6 Chapter 6: Tutorial! Interaction

"Let's go back to the kingdom and finish your first side quest!" She said to me then flew to my usual spot, my left shoulder.

I check my stats first and it increases the same for my HP and MP but my power increases by 3. It seems that my speed, accuracy/knowledge, and luck stats don't increase by level up-ing but my knowledge is now 300% due to Pixi's influence. I check my Inventory my silver coins increased even though I don't pick up any coins from earlier. I currently have 38 silver coins right now. I also have the health potion which didn't really come in handy today and 20 slime balls for the side quest.

"You might be wondering your silver coins increased even though you only looted slime balls earlier," She said then started explaining again.

"Every time you kill an enemy, you will automatically receive experience but not only that! You will also get some silver coins automatically. But there are some cases that the enemy drops some coins such as silver and gold" She explained to me.

"mhm," I nodded then closed my menu.

"That's all. Let's really head back now to the kingdom" She said and flew to my left shoulder again.

We didn't go that far so walking towards the huge gate takes only a few minutes. I just notice that there are some players who are just roaming around while others are slaying some slimes. Pixi is giving me some directions to the Blacksmith even though I'm not the type of guy who gets lost easily. Again, once you know the places, it's not really that far so it only takes us a minute or 2 of walking to arrive at the blacksmith. We enter inside and I see the tall girl sketching something.

I notice something on top of her head. It's a yellow exclamation mark and it's almost as big as Pixi's size. I slowly walk towards her and look at what she's sketching. She suddenly sees me and got startled.

"W-wahh?! U-umm hello, how can I help you?" She said as she fixed herself and I got a glimpse of the sketch she was doing.

I couldn't see it clearly but I'm guessing it was the armor that the bearded guy offered to me. She stares at me for a bit then make a realized face.

"A-ahhh! Apho, You're back already, it's only been like less than an hour or so" She said then called Hefesto inside.

The guy shows up, looking very sweaty from working inside his workshop.

"Oh, kid! You're back already. What business do you have here?" He asked me while using his cloth to wipe his sweat.

"I have the slime balls now" I stated to him.

He looked around me and said, "Looks like Pixi taught you about the inventory since you don't have them on your hands."

I nod and then check my inventory. I suddenly remember something… I alternatively look at Pixi and the inventory, reminding her that she didn't teach me how to release the items from the inventory that she said she's going to teach me someday. It took a while for her to realize what I am indicating and the guy just laugh at us.

"UAHAHAHA! Pixi, teach him how to properly use his Inventory. You always tend to forget something, you forgetful fairy" He laughed and just stood at his spot as he watched Pixi teach me.

"Okay okay!" She annoyedly exclaims.

She flew to my ears and whispered, "I will teach you the manual way for now, don't ask why"

I don't know if she's just lazy to teach me about magic or if she doesn't really know how to teach it even though she can use magic. I look at her with doubt but she just dodges my stare.

"Okay, first is ofcourse, open your Inventory. Tap the item you want to release and there will be an icon of choices of what do you want to do: Use and release. Choose the 'release' and after that, there will be a numbered meter. It indicates how many you want to release. It can be minimum, maximum, specific amount of items." She explained to me casually as if she didn't care about my deadly stare. I see the bearded guy nod a little with a concerned face and then lean to the counter table.

"Show me the slime balls you have looted," He said while waiting for my response.

"Note to tell you, the items you want to release will show on your hands, just like how I give you the money earlier" She continued and then she flew to the top of my inventory menu.

I walk to the counter table and point my right palm to it. I use my left hand to release the maximum amount of my slime balls, which is 20. The guy looks at it calmly and starts to count them one by one.

"Good job, but I have bad news for you, kid. As you can see, my Lolita is still sketching the armor that fits your body size. And I still have orders for today and tomorrow therefore, come back for 2 to 3 days. Guaranteed, you will get the armor you want" He declared to me as he collects the slime balls.

I notice that Lolita is focusing on sketching after Hefesto looks at her. I close my menu afterward and Pixi flies to my shoulder as always.

"Oh and also, if you bring more slime balls and possibly more raw material items, I can upgrade your armor while making it. It will be a win-win for both of us, is that good?" He added and asked.

"Sure" I replied as I stare at his face, smiling a bit.

"So that's it! See you after 2 to 3 days, kid" He said then went back inside his workplace.

I look at Pixi and it seems that we have the same motive to do. The yellow exclamation mark on Lolita's top head is gone so we don't have any business here. We walk outside and stretch a little. I'm about to talk to Pixi but she talk to me first.

"You noticed the exclamation mark earlier, right?" She asked while flying in front of me and I nodded in response to her question.

"It means it has a mission for you. Remember that the yellow ones are the side quest. Earlier, the blacksmith has a blue exclamation mark but I forgot to show it to you since I accepted the quest for you after I went inside" She explained and I heard her mumbling an apology then a sigh.

"Either way, check your menu then your missions. You will notice that the side quest earlier is still here and it has been updated. Now it's 'come back to the blacksmith after 2 or 3 days'. And also, it has an optional task to do: 'bring any amount of slime balls or any raw materials'." She kept explaining as I paid attention to what she was talking about.

To think about it, he's right. It really is a win-win situation since he will need the raw materials for making his gears as I will need to grind for ExP and Coins.

"As what it said, it's 'Optional'. You can do it if you want or not but according to Hefesto, he will enhance your gear. Now that we're done with our current mission, what do you want to do Apho?" She continued and then asked me.

I was thinking earlier after the guy said to come back after 2 to 3 days. This world would definitely have a day and night cycle but I wonder if the time will be the same as a 24-hour format. And also, I wonder if it will affect our real-world timeline. Either way, my top priority, for now, is to get stronger for the first day of playing this Virtual RPG.

"Let's kill some slimes and time outside the kingdom" I replied to her question earlier then she flew to her usual spot.

"Sure! Let's get going then, Apho!" She said with enthusiasm.

I start walking and it seems that she doesn't lead the way anymore. I plan to go to the merchant shop first, and buy a mana potion if there's any since I have low mana points, just in case like when Pixi forcibly made me buy a health potion, And also so I can grind even more. The health potion that I bought cost only 12 coins so I hope the mana potion has the same price.

I also plan to find some quests to do so I don't get bored of repetitive grinding on the same enemies for hours or even for days. The main mission will continue after a maximum of 3 days so I would love to adventure more in this world. Speaking, I am seeing a girl in the distance, standing with the yellow exclamation mark on top of her head. I approach her and she notices me.

"A-ahhh brave swordsman! i-it seems that you're interested, can you help me?" the girl, who probably on her 20s or 30s, asked me and I nodded.

"Praise thy God! t-thank you so much brave swordsman. My dad was a hunter in his prime but now he's too old and can't fight anymore. I'm doing my best for us to stay alive b-but I don't have any money on me and my job is too low." She stated to me as the aura of sadness and hope glimmered around her.

"B-but! i-i have a little request for you in exchange for information. My dad has a location where he always fights slimes, sometimes even stronger than him. I-i can give it to you i-in exchange for stuffs l-like uhh" She was quite troubled if she's going to say it or not.

"Is 15 slimeballs or 30 silvers good for you?" She requested.

"Deal, I will give you the silvers" I offered my hand and her eyes shined. I opened my inventory and tap the silver coins then released 30 silvers into my palm.

"T-thank you so much brave swordsman! T-the location is after you went out of the eastern gate, go to the southern part and there's a big rock formation there. That's where the group of slimes usually hang out." She explained after getting the silvers from my hand and suddenly Pixi flew around me.

"That's the gate we just went, Apho" Pixi said and I nodded in response.

"G-goodluck, Brave Apho!! And thank you again" She bid goodbye to us and we started walking to the western gate.

We walk there because with my remaining silvers, I doubt I can buy a mana potion and after stepping out, there's an icon that shows [Piedras' Southern East Terra]

"Ohh that's the name of the region outside the Kingdom of Piedras. The lands are divided section by section and have names on them, like this place. It probably didn't pop out earlier because we're in the middle of my tutorial" Pixi flew to the icon in front of me and explained it to me.

I was thinking why it didn't show up earlier but I guess she explains it already. We adventure in the direction the girl said and through the process, I fought 3 slimes and got 3 slime balls.

Looking further, we can see a bunch of big rocks forming a tower and a little hill beside it.

"that must be it" I said to Pixi while holding my sword.

"mhm!" Pixi replied as she's flying around my shoulder.

I access the area and there really is a small group of slimes but in the middle, there is a bigger slime, thrice as big as them. I slowly approach them and I can see the big core of the bigger slime. Problem is, I can see the levels of the small slimes, ranges 2 to 5. But I can't see the bigger one.

"Pixi, can you scan the big guy?" I asked Pixi and pull my sword out of its leather sheath.

"Okay! give me 20 seconds" Pixi flew above and the group of slimes saw us.

That's understandable, there's a low chance the slimes won't see us anyway on these rocky plains. Let's finish this quest quickly and nicely.

- To be continued