"Huh?" they stood there looking very confused.

"We just entered, why are we in red numbers?" asked Kevin very concerned, he was searching for useful information at the menu but found nothing.

"They're looking weirdly at us..." Said David looking at the passersby that were looking at them strangely as if they didn't belong there, he grabbed Kevin's fur and pulled him to one side of the road, "did you found something?"

"No, there's nothing on the menu, I'll check the forums."

"Ok, stay close to me, maybe we would avoid trouble if we stay low"

They started walking with no particular goal in mind, apart from looking at the stalls and the people with different bodies walking here and there, almost all of them had light-blue light coming from their souls, but there were a few with more vibrant colors like red, yellow, and greens.

"Well, at least the city is not that bad, even if it's confusing" Kevin sighed and stretched his neck. "Nothing on the forums, the only post i found about novice villages are from people complaining that they don't find it."

"Huh..." he was about to call Alex but stopped, he felt a little guilty about having info that other players don't, and honestly he preferred if he found out the things by himself. "Hey, let's rest a little, we could think properly about everything we know and make a plan."

"Ok" Kevin nodded and both sat on a bench at one side of the road, it was a little uncomfortable due to Kevin's height so he sat on the ground.

"Tell me what have you found out about the game," David said and Kevin nodded.

"The game's core mechanics are based on artisan skills, it's almost a decree that everyone needs a crafting-based skill, even mages need it to make better golems."

David nodded and crossed his arms, "I found a curious thing while looking at the menu, the "paths", do you know what are those?"

"Yeah, a Russian guy posted about it a couple of hours ago, he said that paths are like the direction were everyone will develop, there are pretty basic paths like mecha piloting and golemancy, but he said that there are paths that give you power beyond comprehension."

"Any info on those paths?"

"None, the guy's still level 4 and the paths are unlocked at level 5" they sighed and both shook the snow that was piling on their bodies.

"We need to find a way to learn artisan skills, well, i have this blacksmithing thingy but i don't have a place to test it"

"I don't even have a human body, how do you expect me to learn something like crafting or blacksmithing?" Kevin rolled his eyes and David sneered.

"Did you not pay attention? there are a lot of animals with stronger souls than yours, so, if we don't find you a body we could just go with the flow, it's not like you don't have a way"

"But i want to pilot a mecha! that's the reason I'm playing this game" Kevin was a little dejected, David looked at him and softened his gaze a little.

"Well, we are ghosts and we possess bodies, i could just build something for you, calm down Kev, everything will be alright."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely" David nodded and Kevin started to wave his tail.

"You better do what you promise! If you don't do it, I'll eat you!" Kevin was a little happy that his new friend was trying to comfort him, but he didn't show it on the outside, at least that was he thought.

"We should get going, i guess a workshop or a smithy will be a good start, i didn't saw any remotely similar near the outer walls, we have to go deeper" David stood up and patted what was left of his clothes and looked at his partner.

"Whatever, I'll follow you."

The duo walked on the streets seeing all kinds of ghosts, some of them were selling different things on stalls and other on rugs on the floor, some were old men and some were mere child, he approached one of the most decent stalls and the woman acting as clerk rolled her eyes and sighed when she saw him.

"Go back with your lord and tell them to come themselves, i don't sell anything to servants" She didn't spare him a second glance and ignored him.

"I'm not a servant" David was a little upset, he didn't do anything wrong to be treated badly.

"Hoho, so you can understand me! well, i doubt you even have the money to buy anyway, go away, shoo" she still had that attitude and David just resigned, he scanned the things in her stall and used appraisal.

[Soul stone]: ???

[???]: ???

[Weak Spirit potion]: ???

[???]:???

-I have to grind appraisal too, I've neglected it...-

"See? you don't have a gold coin and i doubt you even know what these things are, I'll call the guards, go away, pest" The woman was getting angrier at them so they just left before the situation escalated.

they kept visiting stalls but the answer he got from the owners was practically the same: "Go away", David didn't know why they were so...aggressive and Kevin was the most upset of the duo, he glared at the shop owners when they shooed them away.

"We need to find a way to get a reputation...this starts to get annoying" David found a clear spot near a wall where he leaned back, Kevin sat beside him.

"I would like to tear them apart...but i know, we are in a city and they are stronger than both of us combined, I'll not be rash"

"Good boy" David patted his head and Kevin glared at him. "We should keep looking for a workshop but i honestly doubt it will be any better" he shrugged and kept walking toward the walls of the inner city, seeing the houses with different styles, the buildings, people selling strange things and the occasional vehicle that passed beside him, 10 minutes later they found what they were looking for.

"God's workshop, huh, good naming sense i guess?" he wasn't quite sure how to feel about the name, it was ok but...it didn't click with him, "Well, I'm here for work, not for complaining about the sign" He patted his clothes to shake away the snow and Kevin did the same before entering the shop, it was a medieval-style smithy, various cold weapons were hanging at one side and a couple of armors and shields at the other, a tall and strong man was hammering an ingot of a strange light-blue material on an anvil a couple of meters away, and the clerk, a teenager maybe around 15-16 years old was sitting on a chair behind a desk, but he seemed...off?

"Excuse me? i have business here!" David said, the smith looked at him and grumbled something under his breath before concentrating on the ingot again, a blue light came from the cracks in the clerk, he opened his eyes and the same light came from his eyes.

"Welcome to God's workshop, how can i help you?" The clerk said with the flattest and uninterested tone possible.

"Ermm, I want to work here and learn about blacksmithing?" he said the most usual thing in a VRMMO, but at that moment the smith turned towards him, his eyes were a lot brighter and not in a good way.

"I don't want pesky little spirits here" The smith stood before David and he felt small before him, his pressure was like a big mountain and his voice like a clap of thunder. "I'm impressed that you have a conscience without a path, but that's it! you're not strong enough to be my apprentice! Go away!"

[Quest acquired!]

[Appretincementship]

[Reach a higher level and demonstrate that you can be an apprentice in God's workshop!]

[Requirements]:

- Reach lv 5

- Use your Frozen Blacksmithing in front of (???)

[Rewards]:

- Be an apprentice of 'God's workshop'.

- Access to the 'God's workshop' reputation system.

- 100 XP

"I got a mission..." Muttered David and Kevin widened his eyes before looking at the smith.

"I want to learn too!" he said in an excited tone, but the smith just sneered at him.

"You don't even have a humanoid body, how do you expect to hammer? with your mouth?" He said with contempt, then he shooed them away like everyone else in the city.

"I'll come later old man!" said Kevin angrily and both left the shop, the smith sneered and returned to his work, the clerk just turned off again.

A couple of minutes later they were again at the exit and saw the stone guardians, they were looking at them directly and they shivered under their gazes, it was until 10 meters away from the gate that the statues switched off and remained motionless.

"Those statues give me creeps," Kevin said and David nodded in response.

"Let's ignore them for now, I don't want to end like that guy with the swords"

They started to walk in the same direction they came from, while they were running away from the crazy ghost Kevin saw a couple of interesting places that they could explore now that the threat is gone, at least for now.