The Dive: Birth of a Hero Page 8

  “Let’s ride straight through and grab an inn. This is too open an area for me to make a gate, and I have been spoiled by having beds to sleep in.”

  Nodding, Denise had Midnight start running, the city in the distance growing larger and larger until we were approaching the gates. On the outside, it strongly resembled Rosenheim, the capital city of the Wynterrose kingdom. The stone walls rose dozens of meters into the air, with a pair of archers walking the battlements on a constant patrol. In front of the gate were two pairs of soldiers, one on each side.

  The last large city we entered, Coatin, charged a fee of fifty gild to anyone entering. It shouldn’t be possible for something like that to happen for a capital city, though. Especially one in this environment. Coatin was able to get away with it because it was in the middle of the desert, with no other cities for over a day’s journey.

  However, once we approached the gate, one guard from each side stepped forward to block our path. “Halt.” The one on the right appeared to be in command, as he spoke first. It was hard to distinguish them, though, since all four of them wore the same full body armor that didn’t show a single feature.

  “Is there a problem, sir?” Don’t tell me this city really does require an entrance fee..

  “I need to confirm your identities. You two are foreigners, aren’t you?”

  I shook my head from side to side. “I am, but my companion is a native of Wynterrose. There hasn’t been a war declared or something right?” It would be a big problem if our origin turned into a problem here.

  “No, nothing like that. Have either of you heard of the Eternity Brigade?”

  “..I can’t say that I have? What is it?” I was genuinely confused, having never heard the name before.

  “A group of foreigners started calling themselves that, and began ambushing several travelers between her and Kirla.”

  “Kirla is the port town, right? We just came from there after landing, but I never got the name of the city.”

  “That’s correct. Did you encounter any trouble along the road?”

  I debated whether or not to answer honestly, but ended up nodding. “There was a group of five foreigners that tried to ambush us in the forest a little while ago. They didn’t seem that intelligent, though.” I briefly described the apparent leaders of the bandit ambush, and the suit of armor nodded.

  “That sounds like some of their members. Since you are still here, I take it you defeated them?”

  “They weren’t that strong, since we spotted them before they could ambush us.”

  “Hmm, very well. You don’t match any of the descriptions we have of their group. But if you defeated them once, you should be careful. The Brigade has been known to seek revenge.” The guard gave us that warning, and then stepped out of the way.

  “Is there perhaps a bounty on them or something?”

  “Indeed. If they can be captured alive, at least. Since you foreigners vanish after being killed once, there is no way to provide proof of death. Any member of the Brigade is worth two hundred gild, while their leader is worth a thousand.”

  That’s a pretty small bounty… that or my perception of money is just twisted. “Alright. If I see them again, I will be sure to turn them in to the city guards.”

  “That would be appreciated. Enjoy your visit to Durlin, and please stay out of trouble.”

  Seeming to have permission to enter the city, I nodded to Denise and the two of us rode into Durlin atop Midnight. From there it was a simple matter to find a suitable inn with a stable and pay for a few nights.

  Chapter 6

  By the time we were settled into our room, it was already dark outside. It appeared that my suspicion was correct, and that this was indeed the spawn point for players within the Shattered Realm. All of the cheap inns were flooded with foreigners, so we ended up staying at a higher class inn. Well, we probably would have stayed here anyways, since this one had a stable with it.

  The next day I decided to familiarize myself with the city. Dismissing all of my manifested gear, I was left with only the basic commoner clothes. The only special parts of my equipment were the bracelet I received from Hell, and my Soulfire Ring. It was easy enough to keep those two objects hidden as I walked around, making me look like any other new foreigner.

  In general, the city appeared much the same as Rosenheim. The main difference was that there wasn’t a river running through it, and the layout of the buildings was different. The architecture was almost identical, which likely meant it was a trademark of the human race. In the shopping district were wooden shops of various sizes, while more important buildings like the Magic College were made of stone.

  Also, unlike the towering building that Rosenheim had for their college, this one looked much smaller. There was no tower, just a stone cube a bit larger than the neighboring buildings. Likely, most of it was underground, so that they could expand as much as they wanted.

  After debating with myself on the subject for a few minutes, I decided to enter the college. So as not to draw attention to myself, I paid the standard fee of 200 gild rather than showing my grimoire. Obviously, I wasn’t here to enroll, though. I just wanted to gather information.

  The interior of the building was much as I had imagined. There were two floors above ground that held basic classes as well as the library, while advanced courses were taught in the floors below. Seeing as I was taking steps to conceal my identity, I didn’t merit more than a passing glance from those that I passed in the halls.

  Once I found someone who appeared to be a teacher, I pulled him aside to ask some questions. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t answer until I revealed who I was, thinking that I was just some nosey foreigner. Once I showed him my grimoire, his tune immediately changed and he was happy to tell me anything I needed to know.

  According to his information, there still has not been a third human foreigner to graduate from the colleges. In fact, many foreigners aren’t even bothering to attend far enough to learn about the test. They are simply entering the college to learn a few spells, and then leaving. This trend seems to have started shortly after I told Kev the requirement for passing the final exam.

  Well, it’s not a problem if they do it this way. I had been curious whether more people like Xiao had emerged, but it seems that isn’t the case. There has been a sudden surge of magic related professions coming out, though. The foreigners that leave the college early are either pursuing magic on their own, or combining what they learned with other skills such as swordsmanship or archery. Judging by this, I shouldn’t be the only one around here with the Arcane Marksman talent, so that disguise should continue working.

  There was one other question I had been wondering for a while, so I asked the teacher before letting him go. It was about the subject of holy magic users, such as clerics or priests.

  “Well, yes, of course there is holy magic as well. Though, it is a bit different.” The teacher automatically answered my question as if it should be obvious. I guess it should have been.

  “Different, how?”

  “Well, holy magic functions based on the faith of the user. So a strongly religious person may naturally have more ability with holy magic than someone else.”

  I wondered if the same was true for infernal magic, but then a thought hit me. When learning nature and infernal magic, I had to understand what it meant to be part of that domain. Maybe the angels worked that knowledge into their religion, so that their followers could learn their magic. “I see. Is it the college that teaches holy magic, or the church?”

  “The church, though you still must possess magical ability to learn it, so many future clerics will take beginner lessons with the college.”

  “So that’s how it is… I understand. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.” Before I let him get back to work, I asked him for the directions to the crafting hall. Apparently, there were three such halls. There was one each for blacksmithing, carpentry, and tailoring. Naturally, I wanted th
e one for carpentry.

  When I left the college, I briefly stopped to put on my leather armor and my bow again, forming them from my magic. Since arcane archers were more common now, it shouldn’t be much of an issue. The only thing that would cause a problem is that I have no arrows, which I explain by saying that my bow is enchanted.

  It didn’t take me long to find the crafting hall, and I was pleasantly surprised to find a number of foreigners mixed in with the others learning the craft. Since it took multiple weeks of training to be strong enough to handle the monsters you usually find around the starting cities, I hadn’t been expecting to find many that took the time to learn a trade skill as well. That was also the same reason why I hadn’t learned one before now. Asking around, I soon found myself face to face with the leader of this crafting hall, a large muscular man with no hair and a dark tan.

  “Yeah? What is it you want?” He asked, looking me over.

  “I would like to learn how to be a carpenter.” I bowed respectfully to him, and he started laughing.

  “You would, huh? You seem awfully weak. Could you even lift some of this wood?”

  “What I lack in physical strength, I can easily make up for in other areas, if you will allow me the chance.” He had a point, my strength was only at twenty, because I had almost never devoted any points to it.

  “Hmm, well you’ve got spirit. I’ll say that much. Alright, we’ll show you the ropes!” He grinned down to me, slapping my shoulder with far more strength than was needed.

  Well, at least he agreed to it. “Okay, where do I start?”

  “Well, you don’t have the equipment you need, do you? Come back when you have an axe, carving knife, and a hand saw. And by the way, we aren’t any cheaper than the other groups. Two hundred gild weekly fee to learn! You can use the facilities for free, but you have to pay to take up our time to teach you.”

  I glanced at the other foreigners, who mostly seemed to be struggling along teaching themselves. Nodding my head, I decided that I wanted to take care of this as quickly as possible. “I understand. I’ll return with the equipment and the fee.”

  Turning around, I quickly ran off towards the shopping district. At some point I got a message indicating that my Navigation had finally leveled up, but I just ignored it for the time being, until I found a shop not far away from where I was that was selling all of the basic crafting tools.

  Browsing through the selection, I started considering whether it would be better just to manifest the items myself with my Lesser Creation ability. It would save me from having to carry the items around, but at the same time I wasn’t sure I’d be able to gain experience doing it this way.

  Back when I first used the ability to make a bow, I never learned the Archery skill, and instead received Arcane Marksman. Maybe there is a crafting version as well, but I can find that out after I learn the basics. I purchase a decent set of equipment from the store, and make my way back to the crafting hall. When I get there, I find the leader of the crafting hall there, apparently waiting to see if I would come back.

  “So, did you get it?” He looked at me expectantly, and I nodded.

  “Yes, I purchased the items you told me, and have the money you requested.” Reaching into my pocket, I pull out two golden coins and hand them over to him.

  “Huh, very well.” He takes a moment to look around, and then lets out a sharp whistle. “Hey, Jackson! Get over here!”

  The person he called over was about my height, with lighter skin than the crafting leader. He had good muscle tone, but they weren’t nearly as thick as the other man’s. He also still had his hair, which was short and silver. “Ah, hello. Did you need me for something, boss?”

  “Yeah. Teach this newbie the basics. He seems to want to learn a bit.” The leader scoffed a bit before going back to his own work. Meanwhile, Jackson looked over me appraisingly.

  “You don’t exactly seem like much, do you?”

  “I try my best.” I smirked at the man, causing him to laugh.

  “Alright, you’ve got guts at least. Have you ever done anything like this before?”

  “No, I haven’t. I accompanied some people when they went into the forest to retrieve Mana Wood, but I was only acting as a bodyguard at the time.” There was no reason to lie about the event, so I answered honestly.

  “Ah, so you know about Mana Wood then?”

  “Yes. I was curious whether there are similar substances for the other crafting professions as well.”

  Jackson smiled a bit at that, nodding. “Indeed. The conditions for them appearing are all generally the same, but there are various Mana Stones and also Mana Silk. For a Mana Stone to appear, magical energy has to be concentrated within rock for a long time. Depending on the type of magic, different stones will appear. For Mana Silk, if a caterpillar feeds from the leaves of a Mana Tree, it has the potential to grow into a silkworm capable of producing Mana Silk.”

  “I see… and are their abilities the same as Mana Wood? Simply being able to store and channel magic more easily?”

  “Mana Silk is like that. However, Mana Stones have different effects based on their types. Generally, they are used to imbue items with special effects, such as Thunder Stones substituting as a lightning enchantment.”

  Ahh… so Mana Stones are a way for blacksmiths to create magical items… I guess it makes sense, there are various ores that can channel magical energy efficiently. “So for Mana Wood to appear, a tree has to feed from magical soil or water?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I understand, thank you.” I bowed my head politely, thinking to myself that I would try to make some of these later as an experiment. I doubted I would be able to make the stones, but the silk and wood were not innately magical. They simply had properties that allowed them to easily store and channel magic.

  “Now, enough chitchat. Let’s get down to business. It looks like the boss had you get an axe and saw, but I don’t think you really have the strength to use them. There are some logs out around back piled up, for today I want you to just practice cutting them with that axe of yours.”

  “...I understand.” I let out a sigh and moved to the indicated pile in the back. I had hoped to get right down to learning carpentry, but I suppose this was a necessary step. I still had a few points unspent from earlier, so I put them towards my Strength.

  Grabbing the first small log, I was shocked by how heavy it was. It should have weighed at least fifteen pounds, yet it looked so small. Setting it on its end on one of the stumps, I raised my axe with both hands and brought it down on the log. Rather than cutting it cleanly in half like I was hoping, I cut away a bit at the top and caused the axe head to become embedded in it.

  It took me a few moments to struggle the axe free of the log before I tried again. With each swing, I felt my arms becoming more tired, but at the same time I finally managed to split the first log.

  Strength has increased by 1

  I grinned a bit when the notification appeared. If it’s like this I can understand. I moved the next log into place, which seemed just a bit lighter, and swung my axe again. Like before, it took a few swings before I managed to split it, but again I received a point of Strength after the log was taken care of.

  Five more logs, five more points of Strength. Maybe this was a special training method I could only do because of my low Strength? After the tenth log, I noticed that I only received a stat point after every other log now. At the same time, I was taking care of each log in only half the time.

  I kept this going for several hours, taking a few breaks to rest my arms when they felt like they were about to fall off. Once my Strength hit 50, I received a rather irritating message that I figured would be useless to me.

  New Talent Unlocked!

  Axe Mastery -- This talent measures one’s skill wielding an axe.

  What do I care about Axe Mastery? I doubt I’ll ever pick this thing up again after I leave here. I had always planned to do any tree cutting I
needed with my Wind Blade spell, or just skip the step altogether with my Origin Magic. If I needed any kind of weapon skill, it was with a Staff. Maybe I could train myself with that some time…

  Muttering to myself under my breath, I continued chopping logs for another hour, but even after I gained another level of Axe Mastery I still didn’t receive any Strength. There was a good chance I hit the limit of this training method once I had 50 Strength. Knowing that, I went back inside, sweating profusely from the constant work.

  When Jackson saw me, he gave me another appraising glance. “Hmm, looks better. Maybe now you’ll actually be able to do this. Alright, tomorrow we’ll start carving the wood.”