After an NPC showed me the way to an armory store, I was lost in my thoughts by imagining which weapon or piece of armory would aid me in battle. Instead of making my demise earlier than later.
Would I be able to wield a sword? It was the most adaptable weapon and an option I had to keep in mind. Clubs weren't also that bad, at least after I used one as a tanker the day before. They could stun the target and also deal blunt damage. Regarding other weapons, I had neither experience nor knowledge to gauge if one of them would fit me and my new body. My steps were still wobbly sometimes and the new center of gravity was making me feel awkward and as if I was walking on stilts.
I would need the advice of the shopkeeper and much practice to balance myself in a battle, I thought, as I arrived in front of the store. This store was new to me. As a beginner, I disregarded armor and weapons which dealt physical damage. Solely relying on my drops and the skills I acquired as a mage, I never paid much attention to other classes, fighting styles or weapons in the least.
Understandably overwhelmed with the sheer number and variety of weapons I was now looking at, after I stepped into the shop. A middle-aged, muscular woman stepped towards me and greeted me. "Greetings, aspiring adventurer. How can I aid you in starting your endeavours?" Her voice was like wood being sanded.
"I need a...I need fitting weapons so I get strong enough to travel to Daystreak."
"Ah, a brave young adventurer, accompanied by grand goals already, indeed. Follow me to the measuring room. We'll find suitable weapons for you!"
I didn't plan on revealing my appearance, but the woman had taken my cloak away before I could even squeak. And now she was measuring every centimeter of me: My height, the length of my arms, legs, torso and tail, the width of my hips and tensed muscles.
After this measurement, she went into some scribbling, then took a basket and walked around the aisles and walls, sometimes placing something in the basket. About 10 minutes later, she finally returned and placed the basket on the table in front of me.
Weapons and parts of armor of different forms, sizes and colours gleamed inside of the basket. It also looked very heavy. If I would try to lift this basked with my measly strength consisting of 10, I wouldn't be able to move at all. If I would be able to even lift the basket.
"This is a [Normal longsword], it is…" and with these words, my screen was spammed with spec sheets that displayed the items and often showed a feature of it's strong and weak points.
After fifteen minutes of all sorts of sparkling metal, my head was on fire and I didn't know which weapon would be best suited. They all had different or similar features and a wide range of battle styles. I would need to learn to use them effectively if I wanted more than one weapon. Some of them supported each other and others hindered the flow of the battle when used together.
And then there were the tellings about armor.
It was based on the fact that there were a ton of different parts which could be equipped and restrictions that were placed on the user regarding the armor they used. If light armor was used, it wasn't that durable and the effects of Defense weren't comparable to heavy armor.
But if one was clad in heavy armor, their movement speed would be reduced and the weight one could carry would decrease with each new heavy armor part.
It was like math but worse. One armor part added too much or too less would spell certain death. I hated melee fighting. But I was even more afraid of bows or crossbows. With a spell, your aim needed to be general but not as precise as those two classes, where I would become a sitting, useless duck after my shots would miss.
So I had to use all I had left.
In the end I took a [Slender longsword], a [Poisoned dagger], a [Spiked club] and a [Light shield] for my weaponry. And since my strength was rock bottom, I only bought a breastplate, arm- and legguards. But I didn't equip any of it, because combined I would be as fast as a snail. I stuffed all of the new equipment in my inventory and headed to the last stop before I had to at least try to level up.
It was the training field where the general class instructors were twiddling their thumbs. There were only five people, one swordsman, one mage, an assassin, a priest and a beastman. It was the standard in each beginner town. In the larger towns one could head to general stores or areas regarding their general class or designated class. But here, only simple skills could be gained by fulfilling the missions of the NPCs. Mostly they would be collecting dust after reaching level 10. So doing any of the missions to get a skill wasn't worth it. With the single exception of [Tiny fireball] which I upgraded into [Lesser fireball] with lots of effort. If one spent time to grow their skills themselves, they could trigger special effects or the base damage of the next evolution of the spell had a 80% probability of causing higher damage. In my case, my [Lesser fireball] dealt five percent more damage than the store bought version of the skill.
But I had neither time nor the patience to grow skills; It needed time and sometimes even special conditions to evolve.
My aim was the training field itself and maybe getting advice from the general class instructors of the physical classes. They could teach one basic movement and imprint the skill [Basic combat] on any player willing to listen to their ramblings and follow their instructions for a certain timeframe.
I wasn't that willing, but didn't have a choice.
Preparing myself, I summoned the shield, longsword and armor while shoving my other garments back into my inventory.
With the weapon I must look even more ferocious but tried to forget that fact and started swinging the weapon randomly until one of the instructors came my way. It was the swordsman.
"Aspiring mage, what brings you here with a sword in your hands? Shouldn't you wave your staff instead of an actual weapon?" he said in a questioning tone of voice while popping one comical thick eyebrow.
"Honored [Instructor Tom], I desire to expand my knowledge to maybe turn to the path of a magical swordsman and want to learn the basics to broaden my horizon. I wish to adventure the continent to find the most fitting sword style and wanted to start the journey by trying to find a swordsman like you to be my first teacher."
The man guffawed heartily after hearing my words and his eyes crinkled in happiness.
"I should have guessed that at first, young warrior, your muscles and eyes tell the story your life will be!" he exclaimed, slapping my back in a rugged manner, making me lose 50 HP with his slap, bruising my back and almost breaking my ribs in the process of a 'brotherly' slap. This is why I hated the muscle brain type of instructors!
And what the hell was wrong with his eyes that he believed my bullshit talk in one second. Well, it worked for me.
"I will teach you the way of the sword and show you the ropes so that you can advance your class soon!" In your dreams. I only needed to learn the movement and attacking skills so I could just spam them instead of learning the sword for real. Smirking in glee inside, I mustered my most innocent and happy face, making tiny jumps, totally forgetting my demonic frame and manly body parts jiggling with every jump.
"I thank you [Instructor Tom]!" I will use those skills well while never becoming one of your muscle brain cultists.
"You're welcome, now run 20 laps, swing your sword how I show you, each swing a 100 times and then do my basic training programme, let's say, 200 times!" He handed me a pamphlet containing about 40 different postures. Fuck this shit. I remembered why I never played a swordsman before!
___
New items:
[Slender longsword]
Description: A longsword with a slender blade. The design emanates a certain grace but the tenability is slightly lacking compared to the standard longsword. Due to the less heavy blade, faster movements are possible even for people who lack the strength to swing a sword properly.
Damage: Deals between 22~34 damage per hit. A critical hit doubles the damage, while [Piercing damage] 20~25 and [Armor piercing damage] 50~65 could be dealt if the blade penetrated the armor of the target.
Effect: [Fast swing] The blade is slightly faster than the expected hit. [Light weapon] Due to the amount of material used, the blade is a bit less durable but weighs a lot less than usual swords.
Durability: 78/90
Remarks: [A slightly used sword already craving blood. Yours surely too.]
[Poisoned dagger]
Description: A small dagger coated in a random poison.
Damage: Deals between 5~7 damage per hit.
Effect: 70% chance to poison the target. The poison will make the target be affected with the status [slow] and [poison]. Every 10 seconds, they will lose 15 HP if not treated with an antidote.
Durability: 38/40
Remarks: [Better not test this blade for its sharpness]