Thud! New Equipment
The burning legs began to crumble, crumbling apart bit by bit. The giant body lost all sense of direction and crashed heavily to the ground. Right after, blue flames spread across its entire form. The blue fire born from my mana devoured the flames that had been burning from its legs and blazed even more fiercely.
The Giant Ant thrashed in agony as the flame of its life slowly began to die. I climbed atop the massive creature, sharpened my blade, and drove the sword with everything I had into the spot near its heart. Thud. Thanks to the flames weakening its body, the sword sank in easily. I twisted it deeper, finishing the job completely. The light in its eyes gradually faded until it drew its final breath.
Its body crumbled away into ash and vanished. The enormous form disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a small box. A little chest with a green base trimmed in gold. I had gone through so much just to obtain this thing. All the suffering from yesterday and today felt fully repaid.
With a heart full of excitement, I opened the box. If this had been a game, sparkling effects would have burst out.
"No flashy effects, huh. Shame."
Instead, the accessory I had wanted so badly rested inside. I pulled out the ring-shaped artifact and slipped it onto my left hand.
Epic
Increases HP and Mana by 20%. Additional 10% increase when the field is 'forest'.
I had finally obtained it. An accessory you could get early on with solid efficiency. Mana numbers matter more than you’d think. Nothing feels worse than dying in lane because you couldn’t fire off your ultimate at the end. For someone like me with a small mana core vessel, this item was absolutely necessary.
Now that I could use my Mana Amplification trait as well, the number of strategies available to me would grow. A very happy development.
I felt like breaking into a victory dance, but the dungeon was about to close, so there was no time for that. With my spirits still soaring, I left the dungeon as casually as if I were heading out for a picnic.
The exit worked by reopening the portal that had vanished from the entrance, so I reached it quickly.
"Heh heh…"
The joy of acquiring the artifact, plus the thought of returning to the academy, processing the monster materials, and selling the byproducts, made an odd laugh slip out before I could stop it. My face stayed nearly expressionless, of course.
You need to work when it’s time to work and enjoy yourself properly when it’s time to enjoy. That’s how you find vitality in life. I dropped my tired body onto the ground and stared blankly at the sky.
"Not bad."
It had only been two days since my suspension, yet I felt good knowing I had grown in more ways than one. A lot of things would come at me from now on, but I just had to overcome them the way I had yesterday and today.
Honestly, I had been flustered and even dumbfounded at first, but now some confidence was starting to take root.
"I even developed a new technique."
And today, while clearing the dungeon, I had done a lot of thinking. Since I had come to this game world, shouldn’t I live the way I wanted?
The more specific the goal, the better. My plan was to escape the family that was walking the wrong path and spend my time healing at the academy. Although the academy sat on an island, it was basically a small city. Or perhaps a small nation would be more accurate. Its population was quite large compared to other cities, and it had its own currency and rules. It held enough influence to be called a minor country.
The infrastructure here was well developed, so settling down after graduation didn’t seem like a bad idea. Of course, to do that I first had to leave my family and safely graduate from the academy.
Returning to the Korea I came from would be the absolute best outcome… but right now, escaping the family came first.
"So in the end, it circles back to escaping the family."
I sprang to my feet and began gathering the luggage I had set down. Before I left, though, I needed to do something about my clothes. Even though I had changed this morning, they were already ragged in several places with visible tears. The pants were still decent, but the top was badly worn, so I pulled out the clothes I had taken off and stored yesterday and dried them roughly with fire magic. They smelled a little. Actually, they smelled quite a bit, but they were usable as rags now.
I threw the ragged outfit on and started walking, ready to leave the forest.
"Huff… huff…"
The soggy ground was bad enough, but carrying heavy luggage on top of it was no easy task. The load had grown heavier than when I arrived, and even with my improved stats, my trash-tier stamina still made the trek exhausting.
It was well past lunchtime by the time I finally reached the castle gate. I had planned to rest a little before heading back to the dormitory, but things went sideways. The disciplinary committee students patrolling near the gate saw me in my sorry state and immediately began questioning me.
"Second-year Vern Flame. What is that appearance? You were clearly in the middle of serving a suspension."
"I only… stepped out for a short while."
The disciplinary student looked at me—dressed in rags, covered in dust and filth—and let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Vern Flame, the suspension was given so you would stay quietly in the dormitory and reflect on your actions."
"It causes problems when you wander around doing whatever you please like this."
He put extra weight on the last words. He was completely right. I was currently suspended. I should have been holed up in the dormitory reflecting. This had all been my own unilateral decision. Wandering the academy while serving punishment, and even leaving the academy grounds, could only be seen as a direct challenge to the student council. Since this was entirely my fault, I lowered my head and apologized.
"Sorry. This occurred solely because of my arbitrary actions."
"If it becomes an issue, I will accept additional punishment."
The student shook his head at my words.
"…Fine. I’ll let it go just this once. From now on, however, stay quietly in the dormitory reflecting until your suspension ends."
"And… wash up. You smell."
With that, the disciplinary students left.
Whew. Looks like I got off easy. Sorry, but I’ll wander around just for today!
Then first… I should wash up. Time to hurry back to the dormitory.
"Phew. Finally feel refreshed."
The power of modern conveniences really was incredible. Who would have thought you could take a warm shower in a medieval fantasy world?
"Of course, it’s thanks to magic tools."
Well, who cares if it’s a magic tool? As long as I’m comfortable, that’s all that matters.
"Anyway, shall I sort through the materials I got from hunting monsters?"
A pair of steel fangs, a sixth-tier material from the dire wolf, and five kilograms of plain leather, an eighth-tier material. Plus about ten usable branches, seventh-tier materials from the ents.
Hmm. The steel fangs have a separate use, so I can just sell the leather and branches. This much should fetch around fifty thousand coins?
There weren’t many items from the monsters, and they were all low-tier, so the only real prize was the steel fangs. I had hoped to earn around a hundred thousand coins, but the returns were disappointing. Still, I did obtain the artifact in the end.
On my left hand—specifically my index finger—the artifact I had gotten from the Giant Ant now sat perfectly. The ring, deep green with elegant golden patterns, was the Grace of Nature. It fit my finger as if it had been made for me.
In the game’s setting, it was one of the works created by Gerald, the eccentric among eccentrics even among the elves who served the World Tree. He had risen to the rank of master blacksmith. This particular piece was known to have been made during his fledgling days before he earned that title. Considering its performance, it showed just how extraordinary Gerald had been.
Even in the real game, you could start obtaining his creations from the mid-to-late stages, and their performance was excellent. But because he was such an eccentric, the various penalties and absurd acquisition difficulty made many players give up on them. Yet the performance was so good it completely ignored those penalties and the hardcore difficulty, so veterans like me often deliberately avoided them just for the challenge and fun.
But this wasn’t the time to worry about fun. There were two items obtainable from the mid-to-late game: a sword and a staff. I could give them to the protagonist or the heroines around him. By that point in the story I would have already escaped the family anyway, so raising the protagonist’s party didn’t seem like a bad idea.
Then I could moderately strengthen the protagonist’s group and look for a way home. Even I had to admit it was a perfect plan.
"Right. Once I escape the family, I should start by apologizing to Elisha."
Like I said, concrete goals breathe life into living. They become the driving force that keeps me moving. For the remaining two weeks, I’ll focus on training to increase my stamina and expand my mana core vessel. I’ll practice swordsmanship in between sessions too.
After fighting with a sword, I realized something. The body was already used to wielding one, so the movements felt familiar, but my combat sense was severely lacking. Fighting is ultimately a contest of skill. If you lose in technique, there’s no coming back.
"In that sense, special training starts tomorrow."
Two weeks until the suspension ends. I’ll burn everything I have. By the time it lifts, the original story will probably begin. In chapter terms, it would mark the start of Act 1.
The real game starts now.