Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Kaizen knew that if he chose to unlock the Class Skill <Soul Control>, it would consequently take longer for him to be able to unlock <Sidereal Fusion>, which had the function of fusing different items together.

Both skills would be extremely useful for him, because one would enable him to take the souls of evil spirits, while the other could allow him to put together, for example, two different swords, creating a single sword. Whichever of these two abilities he unlocked would also be a complete gamble, because he couldn't tell what their limits were.

In the end, he decided to try to unlock the Class Skill <Soul Control> first, and then focus on the <Sidereal Fusion>, because the former was the one he was most curious about precisely because it had a contextual connection to the last Class Quest he did.

While repairing the armor he wore in the battle against Taznaar, Kaizen was thinking seriously about these matters.

'If I want to earn more Class Points, the only way I know of is with missions, whether they be Class Missions or Hidden Missions, like the one in Therkara.'

*Tiiimmm*

'However, I am sure that Class Missions are much more work and require more effort. I have to avoid them, after all I have a History Quest to continue tomorrow...'

*Tchaaaaam*

'Yes, no doubt the Hidden Quests are the best option I have at the moment. I suppose they need to be related to my powers as a Psyker to get Class Points as a reward. Therkara's quest was like that and it was the only time I got Class Points in a row. That time she found me by chance while I was in the forest, but I don't think I will be so lucky again. As it is... I can't stay focused on that, I have to make money too.'

Kaizen lifted the breastplate of the Blue Desert Lizard scale armor, enjoying it after the repairs were finished. The battle marks were still visible because of the welding he did earlier, except that Psyker didn't care about that, because this was armor that would go to the bottom of his equipment chest. After all, this armor was made exclusively to withstand the heat of Taznaar's flames, which is why Kaizen chose to use Desert Blue Lizard scales and not other ores.

The Blue Desert Lizard is a well-known Mutant Class monster whose territory is the Purple Sun Desert, which lies at the southern end of Tretidian, near the Human Kingdom Vrikhodour. Thanks to its scales that reflect the scorching heat of the desert sun, this monster is one of the few creatures that can withstand the intense surface heat of this region.

Because it is a monster from a region so far away, normally blacksmiths have trouble finding drops of the Blue Desert Lizard in Tretidian, but like any player, Kaizen had access to the World Market, so he was able to buy the scales he needed for a price not inflated by local rarity.

"Well, now that this armor is repaired, I'm going to wait for the dust to settle a bit to paint it and sell it in my store. I can sell it for a great price, I'm sure."

Over the past few weeks, Kaizen had managed to forge many weapons as he prepared for the fight against Taznaar.

Every weapon he failed at, that is, he couldn't achieve the maximum use of the materials he could achieve, he tried to recycle. Recycling materials kept him from buying more materials than he needed, and motivated him to always forge the best weapon possible so he wouldn't feel like he was wasting his time. In the end, all the swords he had in his showcase were truly splendid.

Generally, a sword for a beginner player up to level 10 has 7 Attack, but some smaller weapons, such as daggers, do not have a focus on defense, so the attack damage can be a bit higher than that of swords, up to 10. However, swords made by Kaizen, with iron of the same low quality as an ordinary low-level sword, could reach up to 15 Attack, and daggers, 20.

This significant difference was explained by Kaizen's titles: 'The descendant of the Ironstones' and 'Talented', which had long since combined and given him a Profession Skill called <Blacksmith's Will>, which provided a 5% bonus to the stats of all items he produced when he was focused on making an item.

The moment Kaizen unassumingly placed these swords in his store window, he couldn't imagine what to expect, but he knew he wouldn't sell them so quickly.

After all, the building where he established his store had a reputation for being haunted, and the street where the store was located didn't have much foot traffic for that reason, despite being in the center of the Commercial District of the Royal Capital. On top of everything, there was also the chance that the price of his item was high, but he didn't want to charge below what the blacksmith NPCs charged, that would be unfair.

Minutes passed quickly after Kaizen placed the swords in the display case. Then two hours. Four hours. Six hours... And no one showed up to buy. Kaizen didn't mind this, for he knew that success would not come easily.

'As I thought, it will be much harder to get attention without a grand opening like those department store ones.' He thought, remembering the store openings with spectacular promotions, loud music, and sometimes even fireworks.

Instead of spending the whole day waiting for customers who might not even show up, Kaizen had previously defined that he would spend six hours a day in his store and six hours on other matters, such as Quests and Farming.

Sunset was his cue for this shift change, because the business district was less busy during this time, and this was the perfect time for someone who prefers not to draw too much attention from other players, like Kaizen, to walk through dark forests while killing dozens of monsters to level up.

However, this was not the activity Kaizen had planned for that day, because in the morning he received a call from an unknown number, and when he answered, he immediately recognized Klank's voice on the other end of the call.

The 'crocodile-man', as Kaizen nicknamed him internally, asked to meet Kaizen at seven o'clock in the evening at a tavern not far from the Business District. Obviously, Kaizen accepted the invitation without question, since Klank was not an enemy.

When Kaizen entered the Cat Ears tavern, wearing the simple armor that Zahir made for him, he did not spot Klank as he scanned with his eyes the vast amount of tables, which were packed with people as well.

Then the Psyker approached the counter and, ignoring the presence of two huge men who were drinking together, he leaned toward the tavernkeeper and inquired:

"Have you seen if a green-haired man has arrived yet?"

The tavern keeper was cleaning the inside of some wooden mugs with a cloth, yet he didn't even stop to answer Kaizen.

"Be more specific, please. Dozens of people with green hair come through those doors every day."

"He wears a tusk hanging as an earring in one of his ears."

"Oh, yes... He's on the second floor."

Kaizen thanked him with a nod and left a silver coin on the counter, which made the tavern keeper smile.

At the back of the tavern was an L-shaped staircase, which Kaizen used to climb to the second floor. As he finished the steps, he spotted Klank sitting at a table, alone. There were a few people on the second floor, but it was a considerably smaller portion than on the floor below.

Klank's sulky expression disappeared when he noticed Kaizen's presence.

"You really came, Ka-kai..." He said aloud, but stopped before saying Psyker's nickname. "Wait, what should I call you?" Klank whispered.

Kaizen sat down at the table. "Call me by my real name: Klaus."

"R-real name? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. You could have already figured that out if you had looked up my phone number data on the webnet."

"Oh! Of course I knew that!" Klank looked away and then looked at Kaizen again. "If you told me your real name, you have the confidence to know mine.... My name is Lee Hsiung Wynrae."

Upon hearing Klank's name and especially his last name, Kaizen snorted. "Are you an idiot? Never tell a stranger on the webnet your full name. Didn't your parents ever teach you that?"

At that moment, Klank realized the mistake he had made. "Arghhh! I forgot that!"

"That doesn't matter anymore. Why did you call me here?"

"True, I forgot about it for a minute.... I need your help to complete a mission."

"My help? You're strong, so if you need help so badly, it's certainly a difficult mission. Why didn't you ask for help from Bleeding Lily or other people in your Guild?"

"Because they can't know what I'm about to do." Klank stated, looking down at the table.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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