curunir infused in a white light and disappeared.

'' Should I have told him that this form is what he desires to become? No, I shall let him walk his path the same way everyone else did. If his fate is different than the rest of us and he reaches the end of his path, then he will know what it is that he saw this very day. However, there is no chance of something like that to happen, especially with his human half dragging him down. On the other hand that also gives him so many possibilities. I wonder, what fate has in store for him. ''

* * *

After the light was gone once again, Curunir found himself in the library. He made his way to Caleb's study room where he found him reading some books. He explained in a hurry about his meeting with Calethas and asked him for what would be the best next action for him.

'' Since you have this temporary Profession you can learn the rest of the skills you need to generate the crafting skill I am trying to teach you. ''

'' Will I be able to complete the quest in the remaining time? ''

'' The lowest level dungeon I can summon for you, will be between 1 and 100 level. What Dungeon will be and what level monsters are inside it is completely random. It was made this way with the purpose of getting accustomed in situations of fighting unknown enemies.

Spending two weeks to learn the crafting skill and do some sparring with me to improve your battle sense is going to help you complete the dungeon without unnecessary deaths. ''

Curunir could enter the dungeon as soon as possible, but that in a way could make things more difficult. If the mobs in the dungeon were very high level he would not be able to avoid death forever and that means level reduction and four wasted days. If he were to die a lot of times in the end he won't be able to kill the boss of the dungeon.

For the next week he was sparring with Caleb and learned forging and inscribing. Of course during the sparrings Caleb matched Curunir in power.

Forging: The act of shaping metal into a weapon

Inscribing: To mark or engrave a surface with words,letters or symbols.

Modern Enchantment is actually about placing a spell or buff on items. That way of Enchanting, however has a lot of limitations on the possible effects. Ancient enchantment on the other hand was about inscribing symbols on items. Each symbol meant a different word and gave a different effect. After inscribing the item you had to infuse the symbol with mana and the enchanting was done. That was the kind of enchanting Curunir learned.

He had all the skills he needed, but he had to level them up to a particular level. Heating and cooling at Intermediate 5, Smelting Intermediate 1, Herbalism Intermediate 1, Forging Beginner 5 and Inscribing Beginner 5. He spent his second week leveling up these skills and on the last day he was able to reach the desirable level of all skills.

You meet all the requirements of creating a combined skill. Once the combined skill is created the necessary skills will disappear. Do you wish to create the combined skill?

'' Yes! ''

New Skill: You generated Transmutation

TransmutationTransmutation is the process or act of change, especially from one thing to another.

You are able to change or improve the characteristics of materials.

You can extract all kinds of impurities from materials.

You are able to craft weapons and armors with additional effects. Higher level of the skill

allows you to make weapons with higher attack and armors with higher defense.

The requirements of equipments go down by 3 percent. If you have mastered the skill,

you can wear the items of other professions despite limitations.

You can learn new crafting techniques.

You are able to craft Potions, Poisons and Serums. Higher level of the skill

gives greater effects.

You are able to enchant items

You can repair normal or magical items. Mana used per repair depends on the item(s), the magnitude of the damage and the level of the skill.

Subskills unlocked:

You can use Sword Grind - Grinds the sword, weapon damage is amplified

You can use Armor Polish - Confuses and dazzles enemies along with an increase in defense.

You can use ????? - Needs Intermediate 1 to unlock

You can use ????? - Needs Intermediate 1 to unlock

You can use ????? - Needs Intermediate 1 to unlock

You can use ????? - Needs Advanced 1 to unlock

Grade: A

This skill needs three times the experience for every level up.

'' For quite a while I thought I wouldn't make it in time. ''

'' The important thing is you were able to do it and you also improved your battle sense and swordsmanship. You better go and rest, tomorrow it's an important day for you and it's better if you are at your best.''

'' Yes! These last two weeks were quite hectic. What are you going to do? ''

'' I need to do some preparations for tomorrow, so everything goes smoothly for you. ''

Curunir said his goodbyes and went to his room. He lied on the bed and logged out. Until now he was an observer and the hunted, but by tomorrow he will be the hunter.

TO BE CONTINUED

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Chapter 7Chapter 9

Have fun :grin: