(13) A Possible Source Of Income

Owen looked at his hand. He successfully conjured a magic circle thanks to Ezella's help.

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[Firestrike: Level 1] - An offensive type spell that conjures a messy blow of pure flame and terror! It's a spell that tends to scatter, but it packs quite the punch.

Range: Small

Damage: 5-7

Cooldown: 0 Seconds

Consumption: 2 Soul Energy]

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*Vhoom..*

[You have unlocked the Skill Tree!]

*Vhoom..*

[You have unlocked extra features in the inventory!]

Owen looked at the panels in front of him and called out,

"Settings." Owen called out in his mind.

Once the settings panel appeared, he went to edit the keywords.

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---[Set Keywords]---

[1 - Status Screen]

[2 - Inventory Screen]

[3 - Attributes Screen]

[4 - Armor and Equipment Screen]

[Skills - Skill Tree Screen]

[Appear Using Thoughts - On]

[Appear Using Speech - Off]

[Appear By Sound Implication - Off

[Edit Keywords]

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He edited the keyword for the skill tree into the number 5.

Numbers are easier to remember than the words. And if Owen ever forgets what number does what, he could just open all of them through trial and error.

Now that the skill tree is unlocked, Owen had to check it out, right? But no, it requires skill points.

Skill points are only gained after leveling up 5 times. Although you technically didn't level up as you start with level 1, once Owen reaches level 5, he will still receive a skill point. That goes the same for all the players of GOTG.

"2." Owen watched as a panel appeared in front of him.

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---Inventory---

[Woodcutting Hatchet]

[Iron Battle Hatchet]

[Leather Belt]

[Black Scarf]

[Simple Knife]

[Plunderer's Iron Sword]

Acquired Spells:

[Firestrike]

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Owen's eyes showed some interest.

"Strangely enough, there doesn't seem to be a limit to the acquired spells." Owen saw that there weren't slots for each spell.

This wasn't the case in the original game.

In the original game, you start off with only three slots for spells. You can unequip the spells at any given time and replace it with a spell that you currently have.

It made sense to limit the game to prevent an overload of key inputs for every spell. But since this isn't the case now that the world entered a state of realism, Owen could hypothetically use as many spells as long as he has learned them.

"Sadly I can't regenerate soul energy yet.." Owen looked at his dwindling soul energy.

It used to have 5 points of soul energy to just 3 after Owen's activation of the [Firestrike] spell.

Looking at the red glowing magic circle rotating in his hand, Owen aimed it to the sky and shot it.

*Fwoooshh!*

[Firestrike: +10 Mastery]

[Mastery Required To Level Up: 10/1000]

The moment the spell was launched, it was like a fireworks display. Although it wasn't that high at all.

"…"

Tiduer and his students looked at the bright flame in the air.

Some of them had their mouth agape.

Oslan and Riang on the other hand, they looked at each other before looking at the dissipating flame.

"Alright, don't be distracted! Continue practicing the stances I told you!" Tiduer held the wooden pole in his hands upright. "And you, fix your legs.." Tiduer used the wooden pole to hit a boy's thigh that was holding his position a bit too low with his sword.

"Ow." The boy quickly fixed his position.

As the students continued exercising, Tiduer walked up to Ezella who was admiring the fireworks show just now.

"You taught him fire magic?" Tiduer asked her with a complex expression.

"I sure did. And he's quite a fast learner." Ezella looked at Tiduer in the eyes.

"Yeah, I can really tell… This Owen guy doesn't seem to be a normal person. I'm not sure if you saw, but I could've sworn he made his small ax-"

"Hatchet." Ezella cut him off.

Scratching the back of his head, Tiduer continued. "I could've sworn he made his…. hatchet disappear. I think he already knew how to use magic."

"I thought so too… And from what I can see, he's here for Riang." Ezella may look like she's just a nice person. But she is the type to pay attention to her surroundings.

"Riang? The girl who works 9 different jobs every day? I've seen how talented she is with swords." It then came to Tiduer's mind that she is indeed special.

"She's also quite wise for her age and knows how to cut out unnecessary expenses… I've seen her working at the fields and that one time where I talked to her, she said something about managing her savings just so that she could get through a day." Ezella added.

She recalled that time when she saw Riang sitting alone by herself. An imaginary cloud floated above her head as she thought of that scene.

Sometime ago...

Riang sat down inside the hut while counting coins.

"What'cha doing there?" Ezella looked at the copper coins that Riang was counting on her hands.

"I'm just trying to figure out how much I could spend for the day and how much I have left for tomorrow." Riang seemed to be laser focused on what she was doing.

"Oh, but why are there so many small piles of coins?" Ezella pointed to the neatly stacked coins on the floor.

Riang answered with a tone that somewhat sounded like she was lecturing someone.

"Well you see… I have to allocate 10 coins for this day, figure out what my earnings would be so that I can allocate that as well to the next day and so forth. I made a system to organize these by placing them in different days represented by a box that the system-"

Ezella stopped trying to remember that memory of hers.

The imaginary cloud above her head quickly dispelled the image of that encounter.

"I really don't like counting big numbers.." Ezella shivered.

"You can't even count that well." Tiduer grinned.

"Shut it." Ezella chopped his head with her hand.

"Ouch." Tiduer rubbed his head.

Ezella rubbed her chin and after she seemed to remember something, she snapped her fingers. "Speaking of Owen, didn't Oslan speak to him?"

"Oslan… He's a diligent boy but, he's really weak." Tiduer realized that he may have said that a bit too harshly. "No no no, I meant that he was physically weak but he doesn't get exhausted fast. I've even noticed that no matter how hard that kid trains, there's barely any improvement…"

"But I can say that he's the most durable. In the five months he's trained under me, he has never gotten a bruise despite the tough exercises I put them under." Tiduer also acknowledged Oslan's good sides.

Ezella turned his head to look at him. "But you're not going to give up on him, are you?"

"Nah, I wouldn't do something like that." Tiduer held the wooden pole like a spear as he fixed his gaze onto it.

"Teacher Jiun told me to never give up on anyone like he didn't give up on me. He taught me all the basics of how to use a weapon and told me to follow my own path."

"Giving up on Oslan would mean giving up on the path that I set for myself. That's the whole reason why I began teaching these children to learn how to defend themselves. I took them in no matter who they were. And Oslan strived to be better. I cannot just abandon his hope like that." Tiduer's eyes looked like a serene lake without any ripples.

Ezella wrapped her arm around his neck and held him close to her.

"Hehehe! Since when did my brother turn into a wise man? Hah? Where's the dork that was standing here earlier?" She laughed quite like a cheeky older sister.

"Haha, alright… you can let me go now. I'm going back to teach these kids." Tiduer broke free from her grasp and went back to what he was doing earlier.

The training went smoothly as usual until it was afternoon.

All of Tiduer's students all left to go home.

"Stay safe all of you! I'll see you guys tomorrow morning!" Tiduer waved them goodbye.

Riang ran up to Owen who was just sitting around and patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, we can go now."

"Finally." Owen stood up with a grunt from him just sitting around the entire time.

The two of them went to the town of Wiunlen.

The architecture was quite impressive to Owen who came from a modern world. He wasn't expecting the town to be this big.

Although it was already amazing from afar, being inside the town was a different story.

Riang saw Owen looking fascinated at the scene. She gave out a laugh, "Why do you look like a chicken who keeps turning around? Haven't you seen anything like this before?"

"You act as if appreciation is a bad thing." Owen shot back.

"You can appreciate something without looking silly. Now come on, didn't you say you wanted to find a job? I know someone who's looking for a competent worker." Riang began increasing her pace.

"What kind of job is it? If it's to be a farmer, I'd be more willing to do that than to clean sewers." Owen was already trying to ascertain what his situation would be.

"Oh it's none of those…" Riang didn't elaborate at all.

"Mhm…" Owen wasn't in the mood to ask any more questions than he needed to.

But to be fair, he was still curious what the job was.

He didn't have to wait long for the answer when he saw that Riang was bringing him to a construction site.

A short old man with a white mustache sitting above his mouth was ordering the workers with his loud voice. However, despite this, the workers were doing their jobs quite orderly.

"You there! Keep moving and drop down the stone bricks there! We can't build this without proper foundations, move!" Despite being an old man, he had the authoritative attitude that would be reflected by a military commander.

He was totally oblivious to the red haired girl approaching from behind.

"Old man Fritsen, I have someone willing to work for you for just 5 copper." Riang walked up to the old man and announced with a wide grin.

Fritsen turned around and saw Riang.

"Hrmm." Fritsen faced the two of them and saw that it was someone he recognized. "Oh it's you little girl… and I suppose this man next to you is your ermmm…" He wasn't sure what word to use.

"... Friend? A friend who's trying to find a job?" Fritsen's eyes were carefully scrutinizing Owen up and down.

He frowned the moment he saw that Owen only had one hand.

Under those wrinkles was the untamed spirit of an astute veteran. "Are you sure he's up for this? I'm not the one to discriminate against people like these…"

Owen looked at Riang questioningly. "Is there any other job you could've brought me to?"

"What's with that look? You agreed to take any available job, right? This is what I got." Riang said as if it was a matter of fact.

"Fine…" Owen shifted his attention to Fritsen. "Do you have any tasks for me that you lack people on?"

Fritsen stroked his chin. "There is one… Our building materials are brought here by wagon. However, it is far away from here and the materials are delivered right over to our warehouse."

"There lies the problem. Since the warehouse is far away from here, I asked two of my men to gather as many materials as possible from the warehouse to this place. Of course, I have to maintain the workforce here so that the efficiency stays up."

"Why not just hire people to bring them by horse?" Owen didn't see why they had to do it the harder way.

"The Ichor Construction Guild who I'm working for isn't going to let that happen."

Fritsen sighed as he rubbed his face with a piece of cloth.

He continued explaining.

"Erhmm.. and that's the thing. We have our own horse drawn wagons. It was bad luck that our horses have been struck by disease. And your suggestion of hiring other people with horses to help us is out of the budget."

"I can't just spend more than what's allotted to me. That is why we're left with no choice but to do it this way. If you're willing to help, then that would be wonderful. I'll be generous enough to give you 20 copper as well if you do well." Fritsen gave Owen a gentle nod.

The Ichor Construction Guild is a large superpower that belongs to the Selenkyr Union along with other guilds that is owned by a mysterious businessman named Ichor Selenkyr. Basically, the Selenkyr Union is a massive joint force of guilds all owned by one person.

Fritsen's group is their branch in Wiunlen. Fritsen and his men's efficiency when it comes to building houses slowed down because of the horses getting sick. They couldn't keep up with the construction schedule of houses, bridges, walls and commercial buildings.

Owen was just standing still until a panel appeared in front of him.

It was so abrupt it actually startled him a bit.

*Vhoom...*

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[Level 2 Quest: Transportation Issues]

Objective: Help Fritsen gather all the construction materials as quickly as possible. Preferably under four hours.

Failure Condition: Destruction of materials and taking too long.

Consequence For Failure: N/A

Rewards: +5 EXP, +20 Copper Coins.]

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The experience gain was abysmally low due to the EXP penalty that Owen received. It was originally 12, but that's just how it goes.

Owen didn't expect to see a panel appear right before him. If he had to be honest, he never expected one to appear to begin with.

He was even prepared to throw a punch.

"A warning would be nice." Owen didn't know what to do with the wasted adrenaline in his body, but he accepted the quest nonetheless.

He focused his mind on the panel and it did… nothing.

Nothing?

"Wait what?" Owen tried again, but there wasn't a way to accept the quest.

Riang's lips opened weirdly upon seeing Owen narrow his eyes at nothing. She knocked his arm and quietly told him, "The hell are you doing? Fritsen's waiting for your answer!"

"Ah?" Owen then looked at Fritsen who was also unsure what he was doing earlier.

"I apologize for the pause, I am eager to work right now." Owen didn't feel embarrassed at all.

In his mind, he didn't see why you should be embarrassed in front of an NPC after making a simple mistake.

"Heh, alright then." Fritsen shrugged.

Riang raised her right hand to her shoulder's level as if wanting to ask something.

Noticing this, Fritsen said, "Anything wrong Riang?"

"That's a bit too generous, don't you think so? 20 copper for someone you met for the first time?" Riang's eyes then focused on Owen

"Urmh…" Fritsen scratched his beard like he was in deep thought. "I forgot the word, but all I want to say is that, for someone like you who wouldn't trust anybody easily, if you recommend someone to me, that person must have a lot of capabilities."

He snapped his fingers a second later. "I remember the word now.. you are a cautious person."

"Ahhh, so I have credibility?" Riang showed an expression that meant she understood.

"Exactly." Fritsen nodded.

"Cool." Riang gave a short response.

"Now then…. " Fritsen turned to look at his workers to find anyone who wasn't busy.

His eyes spotted two men who sat on a stack of wood. They were talking to each other and were even laughing at whatever they might be talking about.

"Hmmm.." Fritsen didn't like to see slackers. "Udehr, Cirnt! Come over here and get your lazy bums right this instant or else you're getting your salaries cut!"

Udher, the shirtless one with messy auburn hair reaching his neck with his only clothes being gray and blue colored pants made of a special plant fiber from a strange grass-like plant called Inkhair Weed.

Cirnt wore clothes made of thick wool to warm him up from the cool winds. He also has long hair, so he tied them into five short braids that he again tied together behind his head. It's quite a unique hairstyle.

The two of them hurried over without delay.

"What is it now boss? We just finished our work earlier. We weren't slacking at all.." Cirnt understood that they looked like they were indeed being lazy, so he wanted to defend their innocence.

"Yeah boss, I'm sweating over here.." His shirt was hanging on his neck so Udher wiped his face with it to support what Cirnt had just said.

"Alright, alright. You still have work to do, so don't waste your words on me." Fritsen pointed behind him using his thumb. "This kid is going to help you two get the materials here faster. Bring him to the warehouse and start transporting the materials here."

"Also, take this token so that the guards let you in." Fritsen tossed a silver token to Cirnt.

Cirnt caught the token with ease, looked behind Fritsen and saw Owen.

"This kid?" Cirnt ran his hand into his hair. He was doubtful when he saw that Owen was missing an important part of himself.

No, not that part, I meant his hand.

Owen understood their doubts. "Do not worry about me, it's just pushing wagons. Maybe I can push more wagons than you two if you keep slacking. Who knows?" Owen showed his attitude towards them very clearly.

However, although Owen might have sounded rude, Cirnt interpreted it as a lighthearted remark.

"Is that a challenge?" Cirnt laughed. "Alright, let's get to work then. I want to see if you can truly outclass the one and only."

"Excuse me boss, we'll be on our way." Udher lowered his head to Fritsen as he followed Cirnt to the wagons.

Riang patted Owen's shoulder.

"Alright, I'll be out for now. If you want to find me, ask for a red haired person around here. They'll point you to me." Riang seemed to be more relaxed when it comes to conversing with Owen.

Probably because he was 'from' Silmoun and it gave her a sense of familiarity.

Tiduer and the rest always saw her as an overly serious person who doesn't meddle in other's agendas.

"I can see how confident you are that you're the only red hair in this town." Owen pointed to a lock of hair on her shoulder.

Riang fixed her hair on he shoulder as she replied to Owen. "We are in the Eslahai Kingdom. Everyone's hair here is either black, dirty blonde, or auburn. You and I are the only one's who has a strange hair color."

"Why am I weird? My hair's black." Owen knew that he looked at a mirror quite recently, so in his mind, he should've blended in with the people of Eslahai.

"Yeah, but no one here has hair that shiny. If you were a girl, many lower nobles would find you attractive… Sadly, it's wasted on a guy like you." Riang smirked.

Owen raised an eyebrow. "There's a thing like that? Then surely women would find me good looking then."

With a shake of her head, Riang denied. "It's actually the opposite. Here in Eslahai, women don't find men with feminine features attractive."

"So it's just the hair? I can work with that." Owen shrugged.

He then turned to look at Cirnt and Udher who was quite far away now.

"I'll be going now. Do whatever it is that you were about to do." Owen ran to catch up with them.

Riang watched Owen's departing figure for a moment before leaving.

"What should I have for dinner…?" Riang began to count her savings in her mind. She resisted the temptation to buy something for her enjoyment.

Meanwhile…

Udehr and Cirnt was having a thoughtful discussion as they pushed the empty wagons to the warehouse.

"No? A dragon has enough space for a structure on its back. If you want to make the most out of a dragon, you should mount a carriage of some sort on its back filled with archers who can use soul energy. And of course, position some knights who can use soul energy in there as well if it ever gets invaded." Cirnt felt that his idea was almost foolproof.

"We're talking about increasing the attack power of a dragon. People who are actively helping the dragon literally goes against that concept. I'm feeling that to make a dragon more powerful, equip it with magical armor and train it to use the glyphs and runes on the armor so that it will become almost unbeatable when it comes to defense and attacks." Udehr made sure to look at Cirnt while he made hands gestures to make his argument more convincing.

Cirnt shook Udehr's hands off his face. "But that's expensive. My plan is the most cost effective and it's the most viable one for war. Yours is just too hard to achieve."

"But it works doesn't it? We're not talking about the costs but the sheer firepower." Udehr rubbed the palm of his left hand using the thumb of his right hand.

As they talked about how to make a dragon stronger, Cirnt heard footsteps from behind.

He saw Owen and was pleasantly surprised.

"Hey, you finally caught up."