The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

“Royal Road? When we left we expected you to study, and now you’re playing with toys!”

“Now write an application for reinstatement”

“And if that doesn’t help, you can sit at home all day and prepare for the exams yourself!”

When Surka, Pale, Irene, and Romuna parents learned that their children were playing Royal Road in secret during their absence, they received an endless amount of nagging.

However, they didn’t just sit around all day. They thought of a cunning plan and eventually, their parents were lured into Royal Road.

“Oh! Pale, I’m going to change weapons but I’m 4 gold short, can you lend me some money? Don’t worry I’ll pay you back with interest!”

When it comes to hunting and fighting monsters, their parents were far too inexperienced. However, they were still able do well. They were owners of a small family shop inside the game, and they opened one store after another. Their shops sold things ranging from weapons and clothing to skill books.

They even opened up a restaurant. As their parents supported their kids with skill books, a good bow, or even the divine knowledge of the Priest, they in exchange hunted loot for them. As a result, they got closer and closer to the coveted level 200.

And then in the Kingdom of Rosenheim, the NPCs began to talk:

“Do you know about Weed, the adventurer? He dealt with the dreadful vampire clan and freed the people of Mora.”

“Oh, Weed, the benefactor of the Order of Freya! Knowing that there are heroes makes life easier, doesn’t it? I heard that he came from the Rosenheim kingdom, and they say that the King is looking for him.”

Even in real life, gun shops, pharmacies, and even flower girls from the market—everyone was talking about Weed.

When the word reached Pale and his party, they realized that Weed completed a difficult and dangerous task and immediately sent their congratulations:

“Congratulations, Weed.”

“Well done!”

“Tell us all about it in detail next time.”

* * *

“Haaa!”

“Swoop!”

“Urraaa! Monsters!”

The SwordNoobs rushed forward, and the brave headless soldier quickly began backing away. No matter how brave he may, at the sight of so many opponents even monsters would feel nervous and tremble. Opponents, not showing fear, boldly attacked the enemies, one after another and easily defeated them too!

Recklessly, without showing any fear, they attacked monsters back-to-back. Though looking rugged, dressed with lousy outfits, they looked like eagles hunting for their prey with blazing eyes of greed, they desire one thing: experience.

“Hahaha! SwordNoob 2?”

“Yes. I’m ready.”

“Attack!”

“Yatz!”

An avalanche of players struck the headless soldier. They jumped on the monster as if someone was going to steal it.

None of SwordNoobs knew how to play the game. Therefore, they went after high level monsters first, but they did not consider them worthy opponents. They were all looking for new places to hunt and they finally got to Lavias.

“Slaughter them all!”

All this time they only sought to battle strong monsters, so their levels grew at an astonishing rate.

Always together, a crowd of 505 people, as one large cohesive group, they roamed the vastness of Royal Road. Students and instructors lived together within the dojo, so they could gather quickly and play in Royal Road. Also, fighting monsters was seen as part of their training, so they spent a lot of time in game and hunted the most powerful monsters they could find.

They started just like Weed did, hitting scarecrows non-stop for a month, and then consistently overcame many dungeons. When there was an enemy, the students threw all their energy into fighting and eventually won.

The only thing that interests them besides their swords was battle. They did not take any quests, because they were too lazy to bother. In addition, their appearance was very shabby. They were very poor and often hungry players.

The teacher put his hands behind his back and, while laughing, said:

“3 copper? chuckles So much energy spent on this monster and we got nothing. Apparently, we are weak. Guys!”

“Yes, Master!”

“Will we pick these pennies? Or will we become stronger and kill monsters that drop gold?”

“Master, we’ll go anywhere you lead us to!”

After those words, the disciples and mentors had no choice, but to back tears, followed by the words “First the sword!” Understandably their fear of starvation was greater than their fear of monsters.

As they shared the last crumbs of barley bread, they further strengthened the friendship between them.

The SwordNoobs were not afraid of monsters.

“Sooner or later, we will stop dying from hunger!”

The SwordNoobs became even more focused, their eyes full of intensity. You die in combat with monsters, or you die fighting hunger. So they traveled across the expanse of Royal Road and raised their level to 130.

In Lavias, they heard that they could change their profession. People on the street said that the soldiers gave many jobs. And if you killed a famous monster then you would also gain glory and money. Also with a new profession you would gain a significant increase in strength and agility, and a bit of armor durability. A job for true connoisseurs of battles!

But in any case, they didn’t want to change their job based on the increase of stats. No, the SwordNoobs felt that they were heirs to Korean martial arts, and they prided with their way of life and their succession to the arts.

Martial art—it’s their blood, their nature and that is why all 505 SwordNoobs changed their profession at the same time. Well their first job was a warrior, so the change to being a martial artist seemed like the next logical step.

“Have you heard about Weed, the adventurer?”

“Weed has done something remarkable!”

Unquestionably, when the SwordNoobs heard the news about Weed from NPCs they were happy.

“Woo-Ohhh!”

A Burning passion! Ambition! Desire for glory! Feelings as such were present in every SwordNoob men

“SwordNoob 2!”

“Yes, Master.”

“Find out where the most powerful monsters are.”

“As you’ve commanded”

SwordNoob 2 first called Pale. He had long understood the torment of informational searching, and figured it would be best to whisper Pale.

“Pale-nim.”

“Yes, SwordNoob 2…”

At this time Pale, Irene, Surka, and Romuna were hunting. Pale was a little scared that they would have some bizarre request. But this time, nothing happened. Generally, the SwordNoobs lived with dignity and pride, they did not forget about the food aid, and in the future always thanked their rescuers.

On the other hand, Pale and his party have long gotten accustomed to their strange requests.

“Who’s the strongest guy?”

“What? Wait … no way….”

“Just tell me who and where. We’ll do the rest.”

Pale was shaken a bit, because he knew what they were going to do.

* * *

The Green Dragon Biakis loved the peace and quiet. He liked to think of himself as the guardian of the forest. With that thought, he lived peacefully for centuries.

Biakis was fast asleep inside a hollow on the top of one of the mountains, but when he heard the noise of people, his eyes became wide open.

“Intruders?”

Now and then, a group of adventurers trespassed on his domain. Sometimes even the strongest players in the continent of Versailles stray from groups and went to hunt the dragon. Each time Biakis ruthlessly punished them.

“This time, you will also die” – The dragon thought furiously

The Green eyes of Biakis were filled with anger. From wherever he looked, people fearlessly approached. Even if a few fought at a time they would still be too much. Although in general the dragon did not care.

“Urrra!”

“We have arrived! Angry wild dragon, show yourself!”

He had never been insulted before. Biakis was furious. He opened his mouth wide, as if to yawn, and then took a deep breath…

“Fuuuuu!”

* * *

Somreun Liberty City was one of the centers of trade in the Versailles continent. A huge amount of goods pass through its gates, and there were many transactions within the city walls. Virtually all artisans and guilds considered it an honor to open an office here.

Weed with Mapan sold all of their unnecessary items, obtained from wolves and other monsters.

“Oh! I made 5600 gold” Weed said while rubbing his hands happily.

Compared to how much he had before; he made 2000 gold, and that was not small.

But it could have been much more. Weed saved a ton of money on medical herbs, by digging and collecting them, but almost all the armor and weapons he had were sold on the auction site for real money. If he sold them in the game, he would’ve had earned more gold.

After selling the loots he got from monsters, Weed aloofly went to a guild. Guilds were always crowded with a lot of people, especially if they were combat occupations, but today in inside the Blacksmithing guild sat 30 people, compared to the scale of the large city it looked strange.

Upon entering, Weed looked at the people sitting at the tables with interest.

“I wanted to make swords, so I chose this profession. And now I’m so unhappy! All of my friends that I started with, are already killing kobolds, and every day I have to swing a hammer, damn it! But if it were only that! I thought I could make much more interesting things… I’m sick of this”

“Yeah. I don’t understand why I chose this profession. It’s too boring. Right now I want to change jobs”

“You don’t say, I was here for a week making swords and what do you know? They are far worse than the ones dropped by kobolds!”

Players sat and whined because of their profession. Pathetic. In fact, the profession of a Blacksmith is not so bad. It all depended on how you looked at it

“By the way, have you heard the news about the Blacksmith Thor?”

“I heard that he’s the first player to reach the intermediate level in Blacksmithing, and now he’s intermediate lv 4.”

“No. He’s already at intermediate 5.”

“Wow! I heard all the guilds want him.”

“Of course, he’s a Blacksmith that can strengthen armor and weapons. When will we get to his level?”

“Well… there are already several other smiths with an intermediate Blacksmithing…”

“Ah! I’m so jealous.”

Weed heard enough empty laments and quietly climbed the stairs to the second floor of the guild. People were usually located at the bottom of the guild shop, and serious matters were decided on the floor above.

Weed waited until his turn came, and came to a mustachioed, muscular representative of the guild.

“What is the purpose of your visit?” said the NPC, tugging at his apron.

“I want to learn how to manufacture weapons and armor.”

“Oh! Really?” The representative said happily “Do you want to become a Blacksmith?”

“No. I just want to learn how to forge.”

“Hmm. Actually, we don’t just teach anybody … However, if you can fix this thing, then I will think about it.”

The NPC handed Weed a battered shield.

With each level the Repair Skill gains, the efficiency of maintenance increases. With level 1 5 durability is restored, at level two 7 durability is restored, at level 10 23 durability can be restored. To repair the shield at once, an intermediate Repair Skill is needed.

Without getting a sledgehammer; Weed raised his hand and said:

“Repair!”

The shield was engulfed by a bright light and appeared to be newly restored.

“Um, it looks like you’re qualified to learn the trade” said the master scratching his head. “Okay, let’s start with an explanation of how to hold the hammer. Look closely, grab like this and hit like this.”

Weed immediately bought iron tools for the manufacture of weapons, a good hammer, whetstone and some items. He also bought a portable smelter and the standard molds for weapons.

Typically, a player could only work in a Blacksmith shop, but with these items Weed could create weapons anywhere.

The process of forging items is very simple. Thanks to the portable hearth, by using mana, metals can be melted and then poured into a mold. From there a piece of refined is made which then hammered to make an item. After learning this, Weed felt cheated.

Yes, the Blacksmith profession required hard physical labor, but it eventually lost to the profession of a Sculptor. During the creation of sculptures, he had to be constantly on his toes in order to keep the image in his head, he had carefully cut parts only to finally get a simple sculpture. Therefore, the Blacksmith profession seemed simple and crude in comparison with his profession.

“Good.”

Weed went to the nearest anvil and opened his bag. Up until now, Weed had collected a decent amount of ores during his hunts.

“First, melt…”

He melted some of the iron ores and made a decent amount of molten iron. He then gently poured it into the mold in a form of a basic sword. After cooling it off slightly, he got his first piece of refined iron and started smooth down the surface and the form of the metal with his hammer.

Tap-tap-tap!

When finished, Weed dipped the sword in cold water. With that Weed produced his first sword.

“Oh! Cool! Well done!” Weed forged his first sword and now he truly enjoyed it.

Playing alone, sooner or later you’ll start to talk to yourself. Kind of defense a mechanism that Weed developed during the creation of sculptures in the province of Mora.

“It’s pretty average.”

Of course, the blade in Weed’s current situation was useless, but it can be sold in a weapon shop for at least 70 silver. Although the damage is low, it had great durability, so it could be used for a long time and it also has additional strength attached to it.

Weed was thrilled with his first successful attempt on creating a weapon.

“Blacksmith profession sure is useful.”

Fox figures, rabbits and other animals have no other value than being souvenirs. Even so, Weed sold them for silver coins and earned money. Now, he is able to forge a sword that people would gladly use.

“Good. Well time to get to work!”

Weed decided to use all the ores he stockpiled all throughout the game, to make weapons. And he had accumulated a lot of ores deposits over time: some of it he gathered when he was still a novice, and some he gathered for the past 3 months he spent in the province of Mora.

Melt the ores in the hearth; use the moldings to give it form, and then smack!

Weed took the job seriously by putting all of his energy and soul into the new weapon he was making. In the process, he was trying to watch the other Blacksmiths and repeat their actions to quickly improve his skill.

For 10 days, Weed stayed inside the smithy, day and night, creating blades. He forged more and more until he used up all of his ores. But to his surprise, in those 10days, he greatly increased his Blacksmith skill. This was only possible because of his job as a Sculptor.

For each level, Weed gained a 3% increase in his initial attack, and a 5% increase for medium level skills. To enhance his job as a Sculptor, he had to unwittingly raise other trade skills that would undoubtedly affect his Blacksmith level.

In general, the skill of craftsmanship influenced all non-combative professions. For example, Cooking, for each level, the effects of prepared meals are amplified by 5%, and with the transition to the intermediate level they are amplified by 7%. Now Weed’s handicraft level was intermediate 8, so all the effects of his dishes were amplified almost twofold.

In addition his handicraft skill also had an effect on his Blacksmithing skill. By using the same materials he could makes things 2 times stronger than others, therefore, receive more experience. It was because of his handicraft skill that Weed didn’t have to suffer the torments of being a newbie Blacksmiths. Of course, by the time he reached intermediate Blacksmithing the advantage would disappear but Weed would still get a lot more experience than a regular player.

That’s right, after spending 10 days smelting ore, he manage to improve his skills up to beginner level 6.

Weed left the guild and went to the fishing guild.

“Do you want to enjoy, spending day after day fishing, or do you hope to catch a legendary fish and become a legend sung by bards?” The NPC wearing a fishing vest asked.

Perhaps joining the fishing guild was the easiest in the game. You had to honestly answer a few questions, and then buy a fishing rod with floats.

Weed did not hide his truth of his thoughts:

“I want to learn how to fish, so that when I’m hungry, I can eat.”

“Yes?” the NPC fisherman asked puzzled.

For many players in the game they became a profession fisherman for pleasure. While traveling to Versailles continent, you had to use a boat or ship, and there you could fish to pass time. But from all of answers he had received no one answered as Weed had.

The fisherman looked at Weed, as an unprecedented miracle, and laughed.

“An honest answer. Also, I see you’re an excellent cook. Maybe someday, if you catch something good, you’ll make me tasty soup?”

“If it’s a suitable fish, then no problem, I’ll be happy to cook for you.”

“Hmm. Thank you. I’ll give you some special bait.”

Weed learned Blacksmithing, fishing, and then contemplated…

“Should I learn more skills?”

“Isn’t this enough? Maybe I should skip the sewing skill? I already have several production skills so I don’t really have to learn another skill.”

His anxiety was caused by his childhood memories. At one time he had to work in a sewing factory, in a dirty, dusty environment. There in order to make a few pennies he sewed buttons and ripped seams. The heavy, monotonous work; memories of which brought only pain. Besides, he got sick and sometimes could not come to work, and therefore he didn’t get his salary for the last month.

But it was not in his nature to retreat.

Actually, there was another sorcerer skill, the ability to cast magic on the items, but Weed could not learn because of its high level requirements. Therefore he could only learn all the trade skills.

Finally decided, Weed went to the second floor of the Tailoring Guild.

“Hmmm… If a person has good taste it would easy to choose a good fabric and sew beautiful clothes”

“If you invest in a piece of their work, many people would want to wear such clothes. You want to learn to sew? Purred the spokeswoman

“Yes, I do.”

“And can you manage to sew on a button?” She asked squinting.

“Coo… of course.”

Weed was able to sew on buttons as well as he used a spoon. He sewed a few buttons, and received a new message.

Saying goodbye to the representative, Weed left the guild. Unfortunately, in contrast to the Blacksmith Guild, tailors didn’t get jobs at the guild, so he sat in the corner of a street, and set to work.

In Somreun Liberty City people in the streets disappear for days, leading a conversation or sunbathing, or doing anything else, so nobody paid attention to him. He cut a few pieces of fabric, then sewed them, and made his first clothes.

Amazing! With his high Art level, and intermediate level handicraft skill he immediately reached level 2.

He sewed a few fabrics he bought from the guild, and his skill level increased again. Weed did not suffer from stitching together pieces of fabric: the work was so familiar that he often didn’t even bother to look at what he was doing. In real life Lee often sewed buttons for his family or put patches on clothing.

Snip, snip!

Snip, snip!

Cut the fabric, and sew the buttons!

Weed hands moved smoothly and gracefully over fluttered of cloths, as though his hands were a musician playing his instrument!

“Oh, great!”

“Look at his hands.”

“Excellent!”

More and more people started to pay attention to Weed as he pulled one fabric after another. Indeed, many players wandered the streets and just watched others, and think how easy it was! The people who were standing near Weed, had eyes filled with admiration, because he was very fast hands worked, and with just a few stitches he turned the fabric into clothes. But there were others who doubted.

“And this is something you can wear?”

“I don’t know, maybe you can. I think they’re clothes …”

“If they’re clothes then they suck. Look. No embroidery. It’s plain and simple really.”

Weed vaguely heard the whispers of players but did not pay any attention to them. How can they expect something outstanding from a level 2 tailor? Although it was impossible to say that the clothes were bad.

After a while, sitting in the street under the eyes of many onlookers, Weed raised his tailoring skills up to beginner 4. Now, that the bag was stuffed to the brim with weapons and clothing, Weed decided to take a risk.

“Slowly…”

From the bottom of his backpack, Weed pulled out the gifts that he received from saving the people of Mora.

Weed probably shouldn’t have used the materials until he reached the intermediate level. But Weed had firmly decided something. ‘Time was money’. It was important to quickly level up his skill, and if he had to use good materials, then so be it.

Snip, snip!

Weed very slowly and carefully sewed clothes.

To sew the tunic, Weed spent four pieces of leather.

“Just look … It looks good …”

“Yeah. It is made out of excellent material and it looks comfortable to wear”

Spectators were amazed that in less than a couple of hours, an unknown player was able to make such good clothes.

“Are sewing skills really that easy to master?”

“I don’t know. My friend initially chose to be a tailor, but even after a whole day of work, he gets only defective clothes, so he deleted his character…”

“Being a tailor is not easy. I also know many people who choose it, and shed many tears.”

“How can this guy learn so quickly and sew such good clothes”

Weed was still sitting as he ignores the people who are talking. He took out a few more pieces of deer leather, and began to sew gloves and boots. After the quest, he received 200 pieces of deer skin, so he was not short on supplies.

Slowly working, Weed raised tailoring skill to beginner 9.

In theory, by using a special material, it would not take a long time to get to the intermediate level of a profession. This was because there was a restriction.

The creators of the game decided that overtime, high level players would start to learn trade skills. Because they would have access to better materials they would have a great advantage over players that started off with craft skills. Therefore, there was a time limit implemented on crafted items, after which the player would no longer receive experience.