Darren Vankas.
He is a half-dwarf half-human who has become proficient in blacksmithing inside 20 years, and become a Grandmaster Blacksmith.
There are nine ranks to each profession: Apprentice, Beginner, Intermediate, Professional, Advanced, Master, Grandmaster, Epic, and Legendary.
In his case, hammer and anvil was his life, and seeing talents in the industry is almost an everyday occurence.
But a genius? No.
As they were descending, he got impatient.
When you get older, you use elevator instead of using the stairs, but these two, in their excitement forgot that it, and ran down the stairs.
Though the manager also felt something wss wrong, he still ran as fast as he could down the stairs.
As Darren was also trying to keep up, he ran short of breath, but still went down as he heard the rain-like footsteps behind him.
Yes, the crowd followed him. So, getting on the elevator is not an option, and stopping is also not an option. He must press on.
And so, he steadily went down, and floor, after floor, after floor, they went down.
Seventh Floor? Nope. Sixth floor? Not. Fifth? No. Fourth? Definitely not.
Until they reached the second floor, in which the Unranked Forges are. When he saw that, he was ready to fly in rage when he felt something strange. Like, something out of place.
"This way, Sir." The lady said as she pointed out the room.
Turns out, when the Token was turned over, she went to the forge to clean it up for the next users, only to see the scenario before her.
And when she did, she also called the manager to see what was going on. And now, back to the scenario, Darren is also shocked to see this.
Inside the room, were the equipments, and not just equipments, but they are broken beyond repair. But, the most shocking thing is not the broken equipments, but how it broke.
In truth, anvils are made to handle heat and pressure, as well as the constant hammering, and breaking is unprecedented.
But, the anvil is almost grounded to pieces, as if it was chipped little by little, and the work done here received so much force, and the backlash was sent to the anvil, probable also because of how fast the strikes are that it can't rebound the hammer.
So, fast and strong, plus the precise control of where the strengths will hit.
And even that, was not shocking at all.
The clamp, melted. The hammer, almost broken, the kiln, was clean but damaged.
And what made Darren gasp was when he realized the thing that was out of place, and this thing isn't something that shows up in this environment, or rather, this floor.
Traces of mana.
Mana, is the power to back up a certain Manifestation: Seal.
And Seal, is the power to control elements; such as fire, ice and the others. This manifestation is another gimmick of the game.
Manifestations are the tangible, or visible form of he unseen.
And Seal is the Manifestation of mana.
And this room, is full of it.
As the others were contemplating about what happened here, only those with "eyes" can see what really happened.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" A hearty laugh was heard at the corridor.
With the sudden laughter, all the people followed, not knowing what was happening.
"So, where is our esteemed guest now?" As Darren asked, the manager and the clerk's face turned pale. As he is focused on the thing before him, did not see this.
"Sir, the truth is.."
"Hmm?"
"He said he has a master already, and refused to give us his contacts." The clerk hurriedly lied.
But then, Darren, who was smiling, suddenly frowned. Suddenly, his left eye glowed purple, and a symbol of two hammers appeared on it.
He stood up, looked at the clerk, stared her at the eye, and asked:
"Where is our esteemed guest?"
"As I said, Sir, he--"
SLAP!
As soon as the slap rang across the halls, the onlookers was surprised and stopped for a moment.
With that, Darren looked down at the clerk who just fell down, and asked again.
"Where is the esteemed guest?"
"I-I-I didn't know that he is an expert. I was excited to see Geann, and I didn't record him."
As soon as she said that, Darren's eyes returned back to normal, and he sighed.
After that, he pulled the hand of the clerk, which made her face contort, not of pain, but because of what he did.
[Rank Down!]
Rank 4 Clerk --> Rank 1 Clerk.
_______________________
Zypher, who was now a bit away from the Guild now took his first step into getting what he needed before the two weeks come.
In truth, there are only 11 days to go, and what he can do this time is limited, and so, he decided to take the shortest route with the highest reward.
And so, he took his time to plot his dungeon clearing this time.
Why?
Because Briar has to level up. Although he can't, he still need to help Briar do so, and for this to happen, grinding is his way.
Kyulaff, is a level 15-40 city, with a variety of dungeons for him to clear.
And his first target is the dungeon he needs for his own skills.
The Level 15 Slime Dungeon.
His skill, Weak Point, is a skill that reveals the weakest point of an enemy, and slimes are known for their ability to deflect attacks that doesn't target their cores.
And even if someone has high attacks, they can't still kill a slime because they split themselves if they receive high damage that did not crush their core.
And so, Zypher has to farm this place, and also, as a returnee from the future, he has discovered something good in this dungeon.
As soon as he entered the dungeon, he took some time to scout the place first, and there, he found it.
This place is a narrow alley, where only two to three slimes can pass through if they enter.
And the clearing process is simple.
Briar will be the one who taunts the slimes, and willlead them to the alley, where Zypher is waiting, and using his Weak Point Skill everytime, he can kill each slime swiftly.
As they went in the said alley, Briar has already found the place, and she was ready.
As soon as Zypher give the signal, she can start bombarding them, to let them divide, and they can fit more to the alley, giving Zypher time to kill them all.
But that's not all.
"Briar, now!"
Fire Ball, Water Ball, Wood Explosion, and Poison Rain.
These attacks give sudden big damage, or damage over time, letting the slimes split up, and become smaller.
And that's the something special Zypher did.
When slimes receive a certain damage, they build a resistance to it, but, due to them splitting, their levels go down.
And this, is where his another skill shine: Absorb.
A free stat point, a free skill, or an ability; and a special skill to top it off.
Trigger (Absorb): Can be used on top of another skill, spell, ability or manifestation.
"Activate Weak Point."
As he said that, Zypher saw where the weaknesses of the slimes, and so, he used his skills to kill slimes again and again.
And in this time, Briar also leveled up, making the farm faster.
_____________________
Four hours later.
Zypher was standing atop a tree as he was eyeing the first mini boss of the map.
This time, Zypher took Charity Dagger with him, and unsummoned Briar.
As he was looking at the boss, the Metallic Slime, he felt confidence for the first time in a while.
Confidence that he can solo this thing without it hitting him.
As he was scouting it, he waited as the slime walked past him, so targeting it's back is easier for him.
The boss walked round and round the place, as if waiting for an enemy, but, what he did not expect is that it will appear behind him, and a fast one at that.
Quick Step.
A skil he got from the slimes as they detect danger and try to dodge it, but, Zypher is faster.
Quick Stab!
From Stab, to Quick Stab.
This skill is gotten through killing enemies by plunging a dagger at them, and thus, the stab skill.
But from there, you need to kill 5 enemies in one Stab, to get Quick Stab, and yet, due to the many enemies in his vicinity, he got the skill fast.
As soon as he hit the Metal Slime, the slime hardened, but that was what he was waiting for.
Trigger (One Man Army): Apply to all stat: the difference of the levels, plus the difference of the stat of the enemy minus your stat.
And so, his stats went up higher than the slime, although a small increment, but this still made him able to go toe to toe against the slime.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Slashes and stabs came fast against the slime, and with the Quick Step ability, which makes him 30% faster, he was going in and out of the vision range of the slime.
One stab, two stab, and a Critical Strike.
Trigger 2 (Charity Dagger): Every attack gives stacks, and crits on the third strike. Every crit increases Attack by 1% every time.
And so, a very dangerous weapon was born. By fighting longer, the Charity Dagger gives more, and it increases each time.
On his 36th strike, he already gained 12% of his Attack stat, high enough to tear through the defenses of the slime, and let him divide.
And division means faster death.
STAB! STAB! CRIT!
With this combo, Zypher did not take too long to kill the slime.
Ding!
[Congratulations on killing the Metal Slime! Map 2 has been unlocked.]
As the notification said, the slime is dead now. Metal slimes have cores, but they don't die from breaking it, from the the damage they receive on their bodies.
Because they are already metallic, their bodies receive damage, and sends shock to the core, which makes them get damage even if they are slimes.
Zypher walked over, and took the slime's core.
As he saw the core, he had a bold idea.
"Briar, your sibling is coming." He said as he used a skill.
Shadow Summon!
Ding!
[Metal Slime summoned using Shadow Energy.]
[Error.]
{Error Recalibration...}
{Error.}
(Error Recalibration...)
(Error.)
Codex Recalibration...
[You have received Dichotomous Slime!]
{Dichotomous Slime.}
- A slime created from the body of a metal slime, and the power of shadows.
Ability(s):
Dichotomy: can be intangible or tangible based on the user's usage.
Record: Records a skill, spell, manifestation or ability just by touching the target.
Skill(s):
Replication: creates a level 1 copy of itself.
Zypher smiled.
Now, he can create something that he did not get in his last life, but still, he is far from it.
And so, he cleared the next bosses without further ado. He did not even looked at the next two bosses, as they are weak compared to the metal slime.
And, Zypher did not even blink against the Final Boss battle. It was like a kid killing an ant.
From his experience, the stat he gains, plus the equipment he have, he can kill the bosses without a hitch.
After the dungeon run, Briar is already at level 6, and Metal Slime is at level 4.
With one run, Briar had a qualitative leap of levels, and can help Zypher in his exploits.
As he distributed Briar's stats, Zypher saw something that made his heart go wild.
He looked at Briar, then the panel again. He rubbed his eyes, but it is still there.
This time, his eyes grew wide as he pressed the name of his summon. At this moment, all he can do is be shocked, beyond measure.
[Briar - Queen of the Night] [1/7]