Arthur stood near the furnace, using a dagger mold. He wanted to craft two daggers, a set for a famous rogue called Shadow Cloak.
Shadow Cloak was one of the most famous rogues in the game, and funny enough, he had started in the kingdom of Aldora, the same one Arthur was currently in.
It wasn’t the most popular kingdom because of its harsh weather, yet several incredible players had still started there.
Arthur knew about many of them. The mystery surrounding the kingdom had made him research both the region and the players who had chosen it.
While forging the set of iron daggers, using the same material as the sword, Louise stood on the other side of the room, trying to use the weapon he had crafted. She attempted to swing it several times, but just like what had happened with Bram, she couldn’t move it.
"How can this be? This weapon is certainly decent for a level 1 weapon, but I should still be able to use it. It doesn’t have any requirements, so why?"
"It’s a secret I can’t share," he said. "You’ll have to earn my trust if you want to know."
"Argh," she huffed.
Arthur found it funny watching her try to use the sword. She sometimes got angry, stomping the ground and making a cute face.
’They let players marry in this game. She would be a good wife... Fuck, what am I thinking?’
He shook his head and returned his attention to what mattered: crafting the set of daggers.
He used the same materials he had used to craft the sword. They were the only ones available to him...
Ray wouldn’t give him precious materials to practice with and craft his first items. Arthur also had to pay rent for the crafting station and buy more alchemical liquid for the stabilization process...
’I need to make money. If I can’t sell the items I craft, then I should lend these to Shadow Cloak and start completing quests and killing monsters. Can I sell the items I collect or get as drops?’
Nothing about his class said he couldn’t. The soul restriction only applied to items he crafted, so selling drops and gathered materials should still work.
Arthur really hoped it did. Otherwise, things would basically be over for him.
Anyway, the crafting process was almost identical to the one he had used for his iron sword. Same materials, same steps. Nothing new.
The only difference was the augments the daggers received. Each dagger had a different one, obviously. At the start of the game, rogues were the only class that commonly used two weapons.
[Iron Dagger]
[Grade: Uncommon]
[Type: One-Handed Dagger]
[Level Requirement: 1]
[Damage: 15-15]
[Attribute Requirement: None]
[Bonuses: +2 Strength, +4 Agility, +10% Attack Speed]
[Soul Augment: Vital Points]
[Vital Points: Hitting the target’s weak spots increases your damage by 5%]
That was the first dagger. The second had the same base damage, but its bonuses were slightly different. Its augment was different too.
[Iron Dagger]
[Grade: Uncommon]
[Type: One-Handed Dagger]
[Level Requirement: 1]
[Damage: 15-15]
[Attribute Requirement: None]
[Bonuses: +1 Strength, +3 Agility, +10% Critical Chance]
[Soul Augment: Fit]
[Fit: Reduces the stamina cost of all attacks by 10%]
The daggers were pretty decent. And just as Arthur suspected, he could equip them!
His class didn’t have restrictions on any equipment type. That was really useful, allowing him to change his playstyle depending on what he was doing.
That was one of the reasons he wanted to lend the daggers to Shadow Cloak. During the early game, rogues were one of the fastest classes to level up.
Their high single-target damage, combined with their mobility and stealth, made them extremely effective. Later on, they weren’t that great at clearing groups of monsters in dungeons, but they were still useful for dealing with traps and powerful single targets.
Arthur wanted to focus on the current stage of the game, so a rogue was the best choice for his first contract.
"A sword, and now a set of daggers. What are you up to?" Louise asked as she handed the sword back to him. "Take it. I can’t use it."
She glanced at the daggers for a moment. Arthur noticed.
"Wanna try them?" he asked mockingly.
"No, no. It’ll be the same. And I can’t wield daggers properly anyway."
Louise’s class was unknown to Arthur, but she used a sword, so daggers clearly weren’t her thing.
"So, are you ready to help me out?"
"What do you want?"
"Did you talk to your father about the Chosen Ones?"
"Uh, yeah. I know you’re one of them. Was he being serious? I thought he was joking."
"It’s serious," Arthur said.
He equipped the sword, grabbed both daggers, and placed them inside his inventory.
"You and I are going out to meet the other Chosen Ones. I need your protection."
Arthur thought she wouldn’t like the idea, but for some reason, Louise looked excited to go out.
"Alright, let’s go!"
Louise then realized the daggers had vanished. NPCs didn’t have the same kind of inventory as players.
"How did you do that?"
"Another secret of mine," Arthur said as he left the warehouse.
Before leaving the city, he stopped by a store to buy a piece of paper and a quill. Those items were required to use his contract skill.
He still had the 10 gold coins he had received after reaching his first city. It was more than enough to buy them.
Ray showed up before they left, though. He wanted to know what Arthur was planning to do with his daughter.
He hugged her.
"It shouldn’t be dangerous considering their low levels, but be careful. If you need to run, do it. He can come back to life, but you can’t."
Ray glanced at Arthur for a moment.
Ray was a good person and had become friendly with Arthur because of Bram, but that didn’t mean he would choose Arthur over his daughter. Besides, just as he had said, Arthur could return to life. Louise couldn’t.
After the brief meeting between father and daughter, they left the city of Snowpine and followed the road toward the beginner village, which was packed with players.
Arthur couldn’t contain his excitement.
He was finally going to meet the players again and try to make his first contract!