Garek

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Garek was ecstatic, scrutinizing the craftsmanship and materials of Eli's coat.

"Such incredible workmanship! Where did you acquire this?"

Eli couldn't reveal the true origin of his coat, so he concocted a story.

"It's from my village, in case you're curious."

"Huh, I didn't realize high elves had such a flair for fashion and could craft such exquisite attire nowadays. I always pegged you all as nothing but stiff and stodgy."

Garek chuckled halfway through his remark, causing Eli to clench his jaw and growl in response.

"What's that supposed to mean? We're not all stuffy. Hold on! How did you figure out I was a high elf? Most mistake me for a drow."

A look of bewilderment crossed his face as he mulled over Garek's realization of his true race.

"Oh, naive one! Concealing your identity is futile against someone endowed with the Appraisal skill. Every competent shopkeeper possesses the Identify skill, but the best aspire to elevate it to Appraisal, granting them the ability to see all concealed details about their subjects."

"Are we going to have any issues? Because I'm a high elf!"

Eli was still growling at him.

"Judging by your tone, I'm guessing you're one of the reclusive ones, aren't you? I'm surprised you haven't caused an uproar in the city or killed someone. But no matter, your gems are as good here as anyone else's. As long as you can pay, we won't have any issues."

Eli was containing his rage, careful not to lash out at Garek and prove him right.

"How much will it cost?"

"Hm. I have a special offer for you. Give me half an hour with your hat and coat so I can copy the designs, and I'll give you 40 gems for them. What do you say, do we have a deal?"

"Fine. I'll take the deal. Do you have anything to eat while I wait?"

He resigned himself and accepted Garek's offer.

"You won't regret it. I'll have one of my assistants fetch some tea and biscuits for you."

Garek clapped his hands in excitement, thrilled to add new articles to his design catalog.

Eli stopped Galak before he could leave with his clothing.

"Wait, do you enchant clothing here? Because if you do, I'd like a pair of fingerless gloves with impact-neutralizing enchantments."

Garek shook his head and informed Eli.

"I'm sorry, our shop only designs and repairs clothing. We don't do any enchanting here, but we do have an enchanter we work with. Wait until I'm done with the clothing, and I'll give you her card."

Eli was escorted by a female assistant, 143cm tall with crimson hair and eyes, flat-chested with a curvy bottom, to a table in the corner where she served him tea and biscuits.

'These biscuits are really good; I should get the recipe from them.'

After waiting for half an hour, Garek emerged from his workshop, sweat on his forehead. He approached Eli with a cheerful smile and handed back his clothing.

"Wow, those were some of the most unique pieces of clothing I've ever come across. If you have any more unique items, feel free to come back."

Eli examined his jacket and noticed multiple additional pockets sewn into the inner side of the coat.

"Ah, I see you've discovered the inner pockets I added to your coat. Consider it a small bonus from me, for providing such an exceptional product to sell. Take these gloves; they're ideal for enchantment, and as promised, here's the card for the Enchanted shop I mentioned, along with two silver coins."

Donning his coat and cowboy hat, Eli scrutinized them thoroughly and found everything to be satisfactory.

"All seems to be in order. Thank you, and I hope this is our last encounter."

With that, he departed from Garek's tailoring shop and set out to locate the enchantress's shop.

Once Eli had closed the door behind him, Garek's expression shifted from cheerful to sternly serious.

"Children, gather all the information you can about Eli Rivers. It appears the modest city of Carthage has welcomed quite the intriguing individual."

The crimson-haired assistant addressed him with irritation, perplexed by her boss's interest in the elf.

"Sir, what's so remarkable about that elf? He's merely a novice adventurer with the literal title 'adventurer'—one of the most insignificant titles one could hold."

"Ah, Beatrice, the elf in question is a sun elf, one of the rarest kinds of high elves. However, what's truly extraordinary about that lad are the two weapons he carried the entire time."

Puzzled, Beatrice responded, scratching her head.

"Sir, the only things I noticed were his shortsword and a couple of odd metallic objects. Are those what you're referring to?"

"Exactly those. I'd wager none of you employed your identify or appraisal skills on them, did you?"

All his assistants looked down, ashamed of their oversight concerning Eli's weapons.

Garek erupted into a sinister laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. If you numbskulls utilized your skills, you would realize that the smaller weapon can inflict damage equivalent to a first-tier spell, while the larger one is capable of damage on par with a third-tier spell."

As soon as Eli completed his order, he received his reward and a Beginner's Alchemy book materialized in his grasp. He inspected his status, noting no alterations, before examining the book. It bore a plain cover emblazoned with the title 'Alchemy.'

"You've got to be kidding me!"

Eli swore in disbelief when no prompt appeared. He had anticipated an experience akin to a skill book in video games, where acquiring a new skill was instantaneous. To his dismay, he realized he would have to read and learn it the old-fashioned way.

With a sense of returning to school days, Eli opened the daunting 300-page Alchemy tome. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he began to read. Despite his concentrated effort, he didn't complete the book, and his first action afterward was to check his status screen again.

"Damn it! You're really making me work for it, aren't you?"

The alchemy skill hadn't shown up in his crafting section. He had rushed through the book, hoping a single read would suffice to gain the skill. Clearly, that was not enough; he needed to truly understand the book.

For all he knew, it might take weeks or even months to grasp the basics before he could begin brewing elixirs.

His face paled at the thought.

"With the way things are going, I'll need more than just ingredients to brew potions, won't I?"

His hopes of simply gathering ingredients and conjuring a potion vanished in an instant. Eli shuddered at the book's realism.

"Whoever designed or created this book is an asshole."

Yet, he did pick up a thing or two. For instance, he realized he couldn't just mix ingredients and expect a potion. At a minimum, he'd need a lab, equipment, and ingredients, though that was left unsaid. The 300-page tome was merely for beginners. He figured that out himself, given that the book only covered basic potions despite its length.

With tears in his eyes, Eli resumed reading, this time striving to understand every word. He didn't have much choice.

"Yeah, no, I'm dealing with this later. First, I need to find that Magic shop."

After searching for some time, Eli found the Enchanter shop that Garek had told him about. The shop appeared to be a standard two-story building with a plain sign that read "Willow's Magical Marvels".

Upon walking inside, he was greeted by a beautiful and well-endowed woman with fair skin and a curvaceous hourglass figure, who was dressed in a traditional witch's outfit. She was 176cm tall, had green eyes, and straight violet hair that reached down to the front of her shoulders and further behind her back, slightly curling at the tips.

"Hello there, Welcome to Willow's Magical Marvels. I'm Willow, how may I help you today?"

"I was told by Garek that you might be able to help me with enchanting these gloves."

"Ooh yes, I can enchant those gloves for you, and I can also sell you almost any magical item that you can think of. So, what enchantment do you desire for one of those gloves, Mr. High Elf?"

RACE: Sun Elf

NAME: Eli Rivers

Job Level: 1

Health Points: 162

Mana Points: 97

Stamina Points: 212

Attunement: 13

Vitality: 13

Endurance: 17

Strength: 14

Dexterity: 19

Perception: 15

Skill: 16

Charisma: 16

Luck: 18

Skill: 1 point

MSP: 3,640

Gems: 100,300