Kyulaff, Acias.
Cities inside the Acias Kingdom are many, but small.
But behind these small cities are quests that no one can finish easily.
Why? Because Acias is the center of the said continent. Regus from the north-east and Lloruk from the south-west are the nearest Kingdoms, but it doesn't mean there are any others.
And, many things will happen here in the future.
As he was gulping a cake, he looked outside the busy street. His eyes went from side to side as he was reading all the things he got from the past few days.
After teleporting to this city, he logged out and took a bath.
His new eye, that was transplanted to him has no issues, but has no rejection either. This felt awkward to him, but decided to pay no mind.
As he wiped his body, he sat on his chair as he scribbled some things he has to do as soon as he saw that things are getting out of hand.
It was only the first week of him playing, but all he experienced was almost like for the veteran players. From losing his one day old companions to seeing them again in other personas.
Wild.
His focus was not on them, but on the possibility of more chaotic future. His main goal is not revenge, but to free himself from the shackles of his past, and live past the life he lived.
But, it doesn't mean that kicking them while they're down is not an option either. If he can slit one throat from their careless mistake, he will do so by biting that said throat.
And the "brain", can do that. All he needs now are eyes he can use to process information. A guild may help.
But then, guilds only accepts: (1) Level 20 and up players, probably those who have Rare and above classes; (2) Connections and; and (3) high proficiency players that can produce the guild's assets and for their economy.
Although the fighting force is needed, a balance between the production class and fighting class must be achieved to create a harmonious guild.
In Caelestia, the Production classes were ranked higher than the fighting classes, which makes it have the economy for upgrading everyone, and surplus for unprecedented events.
And thus, Zypher decided to get option 3, upgrading his production class.
After the fight in the Blood Bat Cave, and the Wraith's Abode, he was only seven creations away to become a Beginner Blacksmith. This can also help him to create blueprints from his finished works.
And, the Codex Library has helped him in many ways possible: materials, blueprints and even some upgrades. By now, the base he left should've gotten more resources.
As he cranked up the treadmill, he remembered the changes he saw in Constantine.
In truth, he guessed the changes, but he didn't expected it to be huge. But the most surprising thing is the class he got so early in the game.
Running, he thought of some possible solutions to the predicament, and get some things done.
Two weeks until the 15th anniversary of the game, and he can still do some things. Listing what changes he expects, Zaon was then surprised by the volume of information he has to erase from his mind.
After almost 30 minutes of running, he took his notebook and listed things, for him not to forget.
An hour later, he felt refreshed and took some time off to get lunch and get back to the game.
_________________________
After a not so long time of consideration, Zypher checked the things he got from the recent events, to also further his plans.
First is, Briar.
Before entering the Wraith's Abode, he got a skill in which he can summon an undead from an enemy. Although he was a bit surprised that it worked, the true surprise was when Briar woke up.
Except for the stats that are all in minimum of 100, her skills are the best.
She is a mage that crossed between the Frost Fire Witch, the Wraith Queen and the Poison Witch. In truth, her soul is divided into three, but the undead summoning mixed it up to one, creating a new persona.
Her powers are elements such as fire, ice, wood, and poison. Added with the Undead Energy, she is of the lich class, but she is still level 1.
Her title - Queen of the Night - is what made Zypher's eye twitch.
[Queen of the Night - Linked Legendary Quests.]
[Mission 1]
Make the Queen learn Dark Magic and Curse Magic.
In truth, these two books are too pricey in the market.
A low-level curse such as Paralyze is already 100 Gold, which will leave him no money, and that's just Curse Magic.
He also has to buy a Skill Encyclopedia to at least make her learn the whole Curse Magic Tree.
But, the good news is, unlike him, Briar can level up, and that's a relief on his part. If Briar was somehow affected by his curse, this will make things harder for him.
By now, his mind is whirring as to where he can find the things he needed to upgrade Briar.
"Oh, I think where I can get one." He said as he took another thing.
For now, Briar can wait for her upgrade.
The next is the Star Encyclopedia. This is his first time seeing the said symbol, and so, his curiosity took hold of him.
"Appraisal."
TING!
{Encyclopedia of Trigger.}
"Trigger?" As he said that, he glanced at the book before him.
In his past life, nothing, even the Magic Night Guild did not have anything like this; so maybe, just maybe, this is something for him to go against the other families.
But learning the Encyclopedia when he doesn't even have his main skill tree might prove useless to him.
[Learn "Trigger"?]
A prompt appeared before Zypher. He was having doubts, but another prompt shocked him.
This made his heart jump, and so, he decided on what he will do first.
His feet quickly led him to an ore shop.
White Silver, Rock Tiger Fang, Fire Vulture Claw and some other ores that has magic conductivity.
Mithril, which was known for it's conductivity, is too pricey, so Zypher just took one tonne of Flaktite: an ore that conducts magic but is brittle and explodes when too much mana is injected.
But, he added another tonne of Stagnite: an ore that resist mana, and supresses mana side-effects. It was always used for shields to create anti-magic equipment but too few uses it for skills sometimes give anti-magic shields.
As he took himself to the Blacksmith Guild, he saw many people in front of the gate.
Not wanting any attention, he chose to slip through them and made his way to a nearby guide.
"Hi, may I rent a forge?" He said politely towards the lady.
"Name, blacksmith rank, and what kind of forge do you want to use?" The woman said nonchalantly as if annoyed.
"Zypher, unranked, and will have to borrow a Rank 1 Forge."
"Rank 1? Aren't you unranked?" The girl said as if she heard a joke.
"Is it not possible?" Zypher asked, but the girl laughed.
"Possible? Rank 1 Forges needs certain proficiency, and if you don't even achieve it, you can't open the kiln, or even carry the hammer." She said as if she is a machine who said it again and again.
"Well, what I will do is a bit too much for an Unranked Forge, so can I please use Rank 1?" Zypher pleaded, but still, her icy sharp gaze threatened him.
"Hey kid, if you are done joking, go away, I still have a forging I want to watch. Don't waste my time." The lady said as she gave Zypher one Unranked Forge Token.
As she walked away, Zypher scratches his head, but still walked towards the said forge.
Forge Tokens are like IDs, and each room have sensors to it. As soon as Zypher walked towards the door, it sensed the said Token, and automatically opened the door.
As he entered, he noticed that the forge was old, and felt pity to the equipments there.
The clamps, hammer and the anvil looked like they are on their last legs, and the kiln is filled with soot.
So before he started, he took the brush in the corner of the place, and scrubbed a few things off.
In the end, he saw that the equipments and the kiln looked much better, but is not that clean enough, yet what can he do.
After resting, he took out his materials and started to put fuel to the kiln.
As he pulled the table, one by one, he put the materials he is gonna use. As he put the bones and claws on the table, the furnace was on it's peak temperature.
The heat was bearable due to some magic circles that soak up the heat, and releases it to the air.
As he pumped up the wind, to power up the flames, he started to cut the White Silver to pieces, and took some to grind. This will act like borax and add to the process.
After that, he heated up the Rock Tiger Fang, and as it heated up, he started on forging it. As he picked up speed, he also used the Fire Vulture Claw, in which he fused the two.
The room was filled with sounds of hammering, quenching and forging.
For a moment, he was immersed in his creation that he just took his time to forge what he was doing.
As he was forging, outside the hall.
People started to form a mini-blockage outside the Blacksmith Guild.
Today, the well known blacksmith of Wind Arrows, Magic Night's Vassal Guild, was taking his rank 6 exam.
A tall, cold and aloof face can be seen on the front of the said blockade. Guild members, and even people from other guilds are all looking at the said examination.
Why?
It was because a little while ago, a guild war happened in Kyulaff, and the nearby city of Tiran. The small-sized Wind Arrow versus the hegemon of Tiran, the mid-sized Serrated Eagle.
People thought that Wind Arrows took a rock to smash their shells, what happened next created waves of issues.
That's because, only four people, with Unique Classes fought the army of SE, but then, even the Guild Leader was helpless against one of the four.
Their secret was the items they held.
As people began to investigate, they found out that a player has been constantly forging their own items, and they were always Rare and higher quality, stepping to Unique and Epic territory.
And now, they want to see the player that Magic Night decided to take, plus the guild that holds this treasure.
"Is that him? Geann?"
"Shh. Don't say his name too hastily."
"KYAAAAH! Geann, please let me bear your child!"
"Hey, your boyfriend is beside you!"
But, even if the workers are players, the Guild Master wil always be an NPC.
Steady steps, but with authority. Even if you are the greatest player, you will always have to bow down before their might, as they are not someone you can mess with.
"Greetings, Guild Master." Geann said as he bowed.
This was a basic courtesy towards the most proficient Natives of their professions.
As people started to bow, the Guild Master clapped his hands.
"Please lift your heads." He announced with vigor. "Now, we will witness the very first Rank 6 Blacksmith of Kyulaff City."
He grabbed Geann by the shoulder and smiled.
"Off you go." He said as he gave him the Rank 6 Token to be used at the Rank 6 room.
Geann took the elevator, and like a protagonist of a story, he didn't wave at the people behind him. Instead, he just looked at them and snickered.
As the door of the elevator closed, only the lingering pride and arrogance filled his mind.