Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 78: Variety

To be honest, I should have listened to them when Kazu went up to work on his new staff. I'm still on a fence when it comes to his [Magecrafting] antics. But after enduring that embarrassing fight with those pests, I know I can't turn back now. Since we share the same sentiment to get back at those ants, I might as well keep up with him and do some of my brand of crafting. Although looking at the materials Bai Hu gave us as [Hidden Quest] rewards...

x8 [Storm Willow Logs]

[Harvested from the [Storm Willow] trees of <Tested Wilds>, the log can be cut down into beams for wood-crafting use. Due to its [Electric] attribute, only an experienced woodcrafter can craft any weapons from this material.]

x15 [Silk Star Threads]

[Silk threads that were created by [Star Willow Spiders]. If given by an experienced crafter, you can create bowstrings and other magical tools.]

From those descriptions alone, they might make some strong weapons for me to use. But as Bai Hu said, I feel like I'm not ready to use them due to my current experience as proven from our last fight. I have harvested some logs in another forest nearby, but are they even enough to defeat those [Link Ants]? Damn... I'm running out of options here...

SMACK!

"OWWW!!!" I scream as I feel like someone has kicked a soccer ball at the back of my head. I quickly turn to see Arthur, at which I guess he's responsible for smacking me. "What the hell was that?!"

"Dude, you've been staring at those materials for 10 minutes now and you haven't done anything here!" He even emphasizes it by gesturing at me in the woodcrafting station, which I'm currently in right now. "Plus, it's almost bedtime in the real world. What's the hold-up?"

I sigh and stare at my materials, realizing that he's right. "It's just these materials from our [Hidden Quest]. I want to make something out of them, but I feel like I'm not ready for them."

"Of course you don't. From the looks of it, you need about 20 levels of [Woodcrafting] to make those into bows and arrows without screwing up. And this is coming from a guy who barely has crafting [Mastery] to save my life."

"Why can't you make another sword or choose another [Mastery] made to pierce through the [Link Ant's] weakness?" Razul suggests to me, to which I sigh in response.

"It's not that easy. I'm already satisfied with my [Sapphire Sword] and mastering another is like trying to get through the first lessons of martial arts in a few weeks. And with our current deadline till the first expansion release, I need a way to adapt the ever-changing landscape and monsters like that [Link Ant]."

"Can you at least try to grind more experience at least? You might get more skills when you level up," Star suggests.

"Even if I do, it doesn't mean we can get through their defenses so easily. Maybe I should try and harvest some more logs tomorrow..."

"Or maybe you need a leg up with your [Archery] skills."

My eyes widen as I turn around and gasp to see...

"Ellie! I thought you're with Anton," Star says in shock as she sees the [Force Blade] hunter entering the hall. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, maintenance. And don't worry, Anton's out because of offline shenanigans. BTW, what happened to you, newbie? Got caught by a trap or a boss monster?"

"Even better, he got beaten by [Link Ants]! I wish I can see his face..." I growl again as I give Arthur the biggest death glare I can. "Or maybe not..."