Jaycee sighed as him and Percy walked through the camp chatting. Percy had matured into a better leader now. His armor was unique and he had acquired it during one of his expeditions deeper into the forest. Occasionally people interrupted their conversation to bring something to Percy's attention. Each time he reacted with frustration.
"I don't know about all that. Seems like a real hassle. This is the kind of thing you go to someone else about. It's too important for me." Jaycee said. He didn't like the responsibility that would fall on him. Percy had asked Jaycee to tag along with him and his group to a joint venture with the leader of a different camp.
She was the closest to merging with anyone but it seemed she wanted to see if Percy had what it took to lead the people under her. He had to prove himself for her to accept his leadership and allow him to absorb her group. They had discovered something called a dungeon that supposedly held opportunities and rewards if beaten. But no one had defeated it. Apparently groups had gone to challenge it but apparently failed as they had not come out.
The maximum number of people permitted was 11. It had specific regulations as there could only be 1 heavy warrior and two of each other class. Percy had negotiated his group into having 6 of the spots. The two camps decided they should combine their strongest to try and take down this dungeon. There wasn't much to say to Jaycee except the fact he would get his fair share of loot.
Jaycee personally wouldn't mind being some of the first to complete this dungeon. But he knew Percy would try and get him into his core team and Jaycee wasn't all for the idea. He knew there was a good chance that Percy succeeded and he would end up being loyal to the guy.
And right now he wanted no responsibilities while he could have none. He hadn't made any meaningful connections with anyone other than Lady and he had no reason to travel with anyone. "Look I'll even get you set up in some gear from the camp's crafters. Right now all they can make is basic stuff but it'll help a lot." Percy said.
Stopping for a moment Jaycee considered his options. "Yeah fine I'll join." He said.
Smiling Percy clasped Jaycee on the shoulder. "Perfect. I have a good feeling about you. Come with me." The older man said. His black hair shone in the sun as he directed people around. Each person nodded with respect whenever directed and did their task as assigned.
A man who followed Percy with a clipboard looked Jaycee up and down. "Is this your mage sir?" He said.
Percy picked up a leather vest and tossed it to Jaycee who caught it and inspected it. "Yeah. Gather the rest of the key squad and prepare for us to leave. Hey get me some mana potions for him won't you?" Percy said as he exchanged something for a pair of baggy cloth pants. "Here. The best pants we have for a mage in this camp. Do you need to upgrade your wand?" Percy asked.
Jaycee looked at the trustworthy wand that now fit in his grip well. He had been solo diving into the forest and left scorch marks and dead bodies behind him. There had been plenty of cases where he had almost died from encountering the wrong combination of creatures.
Beasts had gotten stronger and the wand from the beginner area just wasn't cutting it anymore. It was almost no different than him using his hands as his conduits. "Sure." Jaycee shrugged.
The man with the clipboard called out to Percy. "What should I say to the others?"
"Tell them to wait. It'll only be a few." Percy said as he guided Jaycee through a bunch of forge looking buildings and crafting stations that talented crafters worked at. They built things much faster than ever and they tirelessly crafted new gear to outfit all the people in camp, which now totaled to over 4 thousand.
Supposedly they were the second largest group. The one they were making the joint venture with had about two and a half thousand people. Percy stopped at a desk that had a bunch of materials layed out across it. They were clearly harvested from specific places in the forest. There were all kinds of things.
Little plants that spat out fire and rocks that held weird energies. That was one part Jaycee knew embarrassingly little about. Anything profession related eluded him as he didn't have anyone to inform him about it. But he did know that once people acquired professions, their identify skill upgraded, allowing them to see other people's levels as well as identify certain materials that may be useful to their profession.
Now everyone tried to develop their profession levels to increase their race levels and get stronger. Percy himself had unlocked a profession involving managing the camp so he was a higher level than Jaycee. Jaycee had fallen behind despite having a higher class level. Profession levels were half of what could be accomplished and Jaycee needed to acquire one as soon as possible. He had heard of all the professions people had gotten so far.
There was a crafter, smith, seamstress, cook, armorer, social workers, as well as all kinds of variations among them. He had heard of some others that were way different. There were gardeners and builders and miners. Percy spoke to the man behind the crafting bench.
He looked average but had a sharp eye that looked Jaycee up and down. "Hey my friend needs a conduit." Percy said to the man.
He nodded, "I would normally only show one at a time but because it's Percy I'll pull all them out. I keep them in a secure place." He grunted as he pulled a black box from a cabinet. He set out four different looking conduits.
The first was a simple but efficient looking wand. It looked like a copper stick with some gems on it. The next was a ring that was supposed to act as a wand. It had a small blue rock in it that empowered the item and shone beautifully against the gray steel. The next was a ball of glass that seemed to have energy swirling around inside it. Every single option was crafted by the man who clearly showed great confidence in his products.
The last was a staff that seemed like it shouldn't have been able to fit in there. It was about five feet tall and looked like a beautiful swirling branch that was a piece of art itself. Jaycee lost for a moment tried to consider what to choose before he remembered he could identify everything.
The crafter held out his hand. "Actually, you want this one. I know it." He said. He grabbed the large staff and handed it to Jaycee who felt a connection be established as he took the branch. He looked Jaycee up and down once more before nodding in satisfaction.
He began packing up the rest of the conduits before getting any confirmation. Percy seemed to believe in the man and began rustling through his pockets before handing the man a colorful rock. He excitedly grabbed the rock and shoved it into his pocket.
Jaycee tilted his head and inspected his staff. He didnt question the man and almost felt like he was Harry Potter getting his wand. Using his identify skill on the staff he read
Aerian Staff, Orange, Required level 10: A staff created by a talented craftsman that increases speed and instills air mana into the users casting. Level of air mana instilled depends on the users control of the staff. Power scales with intelligence and Wisdom.
It was much different than the wand, which didn't even have a rarity. It must've been because it was a beginner weapon without even a level requirement. This was an interesting staff that he bet he would've chosen either way.
It's ability to instill air mana into his spells felt like it would merge well with his fire mana abilities. He had finally became proficient enough in changing his raw mana into fire mana to use it without a wand. Before his mana and health points would just drain too much.
He lost health because of his poor control that usually ended up in the fire mana essentially burning him. Assuming he could make fire mana with this conduit, he can add just enough air to make his fire even more powerful. There wasn't a reason he could see that the staff wouldn't let him.
The wand was different and forcefully changed the mana that passed through it to fire. Most conduits didn't do that however. He had seen someone with an ice mana conduit that could also feed normally mana to create mana bolts and things.
And seeing as the description of the staff specifically stated he could control how much air entered the mana he assumed he was right. Excitement rose in him as he thought of the giant walls of flame he could make soon. Percy clasped Jaycee on the shoulder and smiled. "Happy with it?" He asked.
Jaycee nodded. "Yeah this will help lots. The only thing I need now is a profession."
Percy's eyes widened. "What. You don't gotta profession?" He asked. He didn't like hearing that. "I mean I guess I should've guessed looking at your level. I didn't think you would fall behind me like that." Percy said into himself before beckoning Jaycee to follow. "We're gonna get you started on developing a profession. Those guys can wait." Percy said as he led Jaycee through more random encampments before ending up at a tipi.
Outside the tipi, hides and body parts of different beasts were hung out on string. A man with a big bushy beard and worn hands sat on a wooden stool running a tool across some sort of freshly carved hide. He had a bow slung over his shoulder as he focused on what he was doing.
They waited a few moments for him to finish and when he did Percy bowed politely. "Good morning. I've brought by a person interested in getting into skinning. I heard you had a mission to teach an apprentice?" Percy said. Missions had begun to pop up in individuals. They would do something or have some kind of motivation to do something and the system would administer missions.
They were essentially tasks the person could accomplish for rewards, wether it be gear or even class experience. "I did. You know a thing about animal skinning kid?" The man asked.
Jaycee scratched the back of his head. "Admittedly little. But I'm a hard worker." He saluted awkwardly. The man looked Jaycee up and down before asking him a series of questions. Most of them were just testing him to make sure he wasn't dumb.
But the last one was significant. "And do you think you can do it?" The man asked Jaycee.
The boy's previously uncertain awkward energy disappeared immediately. "I can do it." He said. The man paused for a moment before smiling and standing.
He pulled Jaycee into himself for a hug and accepted him. "You at least have the confidence I needed. Let's get to work. The names Olaf." He said.
Percy interrupted regrettably. "Can you just show him some basics? I kind of need him for something important."
Olaf gave an annoyed look. "Damn leader thinks he can boss me around." He muttered to himself while turning around to rummage through a table of things. He pulled out a few tools and a larger higher quality satchel. He handed the things to Jaycee and briefly described a bunch of things.
It took him about half an hour to just say the basics and Jaycee knew the road ahead was going to be difficult. He pretty much just brushed over where he should cut on animals and mimicked the motion for Jaycee. Halfway through Jaycee got a notification that he could acquire a profession.
But he'd look at that later. He showed him the hiding tools and the cutting tools. Showed him what body parts tend to be the most valuable on a beast. For example horns or tusks. "When you return come straight to me. No excuses." Olaf said as he pushed the boy out of his workstation. "Now get out and do your important business."