Roan looked at me with a genuinely dumbfounded expression on his face for a moment before shaking his head. 

“I have work enough for myself I do not need more trying to teach a whelp like you,” said Roan grumpily

Whelp? I look down at my legs and arms, just how old does my avatar look?

“I’m no whelp Roan, I am a beginner blacksmith. I would like to learn from you. I kno…” 

Roan turned around and glared at me, stopping the sentence in my throat. He took two steps toward me, closing the distance between us with ease.

“As I said, Whelp, I have work enough on my own without having to teach you the ways of the forge. Have you made anything with your own two hands yet?” Roan growled at me.

I shuddered inwardly but held my ground firm. I pulled out the dagger that I had modified myself in the woods. 

“I have yet to properly craft a weapon, but I managed to modify my destroyed sword into this dagger with only what I could find in the forest.”

Roan snatched the dagger from my hand and began to examine it closely with his trained eyes. As he examined it he raised an eyebrow at me. He continued to examine the dagger testing its edge, then its point and finally its balance.

“I can see you tried to cut a slime with the sword you had. There are still some corrosion marks from its acid in a few places. You ended it with a pommel strike, effective. What beast did you fight after, something small? A wolf whelp maybe. I won’t say you did a good job with this but you might have some potential, and at least you have your own set of tools already. Let me see them so I can see if they are any good.”

I beamed at Roan as I pulled out the rock I had used to hone my blade.  

The look of shock on his face, when I pulled the stone out of my inventory, confused me a little. It’s like he hasn’t seen someone use an inventory before. Then the look of anger on his face when he saw the stone made me laugh out loud. 

“Where are your tools, where did that rock come from?”

I held the rock up still smiling at him. 

“This is the only tool I have currently, I got it in the Forest of Beginnings.”

He grabbed the stone out of my hand and looked it over for a few moments. He rubbed his fingers over the surface feeling for something. I guess he finally found what he was looking for when he looked back at me with a raised eyebrow.

“You truly only used this rock to hone the edge of that blade?” Roan asked in a soft, slightly shocked tone.

I nodded at him, giving him a slight smirk. I was proud of the work I had done so far on my simple dagger. 

“Yeah, all I used to hone the edge and put the point on was that rock,” I said smugly.

It was Roan’s turn to laugh and laugh he did. He doubled over and grabbed his sides laughing heartily. I stood there confused as to what was going on.

“What’s so funny?” I ask 

Roan is finally able to calm himself and he wipes the tears from the corners of his eyes as he stands up straight to look me in the eyes.

“You did manage to hone that edge fairly well, given your lack of proper tools. But what your blade has is not anywhere near what I would call a point. It’s so far off it might as well be a spoon”

A spoon? Now that’s just insulting. 

I can feel my cheeks flush with a light heat. As a thread of embarrassment works its way into my mind. 

Wait, am I blushing?

I can blush now?

This new update is really starting to wear on me. First, it’s lasting injuries, then it’s hunger and thirst, and now I can blush? What is this weird update going to add next?

I shake my head trying to clear my stray thoughts as I put my dagger back into its sheath and look up to Roan. It’s weird looking up at this elf. I used to stand eye to eye with him. Just how much shorter than my last avatar is this one?

“So Roan, do you have work for me? You’ve seen what I can manage with a random rock I found in the forest. Imagine what I could do with a full set of tools and a forge.”

He placed his hand on his chin rubbing the stubble there while looking up to the sky obviously thinking about something.

“I might be willing to let you work for me, I might even be willing to teach you, but first you have to pass two tests.”

Two tests? That’s weird. I only remember one before. I wonder what the second test will be. It doesn’t really matter, though. I already know how to pass one of them since I’ve done it before.

“Alright, Roan I’ll take your tests and show you that I’m worth teaching.”

He nodded slightly and started to move toward his shop, and I followed along. He walked me around the back of his shop to where his workshop was set up. I looked over the workshop with a smile on my face. It had been a while since I had been back to Oakford, and seeing this workshop again brought back some fond memories. Once we arrived at the workshop Roan turned and looked at me. 

“The first test should be simple enough if you managed to modify your broken sword into a dagger, as you claim. All you need to do is repair your dagger. I can tell it’s about to break. You can use any of the tools here, I will even let you use some iron if you need it.” 

When he finished speaking a quest prompt appeared.

“Quest: Roan’s Impromptu test.”

“Quest objective repair item: “Dull Iron Dagger.”

“Time limit is 2 hours.”

“Rewards: Item ‘Iron Dagger’ ”

 “Ability to accept Quest: Roan’s test”

“Accept”  “Decline”

I clicked accept and pulled out my dagger to begin the job set out before me. First, I set my dagger down on the workbench before I went to his tool rack to grab a coarse file. I began to drag the file across the flat of the dagger, removing the bits of warped metal from the slime’s acid. Once I was satisfied with the rough profile I had filed out, I moved onto a smaller more fine file to smooth out the finer details. I grabbed a rag with some water to wipe the blade down every so often to examine the progress of my work. It was coming along nicely. When  I felt I had done enough on the blade I unscrewed the pommel and pushed out the rivets holding the handle one. I then removed the guard fully exposing the tang. I examined the tang for any evidence that the acid might have weakened it. I found some damage and filed it away carefully. I then looked at the pommel expecting to find damage there from when I pommel struck the slime. There was only a small mark and was cleaned up with relative ease. With the dagger fully disassembled, I looked over everything making sure that the blade had not become warped from the acid. It looked fine so I moved on to the next part. I grabbed a whetstone and put on some water as I began to carefully sharpen my edge. I made sure to put a point on the dagger this time. I had lost track of time while I was working on the blade when I noticed a flash of red in the corner of my vision. The timer was about to run out. I looked at my blade to see if it was where I wanted it. I would rather do it right and fail this quest than rush and mess up my dagger. It was just about where I wanted it. I reaffixed the guard then slipped the grip back on the tang, finally, I screwed the pommel back on. I gave the whole of the blade a light coating of oil, from pommel to tip. I spent the last few seconds of my time polishing everything with a rag. With only one second to spare. 

“You have successfully repaired Item: ‘Dull Iron Dagger.’ ”

“You have gained 20 EXP.”

“EXP needed until next level up 142.”

“You have successfully upgraded Item: ‘Dull Iron Dagger’ to Item: ‘Sharp Iron Dagger’ ”

“You have gained 20 EXP.”

“You have gained an additional 40 EXP for quality increase.”

“EXP needed until next level up 82.”

“You have gained Item: ‘Sharp Iron Dagger.’

“This ‘Sharp Iron Dagger’ was upgraded by Matthew Marcos from ‘Dull Iron Dagger’ ”

“This item gains a bonus to its attack for being sharpened properly”

“Damage 12-15”

“Durability is currently 30 out of a maximum of 30.”

“Done,” I announced to Roan. 

He quietly walks over and reaches out for me to hand him the dagger. I comply and hand over the dagger. He holds it up to his face and looks over the blade examining every inch of it. When he finishes his visual examination he begins to run a finger along the flat of the blade giving a slight nod as he does so. He then grabs the knife by its grip and begins to run through a series of slicing motions like an expert dagger wielder. I had no idea Roan could wield a blade like that. I wonder what he did before he became a blacksmith. Once he finished his series of slices and stabs he tosses the dagger into the air and catches it by its blade before handing it back to me. I take the dagger and return it to its sheath.

“You did a passable job repairing that dagger. I will let you take my real test now,” Roan said.

“Quest: Roan’s Impromptu test completed.”

“Granting Rewards”

“Gained Item: ‘Sharp Iron Dagger’ This has been upgraded from ‘Iron Dagger’ due to superior performance.”

“Gained Ability to accept Quest: Roan’s test”

“Bonus hidden mission ‘Impress Roan the Blacksmith’ completed.’ ”

“Granting bonus rewards.”

“Gained 50 EXP”

“Gained 10 respect of ‘Roan the Blacksmith’

“EXP needed until next level up 32.”

“Respect needed until ‘Unwelcome Apprentice’ 90.”

Wow, I managed to gain bonus rewards from that. Having previous knowledge of how to repair damaged weapons was already coming in handy. That ten respect was a lot already. Roan hates to acknowledge anyone. I might just level again during this next test if it’s the same one that he gave me before.

Roan stood there eyeing me suspiciously before clearing his throat. Oh, I wonder how much time had passed while I was receiving my quest rewards and lost in thought. 

“I will happily accept any test you give me,” I announced confidently.

Was Roan smirking? My heart sank in my chest as I realized that I might have just made a mistake. Was Roan taking that as a challenge to test me?

“Any test you say,” Roan asks in a mocking, questioning tone.

I gulp but nod. I still have all the knowledge that I gained during my first time playing EO. I should be able to handle any test that Roan could throw at me. When I nodded the smirk on Roan’s face turned into a mischievous smile. That was when I knew I had well and truly made things much harder for myself. 

“Alright, then I need you to make me a logger’s axe. With your own tools, including an anvil. You have one week.”

“Quest: ‘Roan’s impossible Test’ ”

“Objectives: Craft your own set of blacksmith’s tools.

          Use crafted tools to make Item: ‘Loggers Axe’ ”

“Time limit 1 week”

“Accept” “Decline”

I could feel the heat pull from my extremities. My face paled, and my fingers felt cold. Just what have I gotten myself into? Then a thought popped into my mind.

“May I use your forge and materials?” I asked hesitantly. I needed to know this before I accepted because it would change everything.

The smile on Roan’s face grew even bigger, almost reaching ear to ear.

“You may use anything in my workshop you need to complete this test.” That is all he offered me before he walked away and entered his shop.

I smiled brightly and let out a light chuckle. This test wouldn’t be as difficult as I originally thought. I quickly clicked accept on the quest before getting to work. I made my way to his forge to feel the temperature. I need to make sure the forge is hot enough to heat the iron I will be using to craft my tools. 

Skill: ‘Forge Knowledge’ activated.”

“Forge is currently at the optimal temperature to forge iron, and will lose heat in 23 minutes 42 seconds.”

I move over to the racks of various metals that Roan has in his workshop.

“Skill: ‘Sense metal’ activated.”

 I look across all the metals he has, suddenly aware of what each one of them is. I stand there admiring the variety available. He never said that I have to make my tools out of iron. I shake my head with a smirk. No, let's keep to the basics for now. I grab two nice pieces of iron and a pair of blacksmith’s tongs. I place the metal into the heat of the forge and wait for it to come up to heat.

“Iron in the forge is at optimal forging temperature.”

I pull one of the lengths of iron out of the forge and take it to the anvil grabbing a hammer as I move. I place the white-hot iron on the anvil and begin striking it.

“Skill ‘Work Metal’ activated”

 I begin to rough out the shape of half a pair of tongs. When the metal I am working on loses too much heat I place it back into the forge and grab the other piece of metal. I begin to get into the rhyme of forging and lose track of time. I hammer each length of iron into the shape I want, double and triple checking my work before I finally hammer in the rivet holding the two halves of the tongs together.

“You have successfully crafted the item ‘Well made Blacksmith’s Tongs.’ ”

“You have gained 30 EXP”

“You have gained an additional 30 EXP for crafting a ‘Well Made’ item”

"Level up"

"You have leveled up to Level 2. Congratulations."

“New maximum health is 34.”

“New maximum mana is 6.”

“New maximum stamina is 26.” 

"Please allocate the remaining (6) stat points."

“EXP needed until next level up 852”

I hold my new tongs up in the air admiring my work. I then collapse down onto my butt and let out a shuddering breath. I look at my stamina and groan. Just crafting the tongs had exhausted my stamina. Then my stomach began to rumble. I remember then that I haven’t eaten in a few days. I decided to check the time.

“It is currently 3:21 p.m.”

Wow, It’s already been four hours? I sit there for a few minutes recovering my spent stamina. I put my new tongs away and stand up. I turn and leave the workshop heading to the inn, I need to eat before I can forge anything else. I walk the few minutes from Roan’s shop to the inn. When I arrive I push the door open and sigh a breath of relief, they’re not busy with the dinner rush yet.  I step up to the counter where a nice enough-looking girl is standing polishing cutlery and glasses. I stand there for a few moments before clearing my throat to get her attention. She jumps in surprise before smiling at me.

“How may I help you, young sir?”

There it is again. My new avatar must be on the younger side. I wish I had a choice with my character design, but whatever, I will deal with it for now.

“I Would like a room for one, please.”

She raises an eyebrow briefly before nodding.

“That will be three copper per night. It comes with one meal per day. You missed breakfast and lunch but can have dinner.” 

I pull out six copper coins and slide them across to her. She looks at me curiously before shaking her head and taking the coins. She reached behind the counter and handed me a small key. 

“Go up the stairs, then it’s the last door on the left. I can bring up a bucket of water if you’d like to clean up.”

“I would appreciate it if you could, thank you,” I say as I turn and walk away.

I walk up the stairs and find my room putting the key into the lock before entering. It’s an alright room. Single bed that looks comfortable enough. There’s a desk with a chair under the only window. I undo my sword belt and put it away in my inventory. No need to keep it equipped while in the room. I take my boots off putting those away as well. The boots are comfortable enough but I should get some socks when I get more coin. This update adding in all these little details really adds to the realism. 

I sit there rubbing my sore feet for a few minutes groaning out in satisfaction. Dang, my feet hurt. This feels nice, though what I wouldn’t give to be able to soak them in a nice hot bath. I get pulled out of my revelry by a knock at my door.

“Young sir, I'm here with the water you requested.” the girl asked meekly.

My face flushes when I hear her tone. She must have heard the sounds I was making while I was rubbing my feet and got the wrong idea. That’s embarrassing. I stand up and make my way to the door. I open the door and give her the best smile I can. Her face is flushed red as she reaches out to hand me the basin of water with a clean rag.

“Here you go young sir I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“No bother, I was simply rubbing my feet, trying to break in new boots.”

She let out a soft sigh and smiled at me giving me a curt nod before scurrying off. I close the door and set the water basin down on my desk. I close the blinds to my window and begin to undress. After I take off my shirt I go back to my door and make sure that I locked it. I grab the rag and place it into the water before I begin to wipe down my body. The cold water felt nice on my skin.  Once I was clean, or as clean as I could be given the circumstances. I put my clothes back on and laid down on my bed. I guess it’s time.

I pull up my HUD and flick through the various screens before finally getting to my character sheet.

“Name: Matthew Marcos Race: Human Age: 18

Class: Blacksmith Level: 2 Health:  34

Mana: 6 Stamina: 29

Remaining unallocated stat points: 6

Constitution: 10 Intelligence: 5 Insight: 15

Dexterity: 10 Strength: 8

Attack: 1-5 Defense: 10

Skills:

Sense Metal: Current level, basic

Progress to next skill up 10%

Forge Knowledge: Current level, basic

Progress to next skill up 73%

Work metal: Current level, basic

Progress to next skill up 28%

Hammer strike: Current level, basic

Progress to next skill up 12%

Resist heat: Current level, basic

Progress to next skill up 29%

Wow, so that’s what my starting stats are. That explains why my mana is so low. I already know where I want to put my stats after seeing my character sheet. I put two into strength to bring it up to ten, one into dexterity to bring it up to eleven, then two into intelligence to bring it up to five. The last point I put into the constitution, to bring it up to eleven. I feel my body surge with an unfamiliar but pleasant warmth. My mind seems to clear slightly, and I can remember things a bit more clearly than I could before.

“Skill: ‘Forge Knowledge’ has advanced from basic to novice.”

Well, that’s cool. It must have been because I can remember more of my old blacksmithing recipes. I decided to check my new health, mana, and stamina pools.

“Current health 37 out of a maximum of 37.”

“Current mana 8 out of a maximum of 8.”

“Current stamina 31 out of a maximum of 31.”

After the surge of warmth fades I feel faint and stumble only barely catching myself on my bed before hitting the floor. My stomach rumbles letting me know that I can’t go without food any longer. I struggle to get to my feet and take in a sharp breath. I notice that my health bar is slowly draining. 

What the heck?

“You are currently suffering from the condition ‘Starvation’ You will lose 1 health every minute until you consume food.”

Well, that’s not good. I manage to take one step then another. I make my way downstairs where they seem to be setting up in preparation for dinner. I sit down at a table waiting for the girl to make her way over to me. When she notices that I’m sitting at a table she goes to the back before coming out with a plate of food. 

“This here is the complimentary dinner, if you want more you have to pay.”

I nod at her as she puts the plate of food down in front of me. The complimentary meal isn’t much but it smells amazing. It consists of a simple stew, a chunk of bread, and a glass of near-alcohol-free beer. I dip the stale bread into the stew to soften it up before taking a bite. It tastes just as good as it smells. I pick up my spoon and take a bite of the stew itself next. I can’t tell what meat is in it but it doesn’t matter, it’s delicious. There are little chunks of vegetables, they taste fresher than anything I’ve had before. They were most likely picked from local gardens or farms within a few days of being put in this stew. I take a drink of the beer to wash everything down. It’s alright, it’s not meant to get you drunk, only to help keep the water clean. I don’t know why they bothered adding that to a video game, but hey the devs love their realism. I never thought they would go as far as they have with this new update, but maybe there’s a hidden charm to all of this that I haven’t found yet. I quickly finish my food and pull up my HUD, checking to see if the starvation condition went away.

“You are suffering from the condition ‘Malnutrition’ you will recover health and stamina at a reduced rate until you consume adequate food.”

Alright, I should be able to last until morning. Though, I shouldn’t push myself. I’ll go back to forging my tools tomorrow after I eat breakfast. I head back upstairs to my room. I pull off my shirt and begin to pull off my pants before I remember the lack of undergarments. I decided to sleep in my pants tonight. I wouldn’t want to be caught in a compromised position if something were to happen.

I lay there enjoying sleeping in a bed for the first time since I spawned in. Well, I guess I did sleep in Chloe’s bed but that doesn’t count. I don't remember it, and when I woke up I was in too much pain to notice if it was soft or not. I close my eyes and slowly drift off to sleep.