“Good morning… Well, good day, I guess,” I greeted Alragus, correcting myself when I remembered what time of the day it was.

  “Hi,” Alragus said before stopping to look at someone behind me. “Did you craft Ranalaiya’s new armor?”

  “Ah, yes. Humph,” I said, adding a satisfied smirk when I saw the look in Alragus’ eyes.

  “Impressive. May I ask about the stats?” I knew Alragus would ask me that.

  “Sure. It is called the Swiftstrike Armor. The total bonus to stats, together with the additional set bonus when wearing all six pieces, is thirteen to Stamina, seventeen to Strength and forty four to Agility,” I said.

  “Not bad. I take it the armor set’s level is between ten and thirteen, unless all the pieces are blue quality and above?” Alragus asked.

  “Nine, actually. Only the headgear is level ten and all pieces are blue quality,” I informed.

  “Ok. That makes it even better,” Alragus said.

  “Oh, I forgot to mention one more thing. It also adds ten percent to attack speed when all six pieces are worn together,” I said, remembering it.

  “Ten percent to attack speed? Seriously? I’ll be damned,” Alragus said, shaking his head. “What’s your Crafting skill’s level now?”

  “Six,” I said.

  “Six, huh?” Alragus said, making a thoughtful facial expression.

  “What?” I asked, feeling curious what his facial expression could mean.

  “Nothing. I’ll go get your armor now,” he said before walking away to get it, coming back with big box in hands. “Here you go.” He added after laying the pieces on the table in front of me.

  “Ooh… Nice,” I said, seeing the armor pieces laid out in front of me.

  “Since you asked to craft armor to boost your Strength stat, I tried to enchant the pieces to offer more strength to the wearer. Hence, the name – Strength Imbued Armor set. However, it offers zero to Agility stat,” Alragus informed.

  “That’s totally fine,” I said, my eyes sparkling with excitement.

  “Humph, wanna try it on?” Alragus asked, noticing it, also being curious to see how it would fit.

  “Hah, you had to ask?” I shot an answer before picking up the armor pieces to go change.

  - “Oh my, I will contradict myself here, but I do wish to see you wearing your new armor, darling. The good thing about that is, I would be able to see you stripping out of it afterwards. Strength Imbued Shoulders, acquired. Strength Imbued Breastplate, acquired. Strength Imbued…” – Obviously, Lavita had to have her opinion known to me what she thought about my new armor when I started picking it up piece by piece. I was rolling my eyes while listening her speak, also hearing a certain someone chuckle, seeing me do that.

  Lavita’s excitement aside, I was excited to put my new armor on to see how it would look on me. My hands were trembling from excitement when I was putting each piece on, making me take longer to put the whole set on. But once I did, I was amazed by how well it fit and also by the bonus stats that it provided. The armor set that Alragus had crafted for me definitely looked better than the one I was wearing up till now. It looked strong and sturdy, but it didn’t resemble a full plate armor, like Tarrion was wearing. The armor pieces were much thicker but not as wide as Tarrion’s full plate armor set’s pieces. It was clear they were made that way to offer more freedom for the wearer to move around which was a good thing.

  The shoulder pads were of green quality and had an Equip Level of twelve. They weren’t that big but were wide enough to cover the top of my shoulders, extending slightly further to the sides horizontally. There were no extra layers that would offer protection down my arms however, but I didn’t mind. The breastplate was blue quality and had an Equip Level of twelve. It looked as sturdy as it could be, but wasn’t long enough to go all the way down to cover my belly or waist, nor it was tall enough to reach my neck. However, it felt really good wearing it and when I tried shifting my body left and right or stretch in different directions, I didn’t feel any discomfort at all. The bracers were of green quality and had an Equip Level of twelve. They were long enough to cover my wrists up to my elbows, also having an extension on the outside of my arms to protect my elbows too.

  I never wore gloves, but now that I had them on, I knew I was a fool for not wanting to wear gloves before. I thought the gloves would be too rough on my hands and would make it more difficult to hold my shields since I was using the shields to attack too, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. If anything, I felt my grip being stronger than before. The gloves were made out of metal, but I could squeeze my hand into a fist without any problems and holding my shields was easier too. The gloves that Alragus had crafted were of green quality and had an Equip Level of twelve.

  The leggings, which were of blue quality and had an Equip Level of twelve, were made to cover my legs up to my knees mainly from the front and from the back, fully covering my hips at the top and around my waist, like any normal pants would. When I tried, I could easily bend my legs or squat without any problems. Lastly, the boots that Alragus had crafted looked very much like full-plated boots a knight would wear. They were very tall, going all the way up to my knees. My thought was that Alragus wanted to make sure my feet and lower parts of my legs were properly protected. The boots were of blue quality, just like my leggings, but had an Equip Level of thirteen.

  “Wow, Master Rockin, you look so cool in your new armor,” was the first thing Ranalaiya said when she saw me wearing my new armor.

  “This armor suits you very well, Master Rockin,” Sylfrin said, her eyes running up and down my body.

  “It makes you look very fearsome, Master Rockin,” Lilfira added last.

  “Thank you,” I said, grinning wide. It was very pleasant to hear compliments from three beautiful women, knowing they weren’t just trying to butter me up, but were genuine with their words.

  “Looking good. How does it feel?” Alragus agreed with the ladies but also wanted to know if the armor was a good fit.

  “It fits perfectly. I am quite amazed, actually. I was worried it will make me feel cumbersome, but I can move around just fine,” I said, shifting my body left and right to have another feel.

  “I know the individual stats of each piece, but what’s the total bonus?” Alragus asked.

  “Right, one moment. Show Status,” I said before tapping in front of me with a finger.

  Lavita was very happy to tell me what kind of stats each armor piece offered earlier, but it wasn’t like I could remember it. I checked each piece individually before adding the points up. The shoulders were adding three to Stamina and five to Strength. The breastplate was adding five to Stamina and eight to Strength. The bracers were adding three to Stamina and four to Strength. The gloves were adding three to Stamina and five to Strength. The leggings were adding six to Stamina and Streght each. Lastly, the boots were adding six to Stamina and seven to Strength. The total bonus stats that the whole set was offering was twenty six to Stamina and thirty five to Strength, but that was without the set bonus.

  “Ok, so you already know how much stats individual pieces offer, but in addition to the twenty six in Stamina and thirty five to Strength in total stats, the set bonus also adds six to Stamina and nine to Strength, adding a total of thirty two points to Stamina and forty four points to Strength,” I told him.

  “Humph,” Alragus snorted, not exactly looking happy for some reason.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

  “Nothing. I sort of expected for a similar set bonus. It’s not a Named Gear Set, like Ranalaiya’s Swiftstrike Armor, but individual pieces of the same name, after all,” he said, revealing his grumpy reaction.

  “Hey, this armor is so much better than the previous one I was wearing,” I said.

  “Yes, it is,” he said before changing his stance as if readying to go somewhere. “So, when are we going to the dungeon?”

  Aah… Now I get it. Alragus said he needs to raise his own level to be able to craft higher level and higher quality equipment. With his current level he probably can craft only level twelve to thirteen gear. I guess he’s eager to level up sooner rather than later. I had a thought flash in my mind in regards to why Alragus asked me that question.

  “Right. Have you stacked on supplies and such?” I asked him.

  “Yes. I have everything ready and placed inside my Item Storage Box. I have crafted some additional weapons for Ranalaiya and Lilfira to use just in case too, also a few shields for you as well. Those aren’t the best quality but that’s all I could craft with the time I had,” Alragus informed.

  “Awesome, thanks. Ok then. I agreed to meet Tarrion and Krisel at Savirei’s diner, so we can go see if they are already there. I’ve also asked Savirei to prepare some food to take away with us,” I told him before remembering something. “Ah, before we go, I would like to have as much empty space inside my storage as possible. Can I leave my old armor here?” I asked.

  “I don’t have much free space available to be honest,” Alragus said.

  “Right,” I mumbled.

  “Why not sell your old armor set at the Auction House? Or you could offer it to somebody from our clan instead,” Alragus suggested.

  “Hey, that’s a great idea, actually. To offer it to somebody from our clan, that is,” I said, nodding my head. “Ok, let’s go see if Tarrion and Krisel are at Savirei’s diner now.”

  “Sure. I’ll just put my gear on quick,” Alragus said.

  “Ok. We’ll wait for you outside,” I said before leaving his workshop.

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  “Sorry for keeping you wait,” Alragus said after coming outside after a short while.

  “Woah,” I gasped, seeing him in his armor.

  It didn’t look to be an ordinary armor set, but it fit him well. It gave away that wild, beastly vibe too. From how the armor looked, it must’ve been focusing on adding more to Strength stat over any other stat overall. I could bet that the armor set Alragus was wearing was offering higher bonus in Strength than my Strength Imbued Armor set offered to me. However, I had my doubts about Alragus crafting all of the armor pieces himself, because some pieces looked too different from one another to belong to the same set. Alragus must’ve bought one or two armor pieces at the Auction House just because they offered better stats compared to the normal armor set bonus stats.

  “Looking good,” I finally said.

  “Thanks. I’m ready,” Alragus snorted.

  “Cool. Let’s go,” I said, all of us turning to go to Savirei’s diner.

  Fortunately for me and just like I hoped I would, I found Tarrion and Krisel at Savirei’s diner when we finally got there. Tarrion and Krisel weren’t the only ones waiting for me there. Virghel was there as well, with Garret, Jarrl, Sorren and Salis sitting at another table too. Not only them: Emmy, Arny, Luise and Ronnie were at Savirei’s diner too.

  Woah, what a crowd. Oh, damn… I gasped, before squirming in my spot when I remembered I was yet to go on a date with Virghel.

  “Welcome, Rockin. Ranalaiya, Sylfrin, Lilfira, Alragus, good to see you too,” Savirei came to greet us, looking like she was sparkling all over.

  “Hi Savirei,” I smiled, my three ladies offering their greetings after me.

  “Good day, Savirei,” Alragus said.

  “Surprised, Rockin?” Savirei asked, noticing me spacing out. “I have informed that our clan’s leader will be showing up later today, mentioning he had some incredible news to share with everyone, so people decided to stick around and wait for you. I have not told what the news were all about of course. Everyone was eagerly waiting for you to show up.”

  “You mean our clan’s headquarters?” I quickly realized what she was trying to imply, Savirei’s smile confirming I was right. “Right, ok. Shall we?” I hinted to my ladies and Alragus before walking to where Tarrion and Krisel were sitting.

  “Hey Furball,” Tarrion said, his eyes running up and down my new armor.

  “Hey Scarface,” I said, showing a gleeful grin.

  “Humph,” Tarrion half smirked half frowned.

  “Hello Rockin and the ladies too. Good day to you, Alragus,” Krisel greeted us all.

  “Good day,” Alragus said.

  “Hello, Miss Krisel,” the ladies returned the greetings.

  “Wow, Ranalaiya, you look absolutely stunning. Is that the new armor Rockin had crafted for you?” Krisel asked.

  “Yes. It’s called the Swiftstrike Armor and it’s really amazing,” Ranalaiya said, smiling happily.

  “It looks good,” Tarrion added. As stiff as he was, Tarrion probably didn’t want to be an ass and not say anything.

  “Would you be eating anything, darlings?” Savirei asked.

  “Ahm… not really. I’m not hungry yet,” I said before turning to the others. “What about you?”

  “We’re fine, Master Rockin,” my ladies said.

  “I might eat something. I’ll be quick,” Alragus said.

  “Sure, no worries,” I told him.

  “All done and ready?” Tarrion finally asked, speaking to me.

  “Yup,” I nodded.

  “Good,” Tarrion said before having another sip from his mug.

  “Hi Rockin,” Virghel came over to say hello.

  “Hi Virghel. How have you been?” I asked her.

  “I’ve been fine,” she said.

  “Listen, about our date…” I squirmed, rubbing the back of my head.

  “It’s ok. I know you’ve been busy. Actually, I’ve been busy too,” Virghel said, making me feel better about not taking her on a date yet. “By the way, can I join your party to go to the dungeon with you?”

  “Oh, right. I guess Tarrion had told you about it. Yes, why not?” I agreed. Virghel went to the dungeon with us last time and she now was level sixteen. I could see she had some new equipment on her too. She must’ve been busy trying to find upgrades for the past few days, just like I was.

  “Thank you, Rockin,” Virghel said, a smile appearing on her lips. “By the way, Savirei said you have some sort of announcement to make about our clan.”

  “Yesss… I do,” I said, pausing for a brief moment. “You know, I see there are more people from our clan here, so let’s have everyone gather around, so I can deliver the news to everyone at the same time.”

  “Sure. I’ll go tell them,” Virghel said before going back to the table where her friends were sitting.

  “Big news?” Krisel smiled, tilting her head to the side.

  “Well,” I grimaced sillily, making her chuckle. However, people started to gather around me, so there was no time for the small talk. “Hello, everyone. Good to see you all again.” I said after standing up from my seat.

  “Hello, hi, greetings, Rockin,” I received multiple greetings back.

  Honestly, I knew every person gathered here. Emmy and her group were the first ones I had met after arriving to this world. Garret’s group was a nice bunch too. They were good, honest people and that’s why I accepted them into my clan. I could see many of them wanted to say something, with some of them probably wanting to have one on one chat with me too, however, I didn’t have time for that.

  “First of all, I apologize for not being around much and for our clan not having a proper place to meet. I must thank Savirei for being so kind to let us use her diner as a temporary meeting place up till now. Having said that, starting today the Rockstars Clan has its own office where our members can meet and check on what is happening inside the clan. The office is located inside the Auction House building. I will be going there in a short while, so if any of you are willing, you can come along to see where it is. Or if don’t want to go now, all you have to do is to show your clan’s ID badge at the entrance when you decide to go there and they will tell you where it is. One thing though, our clan’s office will be open only several hours during the day, two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening only,” I delivered the news.

  “Cool. I’d like to go see it right now,” Jarrl instantly declared.

  “I think all four of us would like to go see it now, Rockin,” Garret said.

  “Yes, we would like to go there together with you as well, Rockin,” Emmy added.

  “Ok, great. Now, you might have some questions regarding what’s happening within our clan and I’m sorry for not being the clan leader you probably expected me to be, but I can promise I will work hard to make our clan better going forward,” I asked.

  “Don’t worry, Rockin. Thank you for letting us join your clan,” the people responded.

  “No problem and thank you. I’ll be going to the Auction House shortly. I just need to take care of a few things,” I added.

  “Yes, that’s totally fine, Rockin,” everyone agreed to wait for me.

  “Ok then, I’ll let you know when we’re about to leave,” I said before going back to the table where Tarrion and the rest were sitting. “Ok, so… how about we go collect the food from Savirei and get going? It’s past midday already but we could sill make it to the third floor of the dungeon if we leave within an hour.”

  “Agree,” Tarrion said.

  “I’m done eating,” said Alragus.

  “Great. Let’s go,” I said.

  We picked up the food that Savirei had prepared for us before informing everyone we will be leaving. It wasn’t very surprising for Savirei to tell me she would be going together with us to see the Rockstars Clan’s new headquarters as well. I didn’t think much of it, but our whole group must’ve attracted some attention when walking through the city. I showed my clan’s ID badge to one of the guards at the Auction House, informing the rest of the people were with me as well, the guard giving us permission to enter. I already knew where to go, so I led everyone to our clan’s new headquarters or office to be more precise. We had to wait a little for Lapis to come and let us in, however. I have agreed for Lapis to work only mornings and evenings, so the doors were closed when we got there. This made me rethink to increase the opening hours for our clan’s office.

  “Oh my, this office looks incredible, Rockin,” Savirei was impressed right away.

  “Very nice,” Tarrion said, nodding his head.

  “Wow, we have our own clan’s Quest Board too,” Krisel added.

  “Wow, cool, awesome, nice. They have tables and chairs too,” the other people started talking among themselves.

  “Right, everyone,” I spoke, raising my voice to get everyone’s attention. “This is Lapis. He will be the main person to talk to if you want to post or accept any quests here, or if you have any questions regarding our clan in general.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Lapis said, bowing down.

  “Lapis is not a member of the Rockstars Clan. He simply would be working here,” I explained before adding. “Now, the Quest Board is empty right now, but that’s because this office had opened only today.”

  “Are there any clan quests available right now?” Emmy asked.

  “Yes,” I said, taking a moment to think about it. “One of the quests is to collect Tarkee skins.”

  “Tarkee skins?” Emmy gasped. “Sorry, but I don’t think our levels are high enough for that kind of quest.” She added, speaking about her own group.

  “Hey, we could take that quest, couldn’t we?” Jarrl volunteered. “And if Virghel joins us, it’ll be a piece of cake.”

  “Shut it, moron. I’ve already told you I’ll be going with Rockin’s group,” Virghel shot back at him.

  Ok, she’s still the same Virghel around Jarrl. I tried to hold in my laugh.

  “By the way, Rockin. If you are going to the dungeon to hunt Tarkees, could we go together with you as well? It might be too difficult for the four of us, but we should do just fine with a bigger group,” Garret asked me.

  “Sorry, but we’ll be going to the eighth floor of the dungeon, Garret,” I said.

  “Eighth floor? Phew… That’d be cool,” Jarrl said, sending out a whistle.

  “Hah, not with your level,” Virghel scoffed.

  “What? I’m level eleven now and we have Tarrion as Tank, so- Ah, sorry, sorry, my bad. I was just joking,” Jarrl tried to be playful, but quickly changed his tune when he saw Tarrion throw an angry glare at him.

  “If you need more people, Garret, why don’t you form a party with Emmy’s group then?” I suggested.

  “With Emmy’s group?” Garret asked.

  “I… wouldn’t mind. Actually, I’d be grateful if we could form a party together. However, I don’t know if we are strong enough to go to the sixth floor of the dungeon. Arny and I are both level nine while Luise and Ronnie are level eight,” Emmy informed.

  “Yeah, level nine and eight might be too low to go to the sixth floor, and you’d need to have better equipment too,” Garret said.

  “Yes, well…” Emmy clicked her tongue, becoming embarrassed. It was clear from how Emmy’s group looked all four of them lacked good equipment.

  “Hey, I’ve just remembered. Our clan has some unwanted gear that people could buy at a steep discount,” I said, getting people’s attention. “Let me just take it out and Ranalaiya, can you take out your previous armor set as well?”

  “Yes, Master Rockin,” she said.

  I took out the Enchanted Rhaki’s Armor set while Ranalaiya took out her Rhanabbit Armor set, both of us placing them on two separate tables available.

  “Is that the gear you were using before getting your new armor, Rockin?” Arny asked me, becoming interested in the Enchanted Rhaki’s Armor set.

  “Yes. It was Alragus who crafted it. It’s quite decent. The total stat bonus when you wear all five pieces is thirteen to Stamina, ten to Strength and six to Agility,” I told him. I was wearing it for so long, so I knew how much stats the full set provided.

  “Nice. That’s better than what I am wearing right now. Mind if I get it?” Arny asked.

  “Sure. As for the price…” I paused before turning to Alragus. “How much did I pay you for it, Alragus?”

  “I think between two and three gold coins,” Alragus said.

  “Ok, then… how about one gold for the whole set, Arny?” I came up with a price on the spot.

  “Oh, definitely. Thank you, Rockin,” Arny agreed right away.

  “I think I would like to take the Rhanabbit Chestpiece only. It gives more Agility than my current chestpiece,” Emmy spoke to me next.

  “Sure. Take it,” I said, adding a shrug.

  “How much does it cost?” She asked.

  “Ahh… one silver?” I asked, making a grimace. I had no idea how much to ask, but giving it away for free might’ve diminished its value.

  “Only one silver? Ok,” Emmy agreed to it.

  “Unfortunately, I don’t have anything else right now. Having said that, apart from Tarkee skins, I also need Rhaki skins too. I am sure with your current levels you could kill Rhakis without too much trouble. Also, Green Medicinal Herbs can be found on the fourth and fifth dungeon floors. I would need those as well,” I offered another reason for Garret’s and Emmy’s groups to form a party.

  “Fighting Rhakis wouldn’t be as hard as fighting Tarkees,” Emmy said.

  “Ok. I think we could work with that,” Garret said before turning to check with his teammates, Sorren and Sali nodding in agreement. As for Jarrl, he probably didn’t have a choice there.

  “Great. I am sure you can sort out the party details between yourselves from here,” I said, showing a smile. “Now then, we really need to go, but check back here with Lapis once you’re back from the dungeon to see if there are more quests posted. Savirei might need something too.” I sent a wink her way as a hint.

  “Actually, I do need some Lesser Trent Wood and if you’re going to fight Rhakis, I would take Rhaki’s meat off of you, however much you might bring back with you,” Savirei quickly added, getting my hint.

  “Nice, quite a few quests right of the bat,” Arny said.

  “Ok, I suppose it’s a deal. I look forward working with your group, Emmy,” Garret finally made it official.

  “Likewise,” Emmy said before turning to face me. “Rockin, thank you.” She smiled at me.

  “No problem,” I said, returning a smile before turning to Tarrion. “Hey, can all of you wait for me outside. I need to talk to Lapis quickly.”

  “Sure,” Tarrion said.

  “What about us, Master Rockin?” Sylfrin asked.

  “Why don’t you go with Tarrion outside? I am sure nothing bad will happen,” I said.

  “Ok, Master Rockin,” Sylfrin agreed, Ranalaiya and Lilfira going out with everyone as well.

  “Right, Lapis, I’d like to talk to you quick,” I turned to him.

  “Yes, Mister Rockin?” Lapis put his attention to me.

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