Notice! You have gained the mana stat
Mana: H-
Mana? Does that mean I can do spell casting? I had not thought I would gain such a grand ability so easily, well not exactly easy I guess, but not in this way. But now that I have magic, might that help our chances? But since I have no magical abilities, I am doubtful in that theory. Eden ponders, looking at his status screen and seeing the changes from the title. But after a quick glance, he looks back at his wood spirit friend.
“Hey, Plantus, I believe that I must thank you for what you have bestowed upon me. I might not know the importance of this fine gift, but I can understand that this has quite the amount of value for your species.” Eden tells Plantus, who forms a light smile and lifts his head a little. Plantus, rather happy about Eden’s words, but wanting to not waste any time, he starts to strategize with the group.
“Thank you, Eden, but we must start to decide on what we buy and how to prepare for your up in coming trial. I am assuming we are putting up the minimum about of years on this trial, which I believe would be roughly 140 years, correct? I am guessing we want the easiest battle we can get.” Plantus says, with the Old Man nodding in agreement, handing Plantus the spirit axe.
“Yes, yes, we should bet as little as we possibly can, to be rather honest I lack faith in our collective ability in slaying anything besides the weakest opponent we can. But, in order to properly plan, the axe should be unsealed. Could you do that with due haste, Plantus?” The Old Man politely asks Plantus, leading to him grabbing the handed axe and performing some sort of ritual. He speaks in a language untranslatable even with his language comprehension skill. Green sigils float around Plantus, and hundreds upon thousands of them violently spins around the axe. Both Plantus and the axe go higher and higher into the air, creating more and more sigils to swirl around. But they all abruptly leave after a few seconds. Plantus falls down, now only sightly hovering over the ground, and the axe goes back to on his formless hands. The axe, once faintly glowing green, is now entirely enveloped in a green, blinding light, and clearly much more defined in shape. Plantus, after fully finishing the graceful ceremony, now floats over to Eden and hands him the axe.
“Here, this is the true form of this axe, not the semi-sealed form given to proud lumberjacks, nor the fully-sealed form given to those who are not worthy. This, is a true weapon of the wood spirits, and one with the “inner mathematics” stored inside, given to the wielder, healing them on every strike.” Plantus informs Eden as he hands him the axe.
Notice! You have gained the prized weapon, “Axe of the Wood Spirits”
Axe of the Wood Spirits- (C-) 25 lb (11.34 kg)
Item Type- axe, one-handed
Requirements- axe mastery and friend of the wood spirits
(An axe that was made by a wood spirit blacksmith, forged from wood and magical blessings. This axe can only be wielded by those proven "worthy" of it from the wood spirits, regardless of any other effects stating otherwise. This axe does 32 life damage and has 40% pierce. This axe also heals the wielded 10 heath on attack and removes any D grade or lower curses and debuffs.)
“This is a mighty fine axe Plantus! I could not have even conceived that such a grandiose weapon would be gifted to me without any real trial.” Eden pleasantly proclaims to Plantus, who looks very happy about the praise towards the axe. I might have to give Quatch my apologies since he handed me this powerful axe for free. I will be nice to have such a great weapon in my hands, just wish I can get the others some equipment. Power is useless if you do not live long enough to use it after all. Eden wishes for, storing the axe in his inventory.
“You are welcome Eden. I would normally have given some kind of task first and foremost, but time does not allow it. Though I trust you are worthy of this weapon even without test. Plantus informs Eden, who backs off as the rest of the group
“Sir! You are a lucky man sir!” Soldier congratulates Eden, saluting him.
“Yeah, good for you.” Toxin quietly comments, not even being heard all too well by everyone.
“Tilts cowboy hat Partner you have got a mighty fine weapon now don’t ya. I Reckon it’ll be as helpful as a musky musket for a saloon shooting.” Cowboy cheers towards Eden.
“I agree, if I could wield it I would ask if I could hold it for a bit. Sadly however I cannot, and even if I could, Eden is best fit to wield it anyway.” Tanker tells Eden as he pats him on the back. After the others congratulate Eden for having a nice weapon, the Old Man gets the group back on track once more, hopefully for the last time.
“Okay, okay, we should actually make some plans here. Eden, I would be obliged to ask you for your ideas, given you are the leader so to speak. Though I have some ideas, I think your plans might differ from what I would want, and if I had to guess, differing ideas is what we may need right now.” The Old Man informs Eden, waiting for a response, but giving the man some time to think and look through the catalogue.
The greatest flaw in my eyes for us would probably be armaments and equipment overall, but I cannot do much about that. The law forbids me from directly buying things for others, and I lack the required things to make them something-. Eden thinks before realizing what he can do, buy some crafting skills, equipment, and materials. The plan: used the materials crafted by Eden and give them to the group. After all, it could be chalked up to supporting my crafting abilities, and their use is simply a test of their power.
Cosmos may be a horrendous person, but he is no doubt one who sticks to his words, though he may twist them. But he would never stand against his own laws with such a large audience, especial so with how he acted when Plantus bargained with him. Eden concludes, as he plans to share his idea with the group.
“I have an idea, comrades. I think the best course of action would be to support you guys, but since we are not allowed to buy anything for anyone but myself, I suppose we could have me make the equipment. After all, technically the money is not being spent on you, but to train me.” Eden offers the group, who seem rather intrigued by this idea.
“That is quite the fine idea, Eden. However, I must ask if you could make much of use for the group, especially with your lack of experience. I mean the most you could do is make some low quality leather armour, which I am unsure of the effectiveness of.” The Old Man informs Eden.
“But that is exactly the idea, Old Man. Even if the leather armour is not all that strong, it will certainly still be of great use even if it just barely helps block one attack, one attack that could have killed us.” Eden quickly remarks back at the Old Man.
“Okay, say we do that, it would cost a large amount of our gold, and I personally think it would be of more use to support yourself. We are all accustomed to fighting with low supplies, while I can assume you are not nearly as close. Not to mention how most of us are either falling apart, or simply do not require equipment,” The Old Man politely snaps back at Eden.
“So you do not want me to give supplies to save yourself, do you happen to have a death wish? I was not aware you were suicidal, should I buy some kind of therapeutic skill to treat that?” Eden mocks towards the Old Man. “Your lives are just as valuable as mine, the same value as every man, and that value is priceless.” Eden proclaims to the Old Man.
Eden is not going to change on this, is he. It would be a waste to fight him over this, but as his elder I should lead him into a better path, for him to not end up on the wrong path. The Old Man believes, before stating a compromise.
“Fine, you can spend some money for crafting, but do not bother with weapons, just some arrows and armour, and do not make anything for me, I do not require anything.” The Old Man tells Eden, who looks confused on why he does not want any armour.
“Why do you not want armour? It cannot hurt you, and it would be-.” Eden says before being interrupted by the Old Man, who suddenly appears in front of him. Eden jumps back in surprise.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Wait what? How the hell did he appear in front of me? It was on the other side of the room, and I know he lacks the speed to move that far in the blink of an eye. Could be magic? No, he would have at the very least mentioned that he could use magic at such a high level. Eden questions, but his thoughts are answered rather shortly by the Old Man.
“Martial arts hold many abilities, some may consider magical, much like the powers gained from the teachings from Tibet. I was raised by a Tibetan monk you see. Astral projection is a standard technique for someone with such an upbringing, but armour tends to mess with my abilities. Furthermore, I have a skill that boosts my defence when wearing no armour, which I am confidante that this bonus is of higher value than your armour’s defence.” The Old Man explains to Eden, before continuing to his next point. “Regardless, I would advise you to buy or make yourself the highest quality equipment, you are the head liner after all.” Eden, understanding his points, stops this pointless argument and goes into thought.
So make nothing for the Old Man, but I should make a few arrows, about a dozen or so, and some leather armour. But do I want to change my armour? As much as it does not provide really any defensive benefits, it does give me a rather useful skill, collect. Wait, I could buy it! Eden realizes, as he asks one more thing before buying his stuff.
“So we are good at buying crafting skills and items for me, making leather armour for you guys, along with the other plans we have made. But is there anything else I should buy? I am going to buy the skill “collect” as well” Eden recaps and asks the group, where he is quick to get an answer from Plantus.
“We should do everything you have stated, though include a loom to craft items with. I would also recommend you to save the rest of the meagre amount of gold we will have left. There is nothing we could buy with the leftover gold that could currently be of use, and you have to remember that this trial will happen every 5 years or so.” Plantus explains to Eden, agreeing with his points and getting to buy stuff. He spends about 8,000 gold, buying a few skills, a loom, and a lot of leather, sticks, and flint.
Notice! You have gained 3 skills!
Item maker- (D-) Passive
(You are okay at making items. When you craft an item that is D grade or lower, it will gain +5% to all positive stats, and -5% to all negative stats.)
Knitting- (E-) Passive
(You are okay at knitting. This gives all crafts below D- you make from cloths/leathers gain +5% to all positive stats, and +5% to all negative stats.)
Collect- (F) Action
Attack Type- Spell
Useable weapons- N/A
(You can add an item in a 25 ft (7.62 m) radius into your inventory as long as no one is using or touching the item. You will also get all materials in a 14 ft (4.27 m) radius put into your inventory.)
Notice! You have gained an item
Magic loom- (D+) 35 lb (15.88 kg)
Item Type- magic item, crafting station
Requirements- N/A
Minimum Materials Requirement- 90% wood, 10% magical
(A loom that can be used to make clothes and other cloth based things. Can make any item below C+ grade that uses a cloth/string, and any item made with this loom gain +15% to all positive stats and -15% to all negative stats.)
Eden, now having these new abilities. He first makes a dozen arrows. The process is not all that hard, though that is mostly because of Eden not doing any fancy metalwork and forging, but rather just taking the sticks. He first scrapes off the bark from the sticks, which are mostly straight so he needs not burn it over a fire, and the begins to make slits on both ends of the sticks. The thinner end is where he plans to place the feathers to make the fletching of the arrow. He carefully peels the feathers in half, and ties them to the arrow end with some string and also with his glue. He then ties and glues the arrow head as well, which is a much faster process. He then hands them to the archer, Soldier. Afterwards, Eden starts to sow and craft some leather armour. Contrary to what Eden thought would be the case, the loom work was very easy, as the loom had magical properties. These properties made most of the actual crafting automatic, so all Eden had to do is sow the leather together and make sure the shape was right. After finishing the work, he gives the crafts to the group, besides the Old Man and Plautus, and makes himself some leather armour. He goes against the wishes of the Old Man, making all the armour of the same quality.
Leather hat- (G-) 0.6 lb (0.27 kg)
Item Type- head piece
Requirements- N/A
(A leather hat that gives a bit of defence. Gives 1 defence.)
Leather shirt- (G-) 1.1 lb (0.5 kg)
Item Type- chest piece
Requirements- N/A
(A leather shirt that give a bit of defence. Gives 2 defence.)
Leather pants- (G-) 0.8 lb (0.36 kg)
Item Type- leg piece
Requirements- N/A
(A leather pair of pants that give a bit of defence. Gives 2 defence.)
Leather boots- (G-) 0.4 lb (0.18 kg)
Item Type- foot piece
Requirements- N/A
(A leather pair of boots that give a bit of defence. Gives 1 defence.)
Set bonus- (G-) total= 2.9 lb (1.32 kg)
Protected- (H+) Passive
(You have some protection from attacks. Gives 3 defence.)
I know he wants me to have better things, but everyone’s life matters just as much as everyone else. I am not taking any advantages that I do not have to, and giving my comrades everything I can. Eden determines, as the door to the place swings open, and the spirit guards rush in.
“Your 30 minutes are up! Now get out of here and get to fighting! You are making your highness wait, do not test his patience any more!” The guards yell out, basically ripping the men out of the room, who are hastily putting on their armour and drawing their weapons. They are forcibly rushed towards the arena, not even having much time to think. Though they do notice the king, bastardized in the men’s eyes. He is sitting in his wooded throne, and sipping from a wooden chalice, and his magically holding a wooden cage above them, which is coated in a green glow. It almost feels like he is bragging towards Eden about the fact he is using the very thing that imprisoned him, mocking him one last time before he thinks he will die.
“Your prep time as ended! I hope you used it well!” Cosmos mocks, as he lowers the wooden cage. “This here holds the creature you will be facing. Originally, I had planned a different, slightly weaker monster. However, it suddenly had a heart attack, so this was the closest replacement I could find. I hope you like raid bosses, as I got you guys quite the strong creature, of course for you weaklings of a race, and not for someone like me.” Cosmos remarks, as the wooden cage fully reaches the ground, revealing what lies inside the cage. The beast, humanoid but ravenous in nature, brings great fear to the group, other than the Old Man and Eden of course. It wears metal armour, and wields a wooden club. Two tusks, bigger than an elephant poke out of the armour. Now looking at the beast it is larger than any elephant, about the size of a semi-truck if laid upright. In the gaps of the armour you can see its dark green skin, looking rather thick and tough. Over the head of the beast, it reveals it name with a boss bar. It states Armoured Ogre- (D+)
Eden Status report-
(I forgot to do this last chapter, so those things are included as well)
Title: Friend of the Wood Spirits- (E-)
(You have been recognized as a friend of a wood spirit, and you will be liked by them a little more. All wood spirits will have a slightly more positive opinion of you, and you gain +10% life damage resistance. Furthermore, you will gain the mana stat if you do not have it.)
Stats-
Strength: G+
Intelligence: F+
Stamina: G
Dexterity: E- (max)
Constitution: E+
Endurance: G
Agility: G-
Perception: E (max)
Mana: H-
Items-
Axe of the Wood Spirits- (C-) 25 lb (11.34 kg)
Item Type- axe, one-handed
Requirements- axe mastery and friend of the wood spirits
(An axe that was made by a wood spirit blacksmith, forged from wood and magical blessings. This axe can only be wielded by those proven "worthy" of it from the wood spirits, regardless of any other effects stating otherwise. This axe does 32 life damage and has 40% pierce. This axe also heals the wielded 10 heath on attack and removes any D grade or lower curses and debuffs.)
Lesser Wood Spirit Stone- (D+) 7 lb (3.18 kg)
Item Type- magic item
Requirements- of human or half human race
(A glowing stone poorly made by a blacksmith and mage to give someone the unique power of a wood spirit, the only kind compatible with humans. If you have yourself and a consenting wood spirit that you know the name of touching the stone, you can gain some magical power from said wood spirit. You will gain the title "Friend of the Wood Spirits" and this stone will be unable to be used for the next 48 hours.)
Magic loom- (D+) 35 lb (15.88 kg)
Item Type- magic item, crafting station
Requirements- N/A
Minimum Materials Requirement- 90% wood, 10% magical
(A loom that can be used to make clothes and other cloth based things. Can make any item below C+ grade that uses a cloth/string, and any item made with this loom gain +15% to all positive stats and -15% to all negative stats.)
Leather hat- (G-) 0.6 lb (0.27 kg)
Item Type- head piece
Requirements- N/A
(A leather hat that gives a bit of defence. Gives 1 defence.)
Leather shirt- (G-) 1.1 lb (0.5 kg)
Item Type- chest piece
Requirements- N/A
(A leather shirt that give a bit of defence. Gives 2 defence.)
Leather pants- (G-) 0.8 lb (0.36 kg)
Item Type- leg piece
Requirements- N/A
(A leather pair of pants that give a bit of defence. Gives 2 defence.)
Leather boots- (G-) 0.4 lb (0.18 kg)
Item Type- foot piece
Requirements- N/A
(A leather pair of boots that give a bit of defence. Gives 1 defence.)
Set bonus- (G-) total= 2.9 lb (1.32 kg)
Protected- (H+) Passive
(You have some protection from attacks. Gives 3 defence.)
Skills-
Item maker- (D-) Passive
(You are okay at making items. When you craft an item that is D grade or lower, it will gain +5% to all positive stats, and -5% to all negative stats.)
Knitting- (E-) Passive
(You are okay at knitting. This gives all crafts below D- you make from cloths/leathers gain +5% to all positive stats, and +5% to all negative stats.)
Collect- (F) Action
Attack Type- Spell
Useable weapons- N/A
(You can add an item in a 25 ft (7.62 m) radius into your inventory as long as no one is using or touching the item. You will also get all materials in a 14 ft (4.27 m) radius put into your inventory.)
