Xixi marveled at the various wares and displays in the general store. So many options to choose from, and the shopkeeper girl rummaged through some horse feed and supplying them in a rack as she went over an explanation of various tools. "This tincture is to help the horses to keep calm in the night. You simply mix it in before you feed them and they won't panic as much if your group is attacked by monsters."

She held up a yellowish liquid vial. Xixi eyed it, taking it from her fingers and watching it bubble and froth. It seemed like the tonics and potions of every variety came in this store. There were at least 20 ways to keep monsters at bay due to these various concoctions, and Xixi hummed to herself as she looked over the bubbling and sizzling liquids in vials and containers. Another twenty minutes later, Xixi bought some food, some rope for multiple purposes and numerous healing potions and medicines. Her next stop was the tailor. Her leather armor and simple cloth outfit fit comfortably around her lithe form, though she wanted something better suited for the travels far ahead of her. Something more durable, she supposed.

A middle-aged woman was silently working in the store when Xixi entered the tailor shop. A few mannequins propped in the display window showed off the most regal and decorative clothing with the finest embroidery and lace and sequins that the store currently had to offer. Two were wearing beautiful dresses, one in a light green that reminded Xixi of the first green sprouting in the spring, and the second one was a deep royal blue with silver highlights that shimmered like the reflective surface of the water when the dawn of day broke over the ocean. It was the second dress that stopped Xixi from looking around even more. Delicate, giving it a subtle shimmer whenever it rippled.

“It’s like the ocean,” Xixi said under her breath.

Xixi said under her breath, letting her finger glide over the soft fabric.

“Do you like the ocean?” a voice asked her, Xixi spotted an old woman in a battered chair in the corner. She assumed that this was the shop tailor, as she held a piece of embroidery on her matronly lap.

“I love the ocean,” she said with a small smile.

“She did too,” the tailor said. Seeing Xixis questioning face, she added, “My daughter, she loved the ocean so she wanted to make a dress that looked like she had caught a piece of it to wear. This dress was made by her.” Xixi could see her sad smile when she talked about her daughter. Just then a window appeared in front of her.

Quest detected. The last wish of the tailor’s daughter

“Where is she now?” Xixi asked, turning fully toward the tailor. The tailor shook her head. Tears brimmed from the corner of her eyes, softening her features almost into a baby like a doe face. “She died last year after she finished the whole set. Leaving me only with this set of clothes and the last wish” the tailor said and a moment later she added, “Tonja’s last wish was for me to find someone who loved the ocean just as much as her to give this set to.”

Xixi thought about it for a bit, “I would like to help you fulfill her last wish, but how can I show you that I love the ocean just as much as Tonja did?” she asked, wanting to know what the quest would be. “My daughter told me about Rainbow shells. These shells can only be found in a few locations. Only people who really love the ocean would go there though as these areas are dangerous to be in. So if you can show me a Rainbow Shell you would help me fulfill the last wish of my daughter” the tailor explained. Xixi saw a picture of the rainbow shell in her peripheral vision. It took her breath away. It glimmered in multiple hues and shades that had the profundity of the ocean itself, deep reds and violets and oranges and blues and greens.

To her surprise she was able to recognize the shell from the picture, it was a shell that she had found in the cave while she was training her swimming skill. The shell was rather bland and didn’t look really great if it is dry but it was a completely different story if the shell was wet or even underwater. Xixi couldn’t explain why it happened but the normally greyish surface of the shell would start to shimmer in the colors of a rainbow when it was underwater, creating a beautiful light show in a prismatic display like the aurora borealis, shimmering veils of light that rippled and wavered in otherworldly beauty. This was also why Xixi picked up all the rainbow shells she could find in the cave, causing her to have nearly a hundred of them stored in her necklace. “Aunty… I think I will be able to help you with this request. It should take only a little bit of time for me to get the shell to show you. Could I leave you with an order till I come back?” Xixi said smiling lightly. A surprise burst upon the tailor’s weathered face, then it broke into a smile that warmed her face like sunshine. The tailor asked her for her order, and Xixi ordered a padded blanket to use as a saddle pad as well as a few spare outfits she would need for the appropriate occasion if her leather armor wouldn’t suffice as appropriate clothing, as well as another two leather armors. Happy to have such a grand order and the possibility of fulfilling the last wish of her daughter, the tailor accepted. She measured Xixi before she started to get the needed clothes and leathers to make the ordered items. Xixi felt her own face warming in response to the tailor’s elated expression. Her heart felt as warm as the woman’s brilliant smile. If she could fulfill the tailor’s daughter’s last wish, that was all she needed. Perhaps, she thought, the matronly woman could’ve been her own grandmother in another lifetime.

Xixi then went to the tanner, mostly to see what he offered. She left the shop with two premade riding cloaks, both of them able to shield her from the rain while one was made of leather for warmer times, and the second one was made of pelt to keep her warm if she needed to travel in colder times.

Her last shop was the blacksmith. She didn’t have much of a need for it, as she didn’t use her sword and arrows, but she was curious and hoped she’d learn more about the game world. The shop was rather practical with the bare necessities needed though despite it’s Sparta-esque décor a few weapon racks mounted on the walls glimmered with silver, steel, and gold weapons and leather covered counters displayed the small selection of weapons while a huge mahogany cupboard was placed on the other side of the room, filled with metal and daily necessaries. Xixi watched in fascination as the blacksmith bent and folded and shaped a gleaming hot blade red with embers smoking from the vat, shaped into what appeared to be what would be a dagger.

“Young lady, can I help you?” the smith said, looking at Xixi, as he held the dagger into a bucket of water to cool it down.

“Huh…. oh, umm sorry I didn’t want to stare,” she said as the voice shook her out of her mind. But the smith just started to laugh, his bear-like body shaking as it filled the shop with the warm baritone sound of it. “No worries. I take it as a compliment that you seemed to be dazed by watching me work” he said and Xixi nodded with a red face.

“So, what did you come into my shop for?” the blacksmith said and placed his tools away, as he fished the newly made dagger from the water bucket. He then walked over to the counter and placed it on top, catching a cloth and some leather from under the counter to finish his work.

“Uhm… I’m wasn’t really looking for anything specific. Just taking a look to see if I find something that I might need for my travel…” she explained as she watched him wrapping the handle of the dagger in dark leather. “Well if you tell me what you need I could probably make it if it’s nothing too complicated. In the end, I’m only a tier 3 blacksmith so I won’t be able to craft any masterpieces” he said, finishing the handle and placing the dagger down again.

“Tier 3?” Xixi asked confused about the term. “You aren’t from Bellaria are you?” the blacksmith asked her in return and Xixi simply shook her head. “Oh well. Jobs are classified in tiers. An apprentice would be tier 0 after that are tier 1 to 3 who are simple craftsman like me, I can only call myself a blacksmith as I’m tier 3 currently. From tier 4 up to tier 6, one can call themselves a master in their craft, followed by the grandmasters in tier 7 to 9. The highest tier 10 are the supreme grandmasters but they are really rare and hard to come by” he explained her calmly.

In situations like this Xixi remembered that this whole world was a game, and all the people she interacted with are only NPC’s. Otherwise, it would probably not be this easy to get information from the people.

“That sounds like a great system,” Xixi said, storing away the knowledge she got from the blacksmith. “That dagger looks really nice with the black leather around its handle,” she complimented.

“Thanks. It’s not yet finished though” he replied smiling as he placed some delicate looking tools on the counter next. “It’s not finished? How so?” Xixi wondered but the blacksmith didn’t explain it but only told her to watch if she wants to know. Pulling a stool from somewhere the blacksmith sat down to draw in the blade. “Normally I would do that in the back but it wouldn’t be good if you went there and something happened” he grumbled as he was working on the blade.

It took not long for him to finish his drawing, though the lines didn’t make much sense for Xixi. The curiosity was evident on her face but she stayed silent, not wanting to break the concentration of the smith. Sweat dribbled down his chin and his face was sleek and shiny from a day’s work of exertion. The finishing touches were made with a delicacy that seemed to belie his bearlike stance and body. Seemingly satisfied with the design, he took a small hammer and a chisel and started chipping away metal from the blade. At this point, Xixi realized that he was in the process of engraving the dagger and watched on surprised. He restricted the dagger with his arm, immobilizing the handle with it, as he worked the lines out. Slowly Xixi saw him engrave lines of different depth and width with graceful flourishes that a prince or someone of nobility could’ve engraved on their fleur de lis designs.

The capital letter engravings slowly formed the text “HONOR ALL LIFE” on one side of the blade after some silent minutes of working. While the other side was adorned by an intricate Rose design with silvery leaves and thorns.

Awed her gaze lingered on the dagger. “Miss I hope you are my lucky charm,” he said grinning widely and confused her with it.

“Huh?” she couldn’t even articulate her question still stunned at the sudden euphory of the Smith and the beautifully made dagger. He wiped the blade down the last time, “I will name it [Honor of a Master]” He said then and the dagger glowed in a strong yellow for a moment, hovering over the counter, before it fell back and looked like a normal dagger again.

“Only Items made by a Tier 4 Master or higher can be given a name by their creator. Named Items gain a random perk from the gods. I tried to name all the Items I made over the last years but none of them reacted. I was just really happy that I finished it after I broke the last two daggers at the engraving. All Items are ranked in the same manner from Tier 0 to Tier 10, though there are subranks. You can see the Tier of the item by the light it emits when called by its name. This dagger, for example, glowed in a dark shade of yellow so it would be ranked as a high ranked Tier 4 Item. So you really are my lucky charm, as my first Item I made after reaching Tier 4 just now is even high ranked” he explained Xixi as he saw her puzzled look.

“Congratulations!” she exclaimed as she heard that the blacksmith was able to reach a higher rank in his occupation. “Would you mind if I take a closer look at it?” she asked, as she really wanted to see the engravings from up close.

“Sure thing go ahead” the Smith replied, still happy from his breakthrough.

Xixi picked up the dagger with caution and inspected the engravings to her heart's content.

*New Skill Rank Basic*

A message sprung up in her vision getting her to smile. She had hoped that this skill would exist after she didn’t see it in the Divine Shop and didn’t get it added with her first spawn.

Inspect Skill (Passive) Level 1 Rank Basic Shows the basic information about Items.

Interested she used the skill at the dagger in her hands

Honor of a Master Item Dagger Tier 4 A dagger that could be concealed. The crafter hopes it will only be used in an honorable way and not for senseless murder. Att: 3.5 Attack Speed 8.0

She was happy at the function of the skill, placing the dagger back onto the counter and taking a look around she was surprised that each item that she looked at had the name shown automatically. All the item names were shown in simple white letters, only when she looked back at the dagger did she see that its name was displayed in deep yellow letters. A smile bloomed on her face as she realized that she would be able to see the rank of the items even just by the name display.

“Hey!” De entered the shop waving a greeting to the smith as he looked at Xixi, “I was searching for you, granny told me to get you for lunch” he said grinning.

“Oh, alright I will be there in a moment, but I need to take something to the tailor lady first,” Xixi said and waved goodbye to the smith as she left.

Xixi walked back to the tailor's shop, placing one of the rainbow shells from her necklace into a pocket of her armor.

“Oh, you are back?” the tailor greeted her when she stepped back into the shop

“I only came to bring you the rainbow shell you asked for” Xixi explained with an open smile.

Surprise colored the face of the tailor, “You really have a rainbow shell?” she asked and Xixi didn’t respond but instead pulled the shell out of her pocket.

“This one should be what you were looking for, right?” she said as she handed it over. The tailor lady was unable to speak as she nodded her head furiously while tears streamed down her face.

“How about you keep the shell? I’m sure your daughter would have loved it.” Xixi said the message for the completed quest popped into her vision when she saw that the tailor wanted to give the shell back to her. Her lips quivered, and words of gratitude spilled from her lips as she pressed the rainbow shell back into Xixi’s delicate hands. Xixi’s cheeks warmed. It really was no big deal, was it? She simply thought they were little trinkets she found in the little seaside cove who were simple and easy to pick up, surely they weren’t something that valuable, were they? But seeing the shopkeeper’s reaction, Xixi knew that the tailor regarded those shells as something far greater than any treasure a kingdom’s vault could hold.

“I couldn’t take it. I only wanted to see one for my daughter. But these shells are really too precious” she said shocked. But Xixi refused to take it back, “I simply picked it up because it looked really nice, but hearing that your daughter loved the ocean so much… I would have loved to give it to her. So why don’t you take it in her stead?” she said, coaxing the tailor to keep the shell. “

After some sweet talking, Xixi got her will, and the shell switched owners and just as Xixi wanted to leave again the tailor stopped her. “Miss, wait please,” she said smiling as she went to the blue dress. “Please take this dress. My daughter always refused to sell it, saying that only someone who loves the ocean would be someone worthy of it. So please take it, I’m sure she would be happy if you wear it” she said and Xixi smiled as she accepted it, “I will do my best to do it justice” she replied and went out to return into the inn.

After a good meal filled with laughter and conversation did Xixi go back to the smithy. Belly sated, hunger pangs ceased and Xixi could think clearer and admire the handiwork of the blacksmith. The dagger she had watched being engraved was still swirling in her mind, and she thought it wouldn’t be bad to have a smaller weapon than her short sword, though the thought of fighting someone with it made her feel uneasy. She was always someone who thought it would be better to be prepared for things and not have them occur.

“Back already?” the smith asked her from the back of the shop as she entered. “Um… yeah” she said after some hesitation. “Don’t be shy Miss?” he said, walking to the front counter as he saw that she moved around a bit. “Well… I was thinking about getting a dagger. A small one that can be hidden. I have a sword and a bow already but I’m still missing something that I can hide away, while I travel” Xixi explained her thoughts. “Well it’s not stupid to have a concealed weapon,” the smith said thoughtfully. “How will you travel? Depending on that different weapons could be better” he asked her after a few seconds of silence. “By horse” she answered immediately, the smith nodded. “You could conceal a dagger in your boots, or in your chest armor if you wear any. That way you could keep it there even if you walk for some time. Though it might get a little uncomfortable if you wear a tightly fitted armor” he said slowly. “I will be wearing leather armor, tightly fitted for better movement. Wouldn’t a dagger be seen then?” Xixi asked him surprised. “Well if it’s a leather armor that makes it really a bit harder…Well, I could try to fit a dagger somewhere in your tack. but there it might be either hard to reach or easy to spot” the Smith said slowly. Xixi nodded and thought about it for a moment before she nodded again and held her arms in front of her. The Smith was surprised when a saddle suddenly appeared in the slim arms of the girl in front of him. “That’s my saddle. do you think you can fit a dagger to it?” she asked and, as the Smith gestured her, laid the saddle on the now empty counter. “That’s a really well-made saddle you have. It will be hard to fit something on it. But here you see the saddle horn?” he pointed to the named part, “it’s a relatively big one, well made to keep the weight in good balance for the horse. I might be able to fit a dagger in there. This was it would be well hidden and easy to reach as long as you are in the saddle. it’s just that only relatively smaller dagger will fit in there. Though you should be using a smaller dagger, either way, a larger dagger would be more of a short sword for you are you have a rather slim figure and small hands” the Smith explained her and fished a dagger from below the counter. He held it to the saddle, it nearly seemed to Xixi like she could see him thinking how to work it out. A few moments later did he nod. “This one will fit in there, and I won’t need to redo the whole saddlehorn so this won’t reduce its stability. If you want me I can do it for you till tomorrow morning” the Smith gave his final verdict on the possibility. “Great. Thank you” Xixi beamed at him, “I will pick it up before I depart then” with that she left the store with a happy smile on her face.

She then went to the general store again. This time she greeted the store clerk and told her that she wanted to look around and would call for help if she needed it. Slowly she looked at each item in the store, always using her new skill to slowly level it up while reading through all the item descriptions.

Halfway through the store, in a shelf to the very end that holds a few things that were obviously of lower worth did she find something that stopped her dead in her tracks.

Seal of Souls Item The Seal of Souls is an item that is divided into two parts. One part of it is worn on the person that wants to use it, and the second part of the seal is placed in the location where the user wants to resurrect. Thus creating a resurrection point outside of the churches. Price 3 Gold coins

“Miss?” Xixi called out to the clerk, who walked over with haste. “How can I help Miss?” the clerk asked and Xixi pointed to the two violet stone parts. “Could you tell me what kind of stone this is?” Xixi asked but to her surprise, the clerk could only look at her with regret. “I’m sorry miss. These two stones were sold to us by a group of adventurers, we don’t know from where they are. They look really beautiful but when we gave them to a jeweler he said that they aren’t gems and polishing them would cost more than they are worth” the clerk said with regret, her eyes held a longing that Xixi could sympathize with as the stones had a really beautiful color and most girls would like to wear jewelry made out of them. “How much do they cost then?” Xixi asked and the clerk girl took a second look at her, “Miss I know I said they aren’t worth much but we still need to sell them with a price that covers our costs…” the girl said hesitantly. “I understand,” Xixi said and the clerk nodded before she named the price at 3 gold coins. “Alright, I will take them,” Xixi said and the clerk looked at her with shock, only believing her when Xixi put three sparkling gold coins into her hands.

Xixi finished her stroll through the shop, but nothing else got her interest so she soon left the general store, still holding the two broken parts of stone in her hands.

“I should probably test it out before I start my travel” she mused and walked to the village gate. Xixi only realized that she didn’t know how to call Nightflash back when she was standing outside of the village.

The sound of rapidly nearing hoofbeats ripped her out of her thoughts when she saw Nightflash suddenly stopping just a few paces from her. Frozen from the shock of the sudden arrival of her companion Xixi didn’t react, only as he pushed her really softly did she come back and patted him.

Xixi then walked a distance away from the village, while Nightflash walked by her side before she stopped again. She took a thread out of her necklace and wrapped one stone piece into it before she hung it around Nightflash’s neck. Thankfully the two pieces had the symbols for “depart” and “return” on them so she knew which stone she would have to keep herself and which one she would need to store away to respawn next to it. She then placed everything expects her clothes and the second piece of the stone into her necklace before she took it off and added it to the makeshift necklace of her companion.

“Alright, Nightflash. I need you to wait here okay. I will be back real soon I hope” she said, albeit a little insecure. Sure that Nightflash would wait for her and that the only things she could possibly lose with this were her clothes, did she turn around and walk into the forest to search for something that could get her killed.

It didn’t take long for her to see a huge beast, it looked like a twisted crossbreed between a boar and a snake. The body looked like that of a boar at first glance, but if one looked at it a little bit more they would see scales on the whole body, together with a pair of poisonous fangs and slitted eyes. “God, what is that?” Xixi said under her breath, but obviously, the beast already noticed her as it turned and rushed at her. Frozen by shock and her fear of the beast she wasn’t even able to move before the beast tackled her to the ground and everything went black.

Xixi didn’t know how long it took before she regained her consciousness, standing upright next to Nightflash. As she looked around she saw that the sun was already starting to set in the distance. So it seemed like she was out for some time before she was respawned. “Alright let’s go back into the village” Xixi said while she took her necklace back and stuffed both pieces of stone into it. Thankfully her clothes weren’t torn completely, though they had multiple holes in them and were obviously nothing she could wear again without fixing it first.

Soon Human and horse entered the village together. Xixi first brought Nightflash into his stable and placed some food into his through before she took his drinking bucket and went out. She left the bucket at the well to walk over to the tannery. The tanner was still engrossed in his work, and happy when Xixi handed him the bridle of her horse as well as two stones, one to be embedded into the bridle and the second one to be made into a leather necklace.

She then got the water from the well and brought it back to the stable. Only when she was sure that Nightflash was taken care of for the night and she had given him a good brushing did she go into the inn for the dinner. Soon after the dinner, she went up into her room to sleep, intending to prepare tomorrow so that she could leave the village the day after.

When she opened her eyes again she wasn’t greeted by the hearty browns of the inn though but by the clear-cut white of her hospital room. A nurse was in the room when she woke up. “Miss Xiang Xinya” the nurse greeted her, “please relax, I will tell the doctor in a moment that you have woken up. You were disconnected due to the need to upload a system update to the servers as well as the integration of a game update. This should take roughly a day but you will be informed the moment you can log into the game again” she said with the typically trained smile all nurses had. “Thank you” Xixi replied as she slowly moved her body around to sit up a little bit. This day would be again a day of prodding and testing from the doctors, and might even be more prodding and testing from the doctors and technicians from the implant developer. With a deep sigh did Xixi accept her fate for the day.

It was just as bad as she had anticipated, and Xixi was more than happy when she was allowed back into Knights of Honor.