The Cheapest Weapon of All

"I'm Tyler Proudly from the Rise Online International News Network. I'm in Holinda City, and leaks indicate that the famous wielder of the game's newest Unique Class was born here."

Journalist Tyler was in the center of Holinda's main square, and a metal ball was floating in front of him, broadcasting his image to TV and Webnet. Tyler had long blue hair, a tired look, and wore glasses.

Next to Tyler was a woman with curly green hair holding a microphone.

"Well, Mr. Proudy. The Starting City of Holinda is world-famous for having troubled adventurers. Will the major local guilds fight to recruit the first Psyker this time, or is this Unique Class as weak as some experts point out? What do you think?" The woman quickly repeated the text she was playing on the semi-transparent Teleprompter on her System.

"Kyoma, it's been more than two months since a single-class carrier has appeared, so I won't risk commenting on this case. To that end, I made some calls and asked one of the Executives from Hónghé Holdings to come here today. No one understands about this more than he does!" announced Tyler, and the camera's field of vision widened, revealing a handsome man with light eyes and blond hair who wore a beautiful white robe.

At the same time, Klaus Park was crossing the same square where the report took place, but he was inside his own world, minding his one business, looking at the ground with his hand on his chin as he walked at a leisurely pace. He was so reflective and distracted that he didn't even notice the journalists.

Klaus had just logged back into Rise Online.

'So, Class Points can only be obtained in specific Quests and contracts or at random evolution moments. Is there really a pattern?' He thought.

Although his research extended to several Rise Online websites and guides, he found nothing much revealing. The game was relatively new, so the only info he found quickly was that usually the first Class Point is acquired by reaching level 3, which only confirmed his first suspicion.

Not sure how he would gain Class Points quickly, Klaus decided he wouldn't overthink about it. If there weren't a pattern yet, there wasn't much he could do until he figured out the pattern on his own, which could take days of analysis… Therefore, without hesitation, Klaus opened the Skill Tree and chose to unlock the <Analyzing Eye>.

[You spent 1 Class Point to learn the Skill <Analyzing Eye>. 0 Class Points are Remaining.]

When Klaus acquired the new Skill, his eyes flickered and glowed blue-green for a second.

"Argh! Why does it hurt?" Klaus felt his eyesight burn as if he were staring at the sun.

Klaus quickly closed his eyes. After ten seconds, he felt that the burning had disappeared, so he opened his left eye first and was surprised by a slightly different perspective on the world, a new look after such a few seconds. At every single person he looked at, there was a system screen next to them, and these screens revealed information that most people typically avoid showing, like Attributes, Class, Title, and Level.

This was something Klaus knew should be impossible to see usually, as all this info was only shown if the users had the System open, which was certainly not the case for all players in that square.

Inevitably, Klaus smiled, excitedly, as he realized this was the power of his new Skill, the <Analyzing Eye>.

'Alright, now how do I disable this thing? Just think: disable?' he considered.

At the same time that Klaus wished to stop using the Skill, the screens with people's information disappeared.

With an Ability like that, Klaus was pretty sure he wouldn't get scammed by any smart-ass.

'Now that I've sorted out the Skills issues, I'm going to look for a weapon to hunt. My weapon must be powerful, resistant, and unbreakable!' Klaus clenched his right fist excitedly and began to walk purposefully to the nearest weapon shop.

*

"Something for three bronze coins? Hmm… I believe I have only this here." The dwarf-smith, who owned the third weapon shop in a row that Klaus had entered, pulled a bow from under the counter and placed it on the table.

[Item: Old Bow (Attack Weapon).

This second-hand bow has passed through the hands of dozens of owners, and all, without exception, have returned it the next day, claiming that this bow is cursed.

Rank: Primal.

Item Level: 1 of 3

Attack: 2

Defense: 0

Physical Fitness Level Required: 1]

Looking at the small old bow, whose string was already worn out, Klaus asked with a disgusted expression to the dwarf: "You don't have anything better? I wanted something like that."

Klaus Park pointed at the main sword in the exhibition. This sword had a slightly curved blade that looked like a diamond stone, whose handle that held it all was so perfectly ornamented with curves to the point of exuding grandeur.

[Item: Sword of Hudyr (Attack Weapon).

The Sword of Hudyr is the masterpiece of the dwarf blacksmith Zahir, and it has been in his family's generation for many generations.

Rank: Mutant.

Item Level: 1 of 5

Attack: 25 (+1)

Defense: 5

Physical Fitness Level Required: 10]

The look on the dwarf's face changed from seriousness to indignation when Klaus laid eyes on the sword. He ran in front of the blade and spread his arms as far as his joints could reach, despite not even being tall enough to cover the item.

"Take your filthy eyes out off my masterpiece! This sword will never be sold to a-an... what the hell are you?" Zahir asked, a little confused; after all, Klaus didn't wear any armor, nor did he carry any weapons.

"I'm a Mage or something." Klaus shrugged and replied, as he didn't find the term 'Psyker' very enlightening.

"Oh, whatever! I will not sell this sword for two thousand gold coins, let alone three bronze coins! Now, take that bow and pay, or get out of my shop!" The dwarf huffed in rage, seeming, in fact, very attached to such a sword.

"Alright, I'll buy the bow." Klaus extended his right arm and spread his fingers, so that the dwarf could see the coins in his palm. "But I'll tell you, if this bow is really cursed, I'm going to burn this place down to ashes, including the sword." He threatened with an evil smile.

For a moment, the dwarf-smith hesitated to take the money after the threat, because Zahir could see in the man's face that Klaus wasn't kidding. However, Zahir's greed for money was so great that he swallowed some saliva and ended the sale with a nervous smile.

A moment later, Klaus left the store and walked to Holinda's north gate, which the map indicated as the closest city exit to the center where he was.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

If you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa treon.com/NandoFalske

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https://discord.gg/bpqq9u4gS8

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