Crow didn't sleep much that night.
How could he?
'Am I not even human? Am I just lines of code somehow?'
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.
Yet, the next day went as normal.
Crow ran the shop and any misbehaving players would get whacked by Raz, and then Crow would go to the tavern to collect information.
This pattern went on till the next day.
On that day, in the morning Crow woke up, he expressed his intention to Raz to try and learn blacksmithing.
The boss's reaction at 1st wasn't very endearing, "Harharhar, your limp noodle self really wants to try? Alight, runt, I like yer spunk, but be warned."
Crow's eyebrows raised as he listened intently.
"We're not like thee blessed."
The blessed in Raz's case being the players, nonetheless he continued.
"They have the favor of the Gods, they can handle any tool they see fit, but us as lesser favored must choose."
Yet, Crow didn't understand and just stared blankfaced.
Raz smiled as he patted the boy on his shoulder, "Your talent lad. Those blessed can grow."
He began his story with animated arm movements, "They kill, they absorb strength. They craft, they gain knowledge, yet we... are nothing more than what we came into this world with."
Crow's eyes widened in understanding, this much knowledge was known about the player's existence by an NPC, yet most players probably didn't even know this yet.
'I guess being an NPC does have its perks.' A smile arose on Crow's mouth, and yet that smile was bitter as he couldn't help but understand what Raz meant.
'So unlike players who practice blacksmithing and can level up, if I don't have a talent for it, I'll forever be trash.'
The information cut deep and Crow couldn't help but wonder, 'Does that apply to levels as well, does that mean I'll be forever stuck as a side character NPC, no matter what I do...'
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Since then, Crow's schedule has become: wake up early and practice blacksmithing on his own, when Raz wakes up he'll receive pointers, then he'll go open up shop and serve as the front of house, and finally close shop and head to the tavern.
It was both mentally and physically exhausting, yet he stayed with it because he knew Raz's rule:
"Either buy a weapon full price or craft ye own."
Aside from the shelter and the food that Raz would provide for Crow at the tavern, it seemed like he was left without any pay, which meant he only had one option.
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CLANG
CLANG
CLANG
Under the night sky, multiple colorful spherical objects hung in the sky glistening like the most valuable jewels.
Blue, Red, Green, etc all beautiful and mystique in their own ways and cast a gentle light onto the land below, and in the town, a particular shop was alit with the flames of a smithy.
CLANG
CLANG
CLANG
Hammering resounded within.
A young boy who looked to be 15 hammered away at his craft.
Finally, after finishing, he was left with a crooked sword that didn't even look good enough to sell but it was a start and it was a major improvement since Crow started.
The boy looked at it triumphantly, 'Maybe it really is impossible to improve.'
❏❐▊❑❒▨☳⊳░▃▀❒
Suddenly, multiple black boxes appeared out of thin air on his sword causing him to drop it in panic.
EEERRR
ERRRR
ERRRR
The sound of off-pitched electric static sounds played from the sword, wobbling on the ground as if the boxes were attempting to consume, until.
POOF
They disappeared.
Huff...
Huff...
Crow calmed his breathing, 'What the hell was that?'
He steadily inched towards the sword before poking it with his toe and stepping back quickly.
CLANG
The sword skidded a bit forward, yet otherwise, everything was normal.
Finally, the boy gathered his courage and picked up the sword, analyzing it carefully, 'What the hell was that just now?'
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Later that day after receiving his teachings from Raz he asked about such an event occurring yet his mentor looked at him like he had 5th eye, and so he moved on from the topic and planned for bigger things.
'Tomorrow I hunt.'
Crow had listened to players for many days and had gathered enough information to know how things outside the town work.
It turns out that selecting your starter class doesn't automatically make you that class.
Your character would spawn in that school and you'd have the opportunity to acquire that class and its corresponding skills.
'Hmm, so even if I did become a thief I wouldn't be any better off than I am now.'
Many players were wearing clothes that Crow was wearing, discolored trousers and ragged pants with worn-in shoes.
The boy thought back to those 1st 2 players he saw and the equipment they wore, 'It turns out some players were stupid enough to take on the role of servitude to earn that gear.'
Special gear catered towards classes was certainly better but to receive it that early, players would have to accept a stringent set of guidelines and an overall unfair contract.
Crow scoffed at this, 'And to think their contract didn't even give them enough to buy a beginner sword.'
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{The Next Day}
That night Crow entered the tavern alongside Raz, his teacher ordered food to be brought to his student's table as always and once he was done with his meal he circled around the room, collecting any information he could.
But, his actions were not unknown by all...
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.
.
A group of 5 players sat around a long rectangular table.
3 boys and 2 girls.
The boys and girls were all dressed in the normal ragged attire that most players wore.
One of the players, a male with blue fur that was lined with black stripes narrowed his eyes at a particular NPC that was discreetly roaming around.
"He's here again." He spoke to the others.
"Hahhh?! That bastard really doesn't know what's good for him does he!" responded a player with pointy ears, grey hair, and dark skin.
The rest were human, including the 2 girls who were eying this newcomer carefully.
The loudmouthed darkelf spoke up, "When do we jump his ass?!"
The blue-furred beastkin let out a low growl, calming his teammate's excitement, "Soon, we've all heard about that powerful blacksmith. If we don't want to get our hard-earned levels taken we need to do it when he leaves."
Now that the group leader had spoken, all the members nodded their in unison all whilst drinking and eating as usual except to keep an eye on this peculiar NPC.
Crow didn't notice anything out of order, whether that be exhaustion from the days gone by, the excitement for the hunt tomorrow, or even just the business of trying to gather as much information as possible.
Regardless, he could never predict what would happen to him next.
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As the night became late and players and NPCs began to disperse, Crow did as well, he bid farewell to his teacher and left through the front door.
The group that had been watching him the entire left a few seconds after, making sure to go along with the flow of other patrons leaving to not raise the suspicion of the NPC's companion.
But it seemed that Raz was in a world of his own, out drinking all his buddies to the point where they were blacked out, and his hearty laughter reverberated throughout the entire tavern.
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Crow was tired, excited, and processing the new information he acquired that night.
But he was no fool.
He quickly noticed those tailing behind, it wasn't hard to notice with a dumbass dark elf singing, "We're gonna torture him! We're gonna beat him!"
Crow was in a dilemma, 'Were my actions these past days that obvious?'
He was almost certain they were players, but he couldn't look back to check lest he alert them that he was aware of their presence.
Yet, the longer he walked, the closer he got to his lodging, and the last thing he needed was players who didn't have bright intentions of knowing where he lived.
'Damnit, even trying to twist and turn around the neighborhood is risky since the past days Crow had done very little to explore the town and been mainly focused on his objectives.
'Note to self: learn an area properly!'
With that mental note to himself, he took a deep breath and walked towards the nearest alleyway.
'If I go to a towns guard I'll have to explain I'm being followed which make them know I'm aware of them and they'll just ambush me later, and even if I just blatantly scream and accuse them it'll be another case of me losing the element of surprise and them biding their time for later.'
As Crow walked towards the alleyway, his fists balled into tight fists and globs of sweat running down his back, a cold and determined look remained on his face, 'I know better than anyone that the best way to deal with a bully, or bullies is to kick their ass.'
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