HC: Pacifist | Ch. 169 - Galatheel’s Frustration (Patreon)

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Flag Bearer (Rare)

Skill description: Your banner represents something greater than yourself. It has become a symbol of prosperity and peace and unites all those bound by a treaty mediated by you.

Skill Effects:

Passive. Allows you to unlock a flag's hidden properties. The deeper the relationship with the factions represented by the flag, the stronger the effects.

Stamp (Epic)

Skill description: Your flag has become a symbol that carries great strength.

Skill effects:

Passive. Flag Bearer and Peace Treaty are now linked;

Active. You can now stamp documents with your flag’s pole;

Those who make an agreement with you gain access to part of your flag’s power;

To obtain the flag’s blessing, factions must swear not to harm those in a treaty with you.

Pax’s Stamp Current Effects:

In exchange for not harming [Alligators], [Snakes], [Ratans], [Badgers], [Boars], [Corvids], [Dwarves], [Foxes], [Merchants], [Treeants], you grant others:

+6 strength;

+7 subterfuge;

+11 dexterity;

+4 intelligence;

+9 wisdom;

+6 charisma;

+5 kg carry capacity;

+5% running speed;

You can use [Ratan Stride]; [Ratan Dash].

Your charisma limits the number of those who can gain your blessing. Current number: 12

This was a completely broken skill. Even though he could only pass half the stats he gained from other factions, and there was a limit based on his charisma, this could break the game. Right now, the number of people he could give this blessing to was twelve, but the more charisma he got, the more this number would increase. If he activated [Fox Form] and signed agreements during that time, the number could go up to 70 in no time.

Roth placed the scroll on the ground. This was it. Depending on whether this worked, he could bait the guilds into saving him. He lifted the pole and smashed it on the contract. The flag shone, and the form of a little mouse appeared in the corner of the paper. The letters in the agreement started rearranging themselves, and Roth read the new line that had appeared in the agreement.

[Write here the players that receive the blessing of Pax’s treaties].

Roth wrote Sarg’s name, and they both signed it. Roth gulped and watched as Sarg checked his notifications. He smirked and gave him a thumbs up.

“I’ve received a notification saying I can not harm these factions and received all the stats and skills. The guilds will go wild.”

“Does this mean it works?” asked Roth.

“It works!” Sarg shouted in triumph!

“It works! It works!” echoed Roth as he started dancing alone in the auction house. After a few bold moves, he found that Sarg had stopped celebrating and just stared at him wide-eyed.

“Uuh… Sorry. I got excited.”

“Those were some… unforgettable dance moves, son.”

“Well, thank you!”

“Cool. If it works, all we have to do is to add this segment to the agreement that H has prepared.” The sergeant waved his hand, selected the text he wanted, and dragged it to the scroll. Letters unfurled in the scroll with the adjustments.

“See how it looks now.”

7. Bonuses in Stats and Skills

The Union Collective acknowledges the exceptional dedication and contributions of its members. In recognition of their outstanding commitment to the Union Collective, a limited number of members may be eligible for bonuses in stats and skills. Eligibility for these bonuses will be determined based on the following criteria:

• The number of quests completed.
• Donation of rare materials to the Union Collective.
• Contribution of flags, or guild items to the Union Collective.
• Sharing of precious information.
• Referrals of new players who join the Union Collective.

The value of these stat bonuses and the number of individuals who may receive such blessings are subject to change in the future, based on the discretion of the Union Collective.

8. Non-Aggression Pact with Sponsoring Factions

In order to receive the aforementioned bonuses, players must enter into a non-aggression pact with the following factions that sponsor the Union Collective: [Alligators], [Snakes], [Ratans], [Badgers], [Boars], [Corvids], [Dwarves], [Foxes], [Merchants], and [Treeants]. By doing so, players pledge not to harm or engage in hostilities with these factions.

In return for adhering to this non-aggression pact, players shall receive the following stat bonuses:

• +6 Strength
• +7 Subterfuge
• +11 Dexterity
• +4 Intelligence
• +9 Wisdom
• +6 Charisma
• +5 kilograms (kg) carry weight
• +5% running speed

Furthermore, players who have entered into a non-aggression pact with the aforementioned factions shall have the privilege of utilizing the following skills:

• [Ratan Stride]
• [Ratan Dash]

These stat bonuses and skills are valuable benefits in appreciation of the cooperative relationship between the Union Collective and its sponsoring factions. Those who harm the factions protected under the terms of this contract will immediately lose these bonuses and face the penalties for violation aforementioned in point 7.

All the aforementioned bonuses are not related in any way to the bonuses granted by joining the dummy guild of the association.

9. Expansion of Non-Aggression Pacts

Unionized Craftsmen hereby acknowledge and understand that the Union Collective reserves the right to enter into agreements with additional factions in the future. Players entering into such agreements with new factions shall be required to adhere to non-aggression pacts with these newly affiliated factions, refraining from harming or engaging in hostilities against them.

The Union Collective shall promptly inform Unionized Craftsmen of any new non-aggression pacts that are established. Upon receiving notice, Unionized Craftsmen are expected to respect and adhere to these agreements.

10. [Write here the players that receive the blessing of Pax’s treaties].

“All looks good,” complimented Roth. “So what am I supposed to do now?”

“Now is the time to send the message to the guilds, inviting them to the auction. Tell the guilds that the auction will be held in six hours. That should give you time to host it and for the guilds to run a search and rescue op. Let’s book a private auction room first.”

After they located an NPC that worked for the auction house, Roth booked a private auction room. It cost ten gold. Roth grabbed the message from his notes,  added the auction room number, and started shooting messages to all the top guilds that had contacted him when he discovered Antioch.

“Done. What now?”

“The others are waiting for us in the Rolling Hill Inn. Let’s go. It’s time to shake things up.”

*

Galatheel threw a few more [Blue Coals] into the kiln. The fire inside blazed, invigorated by the powerful fuel. He put the lump of incandescent gray metal back into the kiln and waited patiently for it to reach the right temperature.

When the guild asked him to write a guide on how to forge, and he got to the part describing how he knew the right timing for this part of the forging process, he struggled to put it into words. He just knew. It was a combination of the scent of the fire, the heat of the flame, the color of the heated metal, and the sound it made when he hit it with his hammer. But he knew.

Once the metal hit the sweet spot, he pulled it from the kiln and brought it to his new anvil. It was the reward of one of the most difficult quests in Galatheel’s gaming career. He would never have been able to make it were it not for the support of the Ogre guild.

Master Buljard’s Anvil (Epic)

Description: An anvil made of starfire metal which was used during most of Master Buljard’s career.

Item effects:

Improves chances of achieving a higher grade when crafting;

Reduces the energy spent on hammering skills.

Hopefully, the bonuses that this brand-new anvil granted would be enough for him to get a better crafting rate on the weapon that his guild master had ordered from him. He grabbed his epic-grade hammer and hit the lump with all his strength. Hit after hit, the atoms in the metal aligned. As the hammer hit, he noticed how the anvil absorbed the excess shock, reducing the strain on his hand.

When the metal became too hard to work with, he brought it to the fire again and waited for it to reheat. He had repeated this process countless times to harden the silver steel, and he felt the metal was ready to become a blade.

Once the metal was hot, he brought it back to the anvil and hit it with the hammer, drawing it so it became thinner and longer. He kept returning it to the fire and hammering it to the right shape. The guild master preferred broadswords, so the amount of metal he was working with was considerable, adding to the difficulty of the process.

Once he got the right shape, he flattened the edges. Even though the anvil didn’t budge, the cave wasn’t handling the pummeling so well. With each hammer hit, the entire cave shook, making dust rain off the ceiling. He kept hitting the blade again, and again, and again.

He checked his energy levels. Keeping up this usage of hammer skills was taking its toll, and he was almost out. Were it not for his new anvil, there was no way he could have spent this much time in this part of the process. He called his pet, who was sleeping in the corner of the room. The mountain ray flew over to him.

“Rocky, activate [Energy Bond],” he ordered.

The ray injected his tail spike onto Galatheel. Their energy bars merged, and he gained 3000 energy just like that. Reinvigorated with a new dosage of energy, he kept hitting the blade. With each hit, his energy bar came down by a considerable amount.

Without [Master Buljard’s Anvil], he wouldn’t have made it this far. He looked at how much energy he had left and grimaced. He was almost out. Even though he would have liked to keep working the blade, he was forced to move on to the next stop. If his energy bar hit zero, the crafting process would fail, and all these precious materials would go to waste.

Fate of the Forger!

Moment of Brilliance!

Lucky Break!

Coming to the crucial point in the crafting process, he used all the active skills that slightly boosted the chances of success of his crafting or that made it more likely for him to get a higher grade.

He then grabbed the fiery blade and drove it into the oil barrel. This barrel cost a thousand gold but could aid in the quenching process and increase the chance of crafting success. The whole oil was set ablaze. As he pulled it out, he mounted the blade on the pommel he had assembled previously. And then put it into its scabbard.

This scabbard was made from the leather of a rhino wild boss. The pommel was crafted from the rhino’s bones. Drenched in sweat, Galatheel held up the finished sword and waited for the system to calculate his crafting grade.

Congratulations! You've successfully crafted [Silver Steel Rhino Broadsword].

+250,000 blacksmith XP.

Silver Steel Rhino Broadsword (Epic).

Crafting Grade: B+.

Two-handed weapon

Item description: A powerful sword crafted by a talented forger with incredible piercing power.

Item effects:

+84% damage;

-17 movement speed;

+23 strength;

+4% crit chance;

+9% crit damage;

+23% piercing damage;

Item skill: [Rhino Ram]. Doubles piercing damage, allowing you to ignore some of the enemy’s resistances for two minutes.

Galatheel threw his hands up in frustration. No matter how much preparation he made, he couldn’t make a rare sword higher than B. Not even with the help of his new anvil was he able to transcend this bottleneck.

He needed to craft three epic treasures or more, to unlock the title he wanted. When Thrillian, the best blacksmith in the game, shared with him the details of the title to taunt him, the fire of competitiveness in Galatheel's heart was ignited. If only he had more stats, he would get a few more extra hits of the hammer in and succeed. He knew it.

But how could he? He was already level 54. At this level, it took a player weeks to gain a level. He was clad in the best equipment money could buy, and he had the full support of his guild. He had acquired as many titles as he could, but even so, there was still that last abyss to transcend.

He took a deep sigh. At this rate, it would take him two more months to gain two levels and get the needed stats. He messaged the guild master.

“Hello, guildmaster. I’ve managed to craft a B+ Silver Steel Rhino Broadsword. Please send someone to get it.

I know I’ve asked you this before, but to start crafting epic A-grade equipment, I need more stats. Can you please procure more consumables or information on titles that will help me? I especially need strength and dexterity.”

The answer came within seconds. It looked like his guildmaster, being a battle freak as he was, was eager to hear from him. “Thank you! I’ll send someone over to get the sword. I’m sorry, Galatheel. I’ve already given you everything I could. If we find anything new that can help, you’ll be the first one to know. For now, keep up the good work.”

Galatheel kicked his anvil hard. He then took a few calming breaths and reviewed his crafting process. If he couldn’t get there with stats, he would just have to perfect his technique. He took a few more ingots of silver steel from his inventory and threw them into the forge. He would make a spear next.

Ch. 168 - BridgeFinder3

INDEX

Ch. 170 - Call Center