Heading out of town and into the fields, John soon found a rabbit to use as target practice. Moving into range, John removed his new bow and notched an arrow, taking aim at the oblivious rabbit. Letting the arrow fly, he quickly reached for the next one and let it fly as the first one landed [Critical Damage 37] [Critical Damage 37] [XP 10]. The rabbit dropped dead almost before it could react. Even in his soul space to avoid attention, Webby gained 10 XP, so his companions also gained XP at the same rate as him. This was another bonus. Continuing to kill time hunting rabbits around the edge of town, he got a call from Tommy.
"John, this is insane. Everyone wants to know about my pet. I can't move without someone noticing me. I found a clothes shop and bought a cloak. It keeps your name hidden. I picked up one for you too. It makes staying incognito easier. Anyway, I looked around and spoke to a bunch of NPCs, but I never found any new quests. But I did buy a new shield!" Tommy excitedly told John all his news.
Listening, John told Tommy about the quest he had found and asked if they should bring along Steelheart. "For sure, Steel's a cool guy. I think we can trust him. We should bring him along," Tommy replied.
John was not convinced. Hanging up and heading back, John received a message from Steelheart.
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"Mugs! Dude, I got some arrowheads. Meet me at the town gate."
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Getting back to town, Tommy and Steelheart were both there, laughing and fooling around. Walking up, Steelheart noticed him and offered a fist bump in greeting. "I got some arrowheads for you, dude." Sending a system trade, it appeared in front of John.
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Arrowheads x70
Accept
Y\/N
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Noticing there was no money returned in the trade, John asked how much they cost. "Nothing, dude. You and SB saved my ass out in the fields. It's the least I can do." John accepted the trade and thanked him. Wanting to get on with making the arrows right away, John said his goodbyes and turned to leave. As he was about to walk off, he stopped.
"Steelheart, I got a good quest to do after I finish making these arrows. Want to join us?" Steelheart agreed to join them, and the three agreed to meet up once John had finished. Tommy and Steelheart headed off to grind, while John found a peaceful spot to begin his work. Reading through the blueprint and studying the details until he was satisfied, he then proceeded to put it away and get out some of each needed material, starting the process. The system offered him guidance, but he had to perform the actions with the system deciding if it failed or succeeded. Carefully attaching the arrowhead to complete it, John waited with bated breath for the system's outcome. {Arrow attempt failed}
Not disheartened, John went back to work. He had a history in lifestyle work; failure was nothing new to him. Finishing the next arrow, again {Arrow attempt failed}. Then a third time, {Arrow attempt failed}. Bringing the blueprint out, he studied it again to find where his mistake was. Seeing where he made the mistake, he got back to work. {Arrow attempt success}
John brought up the item information.
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Iron-Tipped Arrow (Common)
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It was only a common grade, but that was to be expected. It was only his first success, after all. Continuing on until only one arrowhead remained, John had successfully made 60 arrows - an impressively high success rate. However, they were all common grade. Holding the last arrowhead in his hand, determination filled him. Opening his inventory to get another piece of wood, he spotted the strange wood he had found just before the first fight with the mutated duck. He had forgotten about it. Pulling it out, he read the description: Hard Oak. This was definitely a higher grade of wood than what he had been using. Deciding to give it a shot, he began to craft a shaft from the wood, putting all of his concentration and efforts into starting this arrow. As he finished, he waited with bated breath. {Arrow attempt success}
Letting out a breath, he brought up the item information:
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Arrow of Vengeance (Uncommon)
Causes bleed - 4 HP per second for 4 seconds
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He sat there looking at the screen for a moment. He had done it! His luck had paid off again on the final attempt. Tidying up his things, John got to his feet. It was time to go see Roland Swift to complete his class quest and become a Fletcher. Entering the lifestyle training center, John headed to the portal. Not needing to line up this time, once registered, you could freely access the portals to your corresponding trainers. Stepping through, John entered the familiar workroom with arrows spread out across the room at various stages of completion. Roland Swift was not at the workstation, so John asked around for his location, soon finding his office door open. John knocked, looking up from his work.
"So, you're back already. What is it? Giving up? Want an easier task? Ha, I knew you did not have it in you." Shaking his head, Roland looked back down at his work.
Entering the room and walking towards Roland, John said, "No, sir. I brought you what you asked for." Handing the arrow over, Roland took it, skepticism showing on his face. But this changed to shock upon inspection of the arrow. Handing it back to John, Roland said, "You know, I could chuck you out for cheating. Hard Oak arrows can't be under an uncommon rating... but it does take some skill to make, and this is not bad from someone with such little skill. You're naturally talented or extremely lucky. I'm intrigued." Roland looked back down at his work.
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Quest complete:
Rewards:
Apprentice Fletcher
Roland Swift becomes your trainer
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"Sir, I know someone as esteemed as you must be busy, but is there any insight you can pass onto this apprentice to help him make better arrows?" John tried to flatter Roland, who looked up at John again, then rummaged through his desk and handed John some papers. "Here, take these and don't bother me again until you improve your skill level. I'm a busy man." Again looking at his work, John could tell there was nothing more to gain here other than losing intimacy with his trainer - not a good idea. So he said his goodbyes and left, looking at the blueprints Roland had given to him.
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Arrow of Vengeance (Uncommon)
Causes bleed - 4 HP per second for 4 seconds
Needs:
Hard Oak, iron arrowhead, (uncommon)
Piercing Arrow (Uncommon)
Deals +2 damage
Needs:
Steel arrowheads, Hardwood,
Duck\/goose feathers
Freezing Arrow (Rare)
Upon impact, 20% chance to freeze target's feet for 3 seconds
Needs:
Ice iron arrowheads, Royal Ash wood,
Regal eagle feathers
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All three arrows were excellent freezing arrows. were even rare, he was sure no one else would be this far into a lifestyle skill. His luck was helping him develop an early advantage, but it would be down to his own hard work to make it count. Looking at the recipes, he realized that he didn't have access to most of the ingredients. He had been lucky to find hardwood, but he had seen no more similar wood around. Steel and ice iron, he would ask Steelheart about, and the regal eagles would be some form of mob. Bringing up the forum, he did a search for any information, but scanning through yielded nothing. There was no available information. He then inquired from people around the workshop, finally gaining some information. "Hard Oak? Hmm, I heard a rumor about a hard oak forest up near Silver Fern town. It's about a two-hour journey to the south. Let me mark it on your map for you." John thanked the man and left the training center, messaging Tommy to meet back by the gates. Tommy was already there alone when he arrived, looking glum as he sat on the fountain. "What's up? Where's Steelheart?" John inquired. "We found a large iron ore vein, so Steel went off to make some iron swords he got a blueprint for from his trainer. I went off solo to skin some bunnies and ducks, but both areas are flooded now. So I went looking further afield and discovered a new zone called the Wilting Woods. It gave me 50 reputation points for the discovery. Anyway, I got ambushed by three level 6 lizard men and died. Turns out you lose a level on death, but we never noticed since I was on zero XP. It took me back down to level 3 and10% skill proficiency."
This did surprise John. Most games had some sort of punishment for death, like losing levels, and it was not hard to grind a level this early. Besides, Steelheart was busy, so they could take their time. 25 ducks would get there and with their improved strength and coordination, it would not take long to find and kill 25 ducks."