After his fight with the Deer King, Leon realized that although he made a lot of new equipment, he was still severely underprepared for what's to come. He was extremely lucky to have gotten out of that fight with just a broken elbow and a sore body.
One wrong move and he would have been killed by the boss monster or have killed himself for going over his limits. To make sure that didn't happen again, he created a check list of items he wanted to make to better arm himself that he had been making over the last 3 days.
One of those items were the Leather Armguards that gave him extra health and defense stats. They would help to protect his exposed arms more and while he couldn't necessarily make something to protect his elbows, added protection was a must regardless.
After he was done making them he left them next to his Gloves which he was planning to repair but ended up getting the system messages for Fusion. He knew what Fusion was, but he didn't know the requirements for it. That knowledge was too advanced for him at the moment but would surely come to him as the average strength of the Earth became D and C rank.
If Earth was on a similar path to other planets, that would be around the time that humanity should start learning more about the inner workings of the system. Barely a week had gone by since terraformation began so for him to have already fused something was praiseworthy by the system.
It was a total accident by the way, but led him to believe that Fusion might be easier than he first thought. With that mindset, he also made a pair of Leather Greaves to protect his shins. Unfortunately the system didn't seem to recognize any Fusion between his pants and greaves so maybe only certain items could be considered viable for Fusion at these lower ranks.
{ Grey Wolf Leather Greaves (F) - A pair of Leather Greaves made out of the hide of a Grey Wolf.
Health +2
Defense +2
durability 25/25 }
Either way, he got a nice E rank item that took the stat boosts of its Fusion materials and doubled them. On top of that he got something called an attached skill that allowed him to use said skill as long as he was wearing the item.
It was similar to the Camo skill on his Cloak but the Camo skill wasn't called an attached skill, possibly due to the soul binding nature of the item itself even if he didn't need to bind it to his soul to use the skill.
He didn't really like the counter skill on the Bracers, as the fail rate was quite high and could harm him more than help him if he was unlucky. Not to mention that his counter could also be countered, possibly resulting in even more damage being dealt to him if the counter skills stacked on each other.
Even though he was considered a 'Protagonist' in this game of survival, it was only a 20% boost to luck based events. There would be plenty of times that he would get the short straw, especially in the future after having gotten 'lucky' in recent days.
He did however get a weapon out of the special reward for Fusion that would directly affect his new Bracers.
*ding!* [You have received Hidden Blade (F) {attachable} x2!]
{ Hidden Blade (F) {attachable} x2 - A small blade that can be easily hidden on the wear's arms. Can be attached and removed to any kind of armor as long as it is on the forearm.
Attack +4
durability: 10/10
- Not currently attached - }
The item itself he wasn't super excited about because while the idea of hidden blades were good, its practical use was limited. That was because in the real world, you had to wipe your blades down after using them or you risked them deteriorating faster.
Weapon maintenance was important as your life depended on them but most people in the modern era wouldn't know that since they most likely never had to fight for their life. As a soldier, he knew first hand how important it was since their were times where his rifle or a buddies rifle clogged up and wouldn't fire if it hadn't been cleaned out properly.
He didn't have to worry about this with his sword sheath, as it had an autocleaning function, that cleaned the blade for him, attached to the items description but the hidden blades didn't have that.
On top of all that, hidden blades could be made in a number of ways and after looking at the item manually Leon saw that it was a spring lock mechanism. For this weapon, there was a ring that he would put on his pinky finger and it would be connected to the spring of the hidden blade.
When he pulled up on his pinky, it would release the spring and push the blade out. Once the blade went past a certain length, the spring would lock it in place and prevent it from falling back in the slider that holds it.
This also meant that in order to retract the blade, you would have to release the spring lock manually. It wasn't like in video games where you could just flick your wrists and extend and retract the blade as much as you want like in a certain game about assassins that go around talking about their creed.
In a real life scenario, its usefulness was limited but it could still be used as a surprise attack if the opportunity showed itself. But this was the Universal Law we are talking about.
With the system's inventory functions, he was able to find out that he can attach and detach the hidden blade to his bracers at will, making it a bit more viable that normal.
He still wasn't very fond of it, but it might find some use in certain situations.
- - -
Leon poked the fire after throwing in more firewood and stared at the dancing flames in thought. His lifestyle had not changed for 20 years but in the last week, he had done more in that short span of time then in all those years as a hermit.
During those 20 years he hid himself away from the world after losing everything and only lived day by day seemingly in a daze. It wasn't a decision he regretted, but after having experienced such activity the last few days, he felt that maybe he should have climbed down the mountain and reentered society long ago.
Leon shifted his newly made 'beanie' on his head before sighing out steam.
If he was honest, he was terrified.
Not necessarily of the changing world, but of interacting with other people again. He had not spoken to anyone for 20 years and even speaking to a machine or a puppy was stressful for him. He was good at hiding his emotions but it didn't mean he didn't have them.
Leon glanced over at Kona who was now lying down asleep, drooling on her mother's stone. Her legs twitch a little as she dreamed like there was no care in the world.
He had no idea why this little fluffball was willing to follow him after he killed her mother or why it seemed to trust him so much. He could kill it with his pinky at any moment if he chose to but the pup splayed out completely defenseless as if it knew Leon would never hurt it.
Even the system with all its annoying messages had a place in his...
*ding!* [*sniffle* So you do care about me! I'm touched! *dabs eyes with tissue*]
"I take it back." Leon grumbled, reverting back to his grumpy self as he pulled out his whittling tools.
*ding!* [No takeback-sies!! I knew you had a soft side somewhere in that old fleshy body of yours.]
Leon began to ignore the teasing messages from the system as his mind drifted to his family. He could still remember getting the phone call from his superior officer while in the line of duty. The pain of finding out his loved ones were gone was too much to bear, leading him to go on a rampage deep behind enemy lines that left both them and his allies wiped out.
After that he was dishonorably discharged, no compensation for his dozen or so years of service, and was forced to bear the weight of his families death and the expenses that came with it and the house on his own.
His wife's family cast him aside and he got most of his brothers in arms killed.
He had become alone in an instant.
He attended his wife and child's funeral as a distant observer and camped out there for the next two days before the police dragged him away. With nowhere to go and no money to his name, he literally ran for the hills, becoming a hermit that lived off the land.
Living on his own calmed him and cleared his mind but even now, he was still hesitant to go back.
"I guess I'll stay here for as long as I can..." Leon mumbled as he looked up to the starry night sky.
Leon continued to silently whittle as midnight approached. When the Universal system's clock struck zero hundred hours, he finally received the system message he had stayed up for.
*ding!* [Main Quest - Survival (F): You have survived the first week! Congratulations! However it is far from over. Humans are not the only creatures evolving as such, you cannot let your guard down for a moment.
- survive for a week (7/7) days
- kill at least 1 monster (1/1)
- reward: (F) item x1 or (F) skill x1
- failure: death
- bonus: kill 20 monsters (20/20)
- bonus reward: the option not chosen from the main quest reward
- Hidden (revealed): Kill an E ranked monster (1/1)
- reward: E rank item x1 or E rank skill x1
Status: Completed!]
*ding!* [You have completed the Main Quest - Survival (F)! Congratulations! Your rewards will be handed out shortly.]
*ding!* [Main Quest - Survival (F) as been completed. Please choose your reward.]
*ding!* [Bonus Quest has been completed. You will receive the reward not chosen from the Main Quest]
*ding!* [Hidden Sub-Quest has been completed. Please choose your reward.]
*ding!* [You are one of 93 Players to have completed the Hidden Sub-Quest: Kill an E rank monster. As a reward, an extra Hidden Sub-Quest will be added to the next Main Quest for you.]
"... An extra quest?" Leon narrowed his eyes at the system.