“Where is she at now?” Ray asked while pushing himself out of bed with a groan of pain.
“Lie back down, little chick. Your injuries have not yet completely healed. She is presently training with my eldest daughter; I shall inform her of your awakening when they are done.”
“How long has she been awake?”
“She woke up on the second day after your arrival,” she said, while making her way to the bedside.
“So how long was I out? Ow!” Ray inquired before emitting a slight yelp of pain when Zenith placed her hand on his side.
“Today marks the fourth day.” Soothing energy poured from her hand as she spoke, relieving the pain. "However, given the extent of the harm you did to your body, I believe an additional two days of my treatment are necessary."
“Why are you blaming the damage on me? I get it was my dagger that nearly killed me, but if I didn’t use it like that, I would have been dead.”
"Tsk tsk tsk. Foolish child, that injury is already all but healed. The damage I am talking about is what you did to your internal pathways when you overloaded them with stamina and mana.”
“Oh,” Ray said, his face taking on a downtrodden expression.
Believing Erith was already dead, he lost himself, ignoring all warnings and pushing his body beyond its safe limits. Zenith removed her hand from his side after a few more minutes of channeling her energy into him.
“That will be all for now. I will return with Erith within approximately two hours. I would recommend that you get some rest between now and then,” she said.
Ray nodded in agreement as he observed the scale mother depart, then checked his status to see if any changes had occurred following the previous battle.
Status
Name: Ray
Level: 17
Ascension: 0
Class: Beginner Artisan (Rare)
Mana: 510/510 injury sustained max mana - 100
Stamina: 50/50 injury sustained max stamina - 100
Stats
Strength 14
Endurance 15
Dexterity 74
Intelligence E: 22
Wisdom 61
Available Points: 0
Multipliers
Strength 0.5
Endurance 0.5
Dexterity 2
Intelligence 2
Wisdom 1
Skills
Draconic Insight, weapon bond, dual-wielding
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Titles
[System-Appointed Artisan], [Low-Grade Stats Collector], [First threshold], [Blessing of the Scale Mother], [Underdog]
Skill choice available
Spark fragment absorption available.
Ray came close to slapping himself. He had forgotten to do his skill selection when he reached level 15. He closed his eyes, wishing fervently within himself,
Please don’t be something that would have been helpful, before thinking the words, Skill selection.
Skills currently available
Upgrade Material: A craftsman's best friend.
Attempt to upgrade any material to a higher grade. The outcome depends on both the material and the artisan's skill.
Mana cost: variable
Ray found the first skill intriguing. After his sword breaker exploded, he would have to get a new weapon. Upon reflection, he realized he was uncertain about whether his other weapon had survived the battle. Remembering the blade's previous miraculous self-repair after shattering, he felt a surge of hope that it would be undamaged this time as well. He decided that when she returned, he would ask Zenith about it before moving on to consider the next option.
Power shot: the primary tool of any aspiring archer.
Release a shot infused with stamina, boosting its damage based on charge time.
Stamina cost: 10 - 200
Ray almost immediately dismissed the second option as well, despite recognizing its usefulness. Not only did it cost an absurd amount of stamina for him as he only got half of what he should have from each level, but he had preferred his daggers more than his bow ever since he got the dual-wielding skill. Upon reviewing the remaining choices, he discovered a lack of appealing options, as the majority comprised repetitive skills previously bypassed during his last skill selection process. Having finally reached the end of the list, he felt a sense of relief that none of them seemed effective or promising in his desperate struggle against the deranged man. He let out a sigh before scrolling back up to the top of the list and choosing the Upgrade material option. Despite his eagerness to conduct the test at that moment, he opted to delay it because of his apprehension that his present state of health could have a detrimental effect on the outcome. Realizing he no longer needed a second weapon, he scowled. After all, how was he meant to wield two daggers when he only had one arm? The thrill of selecting his skill was strong enough to make him completely forget about his absent limb.
“Well, no use in dwelling on it now,” he said to himself before selecting the second option that had appeared on his status screen.
Spark fragment absorption, he mentally called out, and a new screen appeared.
Spark fragment absorption
Current sparks available: 1
Would you like to absorb the fragment from Flesh Artificer (Rare) level 30?
Y/N
Not seeing what he stood to lose, Ray accepted the prompt.
“Proficiency threshold reached class Beginner Artisan (Rare) has upgraded to Beginner Bio-Artisan (Epic)”
Beginner Bio-Artisan (Epic)
A Beginner artisan who has started to walk the path of self-enhancement.
Gain access to the Artisan Panel.
Gain access to the Bio-Synthesis Panel.
Gain an +4 intelligence and wisdom for each level.
Gain +2 all stats for each synthesized enhancement within your body.
Ray was astonished by the sudden improvement in his class. Excitement sparked in his eyes as he scanned through the new class, eventually leading him to open the Bio-Synthesis panel.
Bio-Synthesis
Upgrade items to be compatible with living creatures that contain a spark.
Select an Item to synthesize
Ray’s eyes widened as he thought about the possibilities before him. As a smile spread across his face, his gaze fixated on his missing arm.
It looks like I will need that extra dagger, after all.
Ray closed his eyes, thinking of what he could soon create. But for now, he took Zenith's advice and slowly drifted to sleep as he waited for her and Erith to return.
