Kirou was currently in Village Tailor Sam's cottage. After returning from the swampland more than twenty minutes ago, he has been in the cottage, sorting the items in his inventory. He had hunted so many monsters and gotten so many materials that he currently needed to organize them before he could even start figuring out where to start.
After another five minutes of organizing, Kirou was finally able to finish sorting his items. Taking a look back at the amount in his storage, Kirou couldn't help the wry smile forming on his lips. He had to spend so much time going through so many items all because he went overboard with his hunting. Shaking his head free of those thoughts, Kirou turned to face Tailor Sam who was patiently waiting for him from the moment he entered the cottage. Unlike the other areas in the village where players normally commute, the tailor shop rarely saw traffic after players got to a certain level. This was because they could now receive armor from killing monsters.
"Now that my materials have been sorted out, you have any advice for me before I start working on my armor, Senior Sam?" asked Kirou.
"Considering the number of materials you just showed me, I can freely say that you should experiment with the materials from weaker monsters before you jump into making your final armor set." Tailor Sam said that as he recalled all the armor materials had just gone through. When Kirou first did his quest, he thought Kirou got lucky. It was only now when he saw the amount of materials Kirou returned with and their quality did he realize that he was dealing with a monster. "That being said, I suggest you come up with a design for the armor first. It would be a waste for you to start making something, only to lose track of the final product midway. Especially with materials of this quality." After saying this, Tailor Sam passed Kirou a leather-skinned notebook.
Receiving the notebook, Kirou flips through a few pages with a raised eyebrow before asking, "This is...?"
"Just a sketchbook from my younger days. You can use those designs as an example for your armor designs or you could probably draw inspiration from them to make your own. Either way, it's your decision for what you end up doing." Tailor Sam replied with a smile, confident in his designs.
Hearing his words, Kirou decided to look through the leather book in greater detail. In all honesty, Kirou never did understand fashion or designing all that much. He was more of a practical guy. If it fits his needs, he'd use it and if not, he'd ignore it. Looking at the designs Tailor Sam had given him opened up his eyes towards making a few of his own later on. Though they probably won't be anything better than amateur work in terms of looks at the moment, he was confident that his future designs should give Tailor Sam a surprise. Besides, he was working with superior materials. Only a retard would intentionally waste those.
After looking through the leather book for a bit, Kirou found a design that he liked. This design was titled the 'Swampland Leather Armor Set.' Unlike the ones before, this was a set design that worked around multiple materials from different swampland monsters. Looking over the material requirements and the ones in his possession, Kirou realized that he could use that design as a practice model.
"I'm going to be borrowing one of your designs, for now, Senior Sam. You mind if I use your equipment to make them, as I have yet to make my own?" asked Kirou as he turned to Tailor Sam.
Tailor Sam looked at the design Kirou chose before replying, "Go ahead. I'd like to see how your first attempt at armor crafting turns out."
Getting Tailor Sam's permission, Kirou thanked him before looking over the design once more and verified the materials needed. Satisfied with his preparations, Kirou dived into his work on making the armor.
***************
It's currently been over an hour since Kirou started crafting his prototype version of the swampland leather armor set. So far he's finished making three of the four armor pieces; the pants, boots, and gloves. All that's left was the top. Kirou decided to tweak the design slightly and change the top's design from a jacket to a vest. He did so to account for his change in size when he makes use of lycan transformation.
After another ten minutes of working on it, Kirou had finally completed his work. Looking at the finished product, Kirou was quite satisfied with his work.
Equipment: Swampland Leather Armor Vest
Equipment Level: 10
Equipment Type: Prototype (Unranked)
+5 defense
+50 HP
Armor Set Bonus: Only active when the different parts of the set are equipped
2 pieces: +10 def
3 pieces: +150 HP and 100 MP
4 pieces: -10% damage from enemy attacks
Equipment Swampland Leather Armor Pants
Equipment Level: 10
Equipment Type: Prototype (Unranked)
+5 defense
+50 MP
Armor Set Bonus: Only active when...
Equipment: Swampland Leather Armor Gloves
Equipment Level: 10
Equipment Type: Prototype (Unranked)
+3 defense
+3 constitution
Armor Set Bonus: Only active when...
Equipment: Swampland Leather Armor Boots
Equipment Level: 10
Equipment Type: Prototype (Unranked)
+3 defense
+3 agility
Armor Set Bonus: Only active when...
Looking over the stats on his personally crafted armor, Kirou was quite satisfied. Beside him, Tailor Sam was looking at the armor in surprise.
"Even though it's my design, I never expected them to come out this well." Tailor Sam said this while looking at the armor set in amazement.
"It's understandable, Senior Sam. You made the design with the use of average quality materials in mind. This is the result of using excellent quality materials instead." Kirou said this while nodding his head.
"Be that as it may, it probably wouldn't have turned out like this had I made it myself so it's worth giving praise."
"Well, I'll thank Senior Sam for his praise then," Kirou said this cupping his hands and giving Tailor Sam a slight bow.
Tailor Sam waved his hand to stop Kirou. "No need for the politeness. Since you are done with this prototype, do you plan to make another set or two, or will you just dive into making your real armor now?" Tailor Sam asked this while giving Kirou a knowing look. "I know you have materials from strongest monsters on you as well so I highly doubt you'll be satisfied with just this."
Having been called out like that by Tailor Sam, Kirou could only give him a wry smile before responding, " Since Senior has already noticed, I won't hide it anymore. I do have materials from the elite variants of the monsters that gave me the materials used to make this armor." Tailor Sam revealed a smirk at his deduction proving true. Kirou saw it and could only release a helpless sigh before speaking, "Originally, I planned to make another armor set or two and just decide which of them to wear after making some comparisons. But now, I think I might as well just use the elite variants' materials to make a stronger version of the armor I just made."
Tailor Sam nodded his head and turned around before heading towards the room exit. As he left, he left behind some words for Kirou, "Since that is the case, I'll leave you to it then. I originally stayed in case you needed help but looking at your work has eased my mind. You've also managed to give me some inspiration for new designs so I'm going to document them now while they are still fresh in my mind while you do your work. I hope you'll let me see the finished product when you are done.
After his final words, the door to the room closed. Kirou was now left in the back room alone with all the equipment he would need to craft his gear and all the materials he would need to craft a few complete armor sets in his inventory.
Kirou didn't immediately start work on the superior armor set. He sat down on the ground and began going over what he just experienced when crafting the prototype. The prototype was quite good and he could be satisfied with it as is, but Kirou was hit with a bit of inspiration while working on it. He felt that the armor set shouldn't contain just four pieces, but five. At the moment, he was thinking about how to design the fifth piece, the headpiece.
Quite a few designs for the headpiece flashed through his mind but in the end, Kirou decided to design the headpiece in the shape of the overlord of the swampland itself, the swampland crocodile king. Having come to that decision, Kirou took out all the materials he would need. He did one final check to very they were all the superior variants before he proceeded to craft the proper armor set.
******************
An hour and a half later found Kirou currently putting on the finishing touches on the final piece of armor, the crocodile king headpiece. Kirou made it so that the headpiece would be attached to the vest, essentially turning both pieces into a hoodie of sorts. Looking at the finished product caused a smile to form on Kirou's face.
Equipment: Swampland Leather Armor Vest
Equipment Level: 10
Equipment Type: Rare
+10 defense
+10 strength
+100 HP
Armor Set Bonus: Only active when the different parts of the set are equipped along with the Swampland Crocodile Headpiece.
2 pieces: +15 def
3 pieces: +200 HP and 150 MP
4 pieces: -20% damage from enemy attacks
5 pieces: Grants the wearer the ability to use water arrow.
{Water Arrow: This skill allows the user to generate a ball of water and turn it into an arrow before launching it at a target. The speed of gathering and execution will depend on the user's proficiency.}
Equipment Swampland Leather Armor Pants
Equipment Level: 10
Equipment Type: Rare
+10 defense
+10 strength
+100 MP
Armor Set Bonus: Only active when...
Equipment: Swampland Leather Armor Gloves
Equipment Level: 10
Equipment Type: Rare
+5 defense
+5 dexterity
+10 constitution
Armor Set Bonus: Only active when...
Equipment: Swampland Leather Armor Boots
Equipment Level: 10
Equipment Type: Rare
+5 defense
+5 agility
+5% MP recover in battle (default is 1% every second)
Armor Set Bonus: Only active when...
Equipment: Swampland Crocodile Headpiece
Equipment Level: 10
Equipment Type: Rare
+5 defense
+5 intelligence
+Underwater breathing
Armor Set Bonus: Only active when...
The armor had been upgraded from unranked prototypes to rare armor, giving them the right to be called one of the rare item sets to be introduced to the game world by players themselves. Kirou doubted that there existed much of such armor if any at all at this point in the game. Most players are still under the system assisted gameplay mode and one would need to be on semi-auto mode to even attempt crafting this set. And even that doesn't guarantee that they would be able to create as good of a prototype armor set as his previous creation, much less what he has just finished.
Kirou wasn't underestimating the other players' skill in crafting when he thought this but he was damn positive they lacked the skill in acquiring the materials needed to make the armor. Couple that with the lack of skilled crafters available in the game at the moment and one could see the logic behind Kirou's deduction on the matter.
'With this, I'm done with my preparations, as far as armor goes, for completing that quest Old Wolf gave me. Now I need to head back over to Bladesmith's smithy to reforge my tonfas. That blasted crocodile did a number on them.' This was Kirou's thoughts as he started to equip his new gear. After he was done, he couldn't help opening up his menu to check his current stats.
{Name: Kirou}{Race: Werewolf(Lycan/Human)}{Class: Weapon Master}{Subclass: Crafting Master}{Weapons: Gunblade Tonfas(damaged), Beginner Knife}{Armor: Swampland Leather Armor Set (vest, pants, gloves, boots, crocodile helmet), Mysterious Bead(???)}{Level: 10}{HP: 696/696 (396+100+200)}{MP: 580/580 (330+100+150)}{Str: 42 (22+10+10)}{Int: 25 (20+5)}{Def: 56 (21+10+10+5+5+5)}{Const: 33 (23+10)}{Dex: 23 (18+5)}{Agi: 23 (18+5)}{Luck: 55/100}{Skill Points: 33}{Fame: 2500}{Money: 1000 g/21 s/50 c}Looking over his stats, Kirou failed to stop the smile forming on his face. He could feel his strength, as small as it was, increasing after he donned his new armor. With his current strength, he felt that should he challenge that Swampland Crocodile King to a rematch, he would be able to take it down without using so many recovery ite
Kirou was currently in his human form, walking along the trail going west from Elderwood Village. His eyebrows were currently furrowed as he was deep in thought. He's been outside of the village for roughly half an hour now, and he could feel a few sets of eyes on him.He was sure those eyes have been on him since he left town but he ignored it since he attributed it to everyone being curious about his different set of armor. Now that half an hour has passed and he could still feel a few sets of eyes on him, Kirou decided to take care of it before he entered a truly dangerous situation. That and he found it annoying to have someone watching his every move.Kirou walked off the main road and entered the forest. During his trip, he made sure to remove a set of chains from his inventory and equipped it, with it wrapping around one of his arms. After walking for another few minutes, Kirou finally walked to the center of an open area before he tu
Kirou was currently quite a good distance away from the area where he had killed off the members of the Fiend Guild. At the moment, he was looking over the skills he had created during the conflict with his brows furrowed as he continued his journey.'It wasn't intentional but I seemed to have made something quite dangerous. I wonder why the system recognized it as a skill even though I only used it once?' These were Kirou's thoughts as he looked over his newly created skills, especially <Demonic Gaze>.Skill: Mana ControlSkill Level: 1/3Rank: A (S)Cost: N/ASkill Creator/Generator: KirouDescription: This skill allows the user to freely control the flow of mana/mp within their body. Said mana/mp can also be infused into weapons, allowing the user to manipulate them at will. At first, the movement of mana/mp within the infused weapon will be sluggish but over time and with constant use, the user wi
After receiving Reya's warm welcome to Thousand Wood Village, Kirou finally regained control of himself and started examining the village in as much detail as possible. Just like Elderwood Village, Thousand Wood Village was built amongst nature but that's where the similarities between the two ended.Elderwood Village, while it could be said to be built amongst nature, its inhabitants mainly focusing on hunting, blacksmithing, and carpentry. This causes the village to take on the look of a rural farming village from a simple glance.Thousand Wood Village, however, is a village within the treetops. The elven inhabitants don't cut down trees and make houses from the reshaped parts but instead hollow out trees in certain areas and turn them into homes and other forms of buildings as is. The leftover materials from this hollowing out process are then used to make a multitude of things, such as the pathways and bridges
As Kirou entered the treehouse, his eyes surveyed the interior of the room. The walls of the room were adorned with many decorations made from wood and plant-like materials. On one wall hung a longbow with a case filled with many uniquely decorated arrows. On another was an open window showcasing the fantasy view of the village in its entirety. As for the remaining wall, when Kirou's eyes moved to that direction, he was greeted by the sight of an elf sitting in, in his opinion, a rocking chair.The elf in the rocking chair didn't look that old at first glance, but upon closer inspection, Kirou was able to see the signs of age present on the elf's body. Though his body was well maintained, Kirou could still see slight wrinkles on the face of the elf. If Kirou had to guess, this elf sitting before him was probably a few centuries old. Having observed enough for the moment, Kirou went up and greeted the elf in the rocking chair."Greetings Elde
Kirou and Reya were currently a few kilometers deep within the forests surrounding Thousand Wood Village. While Kirou was currently leaning on a tree, Reya was busy fighting a few Forest Wolves.Monster: Forest WolfLevel: 13HP: 2790Skills: Bite, tackle, leap, pack callAs an archer, it wasn't easy for Reya to fight the wolf in close quarters, much less three of them but she seemed to be doing quite good on her own.[-70][-65]Damage values kept appearing above the heads of the forest wolves. While that was going on, Reya was rolling to the side to dodge the attack of the third wolf lunging at her. So far, Reya was doing quite well in the fight.The reason Kirou wasn't involved in this fight at the moment was that Reya asked that he sit it out. She wanted to test out manual mode combat on her own and wouldn't take no for an answer. As a compromise,
Once again, Kirou was staring at the roof of his apartment. This was the second day in a row he was doing this. Although he was good at adapting to situations, Kirou still felt it weird for him to wake up in his room, completely refreshed, while he spent the entire night, in-game, hunting monsters, doing quests, and teaching Reya how to work in manual mode.'I guess this is one of those perks of being able to play a game that puts my body to rest while I'm active in-game,' thought Kirou as he released a deep breath.Kirou remained in bed for another five minutes before getting up and starting a series of weird movements. Each movement stretched his limbs as far as they could go and he kept this up for a good ten minutes before he stopped, completely covered in sweat.'This body truly is too weak. Just doing these joint stretches has already exhausted me to this degree. It seems like it'll take a while before I can use my
While Secretary Yin was heading back to the meeting room, she failed to notice a certain security guard watching her from a few feet away. She passed by him without even noticing his presence and said person caught the ghost of a smile that graced her face at that moment. Naturally, this security guard was Kirou.'Looks like there truly was something important in those items I returned. Let's hope she'll pay more attention to her surroundings from now on.' Those were Kirou's thoughts as he turned around and walked away, to continue his current rounds for the building.************************It was already 1 pm when Kirou finally went on his lunch break. After passing by Secretary Yin that morning, Kirou spent the rest of his time, focusing on work. At least, that's what he tried to do.Everything was going great for the first hour after but that went south when a few of the guys from the security d
It's been a few days since Kirou returned to the with his new residents. During this time, both old and new residents worked hard to turn the shallow and empty area into a proper village. With the initial houses Kirou had built as a base and starting area, the village extended a bit into the forest, with the goal being to recover land for both farming and extending the village even further in the future. Unsurprisingly, all residents decided to keep living above ground, leaving the passage that led to the pier being the only path they trod. In contrast, the remaining floors were left for Kirou's purposes after all the excavation work was complete. Speaking of the excavation work, Kirou was given a surprise earlier that day when he explored the two floors situated above the pier and below the village on the surface. It seems that during the time that he was away from the village and holed up in the pier area after returning, his residents had come together to fully ex
The Garuda player and his squad from the guild have finally returned to the Seaside Village. Unlike the trip to the pirate hideout that took 5 hours, the return trip only needed half that time. The Garuda player mainly returned here instead of continuing his hunt or returning to his guild as he was curious to see the results of that quest he never got the chance to finish. He was also interested in seeing if he would be able to meet that strange Lycan player he had initially pursued. Unfortunately, his second wish would go unanswered for quite a time. Upon entering the location of the Seaside Village, what greeted the Garuda player and his squad was essentially a ghost town. The village lacked any sign of life and it looked like its inhabitants were in quite the rush to leave. At this point, one squad member, a Lycan, spoke up, "Looks like these guys wasted no time in making themselves scarce as if wanting to avoid us like the plague. What say you now, Boss?" The G
Returning to the moment the Garuda player and his squad had entered the Drarven Village turned pirate camp, Kirou and the former captives have now arrived at the shores of the Seaside Village. He had already guessed what had happened when he found the Village Head's son as one of the captives on the pirate ship, but seeing the current state of the Seaside Village forced a deep sigh out of Kirou's mouth. Even then, he still had a job to finish, so he shook his mind free of their random thoughts and focused on what was ahead of him. Seeing the pirate ships coming close, the remainder of the village was once again arming themselves for combat. Sadly, there were a lot fewer able-bodied persons capable of fighting this time, so morale was at its absolute worst for the villagers. Even the Village Head, the fiercest fighter in the village in the previous bout, was now struggling to raise his weapon in the face of the returning pirate crew. From a glance, it was quite apparent to these vill
Kirou was currently making his way back to the Seaside Village via the ships used by the pirates. He needed a secure way to transport all the women and children that were captured back to the village without injury and in a timely manner, and .... it's not like the previous owners had much use for these ships anymore. As for controlling and navigating the ships themselves, Kirou had no part in that as he lacked the necessary experience and skill needed to do so. Instead, this job was taken over by the captured women that were previously held captive in the resting area of the camp by those pirates. Apparently, they were part of a crew of sailors that got captured at sea. Their ship had recently gone through a bad storm and most of the crew got injured in the process. Those that survived the storm thought that things would be fine when another ship passed by in their time of need. Sadly, their hopes were dashed as this ship was filled with pirates. When the pirates found and boarded
While all that was going down back at the Seaside Village, Kirou was already making his moves in the enemy stronghold. It's now been fifteen minutes since Kirou initiated his plan. Stealth and subterfuge were the game's name, and Kirou had to make severe commitments to follow through on his plans. He started out by summoning two clones, which he then sent to specific places to hide until he gave the signal. Following this, he rushed back to the cave where the kids were being kept captive. Unlike his prior visit where most of his was spent searching for their location, this time he would be able to deal with them without as much trouble. That said, he remained hidden in a dark spot while watching the actions of the captors and their captives. As he did this, he silently retrieved an item from his inventory. It was a small canister-like object that almost anyone would recognize if they saw it. Besides the main body in this cave, his clones pulled out similar objects, a few of whic
After leaving the village, Kirou has been heading northwest for roughly two hours. During this trip, he made multiple adjustments to his heading after using his skill to investigate his surroundings. The downside of this was that he had to chug down multiple potions to replenish his quickly spent [MP] after each trip. It was at this time that Kirou slowed and silenced his steps. This is because the stronghold for those human traffickers was within his sights. Having stopped behind a tree, Kirou calmed his breathing and steadied his heart rate. After doing so, he peered from behind the tree, gazing at his targets going about their business in the large base. The base itself was an abandoned seaside village that seemed to have been occupied initially by dwarfs. Along with a few lodging houses, there were a few paths dug into the hill directly behind the houses. The houses themselves were spread out and made in a style similar to inns, but the size of the windows
A few weeks have passed since Kirou had the discussion with both Cain and Jackson by the underground lake. Unlike the empty and somewhat desolate space that it was before, the underground lake was starting to look like a proper workspace for ships and people alike. More buildings had been constructed on the land area, with one side set up to properly reflect a shipyard and the other to reflect an underground harbor for ships. As for the water, multiple ports had been erected for both ship and civilian use. Hell, a few small boats were already making use of the new docking facilities that were recently created. As for how this happened, Kirou could only say that he got extremely lucky with his excursions outside the <Phantom Palace>. *******Flashback******* *Three days after the discussion with Jackson and Cain* Kirou was currently farming mining resources points.
It's been a few hours since Kirou and his group, along with the recent additions, returned to the <Phantom Palace>. Kirou only left some instructions with the girls and Mistaken Fox for the former bandits while he invited both Jackson and Cain to follow him to the underground pier. The trio was currently sitting around a small table, Kirou drinking some tea while both Jackson and Cain stared at him in confusion. This went on for a few minutes before Jackson spoke up. "Young Master, would you mind explaining why you've brought both of us down here?" Cain maintained his silence, but he gave a slight nod in agreement to Jackson's words. Kirou only glanced at the duo for a few moments before turning his eyes to the waters of his underground port. As soon as he finished his tea, Kirou spoke, "I'll be leaving for the <Beast Continent> within the next two weeks." T
Kirou and Jackson took a few minutes to work out the finer details of the <Blood Oath> that they wanted Cain to make. During this time, Cain genuinely contemplated committing suicide multiple times. The reason behind this was that neither Kirou nor Jackson bothered to lower their voices during their discussion, allowing Cain to hear all of their depraved ideas to include in the oath. The thought of escaping entered Cain's mind multiple times, only to be dismissed almost immediately. Not counting the fact that he was injured at the moment, even if he wasn't, he still had to contend with the creatures surrounding him. And even if he could somehow get through those creatures, there was still a large group he had to fight through, not to mention both Kirou and Jackson. With those thoughts in mind, Cain resigned himself to the whims of the two bastards holding him captive. Both Kirou and Jackson could see that Cai