Hey guys! As promised another chapter is up. I'm glad you guys showed me so much love after my break from writing.

*Author's note: If you see italics those words are what Hiro is thinking to himself.

*Story note: I am also working on a summary of the characters up until this point to give those who haven't read the story in a while some context on who is who and what their skill, strength, and classes are in comparison to the main character.

As always fans please rate, review, and leave comments. I am up to 347 followers which I am thrilled about. I'm hoping to get to 500 one day. Thank you for reading and enjoy the newest chapter!

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Chapter 28 New Master

Hiro opened his eyes as the sun crept past the horizon. The sun's rays illuminated his room through the huge window. The window was open allowing a cool breeze to come into his room. As he removed the covers from himself and got out out of bed he noticed that the air was colder than usual but it still felt pleasant. Hiro got out of bed and got dressed in his full armor.

Leo got a huge power up yesterday when he evolved. I've got to do some training in order to keep up with him. I can't let him get too far ahead of me or I will only be depending on his strength.Well I guess the best way to improve is some good old fashion hunting so let's see....

Hiro closed his eyes and searched for some enemies.

Hmmm hunting should also allow me to get some materials to pay off my debt to the dwarves. So I guess I'll stay out for a while to kill time until Kaura gets back with her scouting report. I don't sense anything powerful at the moment so I think I'll go back to the last place Leo and I fought some enemies.

He headed towards the area he found the scorpions.

They were tough days ago but with my new weapons armor and strength they should not be a problem.

He arrived quickly. His speed training had paid off too. He was moving so fast it seemed like everything else was standing still. He walked out into the beginning of the desert. He felt the presence of 3 no 4 of the scorpions. He activated his ki and prepared for battle.

The scorpions rose out of the sand and came at Hiro. He was able to quickly cut the pincers off of the first scorpions. As the next two tried to pierce him with their stingers Hiro dodged and evaded. He then went back on the offensive using his blade filled with his ki to cut the heads off of two of the scorpions. Then he turned to face the other two. The backed up as he let out his liger’s roar skill. The scorpions were frozen. Hiro went over and cut both of their heads off as well. Then he grabbed them and put them into his magic bag. He sensed more enemies ahead so Hiro continued out into the desert.

You gained 4 points towards your weapon skill.

He saw about 20 enemies scattered about that looked like the widow queen from the forest only smaller. Hiro decided to analyze them.

Wolf SpiderType:BeastHealth:2,000 / 2,000Weakness:FireIA carnivorous beast of the desert. It burrows in the ground and comes when enemies tread near its burrow. Because it lives within the ground, earth attacks are nearly useless against it.

This was great I can really rack up on the experience with these guys. They are weak against my element so they should pose no real threat but there are so many so I should be able to get some good loot from them..

He activated his armor of wildfire and charged the spiders. The spiders quickly went on the offensive hissing and spraying their spider silk at him. However, the spider silk was ineffective against Hiro. As it got close to Hiro’s flaming armor the silk was burned up.

Hiro began his offensive and slashed the spiders with his flaming sword. Sometimes they died from the attack other times his attack did not kill them but they were set on fire from his attack and died from the flames. He had already killed six when the rest surrounded him.

Something feels wrong here. I better end this quickly. I should try my volcanic strike skill. It should make short work of these spiders.

He activated the skill and he felt his ki going into his sword. Then sword burned white hot. He swung his sword in a horizontal arc. The flame left his sword and burned about 10 spiders that were out there. The 4 spiders that remained jumped on hiro and tried dig their fangs into his flesh. His fire armor and armor skin protected him so he didn’t take much damage. The poison from their fangs was ineffective but he was losing energy because the spiders were sucking his blood. He increased his ki to his fire armor and the flames burned even hotter causing the spiders to be burned to death.

You gained 20 weapon skill points.

I think I will hold on to these weapon skill points until I get my new weapon from the dwarves

Hiro walked around and collected the bodies and stuffed them in a bag. He noticed that as he picked the spiders up they dropped some earth stones. He placed them in his bag as well and checked his wounds. They had already healed back.

My regenerative ability is definitely a life saver. This should be enough hunting for one day. Time to head back to town and sell the spoils of my hunting trip.

Then he returned to the town.

Hiro entered into the goods shop looking to sell the materials from his hunt. He entered into the door looking for Master Matsuro but he was nowhere to be found. Hiro looked around and saw the attendant who happened to bent over behind the counter.

“Have you seen Master Matsuro?”

“No, not for a few days. He has been gathering up some supplies recently but he hasn’t been here all day. He did leave this note for you.” The attendant stretched out his hand and gave Hiro the piece of paper.

Hiro went over and asked about selling things that he found while hunting. The attendant said that they would buy whatever he wanted to sell. Hiro opened his bag and began pulling out the carcasses of the monsters that he had slain. The attendant’s eyes were wide opened.

"The poison sacs from the scorpions and spiders fetch a good price. Also many adventurers like the armor from the scorpions to make their own armor. You have done well. I believe I can offer you 12 gold for all of the monsters and their parts."said the attendant.

Hiro nodded his head and agreed.

“I will return when I have goods to sell Mr. Attendant."

"Goodbye and safe journey Hiro”

"Thank you master! I will return when I have goods to sell Mr. Attendant."

"Goodbye my apprentice."

Hiro left the shop and then decided to go to the smithy shop and drop off his payment. Hiro opened the door and went up to the counter. The dwarf was happy see him.

"Your weapon and shield are about 60% complete." said the dwarf.

Hiro smiled and gave the dwarf the payment.

The dwarf said, "It is a long process but it is moving along."

Hiro smiled and asked, "Could I use the forge to try and repair my armor and weapons I got from the battle?"

The dwarf agreed and led Hiro back to forge.

Hiro took out his smithing hammer and began with the armor from the field. The copper gloves and breastplates were pretty simple. After they became a bright red color he quickly hammered them and the dents and holes vanished.

I'm actually getting pretty good at this. Those dwarves are definitely great teachers.

He quickly went through the rest of the copper equipment. Next, he found that the shields required a little more finesse as many of them were made of bronze. Little by litlte his skill continued to improve so much that some of the armor had better stats after he repaired it.

After a few more hours he had finished all of the armor. He was exhausted but he decided to finish his armor of Wildfire. He heated up the armor with the fire from the forge. Something peculiar began to happen. As soon as the armor touched the fire it began to repair itself.

That's it! The armor is made from fire stones. It even gave me the ability to absorb fire so it would only be natural that it would be repaired by being bathed in fire.

He took the metal armors he repaired back to the army barracks to leave them in the armory.

It was getting late at the this point and the sun was going down but it was still was slightly above the horizon so it was still some light out. There was a cool breeze flowing through the town and the training grounds.

This is as good a time as any to do some training of my own with that hammer.

He went to the sparring circle and pulled his hammer out the inventory.

The hammer is still too heavy to wield in one hand but I can actually pick it up.

His training regimen continued. He kept lifting the hammer up and down with both arms. He did this for about 100 repetitions on each arm. His arms were bulging, the veins in his arms were pulsing, and his body was dripping with sweat. All of this showed the tremendous amount of exertion he had been through in order to complete his training.

Through your training your strength has increased by 25 points and 15 points of vitality.

Good now I’m at 260 in strength. This hammer is great for helping me build my strength. A few more days like this and I can catch up to Leo.

He stood up and noticed that several of the soldiers were watching him in awe. Many thought he was just naturally gifted as a warrior but seeing him work this hard gave them renew vigor in their training. One soldier, named Blade came up and looked at the hammer. This was the young man who Hiro fought that carried an axe. His physique was very defined and he was about 3 inches shorter than Hiro.

"May I sir?" , Blade axed

"Sure but be careful it is extremely heavy."

Blade moved towards the hammer. He dropped his legs down into a strong squat-like position. Then he put both hands on the hammer. With all his might blade began pulling on the hammer trying to lift it from its resting place. His arms and chest bulged, he even had a vein in his forehead began to pulsate. It was to no avail. He could not move the hammer.

Hiro smiled and said, "I told you it was heavy. When I started I could only drag it a few inches but little by little I got stronger and now I can pick it up with one hand."

"Sir how long have you been working like this?" said one of the other soldiers.

"This is how I always train. Every bit of strength and skill that I have, I gained through hard work and perseverance."

All of soldiers' eyes widened.

"Men back to practice! We must not let our superiors outwork us!" yelled Blade

"HOOWWWWOOOO!" shouted the soldiers as they returned to their training.

"Keep up the good work men!"

"HOOOWWWOOO!" shouted the soldiers saluting their commander as he left.

Hiro left the training center and went to the restaurant to eat.

Hiro walked inside and saw a sign out front that said, “Today’s special Ultimate Cheeseburger!” Hiro rushed in and sat down. The waitress came and he ordered the Ultimate Cheeseburger. Hiro sat with anticipation waiting patiently for the waitress to return with his prize.

After a few moments had passed, the meal was served. This cheeseburger was huge. It was about 50cm in diameter and it was piled three meat patties high. It also had lettuce, tomatoes on each layer.

“If you eat it all it’s free if you don’t it’s five silver coins. Oh I’m sorry Hiro I didn’t recognize you. Your hair has grown and you’ve gotten even more muscular. It’s on the house but you can take the challenge if you would like. “

Hiro told the waitress, “I if I lose the challenge I will pay for my food.”

“Ok. Good Luck” the waitress said as she smiled.

Event Quest!

Eat the Ultimate Cheeseburger

Do you accept: Yes or No. Yes.

Hiro grabbed the burger and began tearing through it. In a flash he had eaten half of the burger. He let out a loud belch and picked the burger back up. He ate until only about a quarter of the burger was left. He felt good. He patted his stomach and grabbed the last piece. Hiro took two bites and the Ultimate Cheeseburger was vanquished.

quest complete. Reward: 50 points toward vitality.

Hiro felt stuffed. He thanked the waitress and left the restaurant.

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I hope you enjoyed. Please leave any comments, questions, or critiques about the story. I will gladly reply to them and try to incorporate any feedback you give me into the upcoming chapters. Thanks and please keep reading.