Chapter 46 - Swordsman Class, Build Complete

The skill Arthur chose from the Rogue class was the stealth skill. That was obvious. It was the core skill of the class, granting not just invisibility but a damage increase as well. There was no reason not to pick it.

It would synergize well with any of his other skills. Also, with Stealth, Arthur would have a better chance of infiltrating that fortress Point Blank had talked about.

"I messaged him," Shadow Cloak said as she quickly left the shop. "See ya."

She just wanted to get back to her leveling, testing out the new pair of daggers Arthur had given her.

’Such a leveling maniac...’

Arthur talked with his employees before leaving the shop, just to make sure everything was running smoothly.

"We have enough supplies to keep the shop running for a while, sir," a cute girl in a dress said, "but our suppliers promised us more materials by tomorrow morning, sir."

"Good."

Fantastic, honestly. The shop was doing well, which meant more money for Arthur. He couldn’t wait for the day he would get his share of the profits and fill his pockets with a huge amount of gold.

With that out of the way, Arthur also left the shop, walking through the now player-infested city. There were players everywhere, doing all sorts of things.

Not everyone used the city just to get supplies and then quickly leave to kill monsters. Some liked to chill in the city square, visit bars, sometimes brothels, and just chat with both NPCs and players.

A casual way of playing that Arthur liked as well. But before doing any of that, he wanted to reach rank 1 on the leveling ladder. That was his plan for now.

Some players recognized him as he walked through the city. Well, basically everyone did, but they didn’t come up to him to talk or ask for pictures. It was becoming more normal to see him around, so players weren’t that eager to approach him anymore.

Also, everyone already knew he had the guard’s protection, so pissing him off could mean getting attacked by the guards, and maybe even losing reputation in the region. That just wasn’t worth it. Players were starting to understand how important reputation was, and how many doors it could open for them.

The so-called Azure Dragon was one of the best Swordsmen out there. Arthur remembered him from the past, or rather, the future. The man would become such a powerhouse. Everyone would know his name.

But he had no idea he was close to Shadow Cloak. Her brother? That had never crossed his mind. In fact, there was nothing about it in the information available online.

’First time going to a beginner village in this life. So weird.’

He was already level 10, yet he had never visited the beginner village of the region he spawned in. His leveling process was unusual.

On the way, Arthur saw more players. Some were level 10, which meant they were heading to the city, while others were still leveling up, killing monsters in the forests surrounding it.

Even after getting further away from the city, the stream of players never diminished. The game was always getting new players, and some started in the Aldora Kingdom just to be in the same one as Cinder.

"Is that Cinder?"

"Huh? Where?"

Arthur’s cloak had a hood, so he put it on. With it, his nickname could only be seen if a player got close to him. Sure, there was still a mark above his head so players could spot him from far away, but they couldn’t see his nickname.

The players who had seen Arthur started arguing.

"That’s not him, you’re fooling yourself. Cinder is in the city, not here with us, level 1 newbies."

"I’m telling you it was him. I saw his nickname."

While they were arguing about whether they had seen Cinder or not, Arthur just ran past them. He was running so fast that reaching the beginner village didn’t take long, only about 30 minutes or so.

This time, he didn’t stop to fight any of the monsters. There was no point. They were too weak to give him any decent EXP, which was why he reached the village so quickly.

Shadow Cloak had spoken with Azure Dragon, saying that he and Arthur could meet up in one of the village’s houses, the one at the very end, in a corner where most players didn’t even bother going.

Almost all the players in the beginner area were out in the fields killing monsters. There weren’t many quests inside the village, so no one lingered there. The abandoned house they chose to meet in had no one around.

Still, Arthur looked around first, making sure no one was watching as he opened the decaying wooden door and went inside the cabin.

Inside, a man waited for him, sitting on a chair, almost the only piece of furniture in that house. Azure Dragon had blond hair and blue eyes. The man was quite good-looking. Arthur remembered seeing his face in some ads back in his previous life.

But back then, Azure Dragon barely spoke with other players, only those who had a similar level of power or fame as him. He was basically a celebrity, sometimes seen as arrogant from an outside perspective.

It was much different this time. Azure Dragon looked so nervous, both palms placed on his thighs, gripping his clothes while he waited for Arthur to show up. Ever since his sister had messaged him, Azure Dragon couldn’t stop thinking about the encounter.

He had dropped everything he was doing, ignoring the first quests and the monsters surrounding the village. All he could think about was meeting Cinder, a player he already admired.

Arthur, knowing everything he knew about Azure Dragon, felt weird seeing him act like that.

Azure Dragon instantly got up from the chair the moment he saw Arthur walking in. He bowed, voice cracking, as if he was too nervous to get a full sentence out.

"C-Cinder, uh, Sir Cinder, uh, Lord Cinder..."

Azure Dragon was using all sorts of titles to address Arthur, as if he were some kind of aristocrat...

"Relax, dude," Arthur said as he took off his hood. "No need for those stupid titles."

Despite saying that, Azure Dragon didn’t quite buy it. He was still calling him Sir.

"Sir, my sister messaged me. I thought it was a joke, but apparently it wasn’t," Azure Dragon said, finally realizing how his sister had leveled up so fast. "She said you lent her some OP weapons that made her level up fast and reach rank 1. Is that true?"

Shadow Cloak had kept their contract a secret, not even telling her own brother. That made Arthur trust her even more. He had been right to choose her as one of his close friends.

Arthur said proudly, "Yes, that’s true. My creations are so powerful that they allow players to reach levels of power they never dreamed of before."

He paused for a second, then added, "You know why I’m here, right?"

Azure Dragon scratched the back of his head, feeling a little awkward for not knowing the answer.

"I have no clue, sir. She didn’t tell me. I just got excited to see you, so..."

Arthur sighed, then explained everything he could to Azure Dragon. The benefits he would receive, the downsides, and the reason he was there in the first place.

"I accept," Azure Dragon said instantly. "Losing 5% of EXP is worth it if I have a weapon capable of killing anything much faster. But can I count on you to always provide weapon upgrades?"

If Arthur wanted to keep his passive EXP running and his classes active, he needed to supply them with better weapons, or else they could just switch to other items.

"Yes. Not only that, but I’ll also try to offer different items like armor and jewelry," Arthur said. "Enchanted items too. I don’t think anyone else can offer that."

"Really? You’re incredible, sir."

The only thing bothering Arthur was keeping his level high while crafting. Getting 10% of their earned EXP was a nice passive income, but it wouldn’t be enough to let him grow stronger and reach the highest levels.

Anyway, Azure Dragon accepted the offer. Arthur gave him the Iron Sword he had crafted for himself back then, the first crafted item of his arsenal.

"I’ll give you a new level 10 sword once you reach the city," Arthur said, "but for now, use this one."

Arthur used his Contract Skill and lent the Iron Sword to Azure Dragon in exchange for 3 skills from his class, 20% of his highest attribute, and 5% of all the EXP he earned from killing monsters.

With that, Arthur now had both of the classes he wanted to start rushing some levels. He already knew of a small elven village in a forest where he could get some nasty level 15 and 20 blueprints to craft better items. That’s where he wanted to go next.

’Now, which skills do I choose?’ Arthur thought, opening the system tab and reading through all the skills.