Unforged

Chapter 11: Smart Loot

Tristan

There were only slivers of unpoisoned stones left when what little remained of the tiny oozes released their last gaseous burps.

You have slain [The Splitting Ooze, level 4]

{{Boss of the Acrid Crypts}}

Minimum experience gained due to no combat Class.

[Quest complete: Baby’s First Dungeon]

You have gained the Fledgling Dungeon Delver Achievement!

You have gained the title: {Fledgling Dungeon Delver}.

Next stage of Achievement revealed:

Novice Dungeon Delver!

Requirements: Complete three different dungeon Quests.

Tristan grinned from ear to ear, especially as he examined the new title he’d earned:

{Fledgling Dungeon Delver} Gives +1 to your highest stat

And it worked, even without having to equip the title! His Strength had already increased to 16. He smiled as he looked at the growth his full Status displayed, and he found that he could even tweak the output to show how many stats he gained from bonuses!

Tristan Hammerson

Human

L3

Blacksmith

Stats:

STR 16 (+1)

AGI 8

END 14

INT 6

WIS 8

WIL 10

Core: [Self-Forged] Items you craft replace a portion of the required materials with soul and become Soulbound. You may only use Soulbound items.

Titles: {Awakened}, {Fledgling Dungeon Delver}, {Soulscarred}

Skills: [Craft Tool], [Gather Ore], [Repair Item], [Work Metal]

The new addition rested near the bottom of his Status, just below his Core. But he wasn’t going to equip it. It was like the Awakened title he’d earned upon hitting level 1: it felt too small for him. And the third Title... did not feel right. As far as Tristan knew, his father had never equipped a title. Tristan would hold out for something a bit more impressive.

Tristan was pulled from his reverie by the familiar dinging sound, as both Chessa and Opie were greeted by the golden glow of a level-up.

“Congrats on level 4!” he said.

“Thanks,” Chessa beamed.

Opie added, “I’ll never be tired of the dings.”

Tristan grinned at him. “As hard as you worked in the boss fight, you should be tired.”

“It would have been way easier if we hadn’t talked so much at the start. Maybe then my ritual wouldn’t have run out before the end!”

Tristan rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah, and it also would have been better if I positioned the boss closer to the walls before the split. But... we won anyway. Honestly, the challenge was kind of exhilarating.”

Looking around, all the poisonous gasses and puddles had started evaporating moments after the final ooze was squished. Now the room showed no signs of acid or poison at all--it hadn’t even eroded the ground permanently. Tristan breathed a sigh of relief, relishing the sweet scent of stench-free air. His whole body felt numb, but that didn’t matter.

In the middle of the massive domed room, a truly gigantic golden chest had appeared.

Tristan’s eyes widened. “We got a golden chest!”

Without warning, Opie fell straight backward. His boots thumped loudly as they struck the ground.

Chessa rolled her eyes, ignoring her boyfriend, before replying to Tristan. “We did get a really tough dungeon variant.”

Tristan, honestly, was a bit confused by her blatant apathy. He didn’t understand what had happened. “I’m sorry, what? I thought he fully healed on level up?”

“He did heal,” Chessa said dryly. “We both did. Look at the party display.” Chessa walked over to the downed healer and kicked him less-than-gently. “He’s just Opie-ing. Anyway, can we open the super-rare chest now?”

Tristan was now even more confused. The party display clearly showed, just as Chessa said, that Opie had leveled up and fully replenished his health and mana. So he had no clue what was wrong with the healer.

A few seconds later, Opie groaned as he sat upright, his eyes fluttering open. “So, we got a big, awesome box?”

Chessa sighed. “Of course we did, you idiot. You know that variant dungeons always upgrade the chest at the end. Should be even more impressive with the Smart Loot reward from the quest tacked on.”

Opie mock-gasped. “But I can’t open it from all the way down here! Tristan, could you lift me up...?”

“Wait, what? Oh.” It took a moment for the realization to dawn on Tristan that his friend had been playing all along. He shook his head and laughed. “Sure, I guess.”

“It’s only fair, as I’ve been carrying you guys ALL FREAKING DAY!”

Chessa kissed him on the forehead before lightly pushing him backward into the dirt. “I love and hate you so much sometimes.”

“You never hate me!” Opie cried indignantly, righting himself again and reaching out to Tristan.

Tristan made a big show of helping his friend up. “Was that all just for show?”

Opie hopped to his feet. “I think I was so shocked that you survived the boss battle that I fainted.”

“Of course you did,” Chessa dismissed. “Let’s go open our reward.”

The chest was three times as wide as Tristan and half as tall, and all of it was impressive. As a blacksmith, Tristan couldn’t help but marvel at how an object made of pure, glittering gold was neither soft nor weak. The lid was cool and sleek. The patterns and lines were impeccably worked into the metal, highlighting and enhancing the beauty of the material. The metal held to curves that any normal smith would have had to reinforce with bands, but somehow this made do without the added strength. If someone had told Tristan this was made by his father--or someone equally skilled--he wouldn’t have doubted it.

Tristan knew their dungeon quest had promised Smart Loot as its reward. That meant the contents of the final chest had been perfectly tailored to their Paths. Everyone finishing the quest would get something usable. The items wouldn’t necessarily be upgrades, but for a beginning party with basic gear like them, it was practically a guarantee.

As soon as the lid lifted, music began to play from seemingly nowhere. A trumpeted fanfare that lifted the spirits in congratulatory celebration.

Tristan couldn’t help but smile. “I guess we did well.”

“Or golden chests always play music,” Chessa countered.

“You didn’t get one last time?”

Opie sighed. “Nope. We had a mage with us who was the sister of the group leader, and she hadn’t prepared properly at all. She was only level 1, so maybe it was forgivable. She was freshly Awakened. It should have been fine because her brother was level 5 and could have carried her on his own.

“Well, she didn’t know how to ration anything. Mana, time, supplies. Poof! She’d brought a fistful of potions, but they were gone before we even got to the miniboss. And why? Because all she did was chain-cast her best spell,” Opie spat sarcastically. “Even if it wrung her dry! At one point, she didn’t move out of a telegraphed explosion and had to be evacuated from the freaking dungeon! That would have been fine, but we didn’t know the leader was going to just let her re-enter until suddenly our quest voided at the damn boss’s door.”

Chessa scoffed loudly. “He means ‘grayed out.’ He’s just trying to make ‘voided’ a thing. Anyways, as a result, neither of us got loot we could use. Just something to sell, and enough coins to restock our potions. Never trust a high-level to carry you if you don't know them.”

Tristan agreed. “That sounds awful. At least this time you’ll get the good loot.”

“So, less talky, more looty?” Opie grinned.

“Yeah, sure,” Tristan said with a laugh. Looking into the now-opened chest, he wasn’t exactly sure what all the items were. But one was a brown leather quiver, which he immediately handed to Chessa.

The moment she touched it, a huge smile lit her face. “This is exactly what I needed!” She squinted her eyes, focusing a moment, and an arrow popped into existence within it. Then she literally cheered. “I’ll never run out of arrows again!”

“Well, until you run out of mana,” Opie said, nudging her lightly with his arm. Funnily enough, the arrow within the quiver didn’t even move.

Opie looked at the arrow with interest, taking the quiver from her and fully inverting it. The arrow did not fall out.

“Well that’s pretty useful,” he said.

Chessa shrugged. “It’s common for magic quivers to lock in arrows, both conjured and crafted. But yeah, super useful. And the conjured ones aren’t really that expensive on mana.” With a brief squint of her eyes, four more arrows popped into existence. “I could probably fill this whole thing twice over with just the mana I had left after that fight.”

Tristan was genuinely happy for his friend. The quiver was an incredible starting item--something every archer worth their bow would try to acquire before hitting tier 2. It begged the question of which item to take out next: One seemed to be a gray cloth-looking bag, the other a parchment scroll of some sort.

He lifted the scroll and unfurled it slightly to examine it. Yet as soon as he laid eyes on the writing, the text instantly faded and was replaced with massive red words:

Not eligible for quest.

He held out the scroll to Opie. “I think this is for you.”

Opie’s eyebrows pinched together. “My smart loot is a quest? Great, something else I have to do.” Then he touched the parchment, which began to glow faintly purple, and his face completely changed. In a whisper that quickly boiled into a shout, he said: “It’s freaking epic?!”

“What is?” Chessa asked, hurrying to read over his shoulder.

“A staff. An epic staff! All I have to do is collect the materials listed here and perform a... rather intense ritual. I just need someone able to craft it," he looked toward Tristan. “Would you...?”

Tristan held up both hands. “I’d love to, man, but I can’t.”

“What do you mean? It looks like the ritual will do most of the work. You just need to be the ‘conduit,’ it says. ‘The will to work the iron.’” He pointed at the page. “The central part of the staff will be iron, so that’s right up your alley, right?”

Tristan still hesitated. “It’s not that. I’m not like the other crafters. They--”

“--They aren’t my friends and would no doubt charge me despite the awesome experience this ritual will definitely yield. I was already gonna ask if you could make me a better staff anyways.” He shot Tristan a look. “Not that Chessa complains, mind you, but without any nature spells, I don’t really get the full benefits from this one.” He tapped his old walking stick on the ground. “So, you in?”

Tristan wished he could consider it more. Of course he would help his friend--if he could. It would most likely also provide valuable insights into crafting, and tons of experience by producing an epic quality item. “I can’t, Opie--literally can’t--or you won’t be able to use your staff.”

“What does that even mean?” Opie asked, throwing his hands wide.

Tristan lowered his eyes. He didn’t like disappointing his friend. “It’s my Core. I... Anything I make gets bound to me. No one else can use it.”

“But that’s insane,” Opie said. “What about those arrowheads, and Chessa’s blades?”

“Repairs are different,” Tristan said, “up to a point, at least. Once I’ve improved it any, it gains a little bit of me and becomes Soulbound. It happens to everything I craft. Here.” He held up the [Repaired Rusted Sword]. “See for yourself.”

Opie came closer, but Chessa stayed back, asking, “You know we don’t get [Identify] until level 10, right?”

“The heck does ‘Soulbound’ mean?” Opie asked, proving it didn’t matter.

Tristan sighed as Chessa now drew nearer. “That’s insane,” she said. “It’s so... limiting. For a blacksmith to not be able to sell or trade away his products is--"

“Yeah, that part sucks,” Tristan cut her off, “but I think it’s worth it.”

Opie’s eyes went back to the scroll. “Sucks for both of us, man. Damn. It’s not like I’ll be ready anytime soon anyways. Some of these materials are rare... It’ll definitely take time to collect them all. Though maybe if we ask Aaric--"

“Absolutely not,” Chessa cut him off.

“But he’s--"

“No,” Chessa continued to stop each of his rebuttals. “Don’t even. Not happening. Never. Not after all the times he’s bullied us and Tristan.”

“Fine,” Opie conceded. “But you’re helping me farm the materials.”

“You know I will,” she said.

This time it was Opie’s turn to roll his eyes as Tristan nodded happily. He had no fondness for Aaric either.

“Alright then, it’s settled. What’s the final item?” Opie quickly changed the subject.

Tristan turned back to the chest and saw the small gray bag resting against the golden interior. It was about the width of his foot, so when he tried to lift it, he was genuinely surprised.

“It’s really heavy,” he said. Not for the first time he was thankful for a blacksmith’s massively increased Strength. It was definitely the heaviest thing he’d ever held. He opened it, and suddenly everything made sense.

“Oh gods,” he breathed.

Inside were crafting materials. And not just a few, either. Somehow the small bag contained a space easily nine times too big. Everything in it was sorted by type, from chunks of ore, to the few bars and billets, and most impressively, three ingots of some precious-looking metal that even he couldn’t immediately place. There was so much, he’d need some time to sit down and inventory all of it.

“It’s magical storage!” he said, holding the bag open for the others to see.

As they all looked on in awe, Tristan got another surprise. A small letterbox appeared by the bag.

[Crafting Materials Bag (rare)(growth)]: Soulbound

He blinked in bewilderment. How is this already Soulbound? I thought it only applied to things I crafted. I mean I guess boss loot works too... Maybe because it was Smart Loot? He shook his head. Rather than think about that, he’d just appreciate how lucky he’d gotten. A growth item at level 3 was nearly unprecedented. It would grow alongside him and be usable as long as he kept it in good repair.

Chessa was more practical, yet no less excited. She was already unloading the old, rusted weapons from her loot bag. “Does that mean you can take all of this?”

He had to dismantle them first, as he quickly found that only crafting materials would go into the bag, but Tristan gladly took it all. No matter how many of the weapon’s materials were added to the bag, it never got any bigger or, more surprisingly, any heavier. Best of all, everything was instantly sorted by material and type.

“All of us really are coming out of this with something amazing.” He looked at Opie. “Guess I didn’t jinx us after all.”

Opie narrowed his eyes again. “Maaaybe. But all I got was another quest, which is going to be pretty damn expensive...” He gasped. “And! I still didn’t get any freaking mana potions! Unless one of you guys knows a rogue who can steal the Longblooms’ bank account, I’m gonna be broke as a joke!”

Tristan could only smile at his friend playing the victim. It had been a good, albeit hard, day’s work. One even his father could respect, given how much growth he’d shown.

I bet I’ve gotten enough materials to push me all the way to the next tier! Just need some consolidated time in the forge... and maybe some lessons at the training grounds, he admitted to himself. He walked back to the room’s entrance to pick up his discarded shield. He’d definitely preferred the feel of the sword in his hand to a dagger. Now he just had to learn how to use it.