Chapter 3: Tutorial! Blacksmith and Missions

Apho's POV

"What's my goal here?" I asked her.

She giggled then answered me, "You have to find out on yourself"

For such a RPG adventure, I'm slowly loving this game. My character stats are fairly balanced, except my Power stat which I deemed lower than expected. I rarely work out but good thing I have a healthy body, making my HP higher than I expected. I start walking away from this park and beyond here is a town or city. There are a lot of NPCs and some players around here. Some of them have equipment already, like swords and armors.

"Hey Apho, do you want some facts about this game?" She cheerfully asked while on my left shoulder as I kept walking while looking around.

"Sure, go ahead" I responded to her question.

"Okay! First is about this place. You are inside of this kingdom, the Kingdom of Piedras. Mostly in this kingdom are Swordsman class players but I rarely see other classes. The mass land around this kingdom is mostly rocks but there are still some areas that has bodies of water" She said to me.

as I look around, I keep seeing players having swords then I suddenly remembered what she said before leaving the park: You have to find out what your goal is. I should start setting goals on improving my overall stats.

"Where can I get weapon and armors here?" I suddenly asked her before she state her second fun fact on me.

I can feel her irritated aura beside me. She flies in front of me, making me stop walking.

"Second fact! You can get armors and weapons from blacksmiths. I know a friend who can give you something for free! Do you want to go there today?" She ranted and then asked me.

"Yeah sure," I replied to her.

The word 'free' is what I really want to hear. She points in the direction where the blacksmith she mentioned earlier. We continue to walk, even though I'm the only one who's actually walking. She slowly getting bored so in the meantime, she explains to me how abnormal my stats are. Well, compare to other players here, my stats are normal for me. Its just that it is not on average.

After talking about my stats, there are a few seconds of silence before she talks again. She points to the medium billboard with written, 'Papa HH Blacksmith'.

"That is where we are headed today, Apho. Let's go meet my friend!" She happily said and immediately flew to our first destination.

I just continue walking at the same pace. After arriving on the doorstep, I hear some metals clanking and Pixi shouting inside the blacksmith.

"Hey Hefesto! Come out of your cave!" She shouted.

Even with such a loud voice, her voice sounds so gentle yet annoying. It's not ear-piercing but it's loud even though she's a small fairy. I look around the blacksmith and there are a lot of armor and swords. Most of them look so common and simple but some of them have a lot of design. Either way, all of them are well-made.

The clanking metal from earlier suddenly disappears and behind the Portiere, an old man appears.

"What do you need, Pixi? I have an order for today" He asked then leaned on the wooden counter table.

Every step he does earlier make the wooden floor creak. He's bigger than me and he has such a deep voice and masculine body.

"Sorry to disturb you but you have a new customer. His name is Apho" She said while flying above my head and he suddenly burst into laughter.

"Uahahaha! It's been a long time since you brought a man here, Pixi!" He exclaimed while staring into my eyes then he looked at me from my head to my feet.

"H-hey! I'm doing my best to help players. It's just---" She ranted as she was being defensive.

"Either way, what's your intention here, kid?" He casually ignored Pixi, making her stop saying some excuses.

I got curious about the armor and stuff all around me so I asked him, "Are all of these your work?"

"Ohh you have a sharp eye there. Yes, all of those armors and swords, from simple to rare armory, all of it are my work!" He proudly said to me.

"Back to the business kid, what do you want?" He continued.

"We want some free basic armory. It's for my tutorial to him." Pixi suddenly answered and he slowly shook his head like he didn't like the idea.

"I am talking to that kid, Pixi. I want his answer." He said and Pixi explained why she should be followed since it was her tutorial but once again, he just ignored her.

"Now kid, I know you desire something else just from the look of your eyes. Tell me and I might consider giving it to you." He offered to me as if he saw a glint in my eyes.

When playing such adventure games, I have this technique that makes me go 1 step ahead of others. I made a little pause of thinking before talking.

"I want some better armor compared to the free ones and also a light sword" I memorized those words first in my mind so I can avoid simple mistakes.

The technique on what I said is just literally one-step-ahead. Rather than grinding the game with the lowest equipment, I immediately jump to the next level. Progression is the key point in such adventure RPG. There are some cases that the lowest equipment is enough for progressing the game but since he is offering, might as well take the opportunity.

"Hah! I knew you were another special player. Pixi knows how to pick good players" He said then laughed again.

What caught my ears is when he said 'another'. Looks like Pixi had a hard time guiding new players, or just that she's a picky fairy. I take a glimpse at Pixi on my left shoulder and it seems that she's blushing a bit and looking away. She can't say anything after she got complimented by that guy.

"LOLITA!!" He suddenly shouted, making Pixi and I startled a little bit.

"Better equipment you say? I will give you a normal steel sword as your 'starter' sword. But you won't get any free armor. I shall give you one mission, will you gladly take it?" He said while smirking as if he was challenging me. I heard a girl shouting inside the Portiere.

"Haiii--- Ahhhh!!" She accidentally fell down to the floor.

I look down the entrance door and there is a long metal bar lying down there. That must be the reason why she tripped.

"Ahhh that hurts…" She scratched her head then casually stood up and fixed herself.

"Well, she is my apprentice, Lolita. She's a clumsy girl but she can do well and learn fast" He said while the girl slowly walked beside him.

She's a petite girl and taller than him and she has safety goggles on her forehead while wearing a mechanical outfit.

"Will you gladly take my mission?" He asked again while staring at me.

"Sure, what is it?" I asked him while having a staring contest then he smiled while thinking.

"Collect 20 normal slimeballs and deliver them to me. The slimes are just outside this kingdom so you can easily spot them. After that, I will give you the armor you desire." He explained the challenge to me.

He glanced at Pixi then looked at me again then continued, "Pixi will surely handle teaching you, Goodluck kiddo."

He glanced at the girl and said, "Lolita, do it now".

The girl nods and gets something on the counter table. She slowly walks towards me with measuring tools in hand. Pixi flies above my head.

"Don't move too much, 'kay?" She said while smiling.

She's actually the same height as me, the counter floor makes her taller a bit. She takes a deep breath and starts measuring my body, swiftly. I just stood nicely and after a few minutes, she measures my whole body with ease.

"What's your name, sir?" She asked with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

"Just ask your old man about it." I replied to her in low voice.

I don't really like sharing my own name even though my HUD can just show my name. It seems NPCs can't see any HUD and it's not surprising. She smiles and says okay then returns to the counter table. While the girl was measuring me, the bearded guy get the light sword I requested.

"Take this and continue your journey. Also, don't forget about your mission. See you later, kid" He said then he went back inside their room.

The clanking metal sounds from earlier return. I take the sword with its leather scabbard and wear it on my waist. I wiggle my hips a little bit and the sword in my hip area feels satisfying in a way.

Pixi flew in front of me and asked, "Let's go?"

I just nod and she flies beside me. We exit the blacksmith and suddenly, the menu screen appears. I stop walking as she flies towards it.

"You got your first mission! In this menu section, you can see your missions and player settings. Click 'Missions' to see your current objectives." She said while pointing to the glowing Mission.

"Also, when you get a new mission, this icon blinks" Yeah I can tell.

"You currently have 2 missions: 'Complete the tutorial' and 'gather 20 normal slimeballs" She explained and I noticed that my two missions have different colors.

"There are 4 types of missions and currently, you already have the 2 types of it: Main mission and Side mission" She explained as I just listened silently.

"When the mission glows in blue color, it's your main mission. When the mission glows in yellow, it's your side quest" She pointed my two current missions.

The 'Complete the tutorial' is blue colored while 'Gather 20 normal slimeballs' is yellow colored.

As I remember, when I play this type of game, I rather complete all available side quests before finishing the main one. It's because I encounter once that the side quest had just suddenly disappeared in its existence after completing the game. I just don't want to make the same mistakes again. I close the menu screen by clicking the 'X' button at the top right of the screen. I take a deep sigh and then look at Pixi.

"Let's kill some slime" I said to her then she smiled.

"Yeah!" She replied then I slowly walked away from the blacksmith while she was flying on my left shoulder.

…

…

After I walked a few steps, I calmly asked her. "What's their name again? The guy and the girl."

She perhaps facepalms so hard cause I definitely hear it in my left ear.

"Hefesto and Lolita"

-To be Continued