They had just come out of the forest and were talking about what they were going to do next. The original plan was to go to the forest do the quest and then on their way back to the capital they would do quests on the way. The 5 to 6 day travel did not yield much in the way of experience. They had fought against the odd monsters on the way but the roads were safe and they had to go a distance off the road to find monsters to kill.

They did not think they would gain so many levels from just doing a single D rank quest. With gaining 4 levels and being so close to a level up, more and different quests will be made available at the capital for them. Thus the new plan was to go back to the capital right after they stop at the first village to repair, buy and sell a few things.

At the village Cuzen went to find a blacksmith to repair his broken shield. While the blacksmith was busy with the badly broken shield he would repair his own armour and damaged second shield. After he heard how long it would take, the others would know their time window to shop and do things before they can move on. He told the others he would need the rest of the day and they will leave just before night time. A good blacksmith can repair durability of an item to about 90% more or less. A master blacksmith can repair items to 100% and even work with items much higher level than him. Cuzen how ever could only repair his shield by 75% and the armour he got up to just over 80%.

The others kept busy, they sold and bought items and supplies. Yuri left soon after and waited outside the village too wait for them. He was testing and getting the feel for the spirit hawk. Zomger went to go fish in a nearby dam, Lina was at a shop that sold some kind of patterns she wanted for tailoring and also some other things she needed. Tinker took out his cooking pot and was making an entire lamb leg with all the extras. He used the in between time to repair the minor damage his armour took in the battle. He still got goose bumps thinking back on how that battle went.

It was late at night and they were walking, it was a half moon and cloudless night. The air was cool and the roads were quiet. Most Npc’s did not want to travel and night because monsters were stronger then. Thus if you encountered people late at night outside a city or village they were most likely a players. Zomger was reciting his latest poem he had wrote. Tinker honestly was not listening and still thinking back on the battle, he would admit, he was jealous of Yuri and his companion. He was still in thought when Yuri said fight ahead. They took out their weapons and jogged to the top of the hill ahead to see who was fighting.

Atop the hill they saw players fighting each other. In all their travels they had not seen players fight each other. They had seen duels but this was new. It was hard to make out who was who, but 7 players had the red murderer mark and 4 had not. During the cursing it was hard to make out who was to blame and who not. “Let us kill those with the murder mark, we will figure out later who is to blame.”

They charged and moved silent as possible. The fight was a small distance away and on the run towards it a player who did not have the mark died. Tinker was faster than Cuzen and was already putting more distance between them. As he came closer he had a better view of the battle. It seems a priest was standing with his back towards Tinker and healing. He hoped it was one with a murder mark because he attacked with everything he got. He scored 3 critical strikes in a row which was a new personal best. The priest started to yell for help. A cloth wearing player was fast to respond and was heading straight for Tinker. Tinker saw the person approach but he did not care. Just a few more attacks at vital points and this priest would be dead, he can try and run if he manages to stand up.

He dealt the killing blow and turned to face the new enemy who was already leaping, dagger out for an attack. Cuzen hit him in mid air and sent him to the ground hard, a good 5 meters away from where he hit him. Tinker went to the big bunch. It seemed another player was dead and 3 players came straight for him. He was ducking, diving, rolling all over the place. He liked to refer to it as dancing with the blades. He danced back and forth, he got of good shots, and even took a few himself. Zomger was already healing him so he knew he was going to be ok. After 10 minutes the last person with a red murderer mark was killed. Cuzen, Tinker, Yuri and the last remaining person attacks landed at the same time. Tinker got the last hit for the kill.

Fortunately one person remained that did not have a murderer mark. They did not put away their weapons and pointed it to the person.

“What happened here, and do not lie to us.”

“Thanks a million guys, they attacked us. We did not see it coming, those assholes got what they deserved. We met them over in the next village. Our healer could not play and we needed a healer to hunt a nearby place. They said they were also heading this way and we should team up. We do not usually join large parties but they said those that get the last hit would get the loot.

Since we were level 80 and they were only 65 we agreed. We were confident we would come out top. We were 5 and they are 7 so we did not think they would kill us. Think they wanted our good items and instead of farming them they targeted us. They got our mage first and kept us from getting to their healer. Second to die was our hunter. I think you guys joined the fight sometime after that. I did not see it all and I barely made it myself. If you did not come and help us we all would be dead. Please take all their loot, I only ask if I can take my friends items and gold they dropped.”

“Sure, no problem.” They took everything. They killed a priest, monk, assassin, 3 warriors and one paladin. A lot of the items they picked up they could use and were better than what they were using. Cuzen complained that if he knew he was going to get a new breast plate he would not have bothered to try and repair his.

“Just a shame we to low level to use the good items” Zomger complained

“I am sorry did I hear you correctly, I know it is rude but what is your average level?”

“Just above 50.”

“Did you know that they were about level 65?”

“Nope, just saw the murderer mark and you guys were losing so we came in to kill murderers and get rewarded for it. Getting 2 levels for just killing scum is worth it.”

“Wow you guys are hardcore, not only are you like 10 levels lower than them but you fought better than them. Are you guys in a guild or something?”

“Yes, joined a guild about 2 weeks ago, so sorry we are not for hire.”

“No I was more thinking along the line we should join you guys. Is your guild recruiting by any chance and do they all fight like you?”

“I think they are, but we not involved it all those things. To my knowledge the strongest are like level 100 and play like we do. We focus on quality over quantity.” He was just quoting Gambit.”

“I think we are good players. If they did not catch us off guard this fight, it would have gone different. Not to mention if our healer was here.”

“Well dude I don’t know what to say, when you guys are in the capital look me up and we can maybe talk to our leaders and hear what they have to say.”

“Thank you again, when we all revive I think we should head straight there. Are you guys going there now?”

“That we are, just finished a quest and going back. We have gained 6 levels in 1 day, so we not going to do quests here and just go straight back to home base.”

“We got other quests that need doing” Tinker added

“Hardcore, I am Stan. Add me to your friend list and I will let you know when we back in the capital.”

“Ok, be safe and see you around.” With that said they left. On the way back to the capital nothing interesting happened, they killed a few dear looking monsters and replenished their meat supply.

Back at the capital they all parted ways. Tinker wanted to go see the Guild master and the others were going to see what new quests were now available for them. Sometime Thursday the guild message had changed, It said in 4 days time all guild members that can make it should be at the guild house at sunset for a party. Attendance was optional, food and drink would be provided.

Later he would ask someone what it was all about. He went over to the Alchemist guild and went to room 301. The master was sitting and reading a book by the looks of it. He wondered if it was for pleasure or research.

“You were successful I take it?”

“That I was, you never told me that they would be full size woman and naked when I met them.”

“I have no Idea what you are talking about.” He said while trying to do a fake cough. Tinker did not imagine that he was a closet pervert but at the end of the day that was not important.

“To more important matters at hand, do you have at least 2 dust samples?”

“That I do, what do I do now?”

“Now you go to the mages guild and look for a grand master by the name of William. When you find him, you will hand him the 2 dust sample and give him your Alchemy book. He will make a duplicate which you are to bring back to me.”

Complete a task for the Alchemy guild master.

The guild master likes the book Tristan had made and intends to have one of his own. His book will not be soul bound. His knowledge along with that of the book will be past down to the next guild master and all those after him. Take it to Grand master William at the mages guild for duplication

Difficulty level: E

Quest requirements: Must have 2 samples of fairy dust. Must possess Tristan’s book. Must have knowledge of all other Alchemy masters in the book already. Must be in good standing with the Alchemy Guild.

Reward is getting the guild master to use the scroll on your alchemy book.

Tinker has never seen so many requirements for a quest before. He praised the person at Unicorn who made this quest chain. It was truly a work of genius. After greeting the guild master he took his leave.

He had never been to the mages guild or any mage guild since he never needed to go and was banned from the mages guild in Avelon. He arrived at the mages guild. It was a big round building that went as high in the air as the palace if he would have to guess. He had seen and noticed the tower since the first day in the capital. That was how he always knew exactly where he was in the city. He would use the palace and mage guild tower as his points of reference. The security was tight compared to the warrior guild. They both had guards but any person could walk into the warrior guild. At the mages guild the guards wanted to know who he was and what business did he have. He told them and they let him enter. Inside the lobby was huge, clean and well lit. The place seemed busy. A lot of the mages were hanging about and talking. He stood in line to one of the tables. He finally got in front after a good wait. While in line he kept looking at all the different people. He could see new players. Others that looked like Lina and those with higher level items. The place looked really different compared to a warriors guild where mostly big men in plate armour hung out.

“Next, welcome to the mages guild. You can sign up the moment you have enough funds. If you do have enough funds fill in the yellow form. If you do not have the appointed amount fill in the blue form. She handed him both.”

“Sorry miss, I am not here to sign up, I am here on a quest to find Grand master William. Can you tell me how I get to him?”

“Yes I can, but my job is to handle new recruits and trainees. You see that long row at that desk over there?” She pointed to the longest of the 4 lines in the lobby.”They will help you and take you where you want to go. Next.”

He was not pleased he had stood so long in the wrong line. If only these dam mages used signs to tell people. The progress of the long line moved along even slower than the other one. He now had a lot of time to look at all the different people that want to become, mages, warlocks and wizards. All races and genders were present and going about their business. They seemed a lot more divers than warriors. During the looking he saw Lina, he waved at her but she did not see him. So he whispered her.

“Hey, I just greeted you and you did not greet back.” He could see that she stopped and looked around the room till she saw him. She came over to him

“I did not imagine I would see you until it was time for the party in 4 days. Are you going?”

“Hell yea, if Major is a paying for food and drink I would not miss it for the world. Funny running into you here.”

“Not really, I do the bulk of my quest in and around the tower. What brings you here?’’

“Here to see a Grand master William.”

“Wow, really, I am a mage and I myself have only met one of the Grand masters. I have seen the Grand Magus but not had the honour of talking to her yet.”

“How does the mages rank system work?”

“At the top is the Grand magus, under her are the Grand masters. When she dies one of the Grand masters will replace her. There are a few more ranks under that, but these two are the most important. Each Grand Master represents a school of magic. Like fire, ice, water, earth and so on. The warlocks have their own Grand master. Summoning is a very unique magic.” She kept explaining a few others things for him about the mages guild. When he complained about the guild not having signs anywhere, Lina cast a spell on him. He could see all the signs after that. They were floating in the air in all the colors of the rainbow. The mages guild used magic so that only their members could read and navigate the place. Others like him would be stuck and at the guilds mercy.

He came to the front of the line. “Hello sir, here to see Grand Master William.”

“You have an appointment?”

“No, the alchemy guild master sent me to see him.”

“You will be assigned a number and wait till we have someone free to help you.”

Lina interjected. “That won’t be necessary. I will take him.”

“Miss you know how the Grand Masters get when they are interrupted for trivial things.”

“Don’t worry, I will take all the blame and this is not trivial, the Master of another guild sent him to us.”

“True, you may continue and welcome to the mages guild”

They walked away and up stairs to the second floor. “We will have to walk all the way up to the second last floor. I am not allowed to use the lift and they frown upon hitch hikers.”

“Well let’s do this”. It took a while for them to get to the second last floor. Lina claimed she had never been up this high before but she walked around like she owned the place. At the floor they walked past a few doors till they reached a door with the name of Grand Master William in light blue on it. They knocked and were told to enter.

“Yes, who wants something now or who did something they should not have?”

“Sir, this young man was sent by the Master of the Alchemy guild to see you.”

“Very well, what does my old friend have to say?”

“He told me to come over here with Fairy dust and a book for you to duplicate.”

“Ah yes, he did mention it a while back, did just not think he would act so soon or send someone else to get the dust. Miss, what are you still doing here, don’t you have other tasks to do?”

“I am actually done for the day sir and this man is my friend”

“Very well, you may stay. How did you enjoy the forest and the fairies?”

“It was good sir, we had one hell of a battle there but we came out on top.”

“So you took others with you? I still do not understand why a person needs an alchemist with you. The few times we had been there we did minor task for them to get the dust, what did you do?”

My party of 4 and I went there. We fought a witch and her gorilla pet, it turned out there was a trapped fairy inside a gorilla body. That was all we did, we received 5 dust each for bringing peace to the forest.”

“By the divine, five you say? Will you or any of your party members be willing to part with the dust?”

“I doubt it sir, as you know it has strong effects we are saving for a rainy day. Maybe Lina here can tell you if the others are willing to sell but I am not.”

“That right miss Lina? Are you going to keep the dust?”

“I am sorry but the others and I are also saving it.”

“Shame, I had a theory which I wanted to test out. But back to the things at hand. Give me that book and the dust and let me do my thing.”

Tinker handed it over and watched the master at work. He consumed the dust and started to chant a spell. The best Tinker could tell he chanted for a minute and then a burst of power radiated from him. He had never felt power like this before and assumed he would not have if it was not for the spell Lina casted on him which allowed him to sense magic. It took the better part of ten minutes before the master was done. On the desk there were now two books. He fell back into his chair exhausted. The master was catching his breath and the other two just stood and watched.

“Wow, that was intense. I had no idea this book was so strong in the magical power. I nearly failed here at the end. I was the one who taught the spell to the Grand Magus herself a few years back. She came to me and asked if it was possible to make a book like this. Normally I would have said no, but I was in the library a few months before that, busy looking for something else when I came across the spell. I knew she had used the spell to make a book a few years back but I never heard anything about that till my old friend told me about it. Normally I can duplicate the magic but I need to match it in magic power. Since the Grand Magus herself made your book, I needed the fairy dust to make my magic power greater than hers so that I can duplicate the book. By the divine I knew the Grand Magus was strong but this level of magic is off the charts.”

“Why did you need two fairy dust sample? Aren’t the effects of the first sample you took still active?”

“That it is, the second is payment. I plan on using it later on when I have everything for my experiment. You can take the books and be on your way.”

He walked over to the books and picked them up to take them

“Miss Lina, what was your percentage and area of development?”

“Top 5 % and fire with identification.”

“Good so no enchanting?”

“None sir”

“How would you like to be part of my experiment, you will most likely have to use a dust sample or two but if this works you will become an enchanter but skip the first 5 levels and the years of training needed to master the skill?”

“I would be honoured sir.”

He looked over at Tinker and told him he could leave. “Now let me start at the beginning, enchanting is the art….”

That was all Tinker heard before he left. He made his way down the miles of stairs. He went as fast as he could back to the guild. The guild master had a person with him so Tinker had to wait his turn. He handed over the books with the scroll for the master to use.

Quest Complete. Reward is that the Guild master will pass his knowledge to your Alchemy Book.

Quest updated: Become Tristan’s student. Stage 6

This was great he can now go talk to Tristan and hear if he is done or if there is more. He parted from the guild master and made his way over to room 305.

“Tristan I am done, I have gotten all the masters knowledge in my book. What is next?”

“Well done, there is no next, you are done.”

Quest Complete. Reward is that you are now Tristan’s student. You may become a member of the Alchemy guild now. All other bonuses of being a student of a master are now active.

You have leveled up

He saw that message 3 times.

New skill learned: Alchemy

You are now able to mix ingredients to form basic potions

New skill learned: Zoology

Allows for identification and better harvesting of all animal, monster and other living entities

New skill learned: Scavenger

A passive skill which increases the chances of finding something of worth from others loot. It also allows you to take the loot others have left behind.

Warning: Others that see you may retaliate against you

It took them a while to figure out exactly how the Scavenger skill worked. It only worked on left over loot that other people outside the part or raid group made. For instances, if someone else kills a deer. They will loot 4 parts of meat and 1 large piece of leather. If Tinker Loots it after they have. There is a chance he may get 1 part of meat or 1 piece of leather. If they just killed the deer and left it, Tinker could have looted everything plus his small bonus. In the start his bonus was small to none. Most people took the good things that dropped, but the odd piece or item of worth was found. In most cases the loot would have disappeared from the world for ever, before Tinker and his group arrived. In crowded dungeons and farming areas he was in his element. Every loot was a potential treasure, at least that was what Tinker told himself after he looted the 1000 corpse and found nothing. It was only much later that this skill increased before he realized Luck what also a factor.

New skill learned: Weapon specialist

You can now change and use different weapon types without receiving penalties

Unlocks when you reach level 50 for warrior, knight and paladin classes

“Tristan what are these bonuses of being your student?

“Well you will receive your training under me and not from those on the second floor. Your quests will be harder and you will be rewarded more”

“Wait are you telling me I could have learned alchemy from them as well?”

“Yes, it would have probably taken you a few days to learn it from them. But instead you came to me. Learning alchemy from us only happens when you become the student of a master.”

Tinker had spent nearly all his time in the capital doing things related to his alchemy quest and now he learns he could have finished this in a few days. He was not amused.

“What advantages are there from learning alchemy from you and not those people on the second floor?”

“You potions will be more effective, last longer, and it will yield more.”

“Alright when do we start my training?”

“As soon as you are ready.”

“Now works for me, does it work for you?”

“Yes, let us step over to my work bench. You are just starting out so you would not need to know how everything works. For now all you do is mix two or three ingredients. You see this potion bottle? All the items you will make will fit in here. Some ingredients are too big and will have to be grinded to a fine powder. For example if you get a unicorn horn you can grind it to a powder and it will take up just under half of your potion. That leaves room for other items and the little bit of fluid that will make the entire potion a fluid. Say you get a huge dragon horn and grind it up. It will be divided into 4 or 5 usable samples. That why you will know how much to use and not have a potion with too much or too little powder. Plants on the other hand are easy, they take up small amount of place in the potions usually and you just fill the difference up with water. At your current level you can only mix two different items. As your skills increase, so will the amount of different items you can use in one potion. Later on I will show you titration and how to boil items to let the bits we want to separate. Also later on you will learn fermentation and a lot of new things.

For now, take your samples and just make potions. Look at the second page of your book. Listed here are all the known effects I know ingredients can cause. I have listed them the best I could. Look, the first are all about health. Fortify health, increase health, damage health, restore health and so the list goes on for not only health but pretty much every stat and thing a person could have, defence, two handed damage, magic or even faith or resisting fire.” It all was there. With a small page number next to it. Thus if you wanted to make a potion to resist frost and you had 4 different samples whose effects are know their page numbers would appear and you can just flip to the page. Read the item name and double check the effect and remove that item from your inventory. Once all the samples are used the name would still appear in the book but it will be darkened. That’s when you will know you are out of the certain sample, and if you go to the page you can see the name of the item and just buy it or look for it. Once you have the book it really helps to show what items you need and what was available to you.

The only thing a person would have to do is mix and gather the samples, the book does the rest. Some pages would appear more than once, because a lot of ingredients have more than one effect. Thus when you mix three or more ingredients you can create potions with more than one effect. The same holds true for mixing two items and making a potion with two or more effects can happen.”

“For now create potions you can use, since you are just starting out you won’t get a lot or any money for your potions you make. Best to use them and not be wasteful.”

Tinker set to work, he mostly made potions he or others in the party could benefit from. He never realised how much water he was going to need. Tristan suggested clean water or drinking water would be the best. He had to leave the office a few times to go fetch more water. Tinker was still hard at work when Tristan announced the day was over and he was going to his room.

Tinker asked if he could stay behind and work some more than he would come to Tristan and make him dinner. That night he made them lamb shanks or the monster equivalent to it. During this time Tristan told him a great more things and told him to stop by sometime tomorrow to get his own mortar and pestle.

As he was leaving the alchemy guild he stopped. At the front desk he paid his free and became a member of the Alchemy guild.

Tinker was about ready to log out and sleep. Tomorrow will be another day and sometime tomorrow afternoon the party at the guild house is going to happen. He assumed it was chosen as Friday in the real world so that most players could be online. Those in east Asia like Korea will have an early morning while the others like him in west Europe will be able to attend since it will be a Friday night. Those in America would have to miss out. He assumed their guild did not have many American members.

Tinker was back nearly two days later. He slept a good 8 hours and did some personal things that kept him busy. The party was 8 hours away or 32 hours in game. He decided he would spend this time working on his alchemy and log out again to eat and be back just before the party started. During this time he had used over 95% of his samples to make things. He still had witch brew and all the rest of his Fairy dust left and the odd samples. On his way he opened his tab to see how things are going. He was finally above level 50 and it took 5 months. Compared to other people that have played since the launch of the game and were over level 100 he was doing badly. But as he understood those that had high levels had no additional professions.

Status WindowNameTinkerPrimary ClassWarriorHealth3250Mana110TitlenoneLevel51Infamy80Strength240Agility185Health regen1.4Mana regen0.2Wisdom16Intelligence11Stamina102Luck3Vitality85Leadership5AttackMain 58-64 Offhand 47-53Defence120]Fame50Magic ResistanceFire0%Water0%Poison1%Dark0%

? Cooking (Lv. 6 : 13%): Enables you to make more tasty food.

? Herbalism (Lv. 7 : 89%): Allow for identification of plants, roots and other related herbs

? Handicraft (Lv. 5 : 12%): Has extra effects on various types of craft skills, and sword mastery.

? Sword (Lv. 5 : 36 %): Increases attack power and hit rating for swords.

? Skill morph (Lv. 3 : 74 %): Allows user to shift points between stats

? Leatherworking (Lv. 4 : 5 %): Allows user to repair and make basic leather items

? First aid (Lv. 5 : 67 %): Allows user to apply bandages that stop bleeding

? Alchemy (Lv. 2 : 63 %): Allows user to create potions

? Zoology (Lv. 1 : 78 %): Allows user to better identify and harvest monsters, animals and other living entities

? Scavenger (Lv. 1 : 0 %): Allows user to gain more and loot others kills.

A few things surprised him. He did not know he had gained 5 points in leadership and he read that thanks to his alchemy he had gained 1% poison resistance. He had always tried to keep his strength and agility the same. The hard part came from items he could use mainly increased the strength stat, since 99% of warriors wanted and needed the stat. He compromised by using his 5 bonus stats to invest in agility. All went well until he reached sword master level 5.

Level up: Sword Mastery [5]

+50% STR

+15% Agility

He never read online about this happening. But in his defence the last time he had read about the sword mastery nobody had obtained level 5 and none of the effects were posted online. Now he spent all his bonus stats in agility to make up for the difference. Since then he never really bothered to read what more they had to say about it.

Thanks to weapon mastery, the moment he equipped an axe or any other weapon his % in sword skill would stay the same. The skill would change to whatever weapon he had equipped. It did not work for bows, stave's, wands and oddly enough daggers.

Later they would discover that more unique weapons like claws and knuckle busters would also not stay the same. With this mechanic a person could easily use a new powerful item that you picked up. The problem came that if a person was use to fighting with swords, you struggle with the others. If you hit a scarecrow your damage should stay the same, but in real combat situations you will most likely suffer more thanks to your sudden weapon change. Like most things a few weeks of training will help you improve. Until you master your new weapon and pick up a different, but better weapon. That is why most will fight with a weaker sword, even if they picked up strong maces or axes. There were always those few that thought better weapons means more damage. Little did they know how wrong they were.

Tinker first went back to Tristan to get his items. All the time he had taken Tristan potion bottles. He still wanted to ask where he could buy them. Tristan took him over to room 306.

“Long ago another master called this home but we use it as a store room now. This is more the personal room for us masters. Ever since Gettafix annexed the basement we just come here.” He took many items from the shelves and a lot of empty potion bottles. Tinker thanked the man and he was told that if he runs low on supplies he should stop by at any time. Before he could leave Tristan stopped him.

“Tomorrow at midday my family and I are going to have lunch in the Kings garden. It is a site to behold, beautiful flowers, fountains to keep you cool and a table that can seat 50, all within walking distance from the palace kitchen. I would like you to join me. Those that I usually ask cannot come and I would like to show all of my family my promising student who is also an outlander.”

“Thank you Tristan I won’t miss it for the world. Will the king be there?”

“No he won’t, he does not use the garden table often, so the high lords have a system where they each take turns to make use of it. Think another reason for it is the free food that master cooks make and servants bring for you. Bring your friends with, those that you fought with in the spider caves, there is enough space and the more the better. Also try and wear your best cloths. You are perhaps a warrior but the no need to wear your armour to the lunch.

Tinker made his way to the training hall and attacked the scare crow for a few hours. He ate a light meal and logged out. He would be back 2 hours before the party started.

He arrived at the guild house. The place seemed busy, many people wore the black capes of the guild. He equipped his cloak and entered the guild. The first person he recognised was Major standing close to the door talking to someone. It sounded like he was giving orders.

“Take half of the tables to the bottom, leave the chairs and bring in more chairs. Tape off the corner for the band. Come and get me when you are done or the others arrive.”

“Hello Major, what is going on, is it your birthday?”

“Hey Tinker, no it is not. We are going to celebrate Royal Roads being online for 6 months!”