Chapter 008

The Smiths Trial Part 3

Ren huffed and puffed as he leaned on his knees, thanks to his increased stats over the last couple days he managed to get away from the wolves this time with only a small slash the back of his clothes. “Uuuu… I don’t think these clothes are going to hold up to much more repairing….”

Standing up and brushing himself off he took in a deep breath to calm himself down. “Guess once I finish the last challenge ill have to try making a new set of clothes.” He nodded to himself and headed off towards the smiths workshop.

He didn’t have to wait long for dawn to arrive as he wandered about the street, eating another of his dry bread rolls and washing it down with some water. “It fills my hunger but it really tastes like stale bread… I’ll have to look into cooking as well I think soon.”

He paused in front of Donan’s workshop and let out a small sigh “So many things to learn, it’s really daunting…” He gives his cheeks a slap “Well, one step at a time, first I learn the basics and get the tool kits for each craft, then maybe I could tag along with a party as a kind of support role. That or just start up my own shop.”

As soon as he stepped into the workshop he was greeted by Donan “Here you are Ren, ready for your last challenge?” He grinned at Ren

“Yes sir!” Ren grinned and nodded before heading over to the anvil he’d been training on so far.

“Good boy!” Donan gave a slap to Ren’s shoulder “Now, you’ve been pounding on this anvil relentlessly for the last two days, its taken quiet the beating you know.” He grins “So your last challenge is to break the anvil before your hammer does.”

Ren’s jaw dropped “Wha.. what!? Break the anvil!? Is that even possible?”

Donan let out a hearty laugh “Hhahahaaa, I had the exact same reaction when I was given this challenge by my mentor, but I can assure you Ren my boy, its possible.”

Ren stepped upto the anvil and examined it, he’d never thought to examine it before so he was surprised to see that it did in fact have a durability.

Training Anvil

This anvil was made for the sole purpose of being used for the smith’s trial, it’s quite a bit weaker than a normal anvil

Durability

74/250

It was over half way down after receiving the punishment from his two previous challenges. Donan stepped over and sat a hammer on the anvil. “And here’s your lucky hammer for the day, remember you have to break the anvil before the hammer does.”

Ren examined the hammer to find it had 30 durability and frowned, he would have to somehow take at least 3 durability off the anvil with each hit on average if he wanted to break it before the hammer did… that’s if the hammer still only lost 1 point per hit.

“Tough one isn’t it.” Donan grinned at Ren “Well, I won’t blame you if you back down, back in the day I was the only one that passed my mentors trial out of the thousands of others so I know how hard it is.”

Ren gripped the hammer firmly “No, I’ll pass your test.” He raised the hammer and slammed it down as hard as he could, he knew he would have to put all his strength into each hit if he was going to cause enough damage to the anvil, and it seemed to work to a degree. His hit took 3 points off the anvil but in turn took 2 points off the hammer. “Damm.. that’s not it…just adding more power to the strike isn’t the trick to it…”

Donan grinned at his words as he leaned back against a wall to watch him.

Ren then tried hitting it normally and as he had thought it took 1 point from both the anvil and hammer. “Mmph… there must be something else…” Leaning down he rubbed his hand over the anvil to examine it closely, he could see and feel the impression marks made by all his previous hammerings, the runes from before were gone now though but the areas he had struck still held those hammer marks.

“…something’s… different here.” He traced his fingers over one of the impresions, it felt deeper than the other as though the metal was softer in that spot, as he continued to explore the anvil he found other such spots as well. “That’s it!!”

Raising the hammer he brought it down hard onto the area that held the deepest impresion, then looked at his hammer and the anvil, the hammer had only lost 1 point and the anvil had lost 4. “Yes! There’s an impurity in the metal causing it to be weaker in certain parts!” Quickly he set about hammering the weak spots he’d identified.

Meanwhile Donan couldn’t help but to watch in awe as he picked it up so quickly and for a moment he thought about ending it there since Ren had it worked out but seeing how excited and eagerly Ren was hammering away at the anvil he decided to let him finish.

Soon enough the anvil began to form cracks where he hammered and finally split apart completely, the two pieces clattering to the ground loudly. “YES!!!” Ren let out a whoop and jumped excitedly.

Donan just chuckled as he watched Ren enjoy his victory. “Alright alright, calm down my boy, come here and take this already.” He smiles broadly as he held out to Ren a tool belt that was fully equipped with all the basic tools a smith would need as well as a book.

Quest Complete!

You’ve completed all the smith’s challenges!

Your name has become well know throughout the artisan district as a young man willing to go the distance to learn everything your teachers have to show you

Rewards

200xp

Large boost to affinity with artisan district npc’s

+100 Fame

Blacksmiths tool belt

Book of repair

New Skill!

Due to your insight and good judgment you were able to spot the impurities in the anvil and have gained a new skill!

Vision of Impurity Level 1 (Beginner 0%)

(Passive)

You are able to see the impurities and weaknesses in all metals

When smithing you will be able to hammer the impurities out and refine the metal to a higher quality because of it

Higher skill levels will allow you to see impurities more clearly as well as see weaknesses in weapons and armor which can then be reforged and made stronger

(Skill can be toggled on and off)

Skill Gain!

For completing Donan’s trials you’ve gained an instant boost to a sub skill

Hammering Level 1 (Intermediate 0%)

Hammering is a sub skill of Smithing

This skill increases the power of your strikes as well as accuracy to allow you to work metal into shape faster and with less accidental markings increasing the quality of your work

Closing the windows he happily put the tool belt away and took hold of the book.

Skill Book

Repair

Would you like to learn this skill?

Y/N

Before he could speak there was a loud knock at the door to the workshop and in strode a man wearing a shining suit of armor adorned with gold inlay. Ren’s jaw dropped in surprise, it was Tristan the ‘Heroic Prince’.

“Yo old man, I’ve heard you can teach the repair skill, how much do you want to teach it to me?” Tristan flicked his hair back in that typical pompous fashion that for some reason would make girls swoon.

Donan gave a curious glance to Ren at his actions, Ren just shrugged bringing a smirk to Donan’s lips. “Sorry my boy, I only had one book and I’m afraid I just gave it away to someone more appropriate.”

Tristan’s eyes widened at Donan’s words “Someone more appropriate? There is no one more appropriate for such a skill then I am, don’t you know who I am old man?”

“I’ve heard of you.” Donan nodded “But for us crafters, having a shining reputation doesn’t mean you’ve got the talent for our work. In any case as I said, I don’t have the book anymore, you’d have to take it up with the young man that worked hard and earned it.” He motioned to Ren who was still holding the book as he watched the conversation.

Tristan’s gaze fell onto Ren finally, seemingly only now noticing he was even there. “You? You’ve got my book? Hand it over.” Tristan held his hand out as though it would be natural for it to be given to him.

Ren just looked at him dumbfounded at his attitude. “Oh come on, I know it’s rare to be in the presence of one of the great four winners of the one of a kind classes but don’t freeze up on me, you should feel honoured that you’ve got something I want.” Tristan now wriggled his hand once more in front of Ren for the book to be handed over.

Donan watched the scene with concern and looked to Ren who just grinned back at him which made him raise a brow curiously.

“So… you really want this book huh? Why do you even need it though?”

Tristan let out an irritated sigh “I’m tired of having to pay to repair my own armor if you must know, while it barely touches on what I earn of course it gets tiresome having to come back just to repair it, so come on already hand it over.”

During Tristan’s talk Ren decided to go ahead and use the book, he had no intention of giving it to anyone let alone a guy him.

Repair Level 1 (Beginner 0%)

The repair skill allows you to repair items

Items repaired with beginner rank skill level will lose 10% of their maximum durability

Metal Repair Level 1 (Beginner 0%)

This sub skill aids you in repairing weapons, armor and other items made from metals

As Tristan finished talking he noticed the glow coming from Ren as he used the skill book, his eyes widening in almost shock horror “No! Wait! What!?” He glared daggers at Ren. “You little shit! How dare you use my book!” He grabbed Ren and began shaking him violently. “Give it back! That was mine!”

Ren was lost completely lost for words as he was shaken back and forth roughly by Tristan, he was getting dizzy and any words he tried to speak came out sputtered as he bit his tongue from the shaking.

Two large hands then came clamping down on Tristan’s shoulders firmly causing him to jump slightly and tilt his head around. “Get your hands off me you oaf, don’t you know who I am!?”

Donan smirked “I know who you are boy.” Using his immense strength gained from a lifetime of smithing he picked Tristan up by his armor and hauled him towards the entrance of the workshop like he was a carry bag. “You’re a brat that thinks he owns everything around him even when it’s not his, a pompous snot nose kid that doesn’t know the meaning of hard work nor what that young boy had to endure to earn that book that you’ve no right at all to even look at let alone touch it, and if I ever see you come into my shop again I’ll throw you into the furnace!” With a growl he tossed Tristan like a rag doll out the door and onto the street.

Tristan’s armor clacked, banged and screeched as he rolled and skidded across the road coming to a stop dead on his back. He got up fairly quickly and stormed towards Donan “You dumb brut!” In front of Tristan’s eyes several warning windows were appearing but he swiped them away without reading them as he approached the large smith.

“I’m a personal friend of Eric the lord of this city, I’ll see to it that you get evicted and exiled from the city for this!” Tristan raised his hand to strike the smith.

Donan just smirked as Tristan went to strike him and taking a breath shouted as loud as he could “YOU’RE BARRED!” Donan invoked a magic that all establishments that provided a service had placed on them allowing the owner of the building to ban people of their choice from entering their store, Instantly Tristan’s fist collided with a barrier before it reached the smith his hand making a loud cracking sound which caused him to fall back and yelp in pain.

Several windows appeared in front of Tristan which he read this time, they informed him that he was now barred from the smith’s workshop and that despite his fame the rest of the workshops in the district would hold him in very low regard, his total fame also dropped by a whopping 20% due to his behaviour. He stood up once more, casting a heal spell on his hand and wriggled it around to make sure it was fixed, giving one more deathly glare to Donan and Ren he stormed off down the street, the majority of the other workshop owners were peering out of their shops due to the commotion and upon seeing Tristan there expressions turned to scowls.

Donan sighed and turned back around to face Ren. “You ok my boy?” Ren just nodded dumbly as his brain was still processing everything that had happened, he wasn’t sure if he should feel sorry for Tristan or fall over in a fit of laughter at seeing the arrogant guy get what was coming to him. He shook his head to snap out of his daze and smiled with a nod to Donan.

“Good boy, if that brat ever gives you trouble you come tell me, ill sort him out, ill use that tin can armor of his as my anvil.” He let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead “I can see him becoming a pain later on.” He spoke as he looked out the door he’d tossed Tristan out of. “Anyway my boy.” He turned back to Ren. “Before we were interrupted I was going to say one more thing.”

Donan grinned and slaps his large hands Down on Ren’s shoulders. “I’m proud to name you my apprentice, now I know you traveller folks like to run off on adventures so I won’t try to tie you down and demand you stay and work for me here, but anytime you want to brush up on your skills you come here, my forge will always be open to you.”

New Title!

Thanks to your hard work you’ve impressed Donan to the point that he wants you as his apprentice, you’re the first person ever to be asked this of him

Donan’s Apprentice

When equipped npc’s in the city of Aurora will recognise you as Donan’s apprentice

You may freely use Donan’s workshop

Donan will give you tips and tricks as you smith in his workshop increasing your smithing skill (and any related sub skills) gain by 20%

Ren’s eyes went wide, his first title! “Yes! Thank you so much!” Ren grinned broadly up at Donan who just chuckled and ruffled his hair.

“That’s the way, now then before you can get to smithing though you’re going to have to get some metal, I’m afraid I can’t just give you what I’ve got in stock without asking for compensation, so you’ve three choices, you can buy the metal ingots from me to then forge them into weapons and armor, you can go buy ore gathered by others at the market or you can head to the mines yourself and try your hand at collecting some yourself.”

It only took a split second for Ren to answer. “I’ll try mining ore myself, it’ll be fun!”

Donan chuckled as he got the answer he was expecting and pulled a mining pick that was hanging on the wall down and handed it to him. “Alright then, take this and go bring back the biggest haul of metal you can.” He grins and ruffled Ren’s hair.

“Once your rested up and feel ready, head out the north gates and follow the path towards the mountains, you’ll have to stay away from the main mine, they don’t take to kindly to freelancers taking ‘their’ ore, but if you follow the mountain side you should be able to find some smaller caverns where other miners have done some prospecting away from the main mine. Those areas are free for all. Or if you’re feeling adventurous you can even start your own little mining cavern.”

Ren nodded eagerly. “That sounds cool!” He grinned up at Donan as he held the mining pick in his hands, the pick had a good weight to it but thanks to Donan’s trials it was nothing Ren couldn’t handle.” Thanks Donan! I’ll bring back lots of ore so make sure to teach me lots!” He grinned and dashed out of the workshop and down the street.

Donan chuckled at how eager Ren was as he dashed out of the work shop. “Dear me, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boy so eager to do a job that most would look down upon.”

As Ren made his way to the north gates he felt a breeze at his which reminded him of the claw marks the wolves had torn into his shirt again. “Oops… guess I’d better see sally first.” He turned around and headed for the Seamstress’s workshop.

Entering the workshop he was greeted cheerfully by Sally. “Ren! Good to see you again, what can this old lady do for you today?”

“I need some new clothes, these ones got ripped again, I was hoping I could buy some cloth from you so I can try and make them myself.”

Sally just smiled and nodded. “Of course, I’m going to assume you’ll be using the pattern I gave you before yes? The travelling clothes?” Ren nodded to her query and she pulled out a bolt of dull dirty white cloth, measuring out a suitable length and cut it from the bolt before folding it neatly and sliding it across the counter to him. “It’s not a fancy cloth but its durable and you can dye it easily to suit your tastes, for you just 1 silver.”

Ren smiled and handed over the silver before taking the cloth. “Thank you very much Sally.” He gave a light bow. “Would you mind if I used one of your work benches?”

“Of course not dear, help yourself.” She motioned with a wave to a currently empty bench that had no current projects resting on it. With a broad smile Ren nodded in thanks and headed over to the bench, setting out the cloth and taking out his tailoring kit.

When it came to crafting there was several options one could choose from to perform the crafting, one was to rely solely on the system and your stats to automatically attempt the craft, the system would simply take the cloth and change it into the clothes after a short amount of time, the quality and fit relying solely on the players skill levels, this was the quickest way to craft.

The second was with the system assistance, the system would place red outlines over the fabric to show where to cut and stitch accordingly as well as making fixes to any errors from the player if their skill level was appropriate to do so such as straitening a cut or fixing a missed stitch.

The final method was complete manual control, the red guidelines would still be shown but there would be no automatic corrections if mistakes were made even if your skill level would be able to fix it.

These options allowed the players to craft the way they wanted, some would prefer a more hands on approach while others preferred to simply select their options and have it made for them by the system, there was though advantages to crafting manually, since crafting manually was seen as being harder skills would rise quicker and there would be higher chances of sub skills unlocking, the chances of making a high quality items also increased.

Since he used to sew now and then in his free time before he got his hands on Flow Ren decided to go with the manual crafting option, after selecting the travelling clothes pattern the design guide lines traced out over the cloth he’d laid out, showing him where to cut, this at least removed the need to trace the pattern onto the cloth and saved a little bit of time.

The pattern only had one size, once the item was complete it would automatically change size to fit the player that wanted to equip it. This gave a base standard amount of materials required for crafting items and allowed prices to be the same regardless of a person’s size or shape, this was put in place by the programmers more due to fear that people would cry ‘racism’ and such if they were charged different prices because they required equipment that used more materials and thus were charged more. Though those that complained would have no case, it was a headache they could avoid and so they did so.

Ren cut along the lines carefully, he focused completely on his task not wanting to make a single mistake as he made his new clothes. Sally sat at the counter sewing together what looked to be a hooded cloak, though as she did her eyes were constantly watching Ren, her hands never stopped or wavered though.

After cutting out each piece and inspecting them closely for any faults he set the pieces out and took them over to the dye tubs. Dyeing clothes wasn’t a skill it was a free service for all, one needed simply to come to the tailor shop and request the colours they wanted, since Ren was in the workshop though he could dye the clothes himself.

The travelling clothes consisted of 5 articles of clothing, pants, long sleeve shirt, cloak, belt and a tunic like vest. “Hmm… I’ll have to think about some new shoes later to probably…” The pants and belt he changed to a dark almost leather like brown colour, the shirt he left almost as it was but instead of being a dirty white it was a bit cleaner bordering between white and grey, the cloak he coloured a dark green and the vest a dark blue.

Thankfully he didn’t have to wait for the dye to set in, simply using the dying tub opened an option window that allowed him to change the colours as he wished, of course the colours were still limited to what matched with the medieval type era Flow was set in so you wouldn’t see anyone running around in a bright fluoro pink muscle shirt thankfully.

With the pieces dyed Ren took them back to his bench and laid them out once more in order before he started to sew each piece together to form what would be his new clothes. His work was slow and careful, as he was doing everything manually he didn’t want to make any mistakes so he would gain the most points he could from his work, thanks to his real life experience and the systems guidelines it wasn’t too hard to stitch the clothes together nice and neatly.

It took some time but eventually his clothes were finished and laid out neatly on the bench before him, a broad grin was plastered across Ren’s face as he proudly admired his work. “All done!”

Set Of Travelling Clothes

(High Quality)

These clothes though simple were made by an unknown craftsman who put their heart and soul into every aspect of its creation and it results prove it

When worn

+5 AC

+5 Dex

+5 Agi

Durability

60/60

Stat Gain!

Thanks to your hard work, concentration and nimble fingers you’ve become more agile and accurate

+5 Dexterity

+5 Agility

Ren was over the moon with the outcome, even though it was just a set of plain clothes they were now a set of light armor with high durability and he even got a stat gain to boot!

“Ren my dear, that was some outstanding work you did, even on such a simple set of clothes you put in every ounce of concentration you had.” She smiled warmly at Ren. “Not only that, I could tell you put your very heart and soul into your work.” She stepped over beside him and lightly let her fingers trace over the simple set of clothes that Ren had put so much time and effort into making as best as he could. “Wont you let this old lady see how you look in them then?” She grinned at Ren as she knew he was likely eager to don his new clothes.

Ren grinned and nodded, scooping up the clothes and dashed into a back room quickly to change into the clothes, it was possible to just equip the clothes from his inventory but he was caught up in the moment and forgot that such a method existed. It still only took a minute before he stepped back out now wearing his new clothes and stepped over to Sally to show them off for her.

“My my, now you look like a strapping young man.” Sally nodded and smiled warmly to Ren. “Ren my dear, I’m greatly impressed with your work please feel free to come back and use my workshop whenever you wish to make some clothes or the like, I would be delighted to teach you some of my tricks.”

New Title!

You’ve impressed Sally the seamstress with your hard work and dedication to crafting quality clothes and will gladly teach you all she knows of the tailoring craft

Sally’s Student

When equipped npc’s in the city of Aurora will recognise you as Sally’s student

You may freely use Sally’s workshop

Sally will give you tips and tricks as you sew clothes in her workshop increasing your tailoring skill (and any related sub skills) gain by 20%

With a grin Ren gave Sally a big hug, catching the old women off guard for a moment but she then chuckled and patted his head lightly. “Thank you Sally!” He beamed up at her.

“Not at all Ren my dear, it’s a pleasure to see such a young man take such a deep interest in this old ladies profession, I would be a fool not to teach you what I know.”

Ren stepped back finally, that broad grin still stuck on his face though. “Thank you! I’ll be sure to come by and learn from you.” He waved gleefully to her before stepping out of the workshop and heading down the street in his new clothes. “Phew, that’s enough for today I think, tomorrow I go mining!” He grinned broadly to himself eager to see what awaited him at the mines. “Logout.”

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