บท 5: Level up, Going outside, and Current Situation.
Aren returned to the Fergon's smithy, but he was stunned to see many people around the smithy.
"GET OUT!"
Suddenly, A mighty roar sounded from the smithy, and the annoyed Fergon threw out several people who went inside the smithy.
Aren's clothes and hair also fluttered as a powerful wind blew out, 'Which idiot annoyed Fergon? This is not a damn MMO, and they are no NPC. One wrong move, and you can kiss goodbye to life. I have to be careful here.'
There were mostly young people around the smithy ranging from 14 to 30 years old. After that roar from Fergon, they scattered, and the five people who were thrown out from the smithy lay on the ground with a painful expression.
The boy, around the age of 16, looked at the middle-aged man with an annoyed expression, "Hey man, Why do you pick up other people's things without asking? Are you a thief in real life? We were nicely talking with Fergon, and you ruined everything."
The middle-aged man got angry as he stood up and took out a pole from his inventory before moving toward the boy.
The boy panicked as he hurriedly stood up and took out his weapon, A saber. But he was too late as the middle-aged man swung his pole towards the boy.
*Tung!..*
A barrier formed around the boy before everyone who came from earth heard a warning in their heads, and a display of that warning also appeared in front of them.
[You are not allowed to attack a fellow being from your planet. You are here to get stronger to fight against the despair that comes after three years.]
Everyone was surprised at this and also glad.
'Will this rule apply in the outside world as well? I hope it does. Maybe...when the golden brilliance traveled around the whole planet for three days, It also set up something like this in the outside world?' Thought Aren.
He then entered the Fergon's smithy.
Seeing Aren entering there, some people who didn't leave were stunned and thought he would have the same result as those lying on the ground.
But...the scene was different inside.
...
"Here are the pieces of red ores, A total of three pieces," Aren spoke with a grin and took out the three pieces of red ores.
Fergon's eyes went wide as he looked at Aren with a shocked expression, "How?"
"Trade secret. Hehe." Aren smiled.
Fergon nodded with a broad smile and laughed out loud, "Hahaha, no problem. Anyway, You did great. Come, let's go to my 2nd weapon storage. You can choose any weapon of your liking there."
Fergon first moved the red ores to the side before both of them went into the second weapon storage room.
While moving, Aren looked at the quest panel that appeared before him when Fergon touched the red ores.
[ Quest: Mining Red Ore ]
-->Completed.
[ Rewards ]
--> 400 exp.
--> A silver-tier weapon.
[ Leveled up! ]
[ Acquired 5 stat points. ]
-Name: Aren Azrael
-Level: 2 [ 300/500 exp.]
-Health: 150/150
-Soul: 100/100
-Life Stage: Mortal-1
-Spirit Energy Pool: 100/100
-Soul Energy: [Locked]
-Mystic Field: 0/50 points
-[Stats]
<Strength: 4>
<Constitution: 3>
<Agility: 4>
<Soul> [Locked]
<Meridians: 0.2%>
-Stat points: 5
-Abilities: Painful Glory[cursed].
-Skills: Haste.
-Inventory: Cursed Shofar
...
Aren hurriedly looked at everything but didn't assign the stat points now since they reached the weapon storage room.
"This room is filled with Silver-tier weapons. They are my best creations, hahaha. Go ahead, pick any weapon you want."
Fergon spoke as he pointed at all the weapons properly arranged in this tiny room. There were approx fifty weapons.
Aren was a bit excited as he walked deeper into the room and started looking at various weapons.
There were swords, spears, hammers, sabers, chakrams, daggers, lances, scimitars, bows, etc. All the weapons here were made from black steel, and there were red patterns on them.
But as Aren looked at the weapons, His eyes instantly shined as he looked at a weapon.
It was a heavy broad sword. Its width was 24 centimeters, and its length was the same as his height, 6ft. and looked very domineering. He always had a thing for heavy broad swords. When they were living a somewhat decent life as a middle-grade family before his father left them, He used to watch animated tv shows, and the character he liked in the show used a heavy broad sword similar to one in front of him.
Seeing that Aren was looking at the broad sword, Fergon smiled and spoke, "That weapon is mighty, and its quality is top tier among the weapons here. Since you brought more pieces of red ore, I'll give you some advice."
Fergon then pointed at nine weapons along with the broad sword chosen by Aren before saying, " These ten weapons are among the best here. You can select your pick now. "
"I've decided. I will choose this heavy broad sword," Aren beamed as he pointed at the heavy broad sword.
"Alright. You can add it to your inventory. Hahaha, a kid from another world, good luck in mastering that weapon." Fergon nodded with a smile and wished him luck.
"I will master it." Aren then touched the heavy broad sword and put it inside the inventory with a thought.
Afterward, He left the Fergon's smithy and walked for a while before sitting on a bench under a tree. But just then, someone approached him.
"Hello, Little brother. I saw you coming out from Fergon's smithy. Can you give me some advice?"
Aren saw a middle-aged man in a suit smiling at him and was slightly speechless, 'So everyone will now come here, huh? No office, no work, or things like that. Maybe the president will also enter here? After all, the warning about fighting despair after three years can't be fake considering the appearance of this strange mountain and magical powers.'
"Sure. You can enter smithy and say like this...," Aren told the middle-aged man how to get the quest. He just told the man what he spoke to Fergon after entering the smithy.
The man left after thanking Aren.
Aren thought about something and smiled, 'I guess Rosflin will not appear anymore since he would be busy playing games on the phone. Hehe, It's good that I didn't get any weapon from the pandora's box and had to find smithy to get one which led me to get the epic item. Wait...will Rosflin find me after the mobile's battery dies?'
He became a bit worried about it but decided to focus on his present situation.
'First, I need to add 4 stat points to strength because the required strength to wield that heavy broad sword is 8.'
[ Heavy Broad Sword ]
-Tier: Silver-tier Weapon.
-Requirements: 8 Strength.
- A heavy broad sword made from black iron and some essence of red ore.
After adding 4 stat points in strength, he thought for a moment and decided to add the remaining 1 point in the constitution.
After that, Aren suddenly felt hot inside every inch of his body.
It was not a painful process, but he was a bit startled. It only lasted for three seconds before Aren felt apparent changes in his body.
He could clearly feel that he had become strong—his bones, blood, muscles, tissues, etc. In short, his body was strengthened comprehensively.
He then took out the heavy broad sword, and he could finally grab it with his two hands and swing it properly. Albeit, he was still slow at swinging it.
"Now I should go back and show mom that im perfectly fine. I also have to see what changes appeared in the outside world after Myriad Mountain formed." Aren muttered before he thought about leaving.
Right after that, A window screen appeared in front of him.
[You can add items from your inventory to your mystic field by touching that item with your right hand, which has the mark. You just need to think about storing that item, and it will be done. Once you go to your world, You can take out the things from the mystic field. ]
Aren was surprised and took out cursed shofar from his inventory and touched it with his right hand before thinking about adding it to the mystic field.
And...poof. The cursed shofar didn't disappear.
[ The cursed shofar's mystic value is 150, so you can't store it inside your mystic field. ]
Aren frowned and remembered his status window. There was something like Mystic Field: 0/50 points.
'So I can only add items with a mystic value of 50 or lower. Maybe, I can add the sword?'
He put away the cursed shofar and tried to add the sword into the mystic field and...
[ Heavy Broad Sword has been stored inside the mystic field. ]
Aren smiled and then tried to take out the sword from the mystic field.
*Tunkh...*
The heavy broad sword appeared just like how he took it out from the inventory. But it didn't work when he tried to put it inside the mystic field with only his thought, like how he does with inventory. He again had to touch the sword and think about adding it before it worked.
'Anyway, it's time to return and check outside. I have to reassure mom that I'm safe.'
He then thought about leaving, and this time, He instantly appeared in the hospital room.
'Oh? I thought I would first appear in Myriad Mountain. Hmm...Guess it was only a one-time thing before one enters inside Wild Expanse. Maybe for the printing of a square Mark on one's hand? Feels like registration of sort.' Thought Aren. He then started reading the screen window that appeared in front of him.
[ You can enter inside Wild Expanse for 16 hours daily. You can still enter the Wild Expanse for 13 hours more today. ]
[ If you hold hands with other people before entering the Wild Expanse again, You can appear together at the optional locations that will show up once you think about entering Wild Expanse. ]
'16 hours daily, huh?'
"Aren? I'm glad you are safe." Lorain spoke with relief on her face.
Aren nodded towards his mom with a smile and walked towards the bed before sitting to her side, "I'm safe. I am even stronger right now."
He then looked at the news channel and asked, "Did anything happen here, mom?"
"Yes, of course. A very joyous thing happened. Now, none will commit crime anymore because you can't hurt a fellow human from now on." Lorain had a kind smile on her face as she spoke.
"Also, It seems that many people bought out weapons from inside. You can see those people in the news. Oh, You also entered, so did you bring out a weapon too?"
Lorain asked curiously at the end.
"Yep," Aren nodded with a smile as he brought out the heavy broad sword.
*Crack...*
The marble floor cracked a bit as Aren thought about summoning it downward with the handle in his hand.
Seeing the weapon, Lorain gasped, "That looks dangerous."
Aren nodded before he put the weapon away and creased his brows in thinking, 'But why are we allowed to bring out weapons when we can't hurt fellow humans? No point in killing innocent animals too. So, what's the deal? The despair is after three years, and at that time, we should be able to use everything at our disposal, but for now, since we can't even hurt fellow humans, there's no point in bringing out things from outside or....could it be that something more will happen here and we might need the weapons for that situation?'
"Aren, Aren!" Lorain called out to Aren, who seemed to be dazed into thinking.
Aren snapped out of his thoughts and suddenly spoke something with determination, "Mom. Next time, you also enter the Wild expanse with me. I think that you should also get strong for the so-called upcoming despair."
Lorain smiled and patted Aren's head, "Even if you didn't say that, I would have entered. Do you see how quiet this hospital became? Only one nurse came to check on me in the past three hours. Anyway, I feel that I am fine except for slight exhaustion, but I felt good in that place when I went there and felt energized, so I'll also go with you when you enter next time."
"Aren, Auntie."
Suddenly, Aren and his mom heard a girl's slightly high-pitched and cute voice at the door.
Both of them instantly recognized her since she was Aren's former school friend, Quinn.
"Quinn, where were you for the past week? Hehe, I thought you finally settled with your new family." Aren spoke with a wry smile.
"Humph, what are you saying? I will never forget the kindness of auntie and...umm, the help you provided us all these years."
Quinn spoke as she entered the room and sat on the other side of the bed before asking about her well-being.
Aren looked at her and thought, 'Her appearance indeed gradually changed after finding her new family.'
Quinn had long black hair and was beautiful. Naturally, not as beautiful as top models. The unique thing about her was her blue eyes with a green hue. Her skin tone was peach-colored, and she had a perfectly developed body.
"Hey, Aren. How is my dress?" Quinn asked with smiling eyes.
Aren raised his eyebrows and moved his eyes up to down in the act of checking her out before putting his hands on his chin, "Hmmm, Not bad. You look good."
She wore a beautiful skirt dress with a black top and a red skirt that reached her knees.
"Anyway, did you enter the Wild Expanse?" Aren questioned.
Quinn shook her head and said, "Nope. Grandpa strictly prohibited other family members and me from entering before the whole situation cleared up. "
Aren shook his head and spoke with a serious expression, "You should not waste even a single day. My mom and I will go there because I think it's crucial. I don't want to take this thing about facing despair as a joke. I will be working hard for it. I went there already and found out that it's really very mysterious. You can get strong there and get magical powers."
"Oh...Hmmm. I also think that you are right. but My grandpa won't let me go unless the situation clears up." Quinn smiled weakly before continuing, "Grandpa finally found his runaway daughter, my mom, and me after years. So naturally, he doesn't want to lose us."
Lorain patted Quinn's hat and spoke gently, "The concerns of your grandpa are valid. But considering the current situation of our world, he himself will enter there and tell you to enter there because the situation is as clear as day. We only have three years."
Aren nodded before he suddenly remembered something, "Since you are here, You and mom should first finish the registration of sort. After that, you should return right away, and then we three will enter together."
He showed the mark on his hand and then told them everything he experienced there.
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