Dexter spent the morning in his usual routine—exercise and sword drills.
Surprisingly, he noticed that his SP gauge had risen from 300 to 301…
This defied the game mechanics he knew.
'If training can increase my SP by one point, then using MP continuously might also raise it… But how can I increase my HP? By almost dying every time? Not worth the risk…'
After wiping his sweat, he walked toward Stella, who was struggling to make their breakfast.
"Hey, 'Princess,' we need to talk. Seriously…" he said.
Stella looked up, her eyes filled with confusion.
"What do you want to talk about?"
Dexter sat beside her, helping her cook the fish.
"We need to define our roles in this party. Since you'll be living with me—or rather, staying—you'll be the healer, and I'll handle both tanking and fighting."
"But I don't know how to heal! Only the Saints in our kingdom can wield holy power… I'm just a normal girl who happens to have the title of princess," Stella pouted.
"No worries. All the skills come from the item. You don't need 'holy' anything—if you have mana, you can cast any spell as long as you're wearing the right gear."
"Really?" Stella's eyes lit up with hope. "Then… can I become an Archmagus like you?"
"Hmm… nope. You'll be my Saint. Grab your staff—I'll teach you."
Stella took the staff from her bag and showed it to Dexter.
"Okay, now… you know how to craft, right? Just focus your mana into the staff, and then…" Dexter deliberately nicked his arm with his sword, showing her the bleeding wound.
"Cast a heal on this."
Stella awkwardly gripped her staff, slowly channeling her mana into it. Then, she pointed it at Dexter's wound.
Dexter watched as the staff's tip began to glow—white at first, then shifting to yellow, and finally turning red.
"H-hey… Stella! STOP!"
But it was too late.
"Heal!"
A small fireball shot out of the staff, forcing Dexter to frantically dodge. He tumbled to the ground, narrowly avoiding disaster.
'If I hadn't noticed the staff's color change, my arm would've been steak for breakfast!'
'Fuck! I was the one teaching her, yet I forgot that I crafted a Fire Staff for her…'
In the game, there were different kinds of staves—Holy Staff, Fire Staff, Ice Staff, and many more. Each elemental affinity required a specific staff, and all weapons had unique types. Equipping a particular weapon while defeating mobs or players granted experience to level up that specific gear. The same applied to armor and clothing. This system encouraged players to experiment with various equipment combinations.
"I-I'm sorry, Dex! Are you okay?" Stella rushed to his side, offering a hand to help him up.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry… it was my fault, actually. No need to blame yourself." Dexter sighed.
"Hmm, give me the staff. I'll modify it into something better."
Stella reluctantly handed over the staff, then sat on the log beside the campfire and resumed cooking the fish.
…
After breakfast, Dexter went straight to the hut to meet Gridlock.
"Old man! We can start salvaging now…"
Gridlock taught him how to salvage equipment—dismantling and reassembling it. Though some materials couldn't be restored due to complexity, Gridlock simply replaced them with alternatives, returning the dismantled equipment to its original state.
Dexter mimicked the process but ended up breaking more than restoring.
The training took a week before Dexter could recover even 60% of the materials used. Only then did he proceed to craft the Tier II Masterpiece that Gridlock had requested.
He prioritized making a Masterpiece Holy Staff and a big booby robe for Stella. Dexter also taught her to control mana the way he did when crafting.
Knowing the basics is the most essential—it's the foundation of everything.
Stella could now travel back and forth in the small village to buy food. Though she couldn't fight the bandits blocking the way, she bribed them with a small sum of coins or fresh fish to gain passage—while wearing a large black robe to hide her face and curvaceous figure.
Dexter was awestruck by her brilliant idea. Who knew bandits could be bribed with fish?
...
"You fool! Just because you learned how to salvage equipment doesn't mean you should waste materials. Remember what I told you—treat every piece as if it's your last. That's why you're not improving even slightly. I thought you wanted to be stronger? How can you become strong with a mindset like that?" Gridlock lectured Dexter who was having a hard time hammering a weapon.
Dexter sighed.
"Old man… Do you think it was easy for me to craft a masterpiece? I've already been thinking about that—there was no need to remind me. See those weapons over there? They're all masterpieces! I just want my craft to be perfect every time I make something. There's never been any RNG here, so it's possible."
"Even though you always blame that 'RNGoddess' and yell when you fail?" Gridlock smirked.
"Just wait, old man. Give me another month!" Dexter said, hammering away.
It took Dexter a month to craft Tier II Masterpiece weapons and another to forge Tier II armor.
He stockpiled all the Masterpiece equipment and donned his favorite gear: a dual sword that enhanced his jump slash, a leather jacket with the ability to steal life from nearby enemies, leather shoes that could turn him invisible for a second, and a hood that reset his cooldowns.
Then, he handed over the extra equipment and showed it to Gridlock.
[Newbie Guide (Unique): Learn from The Forgotten #3 [✓]]
[Newbie Guide (Unique): Learn from The Forgotten #4 [_]]
[Learn and make Gridlock acknowledge your combat abilities.]
[Reward: Unknown]
'At last… After almost three months of non-stop crafting, I've finally completed the Non-RNGoddess quest!'
'/status.'
[Name: FlyHighLikeAButterfly]
[Title: Apprentice of Gridlock the Forgotten]
[HP: 300]
[MP: 520]
[SP: 435]
'/Destiny.'
[Crafting Mastery: Level 2 (Can craft Tier III equipment and below)]
[Refining Mastery: Level 2 (Can refine Tier III materials – TIII 1 Raw + TII 2 Refined = TIII Refined)]
[Weapon and Armor Mastery: Level 2 (All Equipment) – Can now wear Tier III equipment.]
[Lifeskills: Level 2 (All Tools) – Can now gather Tier III raw materials using Tier II tools.]
"If not for the Tutorial limit, I'd probably be Level 10 by now with all the effort I've put in. That's when I could finally level up my specializations. But with hundreds of weapons to master, I doubt even ten years wouldn't be enough to max everything out, unless..." an evil smile crept across Dexter's face.
"Old man! When can I start training with you?!" Dexter asked excitedly.
"Take a week's rest, kid. Enjoy your freedom before you step into hell with me," Gridlock smirked.
"You don't mean the Abyss Realm, right?"
"Do you really think I'd let you fight demons with those skills of yours?" Gridlock laughed. "No, you'll be fighting me—and I'm worse than any demon."
"So prepare yourself. I'd hate for you to die by my hands."