Hunter was reminded once again why showers were the best thing every invented. Even if the water was cold it was absolutely delightful. Even though there hadn’t been a horde of enemies, he had still ended up covered in blood, shit, and other things he didn’t want to think about. He was faintly disgusted to see it draining into the ground below.

He also discovered the reason that there were Rings of Holding when he went to dry off. He had already removed his armor and with it, his ability to pull any items from his Goldwrap. After that everything sort of clicked. With a ring, he could store items within it even if he was in a compromised position. He decided that he was going to store an emergency cache of weapons, rations, and miscellaneous odds and end for such situations.

He didn’t think an imp would bust in on him taking a shower, but if he was ever returned to normal society it would be good to have an ace in the hole. Rather, an ace in the ring. Plans made he dried off with his makeshift towel and left his shower. He had stacked his armor just outside the threshold and when he spotted it, he wrinkled his nose in disgust. Now that he was clean, he could smell the horrifying stench emanating from his armor. 

Shrugging, he decided to rinse his padded tunic and trousers in the shower. The rest he would clean off separately. He had seen some polishing rags and whetstones in the crafting room. He had neglected to grab them on his previous trip because who honestly had the time to care about such things when it was a life or death situation?

When he returned from cleaning his tunic, he snatched up his greed focus and donned it before he padded over to the armory in just his boxers. He didn’t want to be helpless even within the Sanctuary. He could feel a slight pang in his chest as he left his Sword of Avarice where it lay, leaned against the wall in its scabbard.

When he got to the armory, Hunter grabbed a tunic and trouser combo but didn’t transform them with his Midas touch. They would make for suitable clothing while he dried his own equipment. Clothed, but still not wearing any boots, he crossed the hall to enter the crafting area.

He snaked his way around the miscellaneous equipment to get to the forge. As he passed the anvil he stepped on a discarded nail and cursed out loud.

Okay that’s it. I’m wearing boots and a fucking helmet at all times.

He pulled the nail out of his foot. It had only penetrated maybe an eighth of an inch which was somewhat surprising to Hunter. He looked at the bottom of his foot and realized that the minor wound wasn’t even bleeding. 

Thank you Vitality! Maybe I don’t have to wear boots all the time. If he was honest, he enjoyed walking around barefoot. It felt more natural to him even though his mom complained about it all the time.

He ruefully rubbed the wound more out of habit than because of any actual pain. He had leveled his pain resistance up to six in the last three days. It didn’t make him a tank, but it did allow him to shake off wounds that would have made him scream in his prior life.

Pleased with himself, Hunter threw the nail into a far corner and walked up to the forge. He didn’t see any way of lighting the stone oven-looking structure, but that was alright. He had brought his own fire to the party. Hunter raised his arm and placed his arm into the forge. There was already a mound of coals so he didn’t need a large amount of flame. He chewed on his lip as he wondered how to conjure the fire without it exploding.

Deciding to take a stab at it, he activated his Battle Meditation and allowed his senses to expand. He slowly breathed in and out as he focused his mana. He felt Flames of Avarice spring into being, but he kept a tight reign on the burning projectile. It felt like trying to hold onto a thrashing fish. It tried to buck his mental control, but he was patient. He didn’t try to push to hard or relax too much. He imagined he was guiding a river and he was the riverbank. The water could erode the earth over time, but for this short period, he was able to contain the flow. 

He slowly poured mana into the focus until it flowed from his finger tips in five small streams. The fire splashed evenly on the coals and steadily heated them up. Seeing his success, he applied more mana until the fuel finally caught. When it was burning merrily, he got a notification.

Congratulations! Due to your actions, you’ve earned the Passive Skill: Mana Manipulation Lvl 1. 

Hunter smiled, but didn’t bother checking the details of his new passive. It was a common staple across video games and he didn’t need for the system to confirm what he already knew. He had felt what he was doing while it occurred. His idea was already spinning with new ideas that he wanted to try. His Intelligence was high, so he bet he could find a bunch of different exciting applications for his new skill.

He watched the forge for a while to make sure it wasn’t in danger of going out. Then he spread his sodden tunic and trousers on the wide stone shelf leading to the maw of the forge. 

There that’ll dry it quickly enough. 

On his way out of the crafting area, a thought occurred to him. He made a beeline toward the large wooden bookshelf and started scanning the spines for a book that would teach him how to take care of his weapons and armor. If he didn’t maintain his gear, he could imagine it failing him in the worst situations. If he wanted to become a warrior then he was going to act like it. He didn’t know much about the military, but every movie he had watched, they had spent a lot of time breaking down and cleaning their guns. He should probably treat his sword and equipment the same way. 

Luckily, the book he wanted was one of the first ones on the shelf. It was titled “Equipment Maintenance for Dummies.” Hunter scowled at the cover.

At least dummies sounds better than idiot.

He pulled the book from the shelf and stowed it into his storage ring. He would read some of it tonight before going to sleep and see if he could learn something useful. After grabbing the book, he grabbed some other miscellaneous gear he thought he might need. He found polishing rags, whetstones, a bottle full of an oily substance that he assumed was for metal, and some needle and thread. He threw it all in his storage ring and then left the crafting area. He padded over to the barracks looking area and crashed on a bed. 

Let’s check out my Paths, he thought while smiling.