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Chapter 65 - Profession Upgrade
🕑 Added 2024-06-27 21:37:42 +0000 UTC"We did it, Vinny!" I shouted.
We had been working on this for a while and now we did it. Well, 'we' was relative. Vinny mostly worked on his own thing while I engraved but it was a group effort, kind of. We bounced ideas off of each other and I showed him the rune schematic to see if he could spot any flaws.
He didn't have the [Mana Engraving] skill like I did but that wasn't necessary.
"I see that." He said back. He was a man of few words but that was ok. I would make up for his lack thereof.
In a big family like we had not everyone was as outgoing. Some preferred the quieter side and Vinny was one of those people. That wasn't to say that he was shy, just that he wouldn't raise his voice just to be heard.
"Haha..." I couldn't help but giggle like a schoolgirl. I never thought that it would give me two levels and push my profession to evolve. I still had a skill to pick before that though.
"I hit 25 with that," I told Vinny.
"Really, I thought you were still at 23 when you started." He said back.
"I was, it gave me a lot of experience for completing that."
"Good for you. What are your evolution options?"
"Hold on there bud, I still have to choose a skill," I said, I needed to pick the last skill of F-Rank. "Speaking of, what did you get for your last skill?"
Vinny and I picked similar skills through F-Rank. He had [Metal Sense], [Create Weapon], [Create Armor], [Metallurgy], and [Forging Mastery]. He didn't want to go the same route as me so he didn't buy [Mana Engraving].
He used some points to buy skills for forging that I didn't have as well. He picked up [Mana Infusion] and [Metal Shaping] from the store. I knew most of his skills but the one he picked for his last one.
"Oh, level 25 was when I picked up [Material Analysis]. It lets me see more information about the specific materials I am using and what their properties are. I needed a skill to help with the more organic parts of a weapon." He said.
I thought it over and it would be a decent skill. We used the bones of animals in some of our creations and knowing their properties would be good. Plus, I could carve runes on them as well, it didn't have to be metal.
"When did you get [Blacksmith's Eyes]?" I asked.
"That was the skill given to me when I upgraded my profession. It's great for seeing where I went wrong." He said.
There were a few other skills I thought about picking up but [Material Analysis] was what I was leaning toward. Having both of us have it would be a waste but I didn't want to rely on him to use the skill.
Other skills like [Regulate Flame] might help but I had ideas that I wanted to pursue in that regard of the craft. Heat regulation wasn't what I wanted.
[Malleability] and [Planarity] both sounded good but they were convenience skills that would only make the job easier, not better. I could make a metal malleable with heat, I didn't need the skill. Sure, it would make it a lot easier, but I didn't want a skill for something I could do.
[Bone Engraving] was an option but [Mana Engraving] worked just fine, if only a little worse. Specialized skills would always be better. There was [Bone Carving] as well but I didn't work with enough bone to make that worth it.
If bones were the only thing I could make weapons from then sure, it would be perfect, but we used mostly metal.
There were other such organic options there for hides as well. It seemed a mixture of leatherworking and Armor smithing skills both involved hides of beasts.
I had no need for those currently. I also had no need for mining-related skills like [Locate Ore] and others in the same vein. It seemed that would lead to a miner/blacksmith mix.
Getting rid of all the unnecessary ones left two I was debating between. [Mana Infusion] and [Material Analysis]. [Mana Infusion] would let me boost the grade of my creations by infusing them with mana before the crafting process.
I changed my mind and [Mana Infusion] was what I deemed the more useful of the two. If I needed [Material Analysis] I could always get it later and rely on Vincent now. [Mana Infusion] would help me now.
Picking my skill brought up
*Profession evolution available*
Apprentice Blacksmith(Common)
Apprentice Weaponsmith(Common)
Apprentice Armor smith(Common)
Enchantsmith(Uncommon)
Runic Blacksmith(Uncommon)
The first three were what I expected to see. Vinny got offered the same as well. The last two were different though, Enchantsmith was what I was going for with my [Mana Engraving] skill when I was carving runes.
Enchantsmith and Runic Blacksmith would both end up a mixture of enchanter and blacksmith just with a different focus. Enchantsmith worked more on the magical side of things and relied on spells of that nature. Runic Blacksmith was more about the Runic side of things and was heavily influenced by that nature.
It was a choice between a more magical focus with spells or a more runic focus with runes. Both accomplished the same thing and both would do what I originally intended to do.
I probably should have gotten some more information about this. The enchanter profession book didn't go too deeply in depth about what the difference was just what to do to get the profession.
"Vinny, do you know the difference between the two?" I asked.
I showed him my upgrade choices as he had done the same for me when he evolved his profession. He didn't have those options as he was more smithing-focused. His other two profession options were more in line with what he wanted.
"I've seen them referred to differently in the different missives I've bought. The one I read that had the most information said that enchanting was like a mage with spells and runes were different. It said that they both did the same things and were both considered enchanting just one was mana enchanting and the other runic enchanting." He said. He had gone back to working on a sword while I thought over my options.
Mana enchanting versus Runic enchanting. I'd felt the power of runes and I knew that it was what the system did for the walls. I wasn't as clear about what mana enchanting was but I knew runes were what I wanted.
Runic Blacksmith(Uncommon)
Runic Blacksmiths work with runes and metal to create works of art. Runes of power and creation given form. Without a focus on one avenue of smithing, Runic Blacksmiths can create anything they want with the power available to them.
+3 Strength, +3 Agility, +2 Perception, +4 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, +2 Acumen, +2 Free Points
It was perfect if a little strength-heavy. It had the magic stats I wanted and complemented my class perfectly. It gave less total points than my class but that was to be expected. It was of lower rarity.
And with it came a new skill. [Basic Runecrafting(Uncommon)] which would add a small bonus to all of the runes I made.
It was a great new profession. Status
Name: Christopher Zalenski
Race: (F) Human
Class: (F) Champion of Niflheim(Rare) – Level 32
Profession: (F) Runic Blacksmith(Uncommon) – Level 25
Affinity: Ice
Faction: Zalenski Family (Temporary) (Faction Head)
Strength - 240
Agility - 119
Perception - 38
Fortitude - 114
Endurance - 126
Vitality - 64
Intelligence - 24
Wisdom - 48
Acumen - 26
Free Points: 0
Laws: Least Law of Ice
Class Skills: Heavy Blow(Uncommon), Fortified Body(Common), Throwing Weapon Proficiency(Beginner), Identify(Common), Frostbite(Uncommon), Sweeping Slash(Common), Ice Fortress(Uncommon), Heavy Armor Proficiency(Novice), Heavy Weapon Proficiency(Novice), Body of a Barbarian(Uncommon), Barbarian's Fury(Uncommon), Hail(Common), Ice Manipulation(Common), Meditation(Common), Ice Arrow(Uncommon), Shatter(Uncommon), Frost Armor(Rare), Momentum of the Avalanche(Rare)
Profession Skills: Sense Metal(Common), Create Weapon(Crude), Create Armor(Crude), Metallurgy(Common), Forging Proficiency(Novice), Mana Engraving(Common), Mana Infusion(Common), Basic Runecrafting(Uncommon)
Coins: 0
Points: 23,875
I was glad about my new profession and I couldn't wait to try it out. Picking up my hammer, I went to see what I could do.
~~
Damien cursed. They had been under attack for nearly a day and he was sick of the constant battle.
He hadn't heard from any of his other pylons and it seemed they were cut off from communicating. Just when he thought that everything was looking good, this happened.
He didn't even know what to call the things that were attacking, they looked like humans but they didn't talk and acted like mindless animals. All they did was attack without any technique or skill, throwing themselves at the wall to be slaughtered.
The tutorial had been going fine until this started. Damien had always been a gamer and he recognized an opportunity when he saw one. It was what let him get ahead of everyone else and have people want to follow him.
Being one of the few who picked mage helped tremendously. His co-workers were a problem that he had to overcome in the beginning, but they came around.
He needed to get the best possible score he could if he wanted to get stronger. He knew how these stories went and he did not want to be part of the weak to be stepped on.
The description said that rewards at the end depended on performance and conquered pylons, so that was what he was doing. He had to drag people along to do what he wanted but they had no say in the matter.
Gathering the refugees gave him enough manpower to help his plans. The original 20 he was sent here with had dwindled over the waves. Most were still alive but they were weak and focused on professions.
Luckily, others weren't as dumb and jumped at the chance of power. He had 4 generals under his command and they held 5 pylons. It was a tenth of the total pylons and he was part of the few that held the most.
Not every pylon was claimed and some were overrun with monsters. There weren't 50 groups at the start and some went unclaimed from the beginning. Others were lost during the waves.
He had to waste points to buy a map of the tutorial so he could plan things out better. Being in the middle of the map was something he regretted. Rick was an idiot and he hated that he was chosen to be the leader at the start.
It wasn't hard to usurp him when Damien had enough strength.
He planned on moving east, to the border so he wouldn't be surrounded on all sides. It all went well and he even had a few hopefuls join that could be general worthy.
He needed people who were strong enough to hold the pylons during the waves to keep ownership. He already had to take one back before and he didn't want to do it again.
"Sir, a scout reported that another band of them are attacking West Camp." His aid said.
He wanted to scream. This wasn't supposed to be so hard. His initial plans were to take over all of the pylons but with 8 waves left he barely had 10%. If he pushed it and went all out he might get a fourth of them.
It would have to do. He still had some underhanded tricks up his sleeve that he could use to help. He felt dirty using them though and would rather not.
Having people join willingly was so much easier.
~~
"Ma'am, the Mindbreaker is attacking in the east. He has halted his northern expansion and brought most of his army south to where Damien's lands are." Kathy reported.
Tracy grimaced. She had watched as the Mindbreaker worked his way north from the eastern border and wasn't happy he was moving back south. She was to the south.
"How well do you think Damien will hold?" Tracy asked. Damien was another problem she didn't want to deal with.
It was good that they were having it out on each other but that would only leave the winner stronger. Damien wanted to conquer all the pylons and he had already tried to get her to join his faction.
Still, Damien was better than the Mindbreaker. She had watched what he did to the camps he conquered and did not wish that fate on anyone. She had to swear the mage who used the scrying spell to secrecy to prevent panic from spreading in her camp. The last thing she needed was people creating an army to go after him.
She had a feeling that the beasts were more important and the potential losses of going after him were too great.
She would have to place more traps to the north in case Damien fell. The Mindbreaker needed to be dealt with but she just didn't know how.
Comments
Robert King
tftc
PenguinKills
I know that the difference between mana enchanting and runic enchanting didn't get explained very well and that is because they don't know that much yet. It will be explained later when they actually find out but I'll but it here to explain. Mana enchanting works implanting a spell into an object. Like taking a spell that would increase durability and magically grafting it onto the weapon. It runs on mana and there needs to be a source of it somewhere. Either from the user or a battery. Runes are different. They are linked to the world and a rune of durability draws power from its meaning. More powerful runes still need mana to power them but aren't as mana heavy. Runes cannot be changed are less flexible than mana enchanting.
