You have become the idol of Village of Acolyte fame increased by 100 charisma, charm and leadership increased by 5

You have gained a new skill repair

You have gained a new skill tailor

You have gained a new skill cooking

You have gained a new skill spear mastery

You have gained a new skill shield mastery

Another 2 weeks have passed in this Village of Acolyte. It was not like it was before. A firm 3 meter tall wooden palisade had been erected around the village. It even had 4 watch towers now.

In those two weeks’ time I dropped by Hendrick’s place to get my weapon repaired and he taught me the repair skill so I could repair the weapon on my own. But I can’t use it on my sword yet since using it without it reaching intermediate will drop the weapon’s max durability. So I trained here daily. In addition, Stella also taught me how to cook and sew. Even without a game skill Stella could still cook and sew by relying on her memory when she had those skills before. The result was quite okay but when compared to how it was before it was a mess.

Repair skill is now beginner level 3.

Two weeks and it only reached this far. Well. Considering that there are only a few soldiers that need to maintain their weapons it is understandable. Small barracks were built but the soldiers were poorly equipped and trained so they might have some trouble even with foxes.

“Good Afternoon captain!” Was the salute the soldier gave me. This city is growing rapidly. We have about 15 soldiers now and all of them wore wooden spears and swords. Only the 5 most skilled soldiers were given iron swords. It was because of the scarcity of iron ore. Well, after contacting Reiner about this, he was actually willing to come here. But after hearing this village’s budget and the request of such little iron ore he only delivered it once and promised to bring more when he passed through this village. This village was too small of a business opportunity for high level Reiner. It was more suited for a small merchant with bags rather than wagons.

“Umm.... I have been wondering for a while. I heard this village is supposed to have their own mines. So why is there almost zero iron ore in our stock?” I asked the village elder Rebecca and chief Dorus(Her son).

“Umm.” They looked at each other.

“We have no soldiers to clear the mines.” Dorus answered. “The reason we raised soldiers rather than merchants was due to this. when we have access to iron mines just like before this village will regain its vigor like City of Acolyte before.”

“I see.” I mumbled. “Hmm if possible...”

“Ahh, please miss Riri. You have done so much to us. We can’t possibly accept anymore.” Rebecca refused politely.

“Besides, the monsters inside keep respawning. So we need soldiers to guard the miners when they go to the mine.”

“I see. By the way? Do we have any miners to begin with?” Stella asked.

“Well, Paul over there has a son that could be a miner. After the soldiers’ training is done, he might be the leader of the other miners. But he is still looking for another friend that could mine.” Dorus answered a little uncertain. Their mining plan seemed a little unpolished.

“Okay. If you need any help. Please don’t hesitate to ask.” I said while leaving to my house.

Night then came. I was still inside the game since tomorrow is Saturday. I didn’t have to go to school and my paperwork (homework) was done ages ago. The village was calm. I feel like I could live here forever. The sparkling sky was so bright. I was wondering if the writer of the famous lullaby twinkle twinkle little star always gazed at this scenery. They really are like diamonds filling the sky.

“Beautiful isn’t it? I used to watch it every night but I never grew tired of it.” Stella said as she lay on my arm. Her wolf ears were touching my cheek which tickled a bit.

“Yes. It is very beautiful.”

*Sniff*

“Huh?” I turned my head as I saw her sniffing me. She somehow had this weird habit of sniffing and sometimes licking me lately and always feels embarrassed when I ask about it. Could it be because of her transformation? She certainly has sharper senses now.

“Ah sorry.”

“It is fine.”

“Mm.” She only mumbled as she lay while treating me like a hugging pillow. “The sky is clear let’s sleep here.”

“It is quite cold here.”

“Pets can’t get a cold. Besides you have a healing ability.”

“I see.”

“Thank you.” She said while closing her eyes. That thank you has a deeper meaning than Riri thought. She could feel it but could not understand it.

For Elkami, she found her own spot in Stella’s tails. I can imagine how comfortable that fur would be if I was her size. Even I sometimes use her twintails as a pillow and it is really comfortable, warm and fluffy. Too bad that I was not as small as she is.

The next morning someone with a huge two-handed sword named Gerik came and thanked us for letting Marissa live. After a bow and some gold coins he left. It appears he is the leader of the mercenary guild that was hired by the bandits earlier. Somehow his appearance is no different from the bandits but from his demeanour I know that his skills are different from them. He also gave his guild’s name as a form of advertisement just in case the village needed mercenary power. While Dorus gave a hateful look towards them, Rebecca returned their bow politely.

After seeing them leave, I went to the training camp where the fifteen soldiers train their spear or sword mastery. As I don’t have any sword styles, skills or stances to teach them I just told them to spar and whack the scarecrows that were made by local farmers. After 2 hours of said whacking, we went to the field and hunted some rabbits and foxes. The fifteen were split into 3 groups which consisted of 3 sword and shield (Wooden) users and 2 spear (wooden) users.

“Okay. Encircle them. Shield bearers watch out for its kicks. Spear wielders retaliate after the rabbits have attacked.” I lazily ordered the 5 men team that was currently engaging 2 rabbits. Why do we need such elaborate tactics and manoeuvres for the lowest mobs? I know that their shield (wooden) and weapon (wooden) are the lowest of weapons but to think I have seen a rabbit make one of those recruits bleed to the yellow zone some time ago made me have to polish their tactics from now on. Not to mention it took more than 20 minutes to take down a single rabbit which the other beginners are able to finish with a single chant of a mage or 3 strikes from the lowest crude iron sword that is dropped by kobolds.

“Hendrick.” I called out to one of the best soldiers. This team was the best one and is comprised of our blacksmith Hendrick, our village chief Dorus, and 3 farmer boys. Well, compared to the team that stumbled at rabbits before, they certainly are far better in that they could handle 2 or 3 wolves with their skills and their best weapons and armour(iron sword and leather armour with a thin breastplate for lvl 10.)

“Yes?”

“Hmm. Let’s go to the mines. Can you lead the way?”

“....Okay” He said a bit reluctantly.

“Even though we can only bring a bit of metal. At least it should be sufficient for those 10 soldiers.” I said. Then Paul gathered his 2 friends who brought pickaxes with them. Dorus and Hendrick followed us to lead us to the mines.

The mine was surprisingly close. Only about 300 meters from the village. It was totally abandoned now with no traces of life left. I could already imagine some skeletons or zombies or golems spawning from this mine. By the way, I left El to guard the village while bringing Stella with me. Bringing El to a mine might be a bad idea since her explosive spells might collapse the entire mine if it is used recklessly.

“Okay. Let’s go in. I will be the forward if you guys see trouble, prepare to run.”

“I will be in front.” Stella said with confidence.

Unknown mines

A mine filled with various metals.

The mine was cramped. The road was barely 4 meters wide. Hendrick sad that it should get bigger when we arrive at the real digging site but if monsters crawled out of here be then Stella, being the speedy type, will have trouble. But since I have acrobatics, it could turn into 3 dimensional movements and it might even be an advantage.

Fortunately, I was overthinking things. The monsters in this mine were around lvl 30 at most. While considerably stronger than those in the field, it was still quite easy for me. Two stabs or slashes and it is good. Stella was wielding a spear in her hands and started to attack on her own. Since she does not have the skill, she does not get any attacking speed and damage bonus but she could still wield it nonetheless. Heck it might be even better than me if we are only looking at her technique.

While the zombies and mud golems were quite easy for us, it was not for the recruits. They needed to cooperate and after being pummelled and switching tanks for more than 20 minutes the golems were defeated. Overall since zombies and golems were slow the recruits managed to deal with them as long as they ganged up on the zombies. If more zombies and golems showed up me and Stella had to step in. The recruits also got good experience by killing these zombies and golems so in a sense we hit 2 birds with one stone. It was good I could imagine these 5 to be something like vice general or squad leader since they had already shown some good coordination and calm judgement.

After some more time passed we arrived at the mining site. It had a ladder jutting down from our path and I could see something sparkling here and there between the rocks it must be the metal. I wonder what kind of metal that is. Maybe I will ask Paul when we come out.

“Alright we have arrived. Everyone start digging!” Paul ordered everyone excluding me and Stella to dig. It’s more like no one dared to ask me to do that kind of thing. Even if I tried I could imagine they would push me aside for rear guard.

4 hours passed

“I kind of want to do it too.” I said to Stella. While sitting on some random stone completely bored.

“Well. They only brought 3 pickaxes. And they switch between themselves without letting us do anything.” Stella answered sitting on the floor besides me.

“Hey! Come here.”

“Huh? What is it Stella?” I asked while turning my head towards her.

“It is not me. Is it someone else?”

“Paul? Dorus?” It was a whisper. I almost couldn’t hear it.

“No. It came from that spot.” Stella pointed at the wall behind me quite a distance away from Paul and the others.

“Should we go there?” I asked Stella.

“Who guards the miners then?” Stella asked.

“Do you think the whisper is far? If not I guess it is okay to leave them for a few minutes. Besides there have been no monsters for the last few hours.” I said to Stella.

“Hmm. I don’t think it is that far. Let’s warn them nevertheless. Hey Paul, Dorus, Hendrick! We will venture out for a while. If you encounter more than 3 monsters, scream okay?”

“Ok Miss.” They replied.

After that I went to the spot Stella pointed at. After examining and re-examining it, it seemed around 10 cm thick. With a few stabs from my sword and Stella’s paw(She had turned into wolf at the entrance of the mine site). We were able to dig out a hole and found a decent cave within. So this hemisphere mine site actually has more holes than there should be. Including the entrance that we came from this is the 5th hole. We just decided to dig there and not venture deeper due to Paul and the others lack of levels.

After venturing for about 50 meters we came to a huge chamber which housed a sword that was stabbed into the ground which was filled with magic circles.

“It totally screams rare item here.” I said to Stella to which she nodded.

“It also screams trap by looking at the magic circle beneath it. It should be able to speak since we heard its voice earlier. Don’t touch anything recklessly okay.”

“Welcome. I see that you also use swords. Good. I can sense good skill from you. You might be worthy to wield me.” A soft and calm whisper came from the sword.

“Wow. The sword is talking. This is a super rare item.” I said after reviewing the RoyalRoad manual book in my mind. It is said that some very rare weapons had their own minds and souls within it. If I am not mistaken it is called an Ego sword. It is a sword with its own emotions and soul. It can increase its power or decrease it according to its own will so it is advised to be friendly with an ego sword.

“I see. If you desire my power, then pass my trials and destroy this seal.” He said. Since we are not so far anymore, its whisper-like sound had turned into a soft sound.

“But...”

“Yes?”

“I have weapons already.”

“Huh?” The long samurai sword asked dumbfounded.

“Riri?” Stella also tilted her head in question.

“Umm. Sorry. Thank you for the offer. But I have weapons that I cherish here. I can’t throw it away. Hope you find a better master.”

“Wait a second.” The sword called as I turned back.

“Yes?”

“Why do you cherish that weapon over me? I am far more powerful than that weapon.”

“We still don’t know that.” Stella retorted.

“No. It is not just that. You see, this sword is a house for my friend. A fairy. So I can’t throw it away. If I unequip this sword, I won’t be able to summon her.”

“I see. Are you sure you don’t want my power?”

“No.”

“..... Could you at least break the seal?” He is practically begging now.

“Oooo. So you were acting all high and mighty before just to beg someone to release your seal?” Stella made an evil smile as she discovered someone’s weakness.

“I have been trapped here for more than 200 years. I have never done anything wrong.” The sword defended himself. “Just because my soul is that of a demon wolf.”

“Demon wolf? Ahh so that’s why Stella and I can hear you.”

“Yes. I sensed it since you came here and tried to call you but it was ignored until now.”

“I see. But even if we release the seal...” I pondered for a while.

“I can assure you it is not out of ill intent. If the seal is removed, anyone could hear me. You don’t have to pick me up then. But the chance for a fellow sentient demonic wolf is so low.”

“They are practically extinct by now.” Stella answered. “Even I was not a demonic wolf before.”

“I see. So should we release him? I kind of feel pity after hearing his story.” I asked Stella.

“Hmm. Okay. Let’s remove the seal.” Stella answered.

After touching the sword, the seal activated and a red salamander appeared. Three meters long.

“Hey. Aren’t you a wolf?”

“I am. But the seal is not!”

The salamander then swiped his tail, I dodged it with difficulty. Even the shock damaged me a little. This enemy can’t be underestimated. It easily surpassed lvl 150.

“Summon Elkami.” I said as I commanded the fairy to appear before me. With this the group at full power.

As usual I take the foremost line while Stella is a little behind me and of course El is the furthest back so that she is practically in the corner of the room. Wait a second. I have never fought a serious battle with Stella in her wolf form and why is she assuming that I should take the role of a tanker?

“Stella?”

“Distract it and I will chip away his HP one at a time.” She said while activating her venom skills. The venom aura is a bit dangerous but since we all have immunity against poison it is all good.

“Can I get another role?”

“We do not need healers right now.” A hurtful truth. I just realized that I couldn’t do anything except healing and distracting enemies with my little attack power and low grade spells. All the kills in the village were just an illusion. I should know it. If the opponent were to be at the same level as me, I would need a long time to beat them except with El’s skills or soul transmutation which essentially borrowed El’s power too. It was just like a tanker!

Tanker is the class that Riri hates the most and she unknowingly became one and just realized it a moment ago. A tanker’s job is defending in front line. They basically need to be hurt and can’t damage the opponent back properly. It is like you are getting hurt but can’t get revenge for it. Riri understood her sword penalty and tried to remove it by training her repair skills. But she never felt the sword penalty itself since El had always killed her opponents before her.

She was also wearing light clothes and has high dexterity which improved her delusions of not being a tanker but a tanker is the one who attracts opponents and deals with their attacks. Whether they have high dexterity to dodge or high endurance to endure attacks doesn’t matter. She just realized this now, that all her battles before she was always in the front and dealt little damage except when using soul transmutation which is a forbidden skill right now. After dealing little damage the enemy chases her and someone (Usually El) will kill it. This is fully a tanker’s role!! Unless the opponent is an undead, she is a tanker or cleric.

With a bitter heart she dealt the first attack by stabbing the salamander in its leg. Said salamander was attracted and pursued her. While dodging here and there she continued to slash dealing additional damage while El cast some lighting spells at regular intervals. Stella also bit the salamander here and there. When the salamander pursued Stella, she would dodge while I replaced her at the front and attacked the salamander, making it direct its hate toward me. After its attention was directed at me, Stella bit it again in other places. El was casting her magic from safe place. No need to mention or care about her. With her flight magic and small body she could easily get away.

“Enigma of lightning god Zeus strike!!”

The big spell finally came. Stella had accumulated enough poison in the salamander’s body and its HP was going down rapidly. In despair the salamander finally let out its killing move Fire Breath towards El. Even an idiot would know the magic circle with the counter was cast by El since she is the only mage that uses lighting.

El quickly hid behind some rocks when the fire breath hit. The salamander went berserk and fired its fire breath everywhere.

You took 400 damage

You are burned

Attack power reduced by 10%

Defense reduced by 10%

Movement speed reduced by 10%

This effect will remained until 15 minutes

Burned is a bad status effect with long recovery. It usually debuffs our physical attack and defense. Sometimes our speed might also be affected. The thing about burn is that burn can be stacked. So, if I get hit again by that Fire breath my stats will get a further reduction.

“Riri, let’s flee!” Stella suggested. “The salamander will be dead even if we don’t fight it. We can’t suppress it’s fire breath!”

It is true. Its HP is 25% now and it is going steadily by 1% every 10 or 15 seconds. Not to mention after the enigma spell hit, it would be dead whether we stay or not.

“But where? If we return to the cave the salamander will cook us alive!”

“I will be the bait.” Stella offered.

“What?”

“You can just resummon me after you get out.”

“No. Let’s stay.” I refused.

Then after a minute, a bright flash with explosions and small earthquakes filled the chamber to the exit. Everyone was taking cover at the corner of the room until the dust had cleared. It was a close call, I only had 15% HP left and Stella was even worse with 3% HP left. She was at edge of death and only a single hit would kill her.

You have defeated fire salamander

Fame increased by 50

Strength increased by 5

Dexterity increased by 5

Fire resistance increased by 1%

Vitality increased by 10

Fighting spirit increased by 10

You have leveled up 5x

http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=350&t=4905&p=33112#p33112

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- here is chapter 30. enjoy. i had a little break after mid semester exams.

- questions comments are welcomed ^_^