chapter 9: The first batch

Disclaimer: This chapter is around 80% weapon descriptions and status, so if that is not your thing, then skip this chapter if there are more chapters, and if not, I apologize for being this way.

[Species name: Venomous void snake

Species rank: C

Attributes: Poison/Spatial

Length: 20-50 feet

Width: 5-15 feet

Evolutionary history: The venomous void snake is a snake type monster that falls within the 'Princeps serpentium' genus, they are an evolutionary deviation from the Black Venom python species template, they deviated from their original template due to high exposure to spatial mana for thousands of years, they have not only gained an immunity to over-exposure to this type of mana, but have also learned to channel it. The evolutionary paths of this species is incredibly varied due to the volatile and unpredictable nature of spatial mana.

Defining features: The Venomous void snake has very little to discern it from other snake monsters apart from their deep purple coloration, a row of downward facing spike along the back of its skull, and some odd scales found on its forehead. The scales are referred to as crown scales, these scales are much harder than its regular scales, each about 10 cm long, when a Venomous void snake feels threatened, these scales will pivot to a 90 degree angle to create a vaguely crown shaped formation on its head, a snakes age and strength can be measured by the number of crown scales it has, a new born will have up to ten, the young will have up to fifty, an adult will have up to one hundred, an elder will have up to 200 and an alpha will have close to 250. The scales are also highly prized by spatial mages as they make an amazing channeler for spatial magic.

Hunting behaviors: The Venomous void snake is a pack animal, despite its lack of capacity to feel compassion or friendship, like most snake monsters, when a pack of them work together, they display some of the most effective teamwork displayed by any creature. They are ambush predators that are able to move their entire being into other dimensions, on its own, this is not that useful in an ambush scenario, however they can peer into other dimension, and at high levels even change the point they peer through. When hunting, one snake will drive prey towards an ambush point set up beforehand where its companions are waiting, the alpha sees over it all and gives orders to all snakes using runner snakes

Mating behaviors: The Venomous void snake will not mate for life, as they lack the part of the brain that makes them feel love, they view mating more as a business rather than something to cherish. They will stay together until their children are able to live on their own, once they have, the pair of Venomous void snakes will either split up or have another clutch of eggs, it all depends on how their children fared in their early years. While it is true that they don't love each other in the conventional sense, they do have a strict code that a Venomous void snake can have more than one partner at a time, as that is a right reserved exclusively for the alpha

Natural predators: Void maw, Void stalker, Spatial wyrm, the equinox tribe

Symbolism: The venomous void snake usually represents cunning or trickery, but can also mean calm headedness]

It had been about one and a half in game weeks since Alex first logged into the world of 'Adventure awaits'.

In that time, he had been hard at work crafting and had come out the other side with many impressive creations, four of which had passed 'good' quality and had reached 'great' quality, whether this was a big improvement or not, Alex did not know as information on the game was scarce online despite its popularity.

Alex surveyed his creation with a profound sense of pride, he once more checked their stats simply for the delight of getting the details of his creations.

[Item Name: Void chain

Grade: C

Quality: Acceptable

Classification: Weapon (whip)

Attack: +20

Effect: Dex +7, int +3

Materials used: Venomous void snake flesh, Venomous void snake bone, Venomous void snakeskin

A absurdly long chain created by a budding artisan, who took all the left over materialise from his first batch and melted them all down and formed as many links as he could out of what he got]

[Weapon name: Void cradle

Grade: C

Quality: Acceptable

Classification: Armour/machine (gauntlets)

Defense: 10

Effect: Con +5, Dex and Int +4

Materials used: Venomous void snake veins, Venomous void snake bone, Venomous void snakeskin

A pair of gauntlets made by a budding artisan, by using the inbuilt mechanisms, the gauntlet can release a durable string attached to one of five spools on each gauntlet, when the string is no longer required, the spools will automatically wind the string back, while the design and concept are flashy, it is intact wildly impractical and as the artisans first foray into machinery, the mechanisms don't work quite right, just using them as regular gauntlets would be more effective]

[Weapon name: Void spy glass

Grade: C

Quality: Good

Classification: Accessory

Effect: Int +15, looking through it will almost completely block your vision

Materials used: Venomous void snake eye, venomous void snake muscle, venomous void snake bone

A spy glass made by a budding artisan, the base is carved out of wood with metal fixings, so the glass inside stays in place, the lenses aren't sized and shaped properly, and the coloration makes it hard to see through, in short, it is basically useless]

[Item name: Void hunter's armour (left)

Grade: C

Quality: Good

Classification: Armour (leather armour)

Defense: +20

Effects: Con +8, Int and Dex +4

Materials used: Venomous void snakeskin, Venomous void snake veins, Venomous void snake bone, Venomous void snake skull, Venomous void snake blood

The first set of armour made by a budding artisan, as it is the artisans first foray into armour it is quite sloppy work, however, the artisan still made it a decent enough set, though it is a light armour set that mostly allows for free movement, due to the artisan placing half a giant snake skull over the left arm, it hinders use of the left arm slight and makes the armour harder to use]

[item name: Void hunter's armour (right)

Grade: C

Quality: Good

Classification: Armour (leather armour)

Defense: +23

Effects: Con +8, Int and Dex +4

Materials used: Venomous void snakeskin, Venomous void snake veins, Venomous void snake bone, Venomous void snake skull, Venomous void snake blood

A replica of the first armour made by a budding artisan, this time, the artisan made less of the simple mistakes he made on his first attempt, this however does not mean it is flawless, far from it, the amount of mistakes fixed by artisan on his second attempt only made a small dent in the number of mistakes from his first attempt, the artisan has also not fixed the glaring issue of the skull limiting manoeuvreability, instead he has only moved the skull to the right side]

[Item name: Void hunter's boots

Grade: C

Quality: Good

Classification: Armour (footwear)

Defense: +8

Effect: Dex +7, Str +5, spatial mana flows easily through the item

Materials used: Venomous void snakeskin, Venomous void snake bone, Venomous void snake crown scales, Venomous void snake blood

Boots made by a budding artisan, these boots certainly look intimidating, however, they are not as effective as they could be, while the artisan made them to be scout shoes, the metal frame around it hinders effective scouting capabilities due to its weight and the heavy footsteps created by them, while this does give the item better defensive capabilities, it overall misses the point of the design. It is, however, undoubtedly made well, not perfectly but well, if it had not been for the fact that it missed the point of the design, it would have been graded higher]

[Item name: Void patch

Grade: C

Quality: Great

Classification: Acessory

Effect: Int +20, while wearing through this eyepatch all skills on that eye are deactivated along with their drawbacks while still allowing the user to see

Materials used: Venomous void snakeskin, Venomous void snake bone, Venomous void snake veins, Venomous void snake eye

An eyepatch made by a budding artisan to combat the side effect of a skill, the eyepatch is quite eye catching due it its deep purple coloration and eye like gem placed in the center, the eyepatch does its job, but nothing more, as such it is a useful piece of equipment if you are in the same predicament as the artisan, otherwise, it is just decoration]

[Item name: Void gauntlet of venom (right)

Grade: C

Quality: Great

Classification: Armour/machine/weapon (gauntlet)

Attack: +18

Defense: +7

Effect: Str and Dex +8, can produce a low-mid grade poison

Materials used: Venomous void snakeskin, Venomous void snake bone, Venomous void snake veins, Venomous void snake venom gland, Crown scales

One half of a pair of gauntlets made by a budding artisan, the gauntlets were the first to be made and have a high emphasize on attack power rather than defense, the machinery that transports the venom is of high quality and is not liable to break, the venom feed into claws on each finger, the claws were not designed for an easy injection and will easily tear flesh and bone while injecting the venom. The design is certainly menacing and is effective at what it does, however it is to hyper focused on one aspect, as such its defense and main focus aren't as well done as they should be, however it is still an impressive item]

[Item name: Void gauntlet of anti-venom (left)

Grade: C

Quality: Great

Classification: Armour/machine/weapon (gauntlet)

Attack: +12

Defense: +13

Effect: Int and Wis +8, can dispense anti venom which can cure low-middle grade toxins and bellow

Materials used: Venomous void snakeskin, Venomous void snake bone, Venomous void snake veins, Venomous void snake anti-venom gland, Crown scales

One half of a pair of gauntlets made by a budding artisan, out of the first batch of items made by this budding artisan, this is undoubtedly the best, it was the second of the pair made and has many improvements over its counterpart. While it was mainly designed as a healing item, the artisan found a good balance between its original purpose, functioning as a gauntlet and doing damage. The machinery used to transport the anti-venom is well made and won't break easily, the use of small needles in each finger allow the anti-venom to enter the target with ease, further increasing their effectiveness]

[item name: Void sniper

Grade: C

Quality: Great

Classification: Weapon/machine (crossbow)

Attack: +30

Effect: Int, Dex and Str +5, any projectile containing a crown scale shot from this weapon will return when velocity reaches 0

Materials used: Venomous void snake muscle, Venomous void snakeskin, Venomous void snake bone, Venomous void snake eye, Venomous void snake veins, Venomous void snake blood

A crossbow made by a budding artisan; the artisan designed the crossbow to be able to fire single powerful shots from long ranges, making it the perfect weapon for snipers and the like. While it certainly does its job well, it is hyper focused on doing one job well, while this is not that debilitating for this type of weapon, it does mean it has many weaknesses, for instance, despite having an auto loading system, it is slow to reload and takes about a minute to reload. The artisan also added a scope, however, due to its lenses shape and coloration, it is basically worthless]

[item name: Void shot

Grade: C

Quality: Good

Classification: Weapon (arrow)

Attack: +15

Effect: N/A

Materials used: Venomous void snake bone, Venomous void snake muscle, Venomous void snake blood, Venomous void snake crown scale

An arrow made by a budding artisan to accompany a crossbow built previously, curiously he only made a single arrow. The arrow itself is well built, however, the choice to use scales as the fletch may not have been the wisest choice but it functions well enough]

Alex was pleased with the results of his work, though the system didn't view his creations that well, he was happy though.

He had learned many things throughout his time crafting and earned a few levels.

One of the major things he learned is that ego weapons took a cut of the users exp, as such he had not gained as many levels as he could of.

He also learned that his key chain was doing the same, and with every level up he could upgrade one room, this was especially useful as upgrading the forge let him create molds, without this, many of his creations would have been impossible.

A loud bang made Alex painfully aware of the arrival of his compatriot.

"How many, God, damn, times will I have to say this before it gets into that thick head of your, DOOR HANDLES HAVE A PURPOSE AND AS SUCH YOU SHOULD USE THEM FOR SAID PURPOSE" Alex exploded.

"Is someone one mad" Nicolas taunted, letting the 'a' hang for a bit, "besides, it not like I do this often"

"THIS IS THE FIFTEENTH TIME THIS WEEK" Alex replied incredulously.

"Was it that many" Nicolas replied in a mock thinking tone, letting out a small snicker, "I was sure I got to at least twenty, ah well, guess I got to up the number now, wouldn't want to disappoint you"

"Don't you dare" Alex muttered in a threatening tone.

"It was a joke, don't take It too seriously, no need to be violent" Nicolas said backing away, arms raised, shaking slightly as if afraid, however, the way his eyes arched behind his mask told Alex that he was not in the least bit threatened.

A slightly awkward silence passed between them for a few seconds, dampening the mood and Nicolas's fun.

"You not gonna throw anymore insults out?" Nicolas inquired, sounding slightly disappointed.

"I just don't have the mental strength to do this useless back and forth anymore"

"Well" Nicolas started awkwardly, "it go well"

"Pardon?"

"Your crafting" Nicolas said impatiently, waving his arms in the air, "Did you level up a lot or not"

"Enough I'd say"

"Have you even checked"

"No" Alex freely admitted

"Well why not check now"

"Sure" Alex responded with compliance; he was tired from all the work he had done to argue

[Player ID: Jack Aubery

Player level: 6 (6300/6400)

Player class: Beast forger (level 6)

Str: 12

Dex: 13

Con: 13

Int: 12

Wis: 12

Cha: 12

Hp: 260

MP: 240

Free Stat points: 36

Skill paths: Basic beast forging (Novice) 10/100, Basic spatial magic (Novice) 0/100, Minor blessing of nature 0/100, Wendigo's skull 0/100, Wendigo's tribal tattoos 0/100, Minor divinity of crafting 10/100, The crafters dimensional key chain 0/100, Ego master (Novice) 0/100, Pathetic divine sight 0/100, Basic divine magic (Novice) 0/100

Skill points: 20

Skill up points: 2

Equipment: First beast forgers tool belt, Basic blacksmithing attire, The crafters dimensional key chain, Wendigo's skull

Titles: Man of quality, ego master, 1 in 100 crafter, not just one way, fast learner

Title name: Fast learner (Whisper grade)

Effect: +1 skill point per level

A title given to those who have genuinely improved their skills, or adapted to new ones, in a short span of time]

Alex viewed his status and began to allocate his stats and skill points.

Half an hour later he was done.

[player ID: Jack Aubrey

Player level: 6 (6300/6400)

Player class: Beast forger (level 6)

Str: 18

Dex: 19

Con: 19

Int: 20

Wis: 20

Cha: 18

Hp: 380

MP: 400

Free stat points: 0

Skill paths: Basic beast forging 20/100, Basic spatial magic (Novice) 5/100, Minor blessing of nature 0/100, Wendigo's skull 0/100, Wendigo's tribal tattoos 0/100, Minor divinity of crafting 10/100, The crafter's dimensional key ring 0/100, Ego master (Novice) 0/100, Pathetic divine sight 0/100, Basic divine magic (Novice) 5/100

Effects gained:

Basic beast forging:

11/100: Slightly more soul energy is collected per harvest

12/100: Materials gained via collection are slightly easier to work with

13/100: Designs using materials gained from summoning are slightly easier to visualise

14/100: Materials gained via collection are slightly easier to work with

15/100: Designs using materials gained via summoning are slightly easier to visualise

16/100: Skill with hands become slightly better

17/100: More materials gained per harvest

18/100: Skills with hands become slightly better

19/100: Slightly more soul energy gained per harvest

20/100: skill 'quick equip ' gained

Skill name: quick equip (passive)

Effect: all lag time between switching equipment is set to 0

A skill created by the first beast forger, due to his vast arsenal and low overall stats, he created this technique to help him access his arsenal at high speeds while in a pinch. While the effect is good, unless you are in the same position as the first beast forger, its not that useful

"The right tool is needed for each job" Octavius, the first beast forger

Basic spatial magic (Novice):

1/100: Int and Wis +1

2/100: +40 basic mana trade points

3/100: +20 spatial mana trade points

4/100: +40 basic mana trade points

5/100: Skill 'mana craft' obtained

Skill name: mana craft

Effect: Allows you to use mana runes to form spell matrix, at current level, only 5 runes may be used in one matrix

The most basic of all magic skills, simply put, without it, magic is impossible. it was said to be gifted by the gods and is one of the fundamental skill of this world

"To you, I gift knowledge, do with it as you will" The first great god

Basic divine magic (Novice):

1/100: Int and Wis +1

2/100: +200 basic mana trade points

3/100: +20 divine mana trade points

4/100: +200 divine mana trade points

5/100: upgrades skill 'mana craft' to 'divine mana craft', skill 'divine mana craft' +1 rank

Skill name: Divine mana craft (Rank II)

effect: allows you to use mana runes to form a spell matrix, unlike basic mana craft, there is no limit on how many runes may be used, however, for every rune over the natural rune limit, a price is paid, at this level the cost of the spell increases by 1.5 times the natural mana cost, at this level up to 10 components may be used without a price

A skill made by the gods to make sure that mortals were always bellow them, due to their limitless sources of mana, they did not have to worry too much about the skills draw back, in fact, it did not even need to be implemented, but the gods placed it as punishment to all those foolish enough to try and covert the gods knowledge for free

"Not all is meant for you" the first great god

skills: property change, magic adhesive, divine sight, divine radiance, quick equip, divine mana crafting

Skill up points: 3

Equipment: first beast forger tool belt, basic blacksmithing attire, the crafters dimensional key ring, Wendigo's skull

Titles: Man of quality, ego master, 1 in 100 crafter, not just one way, fast learner]