Ice Iron
"I need you to go back to the mines and get me some Ice Iron which resides within the mine encampment," Ingrid pulled out a map and handed it towards the pair "Here, this compass will react when Ice Iron is near you."
Angel wings were embedded on both sides of the compass. It was blue, probably made from Frost Snow ore or Ice Iron. Holding it in his hands, Valec felt his hand sink a few centimeters.
'From this feel, it weighs about 10 pounds. The compass is also very cold, colder than the Frost Snow ore that I picked up earlier. Probably is made from a different ore, maybe Ice Iron.' Valec stood still observing the compass is in his hand.
"The compass is made from Ice Iron, which makes it more reactive towards the same material. It will glow bright blue when it is in a perimeter of 5 feet from Ice Iron." Ingrid explained the use of the compass. "Now go wake up, Fotas and start heading towards the mines again, shoo shoo."
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[New Quest]
Seeing the effectiveness of Fotas's training, players Coco and Valec have decided to seek Instructor Ingrid for training. Ingrid demands from you 10 Large pieces of Ice Iron before he can train you.
[Success]: Gather 10 pieces of Large Ice Iron (0/10)
[Failure]: Unable to gather the material in the allotted time.
[Rewards]: Favorability with Instructor Ingrid +1,000, acquire the skill [Training Tickets]
[Penalty]: Lose the opportunity to train with Ingrid
[Time for completion]: 6 months
[Accept]:
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Waving his hands towards them as if they were flies, Ingrid turned around and started to walk deeper into the building. The door closed behind him, and silence filled the room. Before the siblings could decide on what to do next, a shadow appeared and loomed over them.
"We should first head back towards the blacksmith to see if our weapons are finished." A deep voice came from behind them.
"WOAH!" Coco spun around and kicked back towards the shadow behind her. Her foot flashed out like lightning, quickly hitting an object.
CLANK
On the opposite of her feet was a wooden shield. Fotas looked at her quizzically, wondering why she struck him.
"Sorry you startled me." She quickly pulled her leg back and apologized.
"It's alright. I'm just puzzled why your first reaction was to kick." Fotas took off the two wooden shields and stowed it away while talking to Coco.
"It's just her reflexes; anyways, you were talking about going to the blacksmith?" Valec quickly interrupted. Pulling Coco to his side, he smiled at Fotas and handed him the compass.
"Yea, I figured that since I've been training for a few hours, our weapons should be done by now. We should pick it up before we head off to the next mission." Fotas saw the look on Valec's eyes and decided not to ask any farther.
With that, the three gathered their belongings and started to exit the Hunter's Building. It was now dark outside of the building. After training for six hours, it was now nighttime. Totem poles with fire lined up on the long side the walls of the buildings in Winterhorn. The cold night breeze roughly pushed between the party as if it was trying to push them out of the way. A large white moon with a ring around it hung overhead in the night sky. The only sound auditable was the slight sound of footsteps from the villagers and the raging wind.
"Beautiful, isn't it." A burst of jolly laughter came from behind them. "Throughout the ten years that I have lived here, the one thing that I got out of it was this sight."
"Mayor, what brings you here to Hunter's Building?" Fotas was surprised to see Darrell walking towards them.
"I'm just out for a nightly stroll don't mind me haha, I see you made some new friends." Darell looked towards the side of Fotas and saw the two siblings staring at him.
"Yes, these two are wanderers like me. I happened to chance upon them." Patting both of them on the shoulder, Fotas started introducing them, "On my left the older of the two siblings, Valec. On my right, the younger of the two Coco."
"Please to make your acquaintance wanders. I am the mayor of Winterhorn, Darrell." He laughed jollily and reached out to shake their hands.
After the quick introductions, the mayor told the party that his wife welcomes them over for dinner when they are free. He also said Fotas that his wife was even willing to teach Fotas how to cook due to his interest in food. Waving the mayor goodbye and promising to visit when they are done with the quests, the trio marched off through the snow towards the blacksmith.
CLANG CLANG CLANG
The sound of metal struck against one another, reverberating throughout the smithy. The smell of smoldering metal was infused into the building. The feeling of heat singed their skin as they headed deeper into the forge. At the very back of the smithy was an old man hammering away on an anvil. In front of him was what seemed to be a long sword, roughly a meter and a half. A look of total concentration rested firmly on Felix's face.
Seeming dissatisfied with his work, he examined the blade for a second and begun to tweak at it.
"The blade was too wide and not long enough," Felix whispered to himself quietly.
To start, Felix begun To reduced the width of the piece. He began to heat the whole section with the forge to a yellow heat. Using the hammer, He meticulously applied blows consistently along the length of the piece. After several heats, it started to reduce in width and increase in length and thickness. During this part, the sides of the piece began to thicken up more than the middle. To counteract this, Felix started hammering it on the flat side of the blade.
The whole process is quite a lot of back and forth work. Fotas also noticed a teenage boy running back and forth with a towel to wipe Felix's face. After what seemed like an eternity, Felix stopped his work and put the piece down.
"So what do you need from me younglings," Felix spoke suddenly towards the trio. He was wiping his sweat with the towel that the boy gave him.
The unfinished sword laid on top of the anvil still steaming from the heat that it was subjected to a minute ago. A glance at it, Valec was brought out of his dreamy state and questioned the blacksmith on why he stopped his work. Seeming very excited, Valec continued to ask Felix about the sword being created. A look of fanatism was etched on his face while he was talking to the blacksmith.
Fotas lightly coughed in the background to bring Valec back to reality. Turning around, Valec saw Coco and Fotas look at him quizzically. He then began to laugh nervously and backed away from Felix. Valec walked next to Coco and started to whistle while staring off into the distance.
"He's always like this, anything that involves building stuff or video games he gets extremely excited and forgets his surroundings," Coco explained to Fotas, "Don't worry about it too much he's always like this."
"Don't worry, I find this very interesting too haha," Felix grabbed the sword he was working on and held it up into the air, "I didn't finish it now because after this I need to grind it down and give it a heat treatment, at that time I can't stop my work and talk to you. So anyway, back on track, what do you kiddos need from me?"
"We were wondering if our weapons are finished. it's been a few hours like you told us earlier this afternoon." Coco chimed in immediately, the anticipation of trying her new ax was evident on her face.
"Ah, your weapons. I forgot to tell you that I needed some materials to make a cast for the weapons. I rushed out after you guys left to find you, but Ingrid sent someone to inform me that he was training Fotas. He told me to wait until you guys came back before telling you about the new quest I need you to do." Felix explained to them patiently.
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[New Quest]
Blacksmith Felix is in a dilemma. To make weapons for the players, Felix requires Ice Iron to make casts for the Frost Snow ores. Ice Iron is the only thing that is cold enough to hold Frost Snow ore together during the heating process. Help Blacksmith Felix by gathering some Ice Iron.
[Success]: Each piece of weaponry needs at least five portions of Large Ice Iron to make a cast. (0/15)
[Failure]: Not able to gather the required amount in the allotted time.
[Rewards]: Favorability with Blacksmith Felix +1,000, [Frost Snow Series Weapon]
[Penalty]: Lose the ability to upgrade the weapons forever.
[Time for completion]: 6 months
[Accept]:
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"We accept, but can we get our weapons back. We have nothing to defend ourselves against the monsters roaming outside." Valec spoke up for the party.
"Ah, about that. Here you go, I even gave it a quick fix-up for you. Should be as good as the time you got it." Felix had the boy run more in-depth into the forge to pick up the weapons for the crew. "Also, Ingrid told me about your situation, Fotas. I dismantled your spear and combined it with other materials to get you another shield. This is on the house, so you don't have to worry about it." After Felix, finishing speaking, the boy ran back with weapons pilling on him.
Two identical-looking shields laid on the bottom of his arms, a staff and an ax rested right on top of it. Equipping their equipment and feeling the security of the weapons in their hands again, the party thanked Felix and continued on their way towards the gates of Winterhorn. The party quickly departed on their way towards the mines again. A few of the monsters were slain along the way, increasing their experience and money in the short term. Fotas wanted to stop and test out how far he can go with just himself, but looking at the anticipating looks of Valec and Coco, he decided to hurry along.
The trio quickly makes work of their journey to the Mine Encampment. After wandering towards the mines, Fotas remembered that they haven't seen what an Ice Iron looked like.
"How about we head towards the Miner Headquarters and ask someone there if they know where Ice Irons are generally located," Coco suggested a quick thought.
After getting inside the Miner Headquarters, Fotas headed straight towards the front desk.
"Excuse me," Fotas spoke to the miner handling the front desk. It's the best way to get new information, talking to the person on the counter, "Can you give me some information about Ice Iron?"
"You are looking to join us, youngling?" he leaned forward menacingly.
"Not really. I have a quest from Master Ingrid and Blacksmith Felix to collect some Ice Irons. I would be grateful if you help me."
"Well, you need an ax for that, youngling. Trudge along to the mines and swing your pickax. Put your back to it."
"Don't the Hermits drop them?" Coco asked.
"Hermits only eat frost ores. For Ice Irons, the mines off you go. Not too deep; mind you. The first couple of levels will give you what you want. But be careful of the critters inside. Hunters have already left for one of their Hunts. No one will look after you, youngling."
"I'll be careful, Mr. Miner. We could take on the monsters inside," Fotas said. "But, where do I get a Frost Pickax?"
"You could buy one with us. We'll even teach you how to use it." He presented a pickax. It had a blueish white coat on both sides of the pick. It cost the party most of their coins. A [ Beginner Mining] skill came with the pickax.
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[Tool Skill]:
[Passive]
Beginner Mining allows for the player to mine beginner ores like Frost Snow, Ice Iron, and Deep Blue ores. The player gains knowledge on how to effectively mine when using a pickax
+20% Mining speed when using a pickax
+25% Mining efficacy when using a pickax
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"Of course, if you join our lodge, then we'll teach you more about mining. You'll also be able to join us when a group ventures deep into the mines while accompanied by the Hunters," he said with a wink.
Fotas, Valec, and Coco all declined politely, saying that they still need to advance farther to get rid of the snowstorm barrier. After gathering their belongings, the party left the Miner's Headquarters and ventured forth towards the mines.
[Ranking Player
[Ranking Player
[Ranking Player