Chapter 39 - Crafting a Gift (2) - Flying Away

With the rewards from both quests, Arthur reached level 9, close to level 10.

That was pretty fast considering he hadn’t even focused on it. On top of that, Yuki also received a share of the experience and reached level 7.

It still hadn’t learned any combat-focused skills, but the little creature was getting stronger, and it was only a matter of time before it became more useful in a fight.

Arthur talked with the shop staff as soon as he arrived. Ray had already sent people to take the ores and herbs and get production started on the items for the shop’s opening day.

"Sir Cinder," a pretty employee came up to him, "should I change now or only later?"

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked.

She then pulled out a really short dress, one that showed off plenty of her legs and chest. Arthur was genuinely surprised Ray had managed to get those clothes in such a short time.

"Did they already come by to upgrade the heating system?" Arthur asked.

"They’re installing the upgrades right now," the employee replied.

"Great. Only change into it close to the shop’s opening time."

"Understood. Do you need anything?"

"Can you set aside some ores for me and place them on a workbench upstairs? I’ll use the forge to craft an item."

"Of course, I’ll do it right away," the employee replied, lowering her head in respect before heading off to do exactly that.

Arthur went up to the 4th floor of the building and stood by the large window, watching the players down below. They saw him too, and word about the shop started spreading among them, and of course on the forum and the internet as well.

This was all part of the marketing. Arthur wanted to film the opening video soon, when all the employees were wearing the sensual dresses. That was the best way to attract players...

He also checked his current status. He was level 9 now, with some free points to distribute. Before, he had been thinking about focusing on agility with a rogue + ranger class, but the plans had changed.

’Maybe picking a Priest class and mixing it with a mage could be interesting right now,’ he thought. ’That way I can infiltrate the Holy Church and still have plenty of damage to keep grinding.’

The game allowed stat respeccing, but it cost a pretty hefty sum. Arthur had quite a bit of money, around 27 gold coins, which was a lot for this stage of the game, but he still wouldn’t be able to pay for the respec.

Actually, it wasn’t even unlocked yet. That function would only become available at level 20, to try to help players who had fucked up their character builds and started having a hard time completing dungeons.

"The ores are ready, sir," the employee came to let him know.

Arthur went through a door, and there, he saw a huge crafting station. There was everything in there. Forges, carpentry tables, an alchemy cauldron, a tanning rack for leather items, etc.

Many NPCs were already inside using the facilities. Others were in that warehouse Ray had shown him a while back.

"Cinder, do you need anything?" one of the alchemists asked.

Everyone was now calling him Cinder, and that was intentional. Arthur had changed an option in his own system settings to make sure the NPCs called him by his nickname.

He wanted to avoid being called by his real name. It was great that the game had that function, and he should have turned it on earlier. At least he noticed before the city got infested with players.

Anyway, everyone there treated him really well, not only because of his reputation, but because Ray had made him a partner in the shop. Ray, being the mayor and current ruler of the city, was focused on several things and couldn’t always be around.

Which meant it was Arthur who would run the shop, at least in the beginning.

"I’ll use one of the blacksmithing stations," Arthur said. "Just to produce an item. It won’t take long, I know you guys need them today."

One of the blacksmiths who was working on some iron swords stopped as soon as he heard, freeing up the crafting station for him.

"Go ahead, sir," the blacksmith said. "I’ll use this chance to take a break and grab something to eat."

No matter the world, the same stuff always happened, it seemed...

The item Arthur had planned to make was a bracelet, crafted using some of the ores he had available at the moment.

The employee had placed a few types on the table, and to his surprise, there was silver in there, which was relatively valuable. Letting him use it for something like this was really kind of them.

In fact, having silver ore available made Arthur change his plans...

’Maybe I’ll make an earring to use less silver, and save the rest to craft some items later...’

He didn’t get free stuff like that every day, so it was best to make the most of it.

Anyway, that was something to think about in the future. His focus right now was producing the item as soon as possible.

Making an earring was pretty simple. Arthur went with a hoop design, first melting some silver and using his Fire Mastery passive to control the fire in the best way possible.

And after that, with just a silver wire, he shaped it into a hoop, leaving an opening so Myra could slip it through and close it when putting it on.

He didn’t even know if Myra had pierced ears, but it was just a gift, so there was no point in overthinking it.

Besides, she was a dragon capable of taking human form, so maybe she could change parts of her body at will. Which meant it might not even matter in the end.

[Silver Earring produced]

[Grade: Rare]

[Type: Accessory]

[Level Requirement: 1]

[Bonuses: +15 Intelligence]

[Soul Augment: Mana Flow]

[+30% MP Regeneration]

The item was pretty impressive considering it was a piece of jewelry made without Arthur having much skill in jewelry making. Plus, if he combined it with the Jewelry Crafting profession, he could add special gems and boost the item’s effects even further, but that would be unnecessary for this occasion.

With the item in hand, Arthur stored it in his inventory and got ready to leave the city. He went to talk with Ray to try to get a horse.

Ray, busy as he was, always found a way to talk with Arthur.

"Why do you want to go back to that village?" Ray asked.

"I’m just looking into a possible place to invest in down the line," Arthur replied. "I believe the hot springs in the region could turn into an interesting spot for the Chosen Ones, especially if we can set up a teleport portal there."

The excuse had some truth to it, but it wasn’t what he was really after at the moment.

Ray got interested in the investment.

"We can talk about that in the future, I like the idea. Those hot springs really are incredible..." Ray said, drifting off for a moment, as if savoring the hot springs in his mind.

"So? Lend me a horse?"

"Forget that, I’ll do something even better. I’ll fly you there, way faster. I want to enjoy the hot springs a little too, hehe."

Ray touched Arthur and activated his magic, letting him fly. And with that, the two of them flew off together toward the mountain village.

The players walking around the city looked up at the sky, watching Arthur fly away. With each passing day, the player Cinder kept doing even more impressive things...