Leaving the town, Arthur went to the Trunel woods again.
Now that it was daytime, the scene of the woods was a lot different. Even though it was a rather dense forest, it was still quite bright and sunlight trickled down the canopy.
"It does look rather nice… Almost makes one want to go take a walk." Arthur said before he heard a sound.
~GRRR~
"And that would make them regret it," Arthur rolled his eyes and turned towards the source of the sound.
A four legged beast with bone blades on its forelimbs blocked Arthur's path.
"Dragon's Insight!" Arthur quickly used the skill.
>Dragon's Insight has been successfully activated!<
~DING~
——
Target: Bone Blade Beast
Rank: Uncommon
Level: 12
Type: Beast
Info: A beast with bony blades growing from its forelimbs. It sharpens its blade by rubbing them against other bones. It likes to collect bones that are tough and hard to use as a Whetstone.
***
HP: 100%
MP: 100%
Stamina: 100%
***
<Physical Stats>
Strength: 10
Toughness: 8
Agility: 12
Dexterity: 10
Vitality: 8
<Non-Physical Stats>
Wisdom: 2
Intelligence: 4
Will: 2
——
<Skills>
1. Bone Blade Rush
Info: The user sprints towards a foe, slashing it with its bone blades.
Cooldown: None
Cost; 5% Stamina with every use.
2. Sharpening Block (Passive)
Info: Blocking a blunt attack with its bone blades causes them to get sharper, raising the power of its next attack by 5%.
Cooldown: None
——
Looking at the information in front of him, Arthur was intrigued.
'A different kind of beast than the Long Claw Trunel Crawler… It even has a passive that can buff it.' Arthur thought as he started to move.
~CLANG~
In the next moment, he had already struck out with the Key Spear. The Bone Blade beast was not one to wait around and had rushed towards Arthur.
The collision of the two created sparks as the bone blade and spear head ground together.
"You're rather tough." Arthur said as he prepared for the next attack.
The Bone Blade Beast used its skill Bone Blade Rush and lunged toward Arthur. Its forelimbs were spread to the side, allowing the bone blades to inflict maximum damage with a good range.
~DENG~
Unfortunately for the beast, Dietrich was not a normal spear.
"Lock!" Arthur used the skill of the spear.
The Tri-colored tassels glowed and targeted the beast, creating a magic circle that spun around.
>Weapon Skill Lock has succeeded!<
>Bone Blade Beast's Stamina and Vitality will be sealed!<
>Bone Blade Beast has been weakened: Vitality -3, maximum stamina -30%<
"Huh?" but upon using Lock, Arthur was a bit surprised. 'It actually works on Stamina too?'
This was the first time Lock was affecting Stamina. While there were several skills that could do the same, it was still rare to find them this early on. Not to mention, Arthur had thought that Lock only worked on the stats.
'No wait… HP, MP and Stamina count in stats too. The game considers them the same, it's just the players that don't think about them that way.' Arthur realized.
~WHIMPER~
The effect of the debuff was rather drastic as the beast felt weaker. It could feel pain despite the fact that it hadn't been injured and slowed down.
'Its stamina was at 90% before due to the skill use, but with the max stamina being reduced, it suddenly fell to 60%. That combined with the vitality stat reducing should be uncomfortable for sure.' Arthur thought while moving.
He hadn't stopped and knew when to strike.
~SLICK~
His next attack hit sure, and nicked the side of the Bone Blade Beast.
[-15% HP]
"Good." While the first attack had slid off the bone blades of the beast, it had still struck the side while doing that.
Having a weapon with a long reach like his spear helped in that.
The two continued to battle and a couple of minutes was all it took for the beast to die.
>Player Arzhur has killed a Bone Blade Beast<
>Player Arzhur has obtained 5% Experience<
"Phew~ at least they give good experience." Arthur said as he pulled out Dietrich from the corpse of the Bone Blade beast.
Next, he got to looting the beast, which needed him to cut out the bone blades. Those were the only part that was useful as loot.
>Player Arzhur has obtained Low Quality Bone Blades x 2<
>Player Arthur has butchered hundreds of beasts!<
>Skill: Butcher has risen in proficiency!<
~DING~
——
<Miscellaneous Skills>
1. Butcher
Proficiency: E
Rank: Common
Type: Passive
Info: Allows the user to butcher a beast and obtain its materials. The proficiency of the skill rises with regular use and the higher it is the better quality materials the user can obtain.
Cooldown: None
——
"It finally improves," Arthur said with a smile.
He had been waiting for the butcher skill to improve for a while and it finally had.
It was an important skill after all as it would net him a lot of loot the better it was.
"I guess, I'll be getting better loot now," Arthur said before continuing his journey.
He was intending to complete the jobs he had taken from the guild and knew where to go.
'The Dew Berries grow on bushes that are present around ponds. I need to find a pond first…' Thankfully Arthur knew where to go and that reduced the time needed by a lot.
Still along the way, Arthur ended up encountering two more Bone Blade beasts.
>Player Arzhur has killed a Bone Blade Beast x 2<
>Player Arzhur has obtained 10% experience<
>Player Arzhur has obtained a low quality Bone Blade<
>Player Arzhur has obtained a Mid quality Bone Blade x 3<
The improvement in the Butcher skill reflected rather quickly as the quality of his loot had risen too.
From getting low quality Bone Blades, Arthur was also getting Mid Quality Bone Blades now.
"These will sell for a decent amount. And they're light too." Arthur stored the bone blades away in his bag before continuing to walk.
Five minutes later, he reached the location he was looking for. A small pond that was about three meters wide shimmered under the slivers of sunlight. Thick shrubs and bushes grew alongside the pond, having been nourished by the water of the pond.
"And here they are…" Arthur quickly found the berry bush.
Arthur got to plucking them and storing them in his satchel.
>Player Arzhur has obtained Dew Berries x 59<
"This bush is barren, need another one now." Arthur looked for others and found a second bush on the other side of the pond.
>Player Arzhur has obtained Dew Berries x 71<
The second bush ended up having more berries than the first and was just enough for the quest.
>Quest updated!<
>Return to the Adventurer's Guild to hand in the Dew Berries<
"Not yet, though… I still need more." Arthur muttered.
There was a reason why Arthur had picked this quest. The quest hadn't been given just because someone wanted to eat the Dew berries. Rather, these were actually an ingredient!
"Let's see what extra information was hidden all this time…Dragon's Insight!" Arthur said before an information window popped up in front of him.
~DING~
——
Target: Dew berries
Info: Green Berries that grow along side ponds under shade.
Effects: Consuming the Dew berries will restore a minor amount of stamina and Hunger.
Uses: Can be used in making healing potions.
——
Dew Berries were one of the common ingredients used in healing potions, and were thus always in demand in the future. They could be combined with other ingredients to make potions of varying efficacies.
"Let's find a few more." Arthur searched for another bush and found it after half an hour.
He had to travel a bit more but thankfully he didn't encounter any mobs along the way.
>Player Arzhur has obtained Dew Berries x 41<
"This'll be enough for three potions at least." Arthur reckoned.
Even if a player didn't have the necessary skills, making basic potions was still possible. After all, the process would be relatively simple and the players merely needed to grind the ingredients before putting them in a vial.
It was only when they moved to more complex process or needed magic for the potions would one need to get proper skills for it.
But for now, Arthur would do just fine.
"Now for the gerbils." The next location that Arthur needed to go was close by as well.
A highway went through the middle of the Trunel Woods and took one to the city. Of course, similar to the town, reaching there was tough and one would get attacked along the way.
And while entering the city didn't need permission like with the town, one still needed to pay a tax to enter it. And unless players knew this beforehand, they might not have the needed amount.
'I already have the amount needed for the entry tax, but getting to the city would take too long.' Arthur shook his head.
New novel chapters are published on fr(e)ewebnov(e)l.com