Chapter 2

He held it aloft in triumph, like he had just taken the head of an enemy general, then skipped back to the city. The people watching him could not comprehend what had happened. Even the usually stone faced guards stood slack jawed as he passed them humming merrily and holding his prize with both hand in front of him.

He ran straight to the quiet spot he had found before and sat down. A quick check of his stats and inventory and he was prepared. He closed his eyes and stuffed the dirt covered weed straight into his mouth. Little clods of dirt got caught in his beard and a milky liquid trickled out of his mouth when he started chewing it up.

Swallowing the pasty mass took some effort but with a few gulps of water it went down. He glanced at his stats window.

Nothing happened.

For a few seconds he waited patiently.

Still nothing. Health, mana, stamina all good. All still fine.

SAFE.

Mandeok stood up, drank some more water and sighed. His first test had been a mixed bag. He had hoped for something but anything was better than insta-death. All in all a good trail run.

After ten minutes he closed stats and returned to the inventory window. His four weeks of inactivity had left him with four rye beards. These would definitely decrease quickly now he had decided to become active. He hoped his experiment would bear fruit before he reached a critical junction.

Once more the naked dwarf charged the field beyond the gate. This time he pounced on every weed, plant or berry he could find.

One piece of his rye bread had managed to sustain him until his inventory was full of plant matter.

This time opting for a more secluded spot he headed further in towards the forest. Carefully picking his way around any stray foxes or large rabbits until he made it to the tree line. He climbed the first tree he could and sat in its spreading boughs. Thanks to his smaller body he could quite comfortably sit in the natural hollow created by the spreading branches however this tree had to have branches lower to the ground so that he could at least get up into it.

This would be his new base. Far from maddening crowds or help but close enough to his assets to be of use. He doubted foxes or wolves could climb the tree and from what he remembered from his web research bears generally hunted deeper in the forest.

Safe in the knowledge he might not be ambushed by the local fauna he turned his attention back to the local flora. He removed from his pack several handfuls of plants and separated them into piles based on leaf shape.

Like the first time he opened the stats window, ensured they were optimum, then plunged a handful of the same plant types into his mouth.

The result this time was instantaneous. A window popped up with a warning and even as he read it his health began to decrease slowly.

-:You have been poisoned by . -1 HPs:-

It wasn't a very serious toxin but for a guy with only a hundred hit points, losing one every second could quickly prove fatal. He did the only thing he could do in the situation. He grabbed a handful of a different herb and shoved it in his gob

-: Poisoning worsened by . -3HPs:-

The reverse of what he wanted. He looked desperately at the untried piles that remained. He moved left to right grabbing and devouring handful of unknown plants.

His health stopped at 2/100 as he saw the message he wanted.

-: Poisoning cured by :-

Now there was one pile left untested. In his right he held what he considered the antidote herb and in his left the strange new plant. Right to revive, left for dead.

'Well here goes' Mandeok thought to himself in his tree perch.

-:Ate satiety rose:-

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles. It had taken 98 points of health and nearly all his stamina but finally he felt he had found a speck of light in the darkness that was his in-game world and that speck of light was an edible herb and a medicinal herb.

As night feel players that passed a certain part of the forest on their way back to town could have sworn that the trees had been weeping.

Tears of joy rolled down Mandeoks face. He now knew what had to be done. A little bit of rye bread and some rest to recover health before he was ready for phase two. This involved mixing all the piles of poisonous leafs into one. Two big handfuls followed by two big gulps and they were gone. Even as he swallowed he was reaching for the medicinal herbs

-:You have been seriously poisoned. -30HPs:-

An delay could spell doom as he downed the antidote leaves. His health had fallen to 10 points.

He repeated this process as often as he could and by morning his bag was empty of plants and berries.

His face had a slight greenish tinge to it as he gingerly climbed out of the tree. He dropped to the forest floor and tentatively peered around. He was still close enough that if he needed to he could be back up the tree by the time any attacker reached its trunk.

The forest this morning was still and he emerged from it to be greeted by dew covered fields, morning mists just lifting and the sun was trying to make an effort to start the day. He popped a couple of breakfast leaves into his mouth as he strode off into the misty fields to gather more plants.

The ones he had eaten yesterday that had lowered his hunger had the look of dandelions. This time instead of rabidly pulling the plant apart he made a study of it. The clump he found had several plants at different stages of growth. He pulled the unopened buds off, sipped up the petals of open flowers, nibbled leaves and stalks. Satiety rose slightly.

When the plant was gone he used those thick fingers to dig into the soil and pull up the tap root. It was long and thin, slightly dirty with small roots spreading out from the main body but still looked edible.

It would take several more hours until he had again filled his bag again with several different plant types and their constituent parts. He had even tied off the legs of his beginners pants and stuffed them with as much berries as he could just to carry a bit more. Then it was back to the tree fort.

Just to restate. In Royal Road character skills are gained in several ways;

• through repetition of an action

• through acquisition of a skill book or from an NPC

• through class guilds or as certain quest rewards.

This was exactly what Eun Seok was aiming for. Although Royal Road had a huge number of skills there were only several ways of learning them. It stood to reason that while one player learned it one way another may acquire it through another means as long as the skills criteria was met.

This time his face turned blue as the paralyze set in, its convulsions made his breathing short. Gasping for air he hoped to ride it out. Eventually feeling returned enough to his right side to move a little.

*************************

Two weeks into his play of Royal Road he died for the first time. His pack empty he was heading back to the Citadel to replenish his water supply when he came across some mushrooms. He had previously tried a poisonous looking yellow and black spotted one. That caused no ill effects. so when he saw these innocuous small brown ones growing from a stump he felt no apprehension of picking and eating them then and there.

-:You have eaten and died. -100 Health:-

-:You are died. You cannot log back in for 24 hours, please be careful next time:-

Turned out they were super toxic.

He exited the capsule. "Calm down Eun Seok. We planned for this eventuality." he consoled himself as he paced the open floor space in his shoe box room. "One copper add one copper becomes one silver. One silver add one silver becomes one gold. One gold add one gold becomes a fortune. Build it up slowly at your own pace."

He was right there was no need to rush. Dying early was exactly the reason he had not done any training in the first in-game month. Death in RR meant a loss of level experience, skill experience and even possible stat points.

But as the lowest of the low, unskilled, no stats level 1 the penalty imposed would be almost negligible. He had read that stats couldn't be lower than their base; skills below level 1 (0.0%) or level 1 due to game balancing issues. Some could say he had found an exploit but he saw it as just playing smart.

With his mind calm he looked at the clock to readjust to regular time, he found it was only a little after six in the morning. In the last twenty years of his frugal lifestyle he had trained....broken his body to function on the minimal level necessary.

He ate a decent breakfast and left to find anyone that would hire a day labourer, if not it was a day of collecting recyclables.

It had been his years of day labouring that had kept his body in relative shape. He wasn't buff or above averagely strong but the manual work kept his muscles at least from atrophying.

He was in luck and one of his previous bosses needed an extra set of hands for a job.

The day went well and when it ended Eun Seok took himself back home and ate another decent sized meal before he headed to bed. His body maybe a broken machine but it still needed down time to repair itself.

*************************

A little before six the next day he slipped into the capsule, turned it on and just waited. When the familiar face of his mother faded to black it was replaced by a small timer box. He watched it run down and as it hit 00:00:00 he found himself suddenly back within the confines of the citadel of Serabourg.

He opened his stats screen.

StatusCharacter nameMandeokHealth100Mana100AlignmentNeutralProfessionNoneTitleNoneLevel1Vitality10Strength10Agility10Intelligence10Wisdom10Charisma5Luck5Fame0Offense0Defence0Magical resistancenone

He laughed manically at the strength of the truly weak. Of course this magic time wouldn't last forever. It would be over as soon as anything rose above its base value.

With his expl....smart game play technique confirmed Mandeok returned to gathering plants.

It took him two more full days to regain the time he had lost. After he put another unknown plant into his mouth several windows popped up.

-:Through trail, error and a lot of perseverance you have learn to identify several plants and herbs:-

-:New skill: herbology:-

-:New skill: Identification:-

-: By pushing your body to its limits, you are likely to use less stamina from an action. Your prohibited from disturbing points to the following:-

-:New stat: endurance:-

-:New stat: poison resistance:-

-:Level Up: Handicraft(beginner lvl 2(0.0%)) :-

Mandeok was satisfied as he walked back toward the city gates. One month doing nothing followed by another month eating as many random plants as he could find.

'Slowly build a stable foundation'

Things were coming together, now he had what he wanted it was on to Phase 3. Time to throw away the one thing he had been so happy about only a few days ago.

He crossed the threshold of the gate and took out the beginners cloths from his bag, thank god they hadn't dropped when he died or the guards may not have let him back in. They threw worried looks as the tangle bearded dwarf passed them and made his way further into the city.

***************************

Little did he know that rumours had spread of the "Wild Man of Serabourg". A few players had even uploaded footage of him running naked and pouncing daisy's. It had already garnered several million views and a stream of comments from players.

"total newbie"

"freaking dwarf"

"xD'd so hard my I fell off my chair"

****************************

The training hall was abuzz once again. The cacophony of wood striking wood assaulted Mandeoks ears as he stepped through the entrance hall. He was greeted by a man wearing a slightly grubby dodok. A simple yellow threaded pattern was embroidered on both the man's top and belt.

"Welcome to the training hall. I am a disciple of Geomchi378; Barrowman. My master has gone with the other Masters to fight in the war along the borders of Kallamore. He has left the dojang and the training of new recruits to myself and the Training Hall Instructor." The large man said eyeing up the curious dwarf in front of him.

He hadn't moved but Barrowman saw a small smile on his face.

"Take your time to look around new player. The training weapons in the racks by the wall are for everyone to use so don't worry about them breaking. Just get used to their weight and how they feel." Barrowman beamed.

The dwarf nodded in agreement.

The wall racks and mounted stands were adorned with every form of sword Eun Seok had ever seen. Had he been any other player he may have lost his mind trying to either pick a weapon or use them all. But he wasn't any other player he was Mandeok and he had had a plan since before his capsule arrived.

With a bag full of edible plants he choose a simple wooden staff from one of the stands and approached the dummy in a far corner. It then occurred to him he actually had no idea how to strike his new foe with it. While pondering this he took off his top and threw it into the corner.

He was like a statue just staring at the thing for almost an hour before Barrowman appeared beside him.

"Problem friend?"

"How do I actually wield this?"

The part time instructor scratched his head for a moment before he answered.

"Sorry, I'm actually a knight so I don't know much about that. The instructor is busy coaching some others so I'll whisper my master and see if he can help."

The veteran player stood in silence for a while before turning back to the dwarf.

"He says he'll ask his master. Sorry again. Anything else just come find me."

With that he left. Eun seok knew that staves were mainly used by magic wielders or niche martial artists. It wasn't such a stretch that he couldn't find anyone with any knowledge in the lowest level areas.

He held it in the middle and raised it like a sword over his head, so as to bring it down on the unsuspecting head of the dummy. It was an awkward motion due to the other end of the staff getting in the way of his swing.

After the fifth time he rammed himself in the thigh with the staff end did he try something else. By changing the way it was gripped he now held the long smooth pole like one may a kayak paddle. This grip was as awkward as the first as it only allowed him to strike with a motion that reminded him of trying to row through the air.

*********************

More videos appeared online. "Return of the Wild Man: Wild man Vs Lord of Dummy's"

It contained a few minute clip of a shirtless dwarf paddling in front of a training dummy with a determined look on his face. After several attempts, as he inched forward, he struck the dummy.

Its health barely lost 1%.

Commenter's linked it back to the first video and others linked it away to similar videos of people fighting foes with brooms and such.

*********************

His stamina and endurance had increased but he was still struggling with how to strike with the staff. He thrust it forward with a mid-point grip.

The staff was stopped suddenly before it reached the dummy. Before he could react it was ripped from his hand. Stunned he turned to see where it had gone. There stood an older gentleman dressed in a similar dobok to Barrowman but with a pair of chima baji.

Ahn Hyundo or Geomchi as he was known in Royal Road chuckled slightly at the ease with which he had disarmed the dwarf. His disciples' disciple had asked a question interesting enough to prompt the elder master to drop by the training hall.

Truthfully he had little mastery over the Grandfather or the King of weapons, his strength lay in pursing the True Path of the Sword. Of which he had done ever since he was old enough to grip one.

Of course in all his studies of the sword he had invariably come up against strong opponents who favoured such styles and had picked up a thing or two from such encounters. He was at that point reminded of the story of Li Shuwen; a man considered a God of the Spear.

Looking at it simply one could say that spears and staffs had similar origins. Of course the differences in length would mean differences in how they were wielded. A spear being anywhere between 9 and 21 feet while the staff only reached around 7 feet in length.

Geomchi took a stance to the side of the dummy, gripping the staff about a third of the way up.

'Was it something like this' he thought as he shuffled his feet to widen his stance and turning to face the training doll.

"Watch I'll only do this once" he said breathing out deeply and beginning a series of simple movements.

He spun the staff left, then right and then thrust it forward. The dwarf was shocked as the blunt end of the staff struck the dummy's head. Geomchi pulled the staff back relaxing his stance slightly. The dummy's head fell off. A small circular hole evident in the centre of its face.

"Be afraid not of one with many techniques but instead of one who purses only one" Geomchi said as he handed the dwarf back his staff. The sound of clapping erupted around the training hall and Mandeok realised all the other practitioners in the hall had been silently watching.

The Training Hall Instructor barked orders at them to return to their practice before he and Geomchi both headed for the door; deep in discussion about the way of the warrior. One of their favourite subjects.

'Truly an interesting experience. I wonder how far he will be able to go with it' Geomchi wondered as he headed in the direction he had left his party.

It was not a path he had tread on but Ahn Hyundo help immense respect for anyone who diligently pursued martial arts.

After he had left Mandeok now had a better idea of how he should be wielding the lump of wood he had stubbornly settled on to be his partner through the physical training. With his grip now set a third of the way up he began again this time with renewed vigour.

Another month of in game time had passed by the time he had finished the first half of his phase three plan. Strength, agility and vitality had increased by 40 points. Mandeok grinned as he gazed at the legendary bounty of the training hall.

But that wasn't all his rigorous training had increased his endurance and granted him three new skills. The first had appeared when he improved his proficiency with the wooden staff

-:New Skill: Staff Mastery (beginner level 1 (0.0%)):-

The second he gained after weeks of relentlessly beating the dummy. It had been so monotonous he had slipped into a delusional state. So delusional was he that he could swear that every time he missed the damn dummy smirked at him. His anger boiled over, he tightened his grip and mercilessly beat the dummy's head. Crushing its face.

-:New skill created: Brutal Smash(beginner level 1(0.0%)):-

It was only this pop up that jolted him from his fury. Luckily it did or he may not have noticed how dangerously low his stamina was. He could no longer afford to die so easily. He crammed a few herbs into his mouth to suck on as he contemplated his new skill.

'If this is unfocused rage then there must be a more focused way'

After considering how to go about acquiring a skill like that he began striking at the joints of the dummy with the staffs end. No longer using its length to crush his foe. Thankfully after a few hours of this he noticed he still received stat points so this wouldn't adversely affect his training.

A few hours later he gained what he wanted

-:New skill created: Precise Strike(beginner level 1 (0.0%)):-

This had given him everything and more that he could have taken from the training hall and now it was time to move on to the second half of Phase 3.

After refilling his canteen and selling what little medicinal herbs he had for as much as he could, ensuring he had enough herbs to last at least another month, he headed across the square taking him in the opposite direction from the Training Hall.

He stood in front of another large building that was famous in Serabourg: the Library. He had come across the secret of the Training Hall after reading an article on a fan blog. It occurred to him that this seemed very sloppy. In terms of game balance this would give physical combat classes a huge advantage not just in later game but right from the start.

To solve these balancing issues there must be a 'Training Hall' for spell caster classes. He had found his answer in the form of the Library. Most new players only used it for a part time job or quest research.

To others the multitude of books would give them a head ache but to Eun Seok who grew up in the country with no TV on his grandparents' farm. Books were the only thing he had. It started when he was a child and his mother would tell him tales of far off lands and high adventure. Then when he could he would spend hours reading the few books his grandparents had

When he had finished them he had despaired only to start school which opened the door to more books and a world of knowledge. His mothers stories of dashing heroes were replaced by historic events. So fantasy was overtaken by logic and fiction by fact. His childhood love of books was buried under his teenage need to study.

When he entered the Library he was hit by the musty smell of old books and quite busyness in which its staff rushed around. Literature in Royal Road was extensive. The Goddess of Versailess, the A.I governing the world, had created all of the books that had existed before the Players arrived. After their arrival Players had only added to the vast quantity of written word. Bards wrote new works daily, NPC scholars collected player events into history books and others drew up new maps and reference books whenever a new discovery was made.

The sheer volume of biographies; historical texts; satire; romance; mystery; horror; travel; religion; science; art; cookbooks; copies of diaries and journals was staggering.

The sign by the desk showed the libraries layout. Three floors restricted by player level and each level divided into ten rings. A pass to the first ring of the first floor was 1 copper. With each ring the cost increased by ten. The pass would last until a player exited the building. A full pass to all rings on the third floor would set a level 300 player back 200 gold.

He approached the desk and put down one single copper coin.

The Adventurer behind it look bored as she slide the pass across and scooped the coin into a box marked donations.

"Please enjoy your visit and respect the people around you."

That single coin may have been an investment but it had decreased his lean budget by 10%. He took the pass and hovered a moment.

"Do you require any extra help in the library?"

A simple enough question but it was something along these lines that may open all kinds of quests from the NPC's. The girl at the desk stared at him with deep eyes.

"Sorry I just work here let me go get the Head Librarian he should be able to answer that. At the moment he's lost in his current studies so just go read something and I'll tell him to find you. If he hasn't found you by the time you're ready to leave just ask again at the front desk."

She was definitely wondering why anyone would willingly want to work here. She herself was only here to try to get access to several volumes of a particular book that she required to progress a quest and working here was the only way to increase the intimacy with the Head Librarian. It was just so tedious that she had almost quit several times.

In front of her now stood a bearded dwarf who now wanted to work here. She couldn't believe it as most players worked other jobs just to afford the fee to access the books they needed or were interested in.

'Is it a quest? I can't let him hog the old man's time' greed set in. Normally she would not have been so petty but the time limit on her own quest was fast approaching and she couldn't have another player quest-blocking her.

She was still thinking this as the dwarf disappeared into the stacks.

He picked a few books to begin with; Reference, biography, history and travel journals from the A section. He read them cover to cover before he returned them and took another set. When the words began to swim on the page he took a leaf and continued.

He was just about to reach for another stack of books when he noticed a shadow over his shoulder. He turned to see a very studious looking older gentleman with grey hair. The old man's dark navy smoking jacket caught his eye, it matched well with the navy smoking cap set at a jaunty angle atop his head. He wore a set of legless half moon lenses perched at the end of his beak like nose.

The Head Librarian had come out of his room for no other reason than that the damn girl at the counter had forgotten his tea. Again.

"Damn Adventurers always expecting preferential treatment" he clucked as he made his way to the front desk to reprimand her. He was stopped by an odd sight. A small dark haired man with a straggly beard was sat at one of the reading desks. To his right was two books and on his left a larger pile. Adding the one in his hand the old curator counted thirty volumes.

"I trust you will be putting those back in their correct places."

A catch twenty two. It was those same adventures who didn't return books properly that gave other adventures the chance to work in the library.

"Yes I've got these two to go then I'll put them back."Mandeok answered.

The old man was shocked.

"You've read all these." He asked rapping his finger on the stack of books.

The figure at the desk said nothing until he had reached a convenient place in his current volume.

"Yes. Please excuse me but I really must finish this." Mandeok replied with a slight strain in his voice.

The curator was aghast, " I am the head librarian. if you don't abide by the rules I have set you will be removed and banned from the premises."

Mandeok felt this man would follow through on his threat so begrudgingly put back the volumes he had finished with back on the shelves they had come from. All the while under the hawk like gaze of the old man. The old man approached the shelves and ran his hand across the worn books.

"Interesting" mused the wizen Librarian.

"You shall report to me tomorrow or I shall ban you from the library, do you understand?" the old man was quick to snatch at any opportunity that presented itself.

"What.....ah, yes I understand sir." Mandeok was speechless.

'Does this old stone head think I'll let him ruin my plans but if I get banned I won't recover.'

Since the arrival of Adventurers several shops and buildings had kept odd times. Those born on the Continent of Versailes worked standard hours and hired adventures to ensure their stores were always manned. The Training Hall and the Library were examples of these.

What the old Head had failed to account for was the fact that Mandeok had no desire to leave. Leaving meant he had to pay for another pass. Something he would never do.

The old librarian left the man at the table in peace, happy in the knowledge he may have found something new to alleviated his boredom.

Finally alone the dwarf returned the final volumes he had before taking out another few stacks of carefully selected books.

He passed the night quietly reading in his quiet corner of the library's lower first ring. The staff at the front desk had changed twice by the time he returned to it. He was just about to ask for the Head when a bony hand grasped his shoulder. The curator lead him to his own office. Books and scrolls were scattered around the ancient wooden desk.

The old man took a seat in the high backed chair at the other side of the desk, of course he had to pick his way through the delicately balanced piles on the floor. There was no chair opposite. Mandeok wondered if this was deliberate as he stood across from the pensive figure.

"How long do you plan to use the Library?"

It was a loaded question but Mandeok had no reason to lie.

"I'd say around a month"

"Good, good. For the duration you will work under me. I shall not pay you but if you are smart you will realise the job is its own reward."

A window popped up in front of the dwarf.

-:The Gofer: You are to work as a Part-time Assistant Librarian at the beck and call of the Head Librarian. Difficulty: F. Duration(Set by Employer): 4 weeks:-

-:Accept: Yes / No:-

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A.N.-{Sorry for lack of boxes}-

A.N -{grinding my Blue Box Mastery and Chapter Synergy skills}-