48 || Arming The Workshops!

"Get back here you brat! I had you!" Oorun stomps her feet as she shakes a fist. She then disappears in a huff with a pout on her face. Tara laughs, summoning Moon Fang, which now has black runes of Water and tide etched into it.

[Moon Fang, Minor Artifact]

Tara had a little knowledge of status effects but had never heard of Dampen before! When she clicks it, she finds that the effect is similar to Silence, which locks down Skills from being used! She isn't sure how it will work in a world not governed by Skill gauges but the idea is certainly interesting! Taking Wolyung's advice, she drinks the Growth Potion. A cooling sensation washes over her and a white screen pops up.

A list of her levelable skills are organized based on where they came from. Both Inspect and Obscure are considered a part of her own Skills on a silver screen, Pinpoint was on a white screen and Reflect on a black screen from the Charms, and Riversword Blade Play on a cyan screen. She chooses Inspect, now level 4, since she has the most familiarity with it.

With the last day of this session arriving, Tara spends the morning fighting Yaoyang and Nejijin. They knew how strong she was as a low tier Bone Crystallization, so they are eager to test out her strength. The news spreads through the academy causing a crowd from all classes to gather. Obscure works on them all as they can't sense something is amiss when she first goes up against her elder cousin.

Tara hadn't noticed when she was fighting her clone, but once she became a Bone Crystallization high tier and coupled with her Soul Realm, her strength was almost at Vein Plating low tier physically speaking. Her strength had finally crossed over now that she broke into Billowing Muscles!

So neither she nor her cousin are prepared as she sends him, the fourth strongest student aurator in the whole academy, flying through the air. Even when Nejin goes against Yaoyang that hasn't occurred! Everyone is rightfully shocked at this display.

This is nothing, however, as she actually lasts ten minutes against Yaoyang. Tara has to admit that he is a true beast just like his elder cousin. His control of his body and the elements at his command outshine her own!

For the later half of the day, Tara spends it meditating. It has been some time since she went through the ancient memories. As her consciousness steps into her mental port, she finds Wolyung waiting before her.

Instead of an empty void of phlox pink, it's now a hallway with several doors. The walls are pink but each door is black with the symbols of different elements on them. Wolyung leads her to what she is looking for, the green symbol for wind glowing faintly. The doors ahead have menacing locks and the symbols are dim.

Unlike Tara having sudden epiphanies, Wolyung instead guides on what she had access to now within a training chamber. First is a display of Ember Gather which carries more power while Rain Scatter has a longer range. Second is Sun Piercer which splits into two beams upon release and Moon Cleaver turning into three intersecting blades.

The final display involves Wolyung weaving moonlight around her body as if she were a magical girl. There is a flash of light before Wolyung is adorned in armor.

Seeming at first an aesthetic skill, in actuality Energy Weaving is akin to always having armor on her body even in regular clothes. It isn't indestructible but it would offer another layer of protection under actual armor!

With this new knowledge in hand, Tara exits the game and stretches! At the same time her three best friends also exit their session. They all look extremely excited and giddy but when Tara asks about it, they all say to wait till they get to class. It seems their first run after trading with her and the other Novelists went well, so Tara waits.

As they exit Kristen's limo, Tara holding her hand, they can't help but overhear the conversations around them.

"Did you hear? Someone our age took out one hundred second-rate Guild players by herself!" Someone says.

"Hear about it? I witnessed it! I didn't know Forefends could fight so beautifully!" Another gloats, a far away look in their eye. Tara thinks it's interesting that a newbie could do that in Adventure mode so early on but didn't think much about it otherwise. She misses a smiling Qisma as Kristen and Renee laugh to themselves.

The moment they enter the classroom, Tara is caught off guard by the waves of cheers that burst from the room! Her classmates, her friends whom she has grown up with, all crowded the door to tell her different things that had occurred the moment they logged in.

"Alright, alright calm down." Qisma commands aloud with a sigh. Immediately they all calm down and head back to their seats. Tara is in awe at how a single phrase from her friend quells their excitement. Some of them even called Qisma 'commander' before sitting down. Seeing that they were all eager to share and they had some time before, Tara asks them all individually about what they experienced.

Most of them recount how much having the Twin Sphere energy gathering, Soul Realm energy circulating, and even their Natures all seem to blend so well together that they feel they could fight against top experts! It wasn't an empty claim either!

"Qisma, you can't just fight a whole Guild!" Tara chides.

While her family is an Ultra Guild among Super Guilds with years of history, and therefore leagues away from a second-rate Guild, such a force shouldn't be looked down on. Overwhelming strength isn't everything, numbers are important too! If this Broken Skull rallied their forces they could at least harass her friends to no end. Such a thing would greatly hurt their growth.

"It'll be fine. Uncle Guotin came to visit Dawn Blossom yesterday and a lot of us have already hit level 10." Qisma says, waving her hand. Tara's eyebrows rise at that.

He must have sought them out seeing as being the first Player owned shop so quickly in the game is astounding. Making contact with her uncle so early was a good sign! Both she and Asuka had already stated they should cross paths with Blueriver or Humility's Blade to offer assistance in the Field and give preferential treatment at their shops.

What better shield to have than powerful Guilds as their teams grew!

The high school is bustling with talk about Renovel. Many want to know the identity of "Bloody Gladiolus " and if her team had spots. Those that are Artisans spoke highly of Dawn Blossom and are excited about reaching Level 10, since opening their area's City means a new shop is sure to pop up!

Tara praises her girlfriend as they part at the end of the day. Many knew Kristen as Flame Ribbon thanks to her fights with Tara and Richard, but as she hadn't stood out, nobody had made the connection yet to Tara. That doesn't stop Kristen from getting a swollen head and forcing herself to keep her pride in check.

The restaurant is lively when Tara enters the chatroom. Doing a quick sweep again, most everyone is level 9 among them. The few level 10's belong to the Dungeon Running teams.

Already the two groups are swapping tales of their victories, comparing how the Novelists' gifts are affecting their virtual bodies and play styles, and most importantly talking about their leaders "Bloody Gladiolus " and "Disaster Fang"! Gladiolus smirks whenever someone approaches her but Syringa is extremely embarrassed at having made such a scene.

"It looks like everything is going well!" Pakeeja laughs once she's certain everyone is present. The group roars in applause and cheers at the sound of her voice. Pakeeja soaks it in before raising a hand to quiet them.

"So I've been thinking about how to organize this a little better than yesterday's chaos....and I couldn't think of anything yet! I don't actually know what or even if any of us have anything to share today--I mean I do but it's really for our Shop Managers and team leaders--so I think we should let each of us Novelists state otherwise." Pakeeja steps away, gesturing to the four leaders away from the group to chat privately.

None of the others said anything but Aelix does give Tara a look, causing everyone to turn their attention to her. Tara curses under her breath for being put on the spot like this but pulls up a window. "I've already made some equipment for everyone. When I call your name, please come up!"

During the forging process, Tara had attempted to make sure everyone's item was unique.

So among the daggers, swords, axes, shields, and spears she crafted, she also made war pikes, sickles, war hammers, sabers, and more! Even the Artisans, who would likely not go to combat unless absolutely necessary, are eager to try out their own weapon.

Everyone is deeply touched at the vast variety of weapons to match people's individual preferences and elemental affinities.

The Mage players are especially surprised when they were included as making a Craft Primer was a million times harder than crafting a weapon. Tara waits for the majority of the group to leave before revealing the 11 final items. These were to go to the Captains, Vice Captains, and Store Managers.

Gladiolus and Syringa, as well as the shop Managers Amethyst Crane and Sassy Daisy, soon return after fulfilling a task for Pakeeja. Gladiolus, like most of the Forefends, is handed a shield. However, unlike the others, this one seems more detailed with its wave-like patterns and cobalt metal. At the center was a beautiful gemstone.

[Whirlpool Tortoise Shield, Minor Artifact]

Just the attributes alone already made this shield formidable! Unlike the other weapons she had glimpsed when her team showed her, Gladiolus's Shield is the only one whose stats are multiplied by her level.

While she won't know the actual numerical value until she wields it in the game, even if it were +1, she'd then have ten extra points in Defense and Vitality! Adding on the multiple Skills, she'd be even more unstoppable in the Dungeons.

Iris Ash's Tinder Scorpion Bow is a sleek black longbow with purple iris flowers on the tips but has no string which confuses Iris. Tara explains that the arrows come from Iris's own power instead of a consumable.