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Chapter 130: Hunt (End)
🕑 Added 2024-10-01 05:40:27 +0000 UTCWorld: MSS - Loading...
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Leaving the underground city of dwarves, I organized my thoughts.
One. There was no doubt about it, this was a ‘Hidden Piece’. To be more specific, an underground City containing a Master Smith.
Two. There was a quest here.
Three. If I wanted Doror to forge something, I’d have to get to the bottom of that quest.
It might seem strange to other people, that I’m so fixated on Doror when this city is literally full of dwarven smiths. But in each Dwarven Community, there can only be one Master Smith: and for the Stonehammer City, Doror was it. And now that I met Doror, I wasn’t going to settle for any less.
There's a difference in quality between a Master Smith’s work and an Expert Smith. Even if they make the same weapon, the damage output as well as the overall magical effect will be better. It might not seem like a noticeable difference at first, but over time, they tended to add up. Also, starting off with a Masterwork Weapons would save my parties a lot of time, perhaps years.
Because Master Smiths were the only ones who could create and enhance Legendaries, Artifacts and Pluralities.
Locked in my thoughts, I passed by a Gatekeeper –a groungy old Dwarf who stayed silent as he opened the door for me. I left the halls leading to Stonehammer City, got back into the cave. Then using my sense of hearing and sight, I found the place where I had been hunting.
Now that I’d seen all the shiny new equipment at Stonehammer City, most of these things looked dull and rustic. Still, I forced myself to walk by every single one and inspect them, determining how much they would sell for. My Dimension Ring wasn’t limitless and I didn’t want to try and shove everything inside without order. Carefully picking out ones that would be worth the effort to sell, I picked the place clean and went back to where Arrosh had been resting.
I found the master orc swordsman fully dressed, waiting for me. He used both hands to support himself on his cane, standing in front of the rock we rolled in front of the entrance. His cloudy eyes could see nothing yet I knew that the elderly orc could see everything that happened around him. Arrosh gave me a short nod.
“A short time, the fledgling leaves the nest but already its flight feathers are growing.”
I gave him a respectful nod, taking the time to tell him what I found below.
I trust Arrosh. There’s no secrets to a man who’s literally risking his life to spy on those who might be planning to betray you.
“Once we can get the ships to dock and start repairs, I’m going to convince Zenom to allow the parties some free reign. To hunt, possibly gather Cores and even equipment. I’m going to use that time to bring my party down below and try to convince the Master Smith to craft some equipment for us.” I finished. “Come with us, Arrosh.”
He shook his head. “A bat’s role is to sleep during the day and watch during the night. At night, I will be too busy watching the daggers of those who might stab you, Young Crow.”
I nodded, having expected this. It wouldn’t be easy to whisk Arrosh away from Arione’s party. He came here with a mission in mind: to spy on Arione and get back to me. Not only that, it’d seem weird to the other parties if he started sticking around mine.
“Then is there anything I could get for you?”
Arrosh stared down at his cane-sword with murky eyes. “No. It has been far too long since this dog has slept in a house. Let the puppies worry about how to decorate the house. My time for such things has passed.”
He wasn’t making it easy for me. I’d have to think of something I could get him.
“Let me see the Totem, Disciple.” Arrosh ordered.
I turned around, revealing my back to him.
“Hmmm… the scars have been set properly.” His fingers traced over the scars which made the warpaint-like markings on my back. “And… what is this? Another branch already?”
“Truly?” I asked.
Orc Totem’s can be initiated by a Witch Doctor, but once you receive it, there’s no need to revisit that witch doctor. Unlike Beastman who have to return to their Witch Doctor everytime they want to upgrade their [Evolution], the Berserker have their totem upgraded automatically. Namely, they work on an experience system. By killing monsters, your totem grows stronger and stronger until it reaches the next level.
It might sound easy at first. Of course it does. [Aura] has a proficiency requirement; to reach the next stage, you have to use it more and more. Easy enough. Beastman have to save up gold and gather monster materials, revisiting their Witch Doctor to get it done. Dwarves have theirs unlocked through an achievement system: by encountering rarer materials and items, they can upgrade Gigantification.
Compared to those, it might seem that the Orc Totem and Elf’s [Core Dominion] trait seems easy to level up. Orcs only have to kill monsters and Elves can just absorb more and more Cores. But that’s not true.
Each stage of the Orc’s Totem requires higher graded monsters to be killed to be unlocked. To unlock the highest tier, you have to kill a grade-2 monster or above. It’s a similar condition for [Core Dominion], to unlock the highest stage, you have to absorb a Core of grade 2 or above. That means that although the racial traits for these two are the easiest to upgrade at first, they quickly reach a bottleneck.
Grade-2 monsters are no joke. At least the elves can buy a Core, but orcs are stuck having to kill the monsters.
Either way, killing all those Grade-7 monsters must have raised my Totem by another stage.
Ah, for reference’s sake, I can raise my Crow Totem to the Third Stage by killing Grade-7 monsters.
‘That should be my goal. Hitting stage 3 before we leave this island. Not only that, it’s a real possibility that I can hit level 40, unlocking room for another Core.’
And if we stop by the Free Trader’s League… I could possibly get my hands on that Core.
Not only that, there was a Master Smith with a quest, right below this island.
I shivered.
This was one of those moments in the game that I saw most often. A make-it or break-it moment for a playthrough. Hitting the Third Stage of the Crow Totem would be easy. Way too easy. But what were the consequences of it?
What if some of the Turinan’s saw me using Orc abilities as a Human? I had no way of gauging their reactions but it sure wouldn’t be a congratulatory pat on the back. Not only that, the Dwarf’s quest itself would be dangerous. A Master Smith wouldn’t make weapons for weaklings, whatever circumstances it was in, it would take everything I had and more to complete it. Then even if I received the weapon, wouldn’t people ask questions?
‘One step at a time.’ I told myself.
I would get stronger, but that would invite its own set of dangers.
But it’s not like I got here by playing it safe.
“My ears shall keep watch,” Arrosh rumbled, putting his hand on the rock blcoking the entrance. “Take your time, my Disciple.”
Nodding my appreciation, I closed my eyes and quickly fell into a trance like before when choosing the first skill of the Crow totem.
The selection for the second skill wasn’t anything nearly as dramatic as the first one, where I had been presented with [Air Jump] and [Darkness]. I was presented with two choices, both of them passives.
The first was a faint tickling sensation on my eyes, nose and ears. [+5] to Vision, Smell and Hearing. Must-have stats for any Wayfinder. These weren’t insignificant boosts either. It would grant me [Far Sight] and the ability to discern monster species just from smell and hearing alone. But that’d be a lame choice if it was the end of it, those bonuses were doubled when in Darkness.
Yup. Doubled.
A lot of people look down on these stats. But these are crucial stats in any party, avoiding dangerous monsters and traps. Not only that, with these stats, most Core abilities that relied on stealth would be powerless to a Watcher Totem character that rode this skill tree.
If I was truly pursuing a Wayfinder build, I’d choose it without hesitation. I used to have a lot of fun playing an Orc Shadow Assassin build back in the day…
Then I was given the sensation of murky darkness, clinging to my skin like mud. This option would upgrade my existing [Darkness] skill into [Lingering Darkness]. Enemies would experience a difficulty in movement; namely a slight decrease in their [Physical] stat.
‘That’s not bad either.’ For someone like me who relied on buffs, any debuff to the opponent was a welcome choice.
Finally, the last option. My heart bit a little bit faster and my feet felt a little bit lighter. [+5] to both Health and Mana regeneration when in Darkness. Probably the worst of the three options, I tossed it out immediately.
Besides, regeneration wouldn’t be a problem for me once this build was completed.
‘Ok then… that leaves only one choice.’ I focused on the darkness, until it coalesced. The other two faded into oblivion.
From the third stage of this Totem, there would be no more options. I was locked in to the [Lingering Darkness] skill tree.
Which was fine with me. This one synergized the best with my build.
I got to my feet, just in time to hear Arrosh say to me, “Disciple. It seems that the snakes have gone underground and the grass is free to roam. Just as the birds fly, we must spread our wings.”
We worked together, rolling the stone away from the entrance. Once again, the angry red glow of the island greeted me. Lazy swirls of smoke filled the air and I spotted spots of green jade leaking poisonous gas, no doubt from the baby Myung-sas. Arrosh and I shared a look (which I’m not entirely sure about, since he’s Blind) and set off together.
The first few feet were exactly as I described. But the rest of the island were in complete disarray. Smoking craters were the norm and entire sections of the volcano was now green –combining with the natural red-huge of the island to create a purple sheen that hurt my eyes to look at. The ashen sky was dark and I knew that it was nightfall.
“Master Arrosh, where do you sense the monsters?” I whispered, lest I awaken something best left sleeping.
He pointed a finger downwards.
Right. There would be nothing to eat for them up on the surface which meant they would be searching for monsters underground.
‘The Dwarf City.’ For a single horrifying second, images of dwarves being turned to inanimate jade or being torn apart by baby Myung-sas filled my mind.
But it was just my imagination. They would know how to protect themselves. But it also meant that the next time I visited them, it would be harder.
‘Stole’s going to have her work cut out for her.’ Just as I finished the thought, I heard someone call out to us.
“Slaveborn. Bloodedge.”
Arrosh and I spun as one, both our hands leaping towards the hilt of our swords. But it was none other than the back-up party.
The 8-foot tall Beastman, Astelion from the Giantler tribe, ducked out a small cluster of trees and rock. Following on his heels was the orange-haired magician from Borealis’ tribe –an Akka Xalud Scion if I was remembering correctly. Her eyes shifted left and right, giving us a nervous smile. Astelion’s eyes were serene, looking completely at ease with this post-apocalyptic forest from Bambi's nightmares.
“We finally found you!” The girl managed. “You two are the last remaining members from the original party! We thought you were dead! Oh, Aurora was so worried! She was just beside herself.”
The glasses-wearing pigtailed magician didn’t so much as speak as vomit out the words. Realizing that Arrosh and I wouldn’t reply, she just smiled nervously, slowing down a notch.
“The others are waiting on the boats. Please, this way.” Then she looked at Astelion, who turned and began to lead the way.
Astelion picked his path carefully, his feet padding along with animalistic grace. Sometimes, he’d raise his ear to the wind and just listen, making us wait before resuming our travels. Whatever Delas’ personality had been, Astelion was just the opposite. Quiet with a certain weight to the air around him, definitely someone who’d be taken serious in a room. There was definitely the aura of a seasoned adventurer who knew his role as a Wayfinder.
I made a mental note to be more active about finding out about Delas’ other party members.
We moved quickly, reaching the ships in less than an hour.
“Slaveborn! Bloodedge!”
“Mr. Lock!”
“Elder Arrosh!”
Arrosh and I boarded the ship, which was feeling rather crowded with both the advance party and back-up party in here. Zenom waded through the crowd, his eyes shining.
“Slaveborn, we thought you dead.” He said.
“Glad to prove you wrong.” I quipped, plopping myself down on the deck. Adrenaline was starting to wear-off and I wanted nothing more than to fall into a hammock and sleep.
But there was a little bit more work to be done.
“That’s new.” Delas commented, his eyes on the new sword on my hip.
Our eyes met for a brief moment and I turned away, but not before everyone else was staring at it too. Crap, I should have stowed it in my Dimension Ring.
But this was nothing but a Unique-drop. Let them think that the best thing I found was a place to farm monsters. Because what I actually found is infinitely more valuable.
“You going to share where you got that?” Delas said jokingly, but his eyes were anything but. “Didn’t know there was a merchant’s store down here.”
I changed the topic by talking to Zenom. “Have you made your decision yet?”
Zenom seemed confused by the sudden shift in topic. “What do you mean?”
“The repairs. Have you made the decision yet on whether we’ll be making them on this island?” I got straight to the point.
Zenom waved his hand, his tattered cloak swishing with it. “Impossible. We will turn back to the ship and look for a different course of action. Perhaps if we sail full-mat to the Trader’s League-”
“Because Arrosh and I found a place that might suit our needs.” I interrupted him.
Delas must have noticed something was up, because he tried to troll my suggestion. “Wouldn’t the Trader’s League be a better choice?”
There was no doubt about it now. This fucker was a Player. How could I confirm?
What adventurer would look at the loot of another adventurer and see danger? A normal adventurer would be thinking ‘Let’s farm on this island’.
Greed is the number one motivator for adventurers. And Delas? It was getting away from danger. He looked around for support, but his words fell on deaf ears. They were all nodding, looking to Zenom to make a decision.
Too many things had happened for Zenom to ignore my advice. My knowledge about the monsters was well-known among the others now, so much that I could see others looking for a moment to talk to me. I was sure that the way I cleaned up the Party’s mess when they fell to the effects of the Special Field and gave into their anger was shared –if not, it would be soon enough. Not only that, I’d just survived on the island crawling with Grade-4 Myung-sas longer than any of the advanced party members here.
Slowly but surely, my words had gained weight.
Not enough to be blindly followed, but to be considered? Out of basic courtesy and respect due to a capable adventurer?
More than enough to sway Zenom Saintred’s opinion.
“Contact the other ship,” He told Arione and the other orange-haired Mage, “Slaveborn, show us this place before the others arrive.”
“We will make the repairs here.”
***
Comments
Predyca
Thanks a lot for the chapter. A potential quest from a proper master smith, a ton of levels for our band of misfit adventurers and tension in locks own ranks misinterpreted as a Lovestory. Giddy for the future :>
