A countdown appeared in front of me.

3

2

1

As the final box disappeared, the assassin also disappeared from view. Immediately I help my rapier vertically and did half a pirouette placing my left hand halfway up the flat of the blade to provide extra leverage. My blade was struck by the assassin just above where my hand was in line with my neck.

“tch” the assassin said before moving into a flurry of inaccurate slashes.

I parried the strikes by moving my rapier in position of the 9 basic foil parries depending on the angle of the strike. It seems that the assassin was not used to direct confrontations. The assassin disappeared once more and I felt a dull throbbing pain in the small of my back. The assassin used the skill backstab which teleports behind an opponent for an instant stabbing strike.

I immediately started my dance of the dragon, and the assassin froze completely, taking my advantage I moved my weight onto my front foot and extended my arm out performing a flèche and stabbing him in the throat. The strike was shallow however, it had the desired effect causing a stream of blood to flow from his neck.

I saw fear in the assassin’s eyes, it was as if he had never been hurt before. The assassin wildly swung his sword from the right and I parried following up with a riposte into his sword hand causing him to drop the sword. I prepared a follow up attack shifting my weight in preparation for a lunge when he said “I give up!”

*triing*

You beaten Ryan in a duelNike the goddess of victory has blessed you, your injuries have been healed.

Nike will enforce the victory conditions on Ryan punishing him if he attempts to leave the city of Stormbridge.

Happy with my victory and just realising the consequences if I lost, I address the crowd. “As I said earlier, level does not dictate strength. One’s own ability and knowledge is far more valuable.”

I see Ryan the assassin’s eyes filled with hate and anger storm off. I turn around and enter the nearby general store to sell my loot receiving 2 silver and 50 copper.

Finished with my errands, I return to Cassandra to tell her the results of my quest.

“It seems that for now you have graduated from learning the basics of a blade dancer. You should spend some time exploring and perfecting your skills.” Cassandra said filled with pride.

“Thank you for your tutelage.”

“I look forward to seeing you create your own dances with time. Come and show me when you do.”

“I will but, how do I make a new dance?”

“You must have at least intermediate dance mastery in order to create a basic dance, everything with time Elyssa.”

*triing*

new title: Lady of the danceYou are the successor to the blade dancer Lady Cassandra Silverwind

Effects of dances +5%

“Display skill list”

IdentificationIntermediate lvl 7FireballIntermediate lvl 8Ice BoltIntermediate lvl 7MeditationBeginner lvl 5CookingIntermediate lvl 2BandagingBeginner lvl 5Magic MasteryBeginner lvl 7Language MasteryBeginner lvl 2(sub skill) Magic languageComprehension 83%Fencing MasteryBeginner lvl 4Dance MasteryBeginner lvl 5Dance of the SylphBeginner lvl 4Dance of the FairyBeginner lvl 3Dance of the WarriorBeginner lvl 3Dance of the DragonBeginner lvl 4Dance of the BerserkerBeginner lvl 2

With my dance mastery only at level 5 it will be a while before I can create my own dances.

“What should I do now then” I asked Cassandra.

“Go forth and explore, though I suggest you learn to maintain your equipment first. You should go ask one of the blacksmiths in town.”

After I bid farewell to Cassandra and the other dancer’s at the guild, I head to the main street where all the town’s most essential buildings are. I arrive outside the blacksmith to the sounds of metal being hammered.

The blacksmith has a tall smokestack which reaches about three stories tall in order to keep the smoke away from the nearby buildings. The roof of the building is shingled, and the walled build from solid stone.

As I enter the blacksmith I see an old man in the back standing near a forge hammering a red hot blade that appears to be about 20 centimetres long. After a few more hits, the blacksmith takes the blade in his tongs and quenches it in a bucket of water causing steaming hot water vapour to explode into the air, and a loud bubbling sound of boiling water. He removes the blade and sets it aside when he comes over to me.

“Hello, how may I help you miss?” the blacksmith queries.

“Cassandra told me that you might be able to teach me how to maintain my equipment.”

“My name is Ronan. Does that mean you are a dancer like her?”

“Nice to meet you Ronan, you can call me Elyssa. I just graduated from Cassandra’s tutelage today and she has told me to explore the world”

“I see, I guess we can make a deal then. If you can attract customers, I will teach you how to repair your gear for free.”

*triing

Quest received: attract customers for RonanRonan has requested that you attract customers for him to your store. If he is satisfied with your work, he will teach you to maintain your equipment.

Difficulty: E

Reward: Repair skill

Further rewards may be given depending on results

Failure: unable to attract any customers

do you accept?

“I accept”

Walking outside I decide that I will try attract customers the old fashioned way. I call out into the streets advertising the blacksmith.

After 45 minutes of advertising the blacksmith and not getting a single customer, I realise that this method is completely ineffective. The only thing that has happened is a lot of people staring at me as they walk past making me feel self-conscious about my outfit again.

Realising that I can attract customers with my appearance, I begin to perform a flashy belly dance.

A crowd forms around me watching my dance. When my dance finishes the audience begins a round of applause. Turning red and realising I can’t let this opportunity go to waste I shout “Come buy weapons, knifes, and armour from Ronan behind me in the blacksmith!”

A crowd of people nod their head and walk into the blacksmith. Finally, some customers. Feeling good about myself, I spend the next 6 hours dancing and inviting people to the blacksmith.

In the process I earn two points to my vitality from tiring myself out.

Ronan comes out of the blacksmith and calls me inside. I follow Ronan to the rear of the blacksmith near the forge.

“You did way better than I expected” said Ronan grinning from ear to ear “I got more customers today than I usually get in a whole month. Would you like to work for me bringing in customers?”

“I’m sorry Ronan, I need to visit other towns to meet people, I can’t stay in one place.” I explained.

“Ah too bad, you are very good for business.” Ronan pouted

“Oh well, as promised I will teach you how to maintain your equipment. Watch what I do.”

Ronan grabbed a sword which was bent at an odd angle from a pile in the corner of the room and placed it in the forge. After the blade heated up to a dull red, he withdrew it from the coals and began hitting it with a hammer. After a few hits he quenched the blade and returned it to the coals. He repeated this three times until the blade regained its former shape. After this he took the sword to a grinding wheel and began to sharpen the sword. Finishing he showed me the blade.

“This is the basics of repairing, now it’s your turn”

I went to the pile of blades and picked one up. I proceeded to follow his steps, after my fifth blade I finally earnt the skill

*triing*

New skill unlocked: RepairAllows you to repair equipment

Repairs up to 30% of an items maximum durability

Mana cost: 10 + items maximum durability

“Good work, as you become more skilled you will be able to better repair equipment” Ronan explained.

“Thank you for your help Ronan”

“In order to repair you need a forge, a hammer and tongs. To repair clothing you need a needle and thread. Since you helped me so much today, I will give you a basic set so that you can repair your equipment on your travels.”

*triiing*

quest complete: attract customers for RonanYou have gone above and beyond Ronan’s expectations and attracted more customers than Ronan has ever seen in a single day.

Reward: Repair skill

Basic blacksmithing equipment

“Thank you Ronan, I will take good care of it.”

I said my farewells to Ronan and left the store.

After leaving the store I headed down the street and entered the tailors. I showed my silver wolf pelt to the tailor and they sent me to the tanners to get the pelt treated so that it could be worked.

At the tailors I handed over the pelt and 10 coppers for the pelt to be treated. I was told it would take three hours for it to be tanned. I took this time to log out and tell my father about Ryan.

next chapter will explain how ryan was lvling up so fast, as well as the completion Alicia's time in Stormbridge.