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32.92% Legend of the Gunslinger Mage / Chapter 16: The Blessing

Chapter 16: The Blessing

Standing over four meters tall, the Sacred Dear was proportioned similarly to an elk, large and powerful but also graceful and elegant. Its skin the color of earth, with bark, moss, grass and small sprouts seemingly growing out of it. A massive set of antler on its head spread to both sides like wings. The antler had a rough texture like tree bark, and its color ranged from light brown to orange.

The Deer took slow, regal steps toward the bowl-shaped stone near the lake. Climbing up the stone steps, it lowered its snout and drank from the stone. Afterward, it lifted his head and let out a soft, melancholic cry, and stomped its right front hoof down three times.

Manco felt the ground around him tremble slightly, and without warning, an invisible wave of energy exploded out from the Sacred Dear in all directions. Startled, he held up his hands, but the energy washed over him harmlessly and disappeared into the depths of the woods.

To his surprise, he felt alert and refreshed. Checking his status effects he found a new entry under the 'Buffs' tab:

『 Blessing of Growth 』 Duration: 47h59m

Effects:

- Apply Well-fed and Well-rested statuses

- Immune to all poisons, diseases and curses

- Xp increase + 100% (stack with other buffs)

- Skill increase rate + 100% (stack with other buffs)

"Damn! What a badass buff!" Manco exclaimed quietly. He wanted to immediately rush away to level up but stopped himself. The Sacred Deer might want to talk to him.

Its blessing given, the Deer stepped down from the bowl and approached him. Manco noticed that wherever the hooves touched the ground, the grass and moss would grow a little bit faster.

As the creature got closer, Manco held his breath and stared at its majestic figure.

The tiny kodama jumped onto the Sacred Deer's massive antler. Two creatures, one gigantic, one tiny, stood motionless for a moment as they wordlessly conversed.

"I don't believe we have met, o' friend of the forest," after several minutes, a gentle voice filled his head as the Deer turned to look at him. Its brown eyes were surprisingly human-like, curious and intelligent.

"Uh… friend of the forest?" Manco repeated. Surely It must have noticed him massacring rabbits, squirrels wholesale since the morning, right?

"Ha ha…" the Deer laughed a soundless laugh "Don't worry about the squirrels. I'm not too fond of them either. They're always eating the seeds and digging up the sprouts. Makes it hard for new trees to grow."

"Oh!" he let out a relieved breath.

"So…" the Deer looked at the remains of the bolt shooter "… This is what happened to my children. And now they intend to use it on me." The voice remained gentle, but Manco could feel the fury emanating from It. No wonder why Rust's team high tailed it out of here so fast.

"Not that it would hurt me much but…" the giant Creature snorted, causing a strong gust of wind that threatened to topple the machine "… it would still be quite troublesome."

"Your children…?" Manco was under the impression that Rust's team only arrived in town two days ago. 'When did they have time to kill the Deer's children? And how did they do it?' he wondered.

"Yes… They bless the forest to help it grow and drive away the corruption. Same thing that I do," the Deer explained, Its voice sorrowful "A year ago there was ten of us. Now there's only me."

'Ah, so it's probably not Rust's group! They were talking about some one hiring them to assemble the machine, and it was not their usual job.'

"I can only do so much to hold back the corruption. Now I am slow and weak. I could only wait for my new children to grow up and take the place of the ones that were gone. It will be a few years. I hope the forest can hold on until then…" As the Deer said and looked up at the sky, Manco could see a single drop of tear falling from its eye. He felt a little bad for It. The little kodama on Its antler was lying down contentedly, taking a nap.

"Uh… Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Oh?" the Deer turned to him, its brown eyes sizing him up, "There is indeed something you could do to slow down the corruption, but it is very dangerous."

'And rewarding, no doubt' Manco thought, his mind back on track: "If it's no trouble to you, please let me know more. I believe I can help."

"Very well," with a sigh, the Deer said: "There's a Corrupter running amok in this area. I can overpower it, but as you can see, I'm in no shape to chase it down. It can sense me and easily elude me. For the last few years, my children and I could only heal the damage it caused. Now that my children are gone, it appears this thing is winning this battle…"

"…As long as it remains in this forest, I can sense its presence. Right now it is in a cave, half a day's walk from here to the west. It rests during the day, and roams the forest during the night."

The Deer closed its eyes, and an image popped into Manco's head. A cave with fragments of bone and skin outside. The scent of blood and death was oozing from it. No trees or shrub could grow near it. There was no doubt whatever lurking inside was evil and dangerous. He shuddered at the image.

"As I said, the Corrupter is extremely agile and dangerous," the Deer continued, opening Its eyes. "I won't hold it against you if you choose not to face it. If you manage to defeat it, however, I will be forever grateful."

"I'll definitely do my best!" Manco affirmed.

〔Quest received: "The Corrupter"〕 (Rare)

Looking back to the bolt shooter, the Deer said "You did me a favor. For that, I'd like to give you this."

Stepping closer, It gently touched Manco's forehead with Its snout.

〔 You've received Misty Woods Sacred Deer's gift. New spell added. 〕

〔 Spell: Mind Link 〕

His eyes widened, and he stammered "T… Thank you! This is an amazing gift!" Having experienced how useful Mind Link was, he could not believe the Sacred Deer just simply granted him that spell with no string attached.

"I believe you will use it well. I wish you a good day, human." Chucking, the magnificent creature turned away.

The Deer walked away with the kodama still lying on its antler and disappeared between the trees. Manco stood there in a daze, Its gentle voice still ringing in his head.

"YES!" He shouted and pumped his fist. He just gained an amazing skill, a rare quest, and a powerful buff that would last two whole days! Damn! He gotta fight as fast as possible and level up. Maybe he should scope out that Corrupter cave? If he could defeat it under the buff, his leveling speed would be well ahead of schedule!!

"What do I do? What do I do?" His mind spinning, he re-arranged his tasks. He needed to get back to town, train a new Crossbow technique, clear his inventory, buy some supplies…

It was now 11:00 am in the game. He was quite deep in Misty Woods. It would take half an hour to go back to town, which was a waste. The only other choice was…

His mind made up, he approached the bolt launcher and touched one of the boxes.

〔Looting Broken Bolt Launcher box #2〕

〔Items contained: 〕

▢ Armor-piercing bolts (196)

▢ Split-head bolts (187)

▢ Sickle head bolts (190)

〔►Pick up all 〕〔 Leave 〕

He selected "Pick up all" and did the same with the rest of the boxes, gaining roughly 2400 bolts of each type. He turned to the boiler and checked it. The only lootable thing was some scrap iron, which was cheap and too heavy, so he ignored it.

Looking around once again to make sure he did not miss anything, he ran into the lake and submerged himself under water.

Two uncomfortable minutes later, Manco the Face Wrecker died his first death.

〔 You have died. Cause of death: Drowning 〕

〔 Item durability decreased. Please avoid dying too often 〕

〔 No items dropped for characters below level 20 〕

〔 Time until respawn: 4m55s 〕

〔► To Menu 〕〔 Log out 〕

Mahn Li decisively selected "Log out."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

As sensation returned to his real body, Mahn Li rushed out of the bed. His legs gave out from under him and he faceplanted on the floor with a painful "splat!"

"Ow!" he mumbled, rubbing his chin.

Checking the time, he found that it was 8:45 a.m. Earlier, he had slept at 12 a.m and waken up at 4.30 a.m. After a quick snack, he had been playing for about 4 hours.

Mahn Li prepared a bowl of instant noodle with sausages and eggs. While it was cooking, he replaced his sweaty mattress cover, went to the bathroom and took care of business, took a quick shower and made a cup of instant coffee. He hastily ate and drank coffee, almost burning his tongue several times.

Upon finishing his meal, Mahn Li glanced at the clock. 8:55 a.m. He had finished everything in 10 minutes.

Checking his phone to make sure he did not miss anything important, he lied back on the bed and turned on the VR rig.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

〔--- NOTIFICATION ---〕

〔--- Welcome to the Epoch of Liberty ---〕


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
ImBloo ImBloo

A useful spell that will definitely come in handy in the future.

Also, princess Mononoke ftw!

Chapter 17: The Preparation

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〘 Mistwood Village 〙

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When the world materialized around him, Manco was lying on the bed in his room on the tavern's second floor. Yesterday he had paid for the room for a whole week and it was set as his spawn point.

Briefly checking his equipment, he found that each piece had their durability reduced by 2 or 3 points, nothing serious. Springing out of the bed, he left his room and rushed downstairs.

Stopping by the general store, Manco sold Araun most of the bolt he looted from Rust's bolt shooter, keeping only 100 of each type of special bolts. Nearly seven thousand bolts net him a tidy 25 ducats.

Browsing through the weapons, he asked: "You got any shield that doesn't interfere with using a crossbow?"

Looking at him incredulously, the shop master replied: "Never heard of one. The only type of crossbowmen that uses a shield is the type fighting on a battlefield. And they use a big shield to take cover while reloading."

"Hmm," Manco grunted. He wanted something to hold a creature at bay when it got in melee range. In wide open areas he could easily dodge; after all, he had the alertness and reflexes honed by a decade playing an assassin character. However, in the forest, dodging would be more difficult, especially when he headed deeper where the trees were denser.

"How about an armguard?" Araun asked, "If you're fighting animals, it's not much worse than a shield."

The shop master pointed at an armguard made of leather and metal. It would completely cover his forearm and most of his upper arm.

〘 Full armguard 〙(Common) ☆☆

Type: Armor - Slot: Hands, Forearm - Material: Leather, Steel

Armor: Left Arm (6) or Right Arm (6)

Resistances: Stabbing (15%) Slashing (15%) Crushing (7%)

Description: Made of leather reinforced with steel, the arm guard provides decent protection against stabbing and slashing attacks, but limits mobility somewhat. Can be worn on either arm.

Weight: 1.0 kg

Durability: 40/40

—o—

"Looks good!" Manco nodded. He bought one and wore it on his left arm. He tried moving around and found his movements relatively unimpeded.

Next, he selected a dagger whose weight he was comfortable with. Taking out a vial of [Mild Poison] and one of [Mild Paralyzing Potion] he applied them both onto the blade. This would further improve his odds during close combat fights. After he was done, he inspected the dagger again.

〘 Belzhorian Heavy Dagger 〙(Common) ☆★

> Type: Dagger (One-handed)

> Requirement: STR 4

> Damage: 10-12

> Effects:

- Chance to poison target (Duration: 25 strikes)

- Chance to cause paralysis on target (Duration: 25 strikes)

> Description: A popular weapon among dubious characters. It has been coated with several a mild poison and a mild paralyzing agent, making the user seem even more dubious.

> Weight: 0.95 kg

> Durability: 37/40

—o—

Nodding, Manco put it in a leather sheath and strapped it to his back, just above the belt.

"You have any holy water around here?" He asked Araun "Or is there a priest in this village?"

"None that I know of," the shop owner replied "Wait! You're thinking of heading further west, into the decayed part?"

Off his nod, Araun sighed: "It's ya business, but that's suicidal! Even master Gwyndham didn't come back in one piece. I'd advise ya to stay away from there, lad."

Nodding his thanks, Manco left the general store and visited Gwyndham.

The master archer was not at home. Instead, he was standing on one of the watchtowers overlooking the south gate. Climbing up the watchtower, Manco saw that he was staring unblinkingly at the direction of the Misty Woods.

"Good morning, Master Gwyndham," Manco said, "I'd like to train more crossbow techniques."

"Fine," said the master, "What do you want to learn?"

At level 20, two Crossbow techniques are unlocked: 『Crippling Shot』 and 『Power Shot』.

Power Shot simply knocked down the target if they failed a combined Strength and Constitution check.

Crippling Shot caused a status effect depending on the body part that was hit. For example, hitting the arm would cause the target to be inflicted with one of the statuses like "Numb arm", "Dislocated arm" or even "Broken arm" if they fail a Constitution check. The status effect would disappear after a short time, but it would still provide a great opening for him to either attack or flee.

Both were crowd-control techniques. For Manco, Crippling Shot was definitely more versatile and useful. He paid 5 ducats for the training.

Wordlessly taking the money, Gwyndham waved him away and turned back toward the woods.

'Maybe the rumor is true that he's waiting for someone?' Manco wondered.

"Are you, perchance, waiting for anyone?" he asked expectantly. It would be nice if there was another quest in line.

"None of your business!" The master said curtly and waved his hand to dismiss him. It looks like he would have to change his approach.

"Uh… I'm heading deeper into the west. There's this Corrupter I'm planning to deal with. Do you know anyone around here with Holy water?"

That got Gwyndham's attention.

"I'd persuade you to leave it be. But I know you won't listen. So take this." The old man said with a sigh.

He reached into his satchel and took out a small vial which he handed it to Manco.

〘 Gwyndham's vial of water 〙(Unique)

> Type: Consumable

> Effects:

- Cause damage against creatures tainted by Corruption.

> Description: Blessed water owned by Gwyndham the master archer. It can be applied to weapons or sprinkled onto Corrupted creatures.

> Weight: 0.15 kg

—o—

Manco thanked Gwyndham and left the village.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

〘 Misty Woods 〙

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Manco activated Arcane Surge and checked his character sheet.

〕 ===〘 Character Info 〙=== 〔

〕 ===〘 General 〙

> Name: Manco the Face Wrecker

> Class: Crimson Mage

> Level: 10 (0.05%)

〕 ===〘 Pri. attributes 〙

>>> Free attribute points: 17

> Strength: 8

> Awareness: 15

> Coordination: 12

> Intelligence: 40

> Willpower: 23

> Constitution: 8

> Charisma: 11

〕 ===〘 Sec. attributes 〙

> HP: 120/120

>> HP regen: + 0.9/s (0.6/s + 50% Well-fed)

> SP: 89/140

>> SP regen: + 1.05/s (0.7/s + 50% Well-fed)

> MP: 315/315 (-200 reserved for Arcane Surge)

>> MP regen: + 7.725/s (5.15/s + 50% Well-rested)

〕 ===〘 Traits 〙

> Animal Whisperer

> In tune with Nature

Manco was happy that the two traits "Animal Whisperer" and "In tune with Nature" were already paying dividends. He was not entirely sure which of them had caused the kodama to approach him (might even be the "Raised in a Circus" background, who knew), but he was absolutely certain that it was not just dumb luck. He was at the right place at the right time, yes, but he also fulfilled some hidden conditions to trigger the encounter and by extension, the quest.

Wiping the grin off his face, he focused on his new leveling target: the Mana Bolt spell.

『 Mana Bolt (lv8) 』

- Type: Active. Damage. Cast time: Instant

- Mana cost: 15 (10 + 50% Arcane Surge)

- Element: Neutral

- Damage: 8.5 (7 + 20% Arcane Surge)

- Cooldown: 0.45s

With Arcane Surge active, he had 315 MP to fight with. Divided by the cost of 15 MP made 21 bolts. Taking MP regen into consideration (while he fired the first 21 bolts, his mana would still regenerate) he could fire about 26 bolts before running empty. After that, he would have to wait for about 2 seconds to fire one bolt, or rest for about 40 seconds to fully regenerate 315 MP.

"Shooting for 10 seconds, then rest for 40 seconds. That's too inefficient!" He lamented. The cooldown for Mana Bolt is 0.45 seconds. If he fired it off at the maximum rate of fire, it would take about 10 seconds to fire off 21 bolts.

"Wait! Dammit! What was I thinking?" He chided himself.

It was not like the creatures would just line up obediently to be killed! After each kill, he would have to look for new targets. If he fought a predator, he might only be able to get off a few shots before it closed in anyway. It was unlikely that he would use Mana Bolt often enough to run out of mana. Even if he did, he already had a few potions on him.

His mind made up, Manco stopped bothering with the numbers and headed deeper into the woods.

Perhaps thanks to the Sacred Deer's Blessing, the forest around him was much more alive. The ground, which was previously covered with dead leaves and moss, was now dotted with small sprouts. The trees seemed greener, and the animals were more active. All the while he heard the chirping of birds and knocking of woodpeckers.

Manco continued hunting the small animals: Rabbits, Squirrels. Occasionally he would find snakes or lizards. The Arcane-Surged Mana Bolt worked well, he was not in any danger, and he never did run out of mana because of ample time between fights.

Half an hour later, Manco reached the spot where he met the Sacred Dear. The bolt launcher had de-spawned, and all traces of the encounter with Rust had vanished. Various woodland creatures like deer, chipmunks, and birds were gathering around the stone-shaped bowl, scrambling to drink the water that had been blessed by the Sacred Deer earlier. To be respectful to the Deer, he decided against harming those creatures.

Wait a minute!

Blessed?

"Shit!" Manco shouted. How did he not think of this?

He rushed toward the stone, kicking and elbowing the creatures out of the way. They screeched in protest, clearly offended by the stranger who was cutting in the queue.

Ignoring the bites, scratches and pecks, he climbed up the steps and peered into the stone-shaped bowl. Only a tiny puddle of water was left, and it was being rapidly consumed by a flock of birds.

"Piss off!" Manco waved the birds away.

He collected the remaining bit of water, which was only enough to fill two small vials.

〘 Vial of Blessed morning dew 〙

> Type: Consumable

> Effects:

- Cause damage against creatures tainted by Corruption.

- Cure mild curses and diseases.

> Description: Morning dew blessed by Misty Woods' Sacred Deer. It can be consumed, applied onto weapons or sprinkled onto corrupted creatures.

> Weight: 0.15 kg

—o—

"Dammit! I knew I was forgetting something!"

Shaking his head in regret, Manco jumped down from the stone and continued west, ignoring the scorned woodland animals staring daggers at him.

.

.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
ImBloo ImBloo

Manco's level 10 character sheet. If you guys spot any problem with the numbers or have questions about the game mechanics, comment away! I'll try my best to be clear without spoiling anything, of course.

P.S: LGM is featured on Daily Update section today! It seems last week's ridiculous schedule paid off. I don't expect to pull it off again anytime soon, though. Slow and steady it's gonna be.

Thanks for reading, guys :)

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