52 Skill raising
Sorry for the wait, I went to a barbecue party since one of my friends was having his birthday, so you know how it is, it took a bit too long.
Anyway, here I am, posting this chapter, I know some of you thought there wouldn't have a chap, but I decided to just go with the schedule, even though I posted 2 chapters last week.
From my calculations, this may be one of the biggest 'Class worlds' so far.
If you go back, it took around 3 chapters to end each of these arcs, but this one may go a bit beyond 4, perhaps even 5.
You could also go with the argument that the last chapter was mostly explanations, and that is true.
Most of those explanations would've been made regardless of where Philip is.
With this Class, I wanted to focus more on the crafting elements and tie this to the main storyline, but there are other interesting things to consider such as someone that asked me what would happen if he were to pass his Dragon Blood and Soul to his main Body.
Overall, it adds quite a bit, since if I wanted it mainly for the crafting trees, then I knew that many of you had better suggestions.
After this arc is over, expect a few more chapters of development and another big timeskip!
I'm not planning on making a day-by-day, or week-by-week analysis of his time in the city.
Instead, I want to jump 4 months completely and go to the last week before advancing the storyline.
And with it, this Volume and Major Arc, 'the 5 months outside'.
It was time to go back to the other Heroes, see how much they developed, how strong Dae and Petter became, and also what they have prepared for the future.
I plan to show a few paragraphs before the time skip, but I want to ask, would you all want to see more? Like, a POV of any character in particular?
It can even be outside of the main cast, someone you would think it exists, but hasn't been properly introduced yet, such as the Elven King, Prince, one of the Dwarves, or anyone from another race.
It's up to you really.
With that in mind, I hope that you enjoy this chapter, I'll now edit my chapter for my Main Novel!
Peace!
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'Philip had Leveled up 3 times, and with it, he got a total of 3 Perk points.'
'Perk points can be used on the Skill trees to unlock unique abilities or simple effects.'
'But not every ability can be unlocked at first as he needs the corresponding Skill level first, climbing little by little up the tree.'
'Also, upon leveling, you had the chance to choose one of the 3 basic attributes, Health, Stamina, and Magicka, raising their values by 10, it's not much, but 50 Levels down the line...'
/Exhale.../
"This is the hardest part... What should I focus on? What sort of style should I go after?" Philip said as he exhaled
"I'm still thinking about where to invest them…"
And also which of my basic attributes to raise... This is what I should be thinking about.
But given the situation, I think investing in Health or Stamina is more beneficial than in Magicka, as I have no spells to use anyway.
Nor would they be useful to me... Would I even be able to use them?
Even a simple spell such as Flames, the first spell from the Destruction School of magic has a thick book to describe it.
Anyway, it'll do me no harm to neglect it for now as having extra Health points was never a bad option.
Even to some Wizards, it reaches a point where having a lot of Magicka is useless, only the minimum necessary to cast every Spell was needed...
At least, that was how it worked in-game.
'Philip made his decision, he would invest 2 points in Health, and one in Stamina…'
"?!"
'But the moment he chose Health, his muscles tightened, making him unable to move.'
/Thud!/
'He fell on the ground like a hammer striking a nail, his muscles trembling as he sweated heavily… As if he had been suddenly jolted with a taser.'
'This process lasted half a minute before Philip slowly recovered control over his body…'
"Huff… Huff…"
'Short of breath, he slowly recovered, lifting his head from the hard cold ground.'
Urg... What was it this time?... My forehead hurts.
"Damn… I'm all sweaty now…" He said as he looked at his clothes
'He took his shirt and pants off, and immediately realized something.'
"Was Eddy this physically trained?" Philip asked as he walked to the mirror
'Previously, Eddy's body was pretty average, not exactly flaccid, but not muscular either.'
'After all, albeit he didn't train, he still walked a lot every day, so he was at least decently healthy, he cut down firewood, helped set up camp, and more taxing activities.'
'In fact, it was rather unusual to find any fat person in his memories, the environment of the people simply does not allow for people to accumulate fat in the first place.'
'But now…'
"I increased my health, and this resulted in me becoming slightly stronger?" He said as he rubbed his chin
I need to confirm it.
But first… I'll lay on the ground properly this time, my forehead still hurts…
"It's bleeding slightly… Ouch! It really hurts…"
'Philip once again choose Health, and like before, the same happened. His body convulsed, and he sweated heavily, but in 30 seconds, he was fine, not tired, energetic even.'
'Once again, he went to the mirror, his eyes darting in surprise.'
"It… I really became more muscular." He said in surprise as he checked his body
The muscle lines became more visible.
"And my forehead isn't hurting either, nor is it bleeding anymore." He said in wonder
'The blood was still there though, he would have to wash it later...'
This changes things.
"First, I have confirmed that Leveling up does heal me," Philip said with a small smile as he grabbed a towel to clean his body
But I won't be able to Level up mid-combat to heal myself fully, letting myself be exposed for 30 seconds isn't ideal in any situation.
Albeit, if I have enough time, healing after strategically retreating may work.
There's still a risk, but an option to stick to in dire scenarios.
Second, these Stats seem to affect me a lot more than I previously expected.
I certainly expected a change aside from a numerical difference, but this goes way beyond that.
I'll have to pay attention to what they do as I level up.
"I was planning on increasing one Level of Stamina, but if I make my body stronger then overall, I would get the same benefit." Philip said as he raised Health to 130
/Convulse!/
'Once again, his muscles spammed, he clenched his teeth as this horrible feeling coursed through his body.'
/30 seconds later.../
"Huff… Huff… Note to myself, do not perform this… Multiple times over in short periods of time."
I thought I was going to lose conscience from the lack of air…
"But… My body is now…"
'He got up from the ground and checked himself in the mirror, and miraculously, his body was now rather fit!'
'Not extremely chiseled, but it was enough to make him proud, it was definitely on the Level of a well-trained Soldier.'
'He jumped, made a headstand, and did a few pushups, but didn't get tired at all.'
'It was more than a simple strength gain, there was a certain quality to it, many muscular guys might lose their breath after a few minutes of cardio, yet he didn't.'
'It even seemed as if he had grown a little taller...'
'Eddy wasn't tall to begin with, and that made Philip stumble down a few times since their height had a difference of over 15Cm, even if his previous appearance had somehow overlapped with Eddy's.'
"If it goes like this then Likely at 150 Health, I'll have reached the physical Apex of a Nord/Human?" Philip mumbled to himself as he stretched
I can't see my muscles getting any bigger than a certain margin... At least not naturally...
But if I were to go further would I end up massive like a Bodybuilder?
Strong is good, but if I get too big, it'll become more of an inconvenience than anything else.
"There is also the branch of, what will happen if I raise Stamina or Magicka?"
Well… No point in theorizing it now.
'He looked outside and smiled.'
"I can just Level up and find out."
'But before he left, he thought of a few things.'
If I can, I should go to a nearby Church and reactivate the blessing of Dibella, or any of the Divines for that matter.
Not only that, I should look for a Standing Stone!
A Standing Stone can give me a Permanent Buff, one that'll hopefully carry on with me after I'm done with this place.
They aren't really a secret and are, in fact, milestones for travelers.
So anyone with a decent knowledge of their surroundings should be able to guide me to one.
"If only I could remember more, there are so many powers, items, quests, effects that I could gather…"
Even if it's 25 years in the past, many things should be the same, a 1000-year-old tomb won't move places after all.
"It's not bad anyway, I can't blame myself for not remembering the map, and I have other things to worry about..."
I can only enjoy a little bit of exploring if I'm alive, so I should take care of that first.
'He went to the wardrobe nearby and grabbed an extra pair of clothes, throwing the other one, Eddy's sweaty pajamas, on the ground.'
"Now I look… Decent." He said as he looked at the mirror
Not the scared boy with dark circles, but a decent young man.
'Philip grabbed his Iron sword, and placed it inside the hilt that came with it.'
"Can I take it out anytime?" He asked himself as he put it inside the inventory
Hum… Yes, I can!
The feature of equipping and unequipping things still works.
Okay, I would say that there's no need for me to carry it with me, but I'm in Skyrim, and almost every Nord will walk around with some weapon, be it an Axe or a simple steel dagger.
It would be strange if I walked around with only a sword, especially given my circumstances.
'He did not take out his Iron armor, as he felt it may be too conspicuous… And it's ugly.'
"It seems I can still use the item Menu to consume some items, although time doesn't stop while I'm using the menu, unfortunately."
If I can, I should also stop at a weapon shop to buy a bow, regardless of how terrible it is, a bow is still a proper thing to have, and I'm pretty decent at it.
This should be all, so enough talking.
'With a sword and a dagger, he made his way out into Skyrim.'
…
'Philip left his room, the Innkeeper looked at him weirdly, not recognizing him at first, but Philip ignored the old lady and carried on.'
'Leaving the Inn, he took his first look at this Iconic world.'
"..."
'But he was left dumbfounded.'
I… I know I am in Falkreath, but this…
'A decently paved road of stones, wooden houses, and buildings with stone bases as far as the eye could see...'
'Compared to the small place he faintly remembered, this was more like a small town...'
(Image)
'This is how a proper hold should look like...' He thought to himself as he looked around
"I should've expected it…"
I've said this a few times already.
What I know from the game cannot represent reality.
Skyrim cannot have its biggest cities only having a dozen or two houses, they'll have hundreds at the very least, for tens of thousands of inhabitants.
And many many villages, as most of the population, would live in the countryside, just like Europe's medieval era, before modern times.
/Sniff.../
"Yeah... A proper medieval Hold, with a 'proper Medieval smell..."
This is what a lack of plumbing gives you... Yuck.
I'll be out of here in no time, towards any of the other more developed Holds that do have a sewer System.
'Holds are the nine administrative divisions of Skyrim, different from each other both in climate and local government.'
'Each of the nine Holds is governed by a Jarl who resides in the Hold's capital city.'
'The Jarls are largely independent, but swear fealty to Skyrim's High King, who in turn swears fealty to the Emperor upon joining the Septim empire in the late Second Era.'
'Each Hold also employs their own guards, who can be identified by the color of their uniform and the Hold symbol they bear on their shields.'
(Wiki)
'So in a sense, each Hold is like an independent State.'
(Image)
'The last hold is Haafingar, where Solitude, its Capital, resides, hence, it isn't considered a division since it's directly under the High King.'
"Hum…" Philip mumbled as he looked around
I can already feel a few eyes on me…
I expected things to be bad, but not like this.
According to his Diary, Eddy and the Caravan arrived before yesterday, during its afternoon.
But Eddy immediately holed himself within the Inn, and so he stayed, for over a day and a half.
Such cowardly behavior is considered obnoxious for the courageous Nords, the people that compose 90% of the Caravan, so it makes sense they would frown at me, as this wasn't the disposition of a leader.
Especially since now that the Cavaran leader has died, I am the next in line of Command.
But all of this only matters when… If these people knew me.
However, for them to know me yet not approach me…
They either work for me, something I can't do anything about since I don't remember everyone…
Or they are under someone else's orders for some reason...
"How tedious." He proclaimed
Is the first option of sticking with the Caravan going to be a bust in the end?
'Philip walked around, taking a look at the city first, it had a rustic feel to it, he liked it, and at the same time, hated it.'
'At least the air was very clean to breathe, much cleaner than the air in the Free city...'
'Hopefully, his body was okay.'
"They should do a reform any of these days, this place is simply... Lacking." Philip said as he looked at the many wooden houses
'Each Hold can be said to have its own culture and Style, some more developed than others, but this one can be said to be one of the more 'traditional' Holds.'
'No matter how much he looked, the most advanced thing he saw was a rough-looking Chain Pump and a Wood mill that cut wood using the force of the river that in consequence, moved a large waterwheel that was connected to a giant saw.'
'Everything else was extremely Medieval. And this in itself brought some great concerns to Philip…'
Will I have to shit on a bucket or in a bush? Oh, God…
Wait, should I say?… By the Divines…?
…
'After a few minutes of walking around, Philip had enough, it was an indeed incredible place to be in, with his instincts telling him to go explore and talk with the people…'
'But he had things to do, he wasn't here to play, especially since there seem to be some people going after him.'
'So after visiting a smith and buying some decent yet costly gear to make up for his lacking equipment, he wandered around until he found what he was looking for.'
"Here it is." He said as he looked at a wooden sign hanging next to a house
[Hygfar Potion Shop]
'Without waiting any further, he got inside.'
…
"..."
It has an exotic herby smell.
'Inside, he saw a pretty standard place, a small and relatively closed-off wooden room with a single table somewhat to the side.'
'There was a single balcony facing the door, and behind it was a series of shelves with many products on it.'
'Some Philip recognize, others he didn't…'
'In fact, the shop was rather small, it seemed most of the area was off limits for the customers with only a small area actually being used as the shop.'
"Oh? A customer, come in healthy young man." Said an old man behind the counter
'He looked at least 70 years old, a miracle in on itself in those lands, more than enough for him to be a Great Grandpa.'
(People marry young, so almost all people will have a child before their 20)
(So one generation -> 20, two generations -> 40, three generations -> 60…)
"Is there anything you need? You can't find a bigger repertoire of ingredients bigger than ours in all of Falkreath." The old man said with a big smile
"Oh? Is that so?" Philip asked with a small smile
I was planning on buying more ingredients from other places... A bummer.
This place will have to do.
"Well… There is also the fact that there are only 3 decent Alchemists in all of Falkreath, me being one, one being the Jarl's Cort Magician, and my apprentice that has now set up shop in the other side of town." He said with a slightly tired look
"Sigh, all that work, and now she's competing with me…"
"You look proud though?" Philip pointed out
Look at his smile...
"Is it that obvious?" The old man replied as he scratched his long white beard
"Anyway, what brings you here, merchant?"
"Hm? You know me?" He asked with a frown
"Not much, but I knew your father, he passed through our Hold several times in the past few years, and always bought many materials from me and sometimes even some Potions."
"He also sold me many ingredients from afar... Rareties for a rather affordable price."
"in fact, are you here for that? I'm indeed lacking some materials…" He said as he looked behind him
And I always found it interesting to see the ingredients from outside Skyrim.
'Philip thought for a moment before replying:'
"Kind of, I'm here to buy some things, not quite sell."
Yet...
In his Diary, they should've brought some items from their previous destination, so there may be some ingredients to sell.
"Also, I'm not buying in the name of the Caravan, it's for personal use..."
'Before continuing, Philip decided to say:'
"Still, you mentioned needing some materials? You can make a small list, I'll check and see what we have and bring it to you later."
This seems like a small quest… A shame I don't have the Dialogue options anymore.
Just kidding.
{Persuasion successful}
Huh? The what?
"Hm… Fine by me, it won't take long." The old man said as he turned around
"Wait."
"Oh?"
'Philip frowned, thinking deeply, before saying:'
"It may seem like a strange request… But can I use your alchemy table? I'll pay for it of course."
'The old man frowned, he looked at Philip up and down and asked:'
"Do you know Alchemy?"
"Enough not to blow your Alchemy set if that's what you're worried about."
I can't guarantee that...
"I don't…"
'But before the old man could reject, Philip said:'
"500 plus a few sets of materials I'll be needing."
{Persuasion successful}
This again? Was there actually such a thing?
"Hum… Sigh." The old man said as he shook his head
"You can have it for today since movement is quite slow and my Granddaughter isn't here, tell me the ingredients you need and I'll set them aside for you."
"They'll be paid separately of course."
'Philip nodded.'
'He started pointing out at several materials randomly, making the old man frown once more.'
'Philip indeed knew a little bit of alchemy, not only did he have Eddy's memories to help.'
'But he also got a few bits of knowledge from leveling up Alchemy from 1 to 15.'
'His experience from the game also greatly helped.'
'It was just a shame though that… He did not remember the recipes… Like, at all.'
'As he saw some materials, he remembered their names, perhaps due to his Trait or his memories simply being that good... It was rather unreliable to try and remember, some things he did, other things he didn't.'
'After he was done, Philip took a step inside a room on the side with a water bucket and closed the door lightly.'
'The old man looked at him, shaking his head.'
"Young people and their rash actions."
Hopefully, no vial will break...
Well, that money was enough for me to replace those at least 5 times over, but still, I can replace the glass, but not the memories.
"Hum… I wonder if she's okay, it has been some time since she left to collect some herbs…"
/Creak…/
'But his thoughts were put to a stop as a new customer got inside.'
"Welcome to the Hygfar Potion Shop…"
…
/Inside the room…/
"I got it all fairly easily." Philip said with a small smile as he looked at the alchemy table in front of him
Out of all options available to me, the fastest way for me to confirm my doubts is through this method.
The Alchemy Skill tree... It can level up by making potions... Duh.
To make a potion, you normally need a recipe, but since I have none, I'll have to go by random combination.
That will result in a potion with unknown effects.
This just means that I don't know whether the combination will result in a valid potion or not, but I can discover new potions by using the old reliable trial and error.
'Each ingredient has four effects, by combining the ingredients and having at least 2 with the same effects, that effect will be added to the resulting potion.'
'So if you put two ingredients in a potion, only the effects that are present in both ingredients will become effects of the potion.'
'If the ingredients have no effects in common, the result will be the failure to create any potion, and Philip didn't want that at all.'
'Normally, ingredients with similar origins will have similar properties and are thus safer to be blindly mixed, but that isn't always the case.'
"You can see the effects of an ingredient once you discovered it by creating a potion that used that effect." He said as he checked his inventory
But that is slightly wasteful, and it could go wrong pretty easily, so I'll go with the other method…
Eating the ingredients to learn their effects, something that also increases my Skill Level slightly.
Albeit only once per ingredient as I can only learn a new effect through this method once.
Still, this is better than blindly missing things, in the game, the only thing that could go wrong was a status screen, but here, things could actually go 'boom'.
"I wonder if aside from that, other things have changed as well."
Will their effects be more complex? Perhaps each ingredient will have more characteristics?
Or the way alchemy works has completely changed...
There's only one way to find out... A fast way at least.
'Without further ado, Philip started with the ones he knew and being honest, the simplest…'
'A series of small fish and other things that could pass as food…'
/Chop!/
/Gulp.../
"Urg... Perhaps I shouldn't have started with the damn fish..."
Well... I do have some salt at least...
{Weakness to frost has been discovered from Abecean Longfin}
{Weakness to Magic has been discovered from Salt Pile}
'He didn't stop there...'
{Restore stamina has been discovered from Honeycomb}
{Restore stamina has been discovered from Pine Thrush Egg}
{Restore health has been discovered from wheat}
…
/A few minutes later…/
'Little by little, Philip started to learn the effects of each of the ingredients on his inventory, and several combinations started to appear.'
'He also learned that there was no need to eat the whole thing, a small bite was enough.'
'There was no need to eat all of the Honeycomb, much less a whole Salmon to discover its respective effects...'
'This made things simpler as his stomach only had so much space.'
'Also, he was very careful to not eat anything 'suspicious', such as unknown fungi.'
'And in the future, he would be very careful as to not eat anything sketchy such as a Human heart, or a Giant's thumb... There were limits for everything.'
'He stuck with normal food as that was the least likely to make his stomach upset.'
/Growl…/
Urg…
/... Growl.../
"Is this a sign?" Philip questioned as he clenched his stomach
I may have gone too far…
[You have ingested a severe amount of food]
{You have contracted the affliction: Indigestion}
"Shit... I screwed myself..."
'Philip rested his head on the wall, trying to rest...'
/2 minutes of agonizing later.../
'When it seemed he would have to leave and dash to a nearby bush...'
[Your strong body is metabolizing all of the Alchemical ingredients inside of you]
[You have developed the Skill, Fast Metabolism Lv0]
/Grolw…/
"Shit!"
/Fart!/
/Sniff…/
"Holy!... This one is… Damn." Philip said as he sniffed the air
Strong like a true Nord?
"At least I'm not feeling bad anymore… Nor did I shat myself."
But I'll take a small rest for now...
"It's the perfect time to actually try and brew something, right?" He mumbled as he turned his focus to the Alchemy table
Potion brewing is rather simple.
'From the memories inside his head, a quick explanation formed:'
Alchemy is the act of mixing, boiling, and distilling various substances to obtain their chemo-magical properties and create potions and poisons, among other things.
That is why many raw foods can be considered alchemical ingredients, they have magical properties, but those can only be extracted via a proper process.
Alchemical ingredients include extracts from plants, animals, undead, and Daedra.
Furthermore, certain ingredients are extra valuable to alchemists due to their rarity and use, many of which tend to be extracted from Daedric creatures, one of the reasons why Eddy's father was so famous, as such a rule normally extends to other fields.
For a Daedra, getting Daedric materials is rather simple, so their value is low... So he could buy it at a low price, and sell it for a high price.
Prospective alchemists often need to experiment with ingredients to gauge what effects can be created, usually by eating samples of ingredients.
This practice is referred to as wortcraft, what I was doing right now.
(Thank you wiki)
"Shall I try it out?" He said as he lit up the very small furnace on top of the table
(Image)
…
/6 or so minutes later…/
"And uh… I just add this here… Let it burn… Not for too long? I guess so and… I pour it here?"
/Flow.../
'A greenish liquid slowly poured onto the table, suddenly, the table glowed in a faint mystical light and the now, even greener, liquid slowly flowed down…'
"Oh, I can't let it go to waste." Philip said as he grabbed a small glass bottle, letting the substance drip inside
'He closed the lid on the potion bottle, and with it…'
{Created potion of Restore Stamina, Fortify Health}
{Discovered effects…}
{Potion of Restore Stamina, Fortify Health has been added to your inventory}
'The potion bottle magically disappeared from Philip's hand, but he wasn't focused on that…'
"No change?"
I expected this to be enough for me to Level it up…
"I just have to do it again."
'And so Philip restarted the process, albeit it was still slightly dirty, since the ingredients were the same, it should be okay.'
'Right?'
/24 minutes later…/
'With the 6th bottle in a row, Philip cleaned the sweat from his face with a frown.'
{Alchemy 15 -> 16}
'Just as this message appeared in front of him, a considerable amount of knowledge poured into his mind, greatly clearing up his confusion about this process.'
"I see what I did wrong now… Kind of..."
I'm lucky I didn't fail once, not that it was easy to fail, these potions were simple in nature, but if I had tried another one... The situation may not have been the same.
Proper maintenance between each experiment should be exercised.
It worked in the end, but I could've caused less of a mess…
'Several of the bottles were dirty with burn marks and the smell in the room wasn't pleasant…'
Now I'll need to clean these before repeating this.
"Overall, potion making is not nearly as fast, but neither is it as slow as I expected."
With the right proficiency, I can make this same potion in less than 5 minutes, and start the next one right away.
"Most importantly, I found out that Skill growth is indeed slower, considerably so."
Either that or I have severely misremembered the difficulty of raising these.
This will make everything lengthier.
"Regardless, I have a lot of gold and a lot of ingredients so I might as well raise this Skill as much as possible."
I can then Sell the potions if even for a fraction of the price I spent on the ingredients...
But next time, I'll make a little off it, that's how I'll improve.
'Philip returned to his potion making, determined to raise his Level to at least 7 or 8 before the day ended.'
…
/At the same time, outside of the shop…/
'Inside a pub in the middle of a street, a series of strong-armed men drank to their heart's content under the faint song of a bard.'
'There were 5 such men, drinking in the corner of the shop, they seemed a bit sketchy, but that wasn't the case as many others drank or ate in similar attires.'
'They were all warriors!'
'It was a busy place, much to the Pub owner's delight.'
"Have you heard? The little boy has finally left his room." One of the rough men said, someone with a scar on his neck
"Eddy? I thought he was going to stay inside that room forever since his da died... At least another week for him to calm down... Didn't that old gloves bet that he would stay there for a few more days?" Another one replied, disinterested
'He then continued:'
"I thought he was too scared and paranoid of the people that were eyeing the fortune old Jum left behind, I guess I went too bad on the boy, anyone would be distressed upon the sudden death of a close one."
"Me too…" Said someone else
"He did alright leading us here after all, not that it was hard, but you get what I mean, right?"
'The others also nodded.'
"Don't you think this is a good time?" The man with the scar asked
"Time for what?... You've drunk too much, stop talking." The first one said as he shook his head
"Aren't you curious though? It's the entire wealth of this Caravan, in the hands of a little boy that can barely defend himself…"
"It's not just us that are interested in him." He whispered in a low tone
"Stop it Luric, let's get this over it and receive our pay, no need to make things complicated."
"Heh, this is where you are wrong." Luric said in a low tone
"Think, someone is going to act, be him from the Caravan or not."
"And if they do, who will pay us?" He asked the other 4
"..."
'They stayed there, pensive.'
"Such things aren't uncommon, and albeit I don't expect such a thing to happen here, it may as well happen outside, and I don't know you all, but I certainly don't want to risk my neck like that…"
'But one of the 4, one of the two that remained silent so far said:'
"Are you afraid Luric, so you end up resorting to such cowardly acts?"
"What?" Luric asked with a frown
"We are paid to fight, 50% in advance, 50% once things are over."
"And so we do, that's what we are, we are sellswords."
"It's not like this is the first time we fended off against bandits, the injury on your neck proves that, we've been doing it for years."
"Our contract is soon to end anyway, as soon as we reach the next hold, I'll be off, this Caravan has no future with a wimp like him, but that isn't enough for me to risk being wanted by taking the life of a young lad."
"A true Nord sticks to his promises, especially to those that passed away." He said as he crossed his arms
'He then looked at Luric and said with a taunting smile:'
"And if you're so scared, why don't you back off? He'll pay you and you can go back to your mother, perhaps she'll cuddle with you and soothe your scaredy heart, Imperial."
"Even if the value won't be everything, it's better than what you're proposing." The man said as he sipped his drink calmly
/Laughs x4/
'The other 4 men laughed, it seemed this talk was over.'
"Tsk, you 4 simply have no ambition." Luric said as he got off the table
"Oi…" One of them said deeply
"What is it?"
"Pay up, don't think you can leave."
"Shit, I forgot." Luric said as he turned around after dropping a few coins on the table
Bunch of brute Nords, they live to fight yet are considering this?
Cowardly? Honor?
Humph, living is what matters.
Riches enough for me to live a good life, gold that is useless is a Brat's hands.
With such Gold, I could make my own Caravan, one just as good as this one…
And on the way… Why not figure out Jum's secret?
He was always very secretive, and it was clear foul sorcery was involved…
"But does it matter?"
No one ever complained some did try to investigate, but nothing came from their attempts...
Be it sorcery or anything, it made Jum rich, and I'm going to be the next one.
Wait for me… Eddy.
…
/Around 5 hours later…/
{Created potion of Waterbreathing}
{Discovered effects…}
{Potion of Waterbreathing has been added to your inventory}
{Alchemy 28 -> 29}
{Uh... HA!}
{Level up}
"Phew…" Philip said as he shook his head
I've spent all of my Garlic, guess this is it.
The most expensive potion I had made so far and the one that helped me Level up so fast.
"I remembered it because I brewed one without knowing…"
Salmon Roe, Nordic Barnacle, and… A single Garlic.
For a potion of Waterbreathing.
"I must say though, it wasn't without some hiccups…"
Once, I tried to mix several materials at once to unlock as many effects as possible, and a small fire was created.
I doused it pretty easily, but I need to be careful as to not break these tools…
My arms are also hurting a little, so I think it's fine for me to end it here for now.
"Since I have already leveled up twice."
And I used most of the empty bottles in this place…
'After thinking a little, Philip left his room with several potion bottles in his hands.'
"Cough! Kid! Just what have you done there?!" The old man complained as the smoke trapped in the room spread in the shop
It smells... What are these burning and fetid smells?!
"Nothing much, here, check it out." Philip said with a small smile as he placed a few potions of Waterbreathing on top of the counter
"He, kid, don't play with me, you want to sell those to me?" He asked as he inspected the bottles
"Well, yes?"
"Tche, you sure have some courage, borrowing my workplace, using my flasks, using my ingredients, and now you're trying to sell me a potion?" The old man said as he raised an eyebrow
"What? I paid to use your workplace, more than enough to cover the price of the bottles, and I bought all of the ingredients at market price, so your argument doesn't make any sense." Philip retorted
"It was a joke, you're so inflexible…"
'He moved the bottle around, even shaking it.'
"Can I test it? I won't die right?"
"No you won't, unless you have some allergies, this is a Waterbreathing potion."
"Wh..? Waterbreathing? Are you sure this is a Waterbreathing potion?" The old man said in surprise
"Not only one but multiple?"
"Instead of asking, there's only one way to find out, I can even call some guards for you if that makes you feel better." Philip replied calmly
"No… That won't be necessary… But wait here." He said as he turned around
"What are you looking for?" Philip asked as he saw the old man crouch
"My strongest Antidote."
"..."
This old fart...
…
.
.
.
Notes
