"You really did kill a hundred mountain goats in such a short time?! How did you do it?"
Iron Buck could barely get his acts together. He was like a fan who had met their favourite celebrity.
His admiration of Axton was glaring in his eyes.
Axton who had only just arrived in the world of New Eden was already being adored for his strength.
He couldn't believe it himself.
"Ahem," Axton cleared his throat as if trying to remind Iron Buck of something that he was forgetting, after all, he did not come here to chat with the blacksmith.
"Yeah, right! The rewards!" Iron Buck blurted out as he snapped his finger, having recalled the reason for their meeting in the first place.
Axton nodded his head, agreeing with the blacksmith.
*Snap*
Iron Buck snapped his finger again and the rewards appeared for Axton to see.
…
[Silk Cloth Armour]
Grade : Common
Level : 1
Perk : Defense +2
…
[Pair of shoes]
Grade: Common
Level : 1
Perk : Agility +1
…
Axton was definitely disappointed seeing that the pair of shoes offered just a little boost outside comfort for his feet, but he couldn't complain too much since he can't do anything about it.
Finally, the last and most important reward to him came — the common grade weapon he was waiting for.
…
[Steel Sword]
Grade : Common
Level : 1
Perks : Attack +2, Defense +1
[Note : requires Level 2 of Warrior class to use]
…
Axton sighed in his heart.
The three items he received from the blacksmith were all common grade and that was the lowest in the ranking of equipment in New Eden.
In-games items had 12 ranks and from lowest to highest, they were:
Common, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, Unique, Epic, Legendary, Mythical, Sacred and finally, Divine.
These 12 ranks were the ones released and known to the world, anything else outside them, if it exists, are not known to Axton.
The fact that there were 12 rankings, and normally it would take killing 100 Horned Mountain Goats to get common grade items, was enough to explain the difficulty of acquiring powerful items in New Eden.
Reflecting on this, Axton did not mind his three common grade items anymore.
Simultaneous with his thought, a ding rang in his head.
*Ding*
[Congratulations!]
[Critical Hit effect initiated!]
[Your rewards have been multiplied and upgraded]
[You've gained a Grade 3 Enchantment Armour]
[You've gained a Grade 3 Flash Sword]
[You've gained a pair of Grade 3 Speed Boots]
'Hmm,' Axton mumbled to himself.
Axton was starting to understand something about the 100x critical hit bonus that he has.
The bonus boosted things in two different ways: either by increasing quantity or making the quality better.
He recalled having to choose between 100 horns of Mountain Goats and 1 Great Goat horn.
While the latter offered better quality, Axton needed the horns of the Mountain Goats to complete Iron Buck's quest.
Regardless, he didn't expect the sudden jump in quality to shoot all the way up to Grade 3, skipping the intermediaries.
It's only been a short time since he logged into the game and he already had three Grade 3 items whereas everyone else was still putting up with common grade items.
"Thank you, mister Khan," Iron Buck showed his gratitude. "For helping me, I would like to give an extra reward."
Axton froze.
This was not part of what he expected.
What does this blacksmith mean that there was an extra reward?
Axton's eyes fluttered several times in a single second.
"E-Extra… reward?" Axton stuttered, trying to keep his calm.
Iron Buck nodded his head and went to one of the shelves around them, bringing down a single, sleek obsidian rock.
"You can have this."
Axton stared cluelessly at the mysterious rock in the blacksmith's hand.
He was confused and at the same time, sceptical as to whether to take it or not.
"What's this?"
"It's a space stone," Iron Buck said while glancing at the satchel and also pointing at it.
"And its function is a simple one. It expands the carrying capacity of your bag."
Axton did not expect another reward outside the three that were listed for him.
If that was so, then he needed it as well, especially when he would want to carry things that ordinarily would be beyond the capacity of his satchel.
…
[Space Stone]
Category : Special item (low grade)
Perk : Expands carrying capacity of any bag it is placed in.
…
"Just put it inside your bag and that is it," Iron Buck added.
"Thank you for giving me such a priceless item," Axton said with a bow of gratitude.
"The pleasure is mine," the blacksmith replied. "You have earned my respect. It is only right that I honour you."
*Ding*
[Congratulations!]
[100x Critical Hit effect initiated!]
[You have two options]
[100 low grade space stones OR 1 mid grade space stone]
Having the same space stone of the low grade category made no difference, since it had the same effect.
So, Axton went for quality and chose the mid grade space stone — one space stone and yet it could do what 100 low grade space stones would do.
Axton put the mid grade space stone in his sack and it vanished instantly.
With that, the sack raged for a few seconds, only to be engulfed into a white light.
Axton was terrified and in panic, he tried to toss the satchel away to avoid being burned by the light.
"Hahaha!" Iron Buck laughed at the player's silly behaviour.
Axton watched his satchel transform into a backpack.
He was indecisive about picking it up because of what happened just now but as he looked at the blacksmith, Iron Buck permitted him to go ahead with a head gesture.
The carrying capacity of the backpack was now a hundred times what the satchel could hold, and that would definitely serve Axton.
"Thank you for your kind gesture, Mr. Iron Buck."
Axton turned to leave when the blacksmith's voice stopped him.
"Khan…" Iron Buck called, using his in-game name. "I would like you to meet someone… someone who could use your help."
*Ding*
[You have triggered a follow up quest]
[Are you interested?]
[Yes / No]