12 Over the Horizon II

     "Four days…" 

     It was a bit more than I was expecting. Maybe it was because that High Commander wasn't here? No. If that was the case then we would be leaving tomorrow if he was here. There was also the fact that the High Commander would follow the Lord of the country he was in to the meeting point of the Lords, therefore making us join him made little to no sense. There was another reason I started to hypothesize. It was very likely that we were merely being used as bait. Because of this, I wanted to be as cautious as possible when it came to the following events. If we didn't have the proper equipment, then we would surely die as a result of being unprepared. 

     My next thought was of my level. 

     Should this questline contain monsters that are higher level, it would make things even more difficult. I was still against relying on skills to exploit the weaknesses of monsters. If I used too many in rapid succession, I would just end up losing MP and be at a huge disadvantage. There was the possibility of gaining a weapon with elemental properties, but it is unlikely that we could find such an item at this level.

     My only hope was to learn skills that did not take mana to activate. 

     It would need to be something like learning a type of sword style. My first idea was us finding an instructor, but I figured that going to a library was another good option. 

     After reading the forums on Royal Star, skill books actually worked differently. Instead of being able to learn skills from a book just by picking it up, the player actually had to read the book. Ones with multiple skills had "checkpoints" where they'd be able to learn the skill after sufficient reading. This meant that books teaching martial arts would be beneficial, since they would actually be learning as they went on instead of trying to figure out what they had to work with all at once. 

     "It's either paying for an instructor… or learning through skill books." I thought to myself.  

     The three of us ended up exiting the castle after walking down an incredibly tall set of stairs. 

     Veronica jumped in front of the group. "So, what should we do first?" She asked. 

     "It would be better to upgrade our equipment. I want to see what weapons we can make with the ore I got." I answered. Kazuya shook his head. "I think we should start with grinding up levels!" 

     "Getting new equipment would make that a lot easier." I said. Kazuya got visibly annoyed at my statement, but didn't bother to come up with a retort. Opening up my inventory, I looked into the ore. 

[ ITEM: ORION'S VEIN ]

[ TYPE: ORE ]

     "Orion? Like the hunter?" 

     I closed up the menu. 

     With our reward, it is possible for us to buy new equipment from the shops, but this ore was clearly special. I soon made up my mind that I would buy a new set of armor and make a new weapon. 

     Dual wielding was something anyone could do if they had the right stats. It wasn't required for the player to have the same weapon type, either. If someone wanted to have a battle axe in one hand and a dagger in the other, then it was possible. I just wanted another sword to use since it would mean I could deal damage quicker and do more damage.

     "Veronica. Would it be alright if you started grabbing supplies for us? That way we can at least be a little more prepared? I have some stuff to do." I said to her, and she nodded in response. "Mhm! I'll get right to it!" She said, waving as she made her way to the item shop.

     The item shop from when I last visited had more than what I was expecting. It obviously had health potions but there was a ton more. The health potions had stages in roman numerals: I, II, III, IV, V. As the number gets higher, the more potent the potion is. The potions I bought when I started were I, and the description said that it recovered 20 HP. The ones above I are meant for players who are at least level five and up. Bottles of Oil were the same way. Throwing knives were sold there, herbal medicine for lesser wounds, and even enhancement potions. Those would definitely be beneficial. From what I saw, there were attack and defense potions, but I also remember seeing speed potions. Because of their potency and ability to enhance stats, they were pretty expensive, easily in the thousands. The lowest one I saw was a speed potion going for 2,500 Gold. 

     With the money we got at the start, a player would only be able to get two potions, leaving them unable to get anything else. With the money we got from killing those ants and the two quests we completed, my total amount was only around 4,547g, but after that hefty reward from the Lord, the amount skyrocketed to 104,547g. With this kind of money, I could buy a couple of them with enough to get better equipment from the armor shop. But I did leave that job to Veronica, so I'll just wait for when she comes back. 

     "I should start by getting a new sword."

     I wasn't at all worried about Kazuya, so I went to the blacksmith from before. 

     Walking in, I saw the burly man hacking away at a piece of metal on an anvil. He heard me step in and stopped hammering, then turned around while lifting up his protective mask. "Hey there, lad. What brings ya back 'ere? Need another weapon?" He asked me. 

     "You bed. I got some more in the mines. I found this." On the table between us, I sat the chunk of Orion's Vein, and his eyes widened upon seeing it. Like a thief finding a massive pile of treasure, he gravitated toward it and started to examine it. He was putting his hands on it like it was some priceless jewel. "Ye said ye got this from the mines? This isn't something that I've seen in years." 

     This must be done pretty rare ore if this guy is getting all giddy about it. 

     "Can you make it into a better sword than the one I have now?"

     "O-Oh. Sure, lad." 

     "Then make the whole thing out of it." 

     "The whole thing?! Are ya sure?" 

     "Go for it. I wanna see what you can make out of it." The thing with my current weapons was that they were all broadswords. Yeah, my current one is pretty light but it's too large for me in most cases.

     "Can you make it a katana?" 

     I didn't have any particular reason for asking for a particular kind of sword. I just liked the look of them. The blacksmith sighed, but he grabbed the ore anyway. "This'll take a little bit longer, so why don't ya go and look around fer somethin' to do?" 

     He immediately went to work on the weapon, and I left the shop. "That's one thing done. Now for the next stop." 

     Using the in-game map, I found the Library. Those tend to have many skill books. However, seeing this made me think about the lore of this world. It would definitely be beneficial to know the higher-ups in the world. It could also help with filling out the bestiary if I looked into monster books. The map itself was filled with a surprising amount of detail. It wasn't simple in the least. This would probably expand as I continued to explore the world. I do want to see the surrounding countries. But, it would have to wait.

     I walked into the library. There were a few players reading throughout the building. I ignored them as I made my way through the isles, trying to find the skill books. 

     Luckily, there were a few, but none of any significance. 

     "Trial of the Emperor, Trial of the Hermit, Trial of the Sun… none of these are really my style." 

     Trial of the Sage was geared toward teaching magic-users on how to use more extreme cases of magic. It was filled with high level spells like Gravity Mine, Repulsion Wave, stuff that seemed to be meant for manipulation of different Forces. While it would be good to know, I wasn't interested in being anything like a magic-user. The MP it takes to activate these spells is incredibly high, easily getting to the hundreds. 

     Trial of the Hermit was just centered around completely improvised martial arts. While the techniques seemed interesting to learn, I wasn't a martial artist. 

     Trial of the Sun was definitely something I could get into, but this was way too intricate as it dealt with both the previous Trials but on a higher level. I was not touching that. 

     As I ran my hand past all the books, running my fingers along the spines, I stopped at a completely black book. As I went to pick it up, black flakes came off of it. I wondered if this was burnt a while ago but ended up being brought back. As I opened the pages, I was surprised to see that they were in perfect condition. There was not a single burn mark, or even a crease on any of the pages. Was this just how the publisher wanted the book to look? I couldn't make out the author's name at all, it was like it was deliberate. 

     This caught my curiosity, and I sat down with the book in hand and started reading. 

     "Lost Heaven, Flame Form."

     The way the book was written, it was clearly in Old English. It seemed that there were other versions of this "Lost Heaven" style. My guess would be that it had multiple elements such as Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Ice, etc.

     I couldn't help but get absolutely enthralled with the way the book continued on and on. Above the book, I was seeing my progress increasing via a percentage. I was only at 5%, and I was getting pretty deep into the book. It seemed I needed to actually work on the techniques. I got up and checked out the book so I could keep it for a little while as I continued to learn the style. I don't know why, but she looked confused, and when I picked the book back up, she didn't let go for a while. Was she worried? I can't see why she would, but I shrugged it off. 

     I went out to the hotspot, and drew my broadsword I had sheathed to my hip. 

     The style called for a firm stance, with illustrations to help me out. It wasn't anything special in the slightest, it was just a standard stance most samurai would take from the way the drawings were made.

     The fields I stood upon were a healthy green, with what looked to be ruins scattered upon the land. Monsters made it their home, and their variety was vast. 

     From the standard small fry like spiders, goblins, to things like bears, tigers, and even drakes.

     The next step called for something named "Mana Charge." This meant that MP would be translated to Mana if I talked to an NPC about it. The technique was simple to read: Concentrate mana into a single point, and hold it there until it binds to a physical object. I tried my best to make it work. It was definitely easier said than done. After a while, I was given a pop up. 

[ PROGRESS FOR SKILL: "Mana Charge" (75%/100%)

     I didn't have this before. Then again, I got Sword of Agni the moment I set my sword on fire back in the sewers. 

     The book itself mentioned that any technique can be emulated without using Mana Charge, it just wouldn't have the special effect that would normally be used with it. My progress was actually higher than I expected. I tightened the grip I had on my sword, and continued on with my concentration. 

     As soon as I heard a notification, my sword began to glow a dark blue color, an aura surrounded it. I soon turned my body upon hearing another noise. 

     A large bear was about to bring its massive claws down to strike me.

     "Next step…" 

     As the aura becomes one with the blade, conjure flames with it via applying the concept to the mana… 

     "Become flames…" 

     As I swung my sword, sparks began to fly, and my sword, once again, bursted into flames. 

     "Lost Heaven, Flame Form…" 

     "Agni!" 

     My swing cleaved through the bear, splitting it in half. "Agni? Again? How many times is that gonna be referenced?"

     I do remember hearing Agni before, but I can't remember the context. 

     "Well, I'll figure it out later. I should be getting back to the blacksmith to see the progress on my sword."

     I then turned around, making my back to the city. 

     "I'll figure everything out later. I should get in contact with Veronica."