Chapter 29- The Legacy

Abel wobbled as he stabilized his footing. While it felt like the entire dungeon was shaking, in reality it was just the room that the Rat King was in. He looked around trying to see a change when the wall at the end seemed to move.

The elongated locket floated up from his hand and opened up on its own. A small hammer came out, it was intricately carved out of an unknown material. The little hammer looked like a marvel of craftsmanship with meticulous detail despite its diminutive size.

The handle, though small, was adorned with delicate patterns and motifs. Each stroke seemed to tell a different story. The precision and skill required for such detail was astounding. Tiny grooves and swirls created an complex texture and aesthetic appeal.

As Abel's eyes travelled down the handle, he saw the little hammerhead. It was a miniature marvel in itself. Despite its minute size, the hammerhead was meticulously detailed with engraved patterns featuring geometric shapes, floral designs and even some mythical creatures.

'How the hell was this carved in such detail' 

Abel marveled at the object that was incased in the shabby looking locket. He looked on as the hammer seemed to look for a specific region within the wall.

It floated around, as though studying its surroundings before spinning into an unassuming cervix on the rear wall. It looked as though it had finally fulfilled its purpose as it started disintegrating. 

'Wha- Noooo' 

Abel was terrified of losing the quest item but he forcibly calmed himself down as he figured this was the reaction old man Rye had mentioned. The rear wall opened up enough to allow entry for a single person.

'Will I finally get the reward…' 

Abel was both anxious and excited at what lay next. He slowly stepped through the corridor before him and walked through it. It inclined downwards but it wasn't long, merely 100 meters. At the end, he came across a stone platform.

The stand seemed to be made out of the ores from the wall in the dungeon and held just a single item, a hammer.

'A hammer? That's it…' 

Abel felt disappointment rising form the pit of his stomach. He remained optimistic and didn't let these negative thoughts affect his mood. It was still too early to tell if it was useless, but the thought couldn't help but rise up in the back of his mind.

'It can't be useless. Just getting the quest was hard enough, it shouldn't be a simple hammer found in a random shop.'

He walked around the small room and looked around it, trying to see if there was anything else but only felt his disappointment increasing. Finally, he decided to walk up to the platform and take a closer look at the hammer placed on top.

Its handle was wrapped in well-worn leather, bearing obvious marks from countless hours of use. The head looked simple without any embellishment or enchanted runes. It looked to be composed of a dense metal that hints at hidden potential. Overall, its unadorned appearance was a far cry from the intricate little hammer that came out of the locket. 

Just as Abel stepped closer and placed his hand on it, the hammer seemed to give off an otherworldly glow as a shadow projected itself above the now extraordinary looking object. 

Abel couldn't make out the appearance of the man staring down at him but he didn't have to. The notification that popped up before his widened eyes sufficiently explained the situation he was facing.

*Ding*

Congratulations! You have uncovered a hidden profession: BATTLESMITH.

Would you like to change class, Accept?

Yes/No

"Y-Yes" Abel replied with a stutter, still unbelieving of his current reward.

*Ding*

You have switched to a new Class: Battlesmith!

+20 Strength (+5 per level)

+20 Endurance (+5 per level)

+20 Dexterity (+5 per level)

+12 Toughness (+3 per level)

+12 Vitality (+3 per level)

+12 Intelligence (+3 per level)

+120 HP

+120 MP

+New Skills Unlocked:

Basic Forging (Greenhorn 0.0%): Craft simple weapons and armor using various materials.

Cost: 15 Mana and 30 stamina points every 30 minutes

Mend and Repair (Greenhorn 0.0%): Quickly repair weapons and armor of low durability.

Cost: 10 Mana and 15 Stamina Points every 20 minutes.

Weapon Enhancement (Greenhorn 0.0%): Sharpen and tune weapons to increase attack damage or attack range +10%

Cost: 10 Mana Points.

Cooldown: 30 seconds

Metal Insight (Greenhorn 0.0%): Provides understanding of ores, able to discern the properties, strengths and potential uses of various metals and minerals.

Cost: 10 Mana Points

All Weapons Proficiency (expand/collapse-): Basic skill in all weapon types, allowing the Battlesmith to wield a variety of arms with some degree of competence. 

All Weapons Mastery (Passive): 10% increase in damage for all weapon types. Double EXP in all weapons proficiency. 

Adaptive Eye (Passive): Automatically adjusts to varying light conditions, ensuring optimal vision in both bright and dark environments.

Sturdy Defense (Active Skill): +25% to defense for 15 seconds.

Cost: 30 MP

Cooldown: 1 minute.

Advanced Skills (Locked)

Abel was stunned into silence for a few minutes. He couldn't believe he had gained a hidden profession and it seemed like it was tailor made for him too. He couldn't understand why such an awesome dual combat and crafting profession was sitting in the outskirts of Caelondia instead of being in the heart of Valtoria.

What Abel didn't know was that this hidden profession had extremely stringent requirements. If he didn't have more than 1 weapon's proficiency skill, unlocked the dexterity stat or already had a profession then the locket wouldn't have reacted. 

Everything had to fall in place for the inheritance to show itself. If he had learned the sword and shield then he wouldn't have unlocked dexterity. If he had only learned archery and nothing else then he wouldn't have fulfilled the first condition. If he had gotten the ranger profession instead of equipping himself with armor then he still wouldn't have gotten a reaction.

He thought back to the harrowing 2 days he spent learning the sword and bow proficiency skills and couldn't help but gulp at the amount of weapon proficiency skills he "learned" in mere moments. 

From hammers and axes to spears and shields, even rare, exotic weapon types like Chakram was there. The long list of weapon proficiency skills caused him to feel light headed. It seemed no weapon could escape a Battlesmith's skill set, he had even gotten the pick axe proficiency skill!

The blacksmithing proficiency skills seemed to also require both mana and stamina. Although he only gained 1 active skill, the shear amount of other useful skills he gained didn't diminish the joy he was feeling deep inside.

'Open Character Stats' He pulled up his character information to take a look at the changes to his stats as he still couldn't believe what he gained.

Name: Red Sky

Level: 5

Profession: Battlesmith

Alignment: Neutral

Title: Rodent Ravager

Reputation: 20

Health (HP): 340

Mana (MP): 260 

Attack: 97-101

Defense: 47

Strength (STR): 50 (+6)

Agility (AGI): 30 (+8)

Endurance (END): 42

Toughness (TGH): 28

Vitality (VIT): 34

Wisdom (WDM): 14

Intelligence (INT): 26

Resilience (RES): 11

Dexterity (DEX): 34

Luck: 4

Satiety: 68

Stamina: 42

His AGI was obviously lagging but he couldn't do anything about it other than look for equipment that added to this stat. His highest attack saw the greatest increase, breaking through 100!

He noticed that his skill panel was now separated into Crafting Panel and Combat Panel with the skills he gained separated under each of their respective roles. He eventually pulled his eyes away from his updated stats information and finally took a look at the hammer that was behind all these changes.

"Inspect"

*Ding*

[Stonebinder's Legacy Hammer] (SEALED) 

Attack: 12-16

Durability: 100/100

Craftsmanship Bonus: +1 (Enhances +1 to all crafting stage skills)

SEALED: ???

SEALED: ???....

Restriction: Can only be wielded by Red Sky

Description: The Stonebinder's Legacy Hammer is a cherished relic passed down through generations, a testament to the mastery of the Battlesmith. Re-crafted in the flames of a bygone era, this hammer radiates a timeless power that resonates with the spirit of its legendary progenitor. It is currently sealed and retains much of its power within.

'Stonebinder… it's the same name as the dungeon, Stonebinder's Cavern.'

Abel couldn't help but remember the name of the dungeon. He wondered about the backstory behind it all but figured it might get revealed when he returned to hand in his quest.

He paid more attention to the items details. The attack slightly confused Abel, it was obviously not a war hammer but a forging one. He thought it over for a while but in the end, pushed it to the back of his mind. He'd hopefully get an explanation from old man Rye when he went back to report on his quest.

He wasn't sure how he could give it to the old man after he saw the hammer was now bound to him as the restriction to using it was pretty clear.

'Wait… if its bound to me can I store it in an inventory'

He tested it out, trying to store it without placing it into his spacial bag. As though the hammer had sapience of its own, it shrunk to the same size as the hammer from the locket before disappearing into his forehead.

He saw an icon light up on his Panel Menu, when he opened it up he noticed the hammer was placed in the heart of his skill tree in the profession tab.

'Now… should I head right back to old man Rye or should I mine some ores…'

Abel started thinking about his next step. While he wanted to hand in his quest straight away, he also didn't want to leave any loot behind in this gold mine! He might be able to get more loot from mining with the addition of his title.

'I should hand it in and see if there's a follow up quest first. I can always come back and mine the ores. Besides, the dungeon still needs at least another 12 hours before it can respawn these monsters.'

He decided to hand in his quest and unload all the loot he currently had on him. His spacial bag was already stuffed with monster parts that he didn't have space for anything else. He could empty out his bag at Velskryn and come back to refill it with ores and the leftover monster parts.

Having made his decision, Abel swiftly made his way up to the first floor without the use of the torch as he had a handy eye skill to see through both darkness and brightness alike.

 **************************

Half-way across the world.

*Ding*

The moment Abel received the Battlesmith profession in-game, a middle-aged man sitting in a dark room was disturbed by a notification that popped up out of nowhere.

"What is it?"

He asked in a low voice, but there wasn't anyone else in the room. A few moments later, a feminine voice spoke out from the holographic projection before him.

"Master, another inheritance has chosen its user."

"Oh.. which one?" The man finally opened his eyes and the dark room seemed to brighten up from his gaze alone.

"Branthor Stonebinder – The Battlesmith" The unknown feminine voice sounded out and then continued asking,

"Should I flag the player?"

"No, like I said before… it's still too early to care. The seeds have merely started sprouting. Inform me when these players advance further. Till then, do not disturb me with such news." The man replied after a moment of thought and then closed his eyes, returning to his meditation.

The voice didn't sound out again and the holographic projection went out. The room returned to darkness once more.