No Mages

"Ahahaha. It's real. I have…. I have returned to the past!"

A man laughed maniacally while shedding tears of joy.

The players near him retreated, but the man ignored them. They weren't worth his attention.

"Hahahaha"

Cyrus soon stopped laughing and stared into the sky, a dangerous glint hiding in his eyes.

"The game has just started. I have to get that hidden class before anyone else and..."

He clenched his fist tightly until they turned white.

"Noah, the worst mistake of humanity."

His voice was laced with poison as he spoke each word begrudgingly.

"I won't let you become strong. This time, I'll cripple you before you can harm anyone."

***

Noah read the description of Traits with a raised eyebrow.

—

Trait: Genius Psychopath

Rating: Unique

Alignment: Lawful Evil

"A crazy flip-flopper. As long as it's for benefits or fun, you can switch sides in a heartbeat."

Effect: N/A

—

Trait: Directionally Challenged

Rating: Legendary

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

"Don't let this man become your navigator if you want to reach your destination."

Effect: N/A

—

"It doesn't have any effects?" Scratching his head, he continued. "But why Psychopath? I'm a normal person."

Noah then stared at his 2nd trait with a hateful gaze.

He recalled Anna's catchphrase. "Truth always hits harder."

For a randomly generated trait, it was awfully accurate.

"The Traits have an 'Effect' section. It might be possible to gain an ability from them in the future."

He checked his skills and items.

—

Rosary

Rating: Free

Item Description: An ornamental item of priest class. It does not serve any practical purpose.

—

Pray (Active-type)

Rating: Free

Requirement: Priest Class or its variants

Skill Effect: Meditating for 30 minutes increases the Divinity permanently by 5. This skill can be used once per day. A total of 10 Divinity stat will be deducted for each day the user does not use this skill.

—

"The deduction of the Divinity stat is the real reason players hate the Priest class."

Unlike others, Noah welcomed the severe conditions of the Priest class with open hands.

He was happy with only a few players choosing Priest class.

"Players can use potions right now. But in the future, they will have no choice but to use support classes and healers for big raids and dungeon explorations.

"However, since only a few players had chosen Priest class in the beginning. It will result in an imbalance between supply and demand.

"The cost of high-level Priests will shoot through the roof for taxing raids. I'll be swimming in money when that happens."

Ark had chosen the Priest class – the class with zero attack skills – after much consideration.

He also wanted to enjoy this new world by exploring, fighting monsters, and leveling up.

But, for him, this wasn't just a game. It was more than that.

If he could earn money at the cost of his entertainment, he would do it in a heartbeat.

"All things considered, I need to be at the top of the Priest leaderboard if I want to be scouted for raids in the future."

The players were beginning to move.

Some searched for an NPC to give them quests, entered alleyways to offer bread to beggars, or were busy sightseeing.

Few left the town and entered the coniferous forest while another large group was waiting near the resurrection fountain.

"Scouting player for a 3-man party to enter the forest!"

"Looking for a Mage! We are ready to negotiate drop distribution!"

"I'm planning to hunt level 3 monsters outside! I need 10 players who are ready to team up with me!"

"Why is no mage being teleported in this beginner town!?"

"I won't let you become strong. This time, I'll cripple you before you can harm anyone."

Noah stared at the guy, who muttered the last sentence, with a strange face.

"All kinds of people play games, huh."

Shaking his head, he moved away and roamed the town until he found the smithy.

"Found it."

The alleyways behind the smithies had puddles of oil along with metal trinkets and wooden splinters. These were waste products of the smithy.

Noah took out the water flasks from his satchel and emptied them.

He then took a rag cloth from the alley. Scooping the oil into the empty water flasks was a lot easier thanks to the rags.

Noah didn't have much money, so he was collecting flammable materials in this way.

Half an hour later, Noah wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked at the alleyways.

"I ended up cleaning the entire alleyway."

Only a small amount of oil puddles were present, perhaps because the oil was regularly cleaned to avoid misshapen accidents.

By the time he filled both water flasks, the gullies were shining.

Even the beggars were giving him weird looks.

Completing his tasks, he used the trinkets lying around to turn the water bottles with oil into a makeshift molotov.

It wasn't hard as he had practice.

This was a crucial part of his plan to level up.

Just as he was done, several notifications appeared.

Ding!

[ You have successfully assembled Molotov(Free)x2 ]

[ You have been awarded +2 DEX for your successful production of a Free rating item on your first attempt ]

[ Skill Blueprints learned ]

[ Skill Crafting learned ]

[ Skill Production learned ]

[ +3 free Skill Points ]

Noah was pleasantly surprised. He didn't expect to learn skills while making a molotov. The fact they were production skills was an added bonus.

"What does this skill do?"

—

[Blueprints] (Passive)

Tier: 0

Proficiency: 2/100

Requirement: None

Skill Effect: The creation method of items you have assembled is stored as a manual with step-by-step procedure. Slots: 1/10.

—

[Crafting] (Passive)

Tier: 0

Level: 0

Proficiency: 59/100

Requirement: None

Skill Effect: When you create an item from your stored blueprints, your crafting speed increases by 10%.

—

[Production] (Passive)

Tier: 0

Level: 0

Proficiency: 50/100

Requirement: None

Skill Effect: When you create an item from your stored blueprints, the chances of successful production increases by 10%.

—

"I got free Dexterity stats for creating an item."

Noah was considering if he should use money to buy a few spare parts and create more items. After all, more skills would never hurt.

A cloaked figure approached him while he was contemplating.

"Hohohoho, you are quite a handsome and energetic young man."

"A NPC? Go away, I don't have any bread."

While cleaning the alley, Noah had seen numerous players offering food and money to the homeless.

Those players only lost their valuables without getting quests or rewards in return.

As he faced the cloaked figure, Noah realized the person was a giant, almost twice tall as him.

The old man's robe couldn't hide his robust muscles when he moved to pat his shoulder.

"Cleaning the homes of the homeless without asking for compensation. Hohohoho."

The force behind those pats forced Noah to almost kneel.

"You have the aspect of divinity and a good heart. If only you were also polite."

[ You have lost 15 HP ]

[ You have lost 20 HP ]

[ Critical hit! ]

[ You have lost 60 HP ]

[ Alert! You are down to 5% HP! ]

Noah backed away quickly. His shoulder was on the verge of falling off.

Those weren't pats. They were hammer strikes!

Was the old man trying to kill him?

"What do you want?"

The pain limiter was set to 5%. Yet, Noah was having trouble standing straight due to pain.

"Hohoho, it seems this old man failed to control his strength. Let me apologize."

A golden light spewed out of the old man's palm and covered Noah.

[ ??? used ]

[ Your HP has been restored to 100% ]

[ Your HP regeneration has been boosted by 50% for 15 minutes ]

[ Your SP regeneration has been boosted by 50% for 15 minutes ]

Noah's eyes widened.

The buffs were beyond his expectation. 15 minutes was no small amount!

The old man was definitely a high-level NPC!

'Did I somehow activate a hidden quest?'

His thoughts were soon interrupted by the old man.

"Oh, immortal child, can you fulfill this old man's request?"