Seeds of Discordia

As hard as he could, Roman yanked his hand free, grabbed his wrist, and stared at it. The sudden noise caused everyone to stop what they were doing and rush over. They asked out what had happened and were concerned. Blair, Avery, and Artem scanned the area in case there were any threats.

As Uncle Naro approached them he asked, “What happened?”

Roman clicked his tongue as he grimaced at his hand that he shook a few times to get feeling back into it. “After I made my Lightning Hand I had a cool thought that maybe I could use it as a gauntlet…”

Before Roman could add more to it, Uncle Naro let out a long sigh as he brought a hand to his forehead and shook his head. He then responded, “I was hoping there wouldn’t be a case, but it seems that there’s always one in a group.”

Curious, Liam asked, “Always one of what in a group?”

“Someone who tries to reach for more than they should,” Uncle Naro replied.

Everyone stopped and looked at Liam at those words.

Feeling their stares on him, he embarrassingly asked, “What? I’m getting better.”

Uncle Naro raised a brow as he looked at him. He then let out a laugh as he said, “That’s right. This group has more than one.”

“Hey!” Liam protested but was stopped as Uncle Naro waved a hand.

“Don’t think too much about it. It’s in your nature to try and reach for more than you should,” Uncle Naro said. “As a Crafter you will always have a sudden urge to try and push for more. Especially when you’re hyper focused.”

Liam grumbled at that.

“Anyways, how’s your hand?” Uncle Naro asked as he looked back at Roman.

“A little numb, but I’m slowly getting some feeling back into it,” Roman replied.

Uncle Naro nodded his head. He then looked at everyone and announced, “I must say that I am surprised with everyone’s progress today. While it is rare to make Hand Types so soon, let alone two, I am especially impressed with the Gravity Sphere Blair made as well as Artem being able to make an Aqua Sphere and a Healing Sphere.”

Everyone looked to Artem and Blair. A mix of cheers and shoulder or backs pats were given to both party members.

“I plan on making a small feast to celebrate each of you creating something that will help you down the line,” Uncle Naro stated. “Although I need to make adjustments to some of your training, I think you all are coming along wonderfully. Go ahead and train one of your lowest sub-stats, Weapon Skills, Fields of study, or Focus Points for now. I will help guide and give tips in things I have knowledge in to help you if you need. In a couple of hours I will start making dinner.”

Everyone nodded, acknowledging the instructions.

Uncle Naro looked at Liam and said, “Go ahead and practice with the three tool weapons you were working on yesterday. I am hoping you get them to level ten before we leave this place.”

“Understood,” Liam said as he started to walk away.

“Ah, before you go though. I have one more thing to add,” Uncle Naro said.

Liam turned around and saw Uncle Naro pull out a pile of old armor and weapons.

“Separate these into two piles,” Uncle Naro started to instruct. “The piles don’t need to be organize. One pile you will be practicing to repair while the other will be used in conjunction with your Weapon Skill Hammer training.”

Liam raised a brow at that last bit.

“I want you to use Spot Frailty to help level it up and after spotting the fail spots strike those spots,” Uncle Naro stated. “If you’re lucky, you’ll get something good from doing it. If not…then we’ll try something else.”

“Something good from doing that?” Liam repeated quietly as he thought about it. he couldn’t figure out what it was he was hoping he would get, but that didn’t stop the feeling of excitement growing inside him. He nodded and said, “Alright. I’ll get right to it.”

For the next hour Liam stared at each piece of armor or weapon he had chosen to be his Hammer Weapon Skill practice. He wasn’t sure if it was because of how poor the condition of each piece was in, but it was easy for him to spot the frail spots. After spotting each weakened section he would grip his hammer and strike the spot.

His Spot Frailty ability, a Blacksmithing ability, was at level five when he started. After a while he was able to get it to level ten. As soon as it reached level ten the ability had changed a bit. Instead of just showing the frail spots, the spots had started to show colors. Green, yellow, and red.

After running some experiments with this new development he was able to determine what the colors represented. The colors represented the level of frailty. Green meant the frailty was just starting to show. After striking those spots a few times he watched them turn to yellow. Yellow represented the frailty wasn’t as fresh but not in danger of being destroyed so easily. Red, however, meant it was barely hanging on and ready to break at any moment.

His practice after experimenting with the different colors that appeared earned him another level in the ability. He also leveled his Hammer Weapon Skill to seven thanks to that. However, after reaching the end of the pile he had deemed his Weapon Skill practice pile he never received what Uncle Naro was hoping he would get.

Instead of lamenting on it he switched focus and practiced the other two tool weapons. He raised his Axe Weapon skill from level two to five and his Cleaver from five to seven. He didn’t receive anything from raising their levels, but he felt like he was close to one. He felt something strange when practicing with his Axe, but when it was time to stop that strange feeling went away.

He had informed Uncle Naro of what he discovered with his new development on his Spot Frailty, and he informed him that it was an ability that helps when repairing, but it was also great to use in a fight against an armored opponent. If he continued to practice it, it would also expand from equipment to creatures with hard skin and carapaces. Hearing that excited Liam.

After dinner that night, Uncle Naro had him work on repairing the old and broken armor and weapons. It was a slow and tedious process, but thanks to some tips and tricks from Uncle Naro, he was starting to get a better feel for it and understanding. Thanks to the amount he worked on, he was able to level the Repair Section in his Blacksmithing to level fifteen. That opened the Categories on what he could repair and the level it had in it. Both Weapons (Iron) and Armor (Iron) were at level fifteen. Bone Weapons appeared in the Category section, but it was at level zero, probably because he had never repaired one before.

After everyone went to bed he decided to do some reading. He read more in the book Vesely had given him and practiced his Shadow Manipulation until it reached level seven. After that he decided it was time to go back to the basic books he had on him to see if there was anything he had missed back in the Tutorial Area.

He came across the copies Extract to Distill, My Potion be Still and Toxicology when visiting the market to gather some supplies. He was surprised to find that he was able to understand certain sections easier this time round. Thanks to that his Knowledge theory in both raised a couple of levels. After that he decided to read the Medicinal Creations for Beginners Knowledge Theory he had bought back at the Cat’s Paw-ldron. After reading it for a while he was able to raise his Knowledge Theory on the subject a couple as well.

The next day, Uncle Naro had surprised them by insisting that they went to the Mage Tower that was in town and open up a couple new Fields of study or Focus Points. They weren’t sure if it was a good idea and debated on voicing that.

Liam had no issues asking about it. “Wouldn’t adding more right now just hinder or hurt us?”

“If you just added random nonsense then yes,” Uncle Naro stated. “However, I’m not asking you to do that. After thinking over the ideas of what you would like to do I have carefully thought about the best possible Fields of Studies and Focus Points that could help you. For example,” Uncle Naro pointed at Artem. “You wish to grow more with your Healing Magic. I believe opening the Field of Barriers will help especially since your starting class is Defender. By adding Barrier Magic you will be able to shield yourself and your comrades as well as set up a small safe zone to heal any injuries during a fight.”

Artem thought about what he said. He nodded his head as he liked the idea.

Uncle Naro then pointed at Roman and said, “I know you said you want to blend your Unarmed Combat with Elemental Magic; you only have a couple unlocked. I think it would be best if you unlocked the other Elemental Focus Points including Gravity. While that one won’t be your strong suit it will still be wise for you to have it.”

Roman nodded his head agreeing with the idea.

Uncle Naro then looked at Liam and said, “You should as well.” Liam opened his mouth to disagree, but was stopped as Uncle Naro continued, “You don’t need to level the Focus Points themselves if you don’t want to. You just need them so you can work on getting their Mana Types Mastered. As a Crafter it will be essential for you to have them.”

“But won’t having them unlocked affect my growth?” Liam asked.

“Not if you don’t focus on them entirely,” Uncle Naro stated. “Like I said, you don’t need to focus on leveling them. As long as you don’t get them to level ten it won’t be an issue.”

“Why is that?” Mercer asked.

“You all know about your Mystical Landscape and the roots growing right?” Uncle Naro asked.

Everyone nodded their heads.

“Well, those roots are what create your foundations for your future growth. When they first appear they are weak,” Uncle Naro explained. “As you level them those roots will strengthen and grow. At level ten they are considered to be strong enough to be added to your foundation and are rooted into your future growth. So long as you do not reach level ten they will have no hold on that.”

“But then why have them if you do not plan to root them into your growth?” Roman asked, still not sure why Liam should do this.

“While it would be something no one else would do, Crafters need it in order to get the Mana Types so they can channel or manipulate the Mana Types during crafting sessions,” Uncle Naro replied.

“Then should he unlock other ones besides the Elemental Focus Points?” Mercer asked.

“No,” Uncle Naro said. “While I said unlocking the Elemental Focus Points would help him, anything else he doesn’t plan on adding to his future growth would just clutter his roots. And the reason for that is, other Mana Types are considered more Focused Specialties. Elemental Mana Types are common and common Mana Types are always useful as Focused Specialty Mana Types are only needed for select people or creations. He will learn how to siphon Mana Types from others when needed later on, but for now it will be best if he focused on the common elemental ones.”

Liam’s eyes brightened at the mention of him being able to siphon Mana Types from others. That sound both extremely useful and fun to do. Sure he would have to wait to be able to do it, but now he had something to look forward to.

Mercer wrote down the information and said afterwards, “It sounds like the Crafter class is more complex than they led us to believe back in the Tutorial Area.”

“That’s because those who don’t know the true value a Crafter has will only look down on it,” Uncle Naro smiled. “Alright, now let me tell you what all you need so you can get that done and get back here. We only have until tomorrow to get as much practice in as you can. On the ship you’ll be limited to what you can practice.”

Everyone nodded and left to do as he instructed.

Liam unlocked the other Field of the Elements Focus Points and stared at them. While Uncle Naro had explained why he should get them and insisted he would be alright, he still had mixed feelings about it. Those mixed feelings were pushed to the side when Artem went up to unlock the Field of Barriers.

Liam noticed his hesitation when he was up there. He looked at Mercer who caught it as well. When they locked eyes, Mercer leaned in and whispered, “He mentioned to me about a certain Field of study he had read about but wasn’t sure if he should get it. Both he and Avery had found it and thought about getting it, but he’s hesitant on it because he’s not entirely sure if it will help or hinder him.”

“Did he seek advice from Uncle Naro about it?” Liam asked.

Mercer shook his head. “He said he wanted to think about it himself and didn’t want his decision to be based on what someone else thought.”

While Liam could understand that, he also thought it was a waste to not seek advice. Uncle Naro was a veteran when it came to things like this. However, he understood that Artem might not have wanted to seek advice from the man mainly because their classes were entirely different.

After standing there looking unsure, Liam noticed a sudden change in Artem’s facial expression. At first they had widened a bit then hardened then he looked relieved. Liam thought about why his face had gone through those changes but then realized he was talking to Eri. She would have some advice and know what to say to him that wouldn’t make him think someone was planning his path for him. She must have given him the pros and cons of the specific Field of Study and let him decide on it.

After a few seconds he turned away and looked resolved.

“All good?” Liam asked.

Artem gave him a smile as he responded, “All good.” He then looked at Avery and Mercer and said, “I went through with it.” Both of them nodded and gave him a warm smile.

“Went through with what?” Roman questioned as Avery went up to unlock her choices.

“I’ll explain later,” Artem replied.

After they were all done, they quickly made their way back to Uncle Naro. Blair had unlocked the Field of the Berserker, Roman unlocked the rest of the elemental Focus Points as well as Field of Reinforcement, Mercer unlocked the Field of Senses, Gimmel the Field of the Bard as well as Field of Senses, and Ariyana unlocked Field of the Dancer.

Ariyana was confused by that since she thought it was a battle style and not an actual Field of Study. It turns out that like Magical Field of Studies there were Field of Studies focused more on physical things. The Field of the Dancer was one such example.

As for Avery, she unlocked Field of the Senses, and the surprise Field Artem did as well. To her’s and everyone’s, minus Gimmel, surprise though, her Field of the Senses was completely different than Ariyana’s and Mercer’s. Gimmel had explained that for Fields of Studies did that. While one person would be granted certain Focus Points others would be given different ones. For many they would get the basics if it was something they unlocked at the beginning of their journey. It was a sign that the Field of Study didn’t have a path carved out for them yet. For those that received different Focus Points than the others it was a sign the Field of Study was a right choice and was already working to help strengthen a foundation for their path.

After getting back to Uncle Naro he had them tell him everything they had received to see if everything went without any issues. When Avery told him about the different Focus Point choices she had received he looked like he had already planned for it to happen and was happy with the outcome.

His only surprise was when Artem revealed what other Field of Study he had chosen. It was called Field of Forces.