Before I knew it, three days had passed. We bought better beds, although we mostly used my money. I just said that Elena could pay me back when she had the money, it didn’t bother me too much. We also found some cheap landscape paintings to put on the walls so they weren’t so bare.

After that, Elena went out to grind some low level fetch quests, and I… I set up camp in that library. I knew how valuable books could be in this game, and I was determined to get any sort of advantage I could out of them. Unfortunately, most of the books didn’t have any sort of title or distinguishing feature on their covers, which meant that I basically had to thumb through each one individually.

On day four of living in the apartment, I had barely left it. Elena was out doing her grinding again, so I wandered into the library and pulled a random book off the shelf. This one was kinda ratty, its hard cover almost soft after the apparent frequent use it had seen. Maybe I’d find something good in it?

I wandered back out into our living room and set myself down in front of the small fire we had going in the hearth. Rather than sit on a chair, I just used a large cushion as a sort of bean bag. The damn chairs were all too big for me, so it was just easier to sit down on the ground most of the time. It helped me keep good posture too. Cracking the book open, I checked the cover page.

[Diary of Spirit Forging]
By WhisperWord

I gained a skill called Spirit Forging. Not sure exactly what it’s about, but it seems like a crafting skill, so let’s try to figure it out.

Oh wow! This had been written by a player! Apparently one of the previous tenants of this apartment had been named WhisperWord! Not only that, but they had discovered a crafting skill that was entirely unknown to me. Of course, the words on the next page immediately had me groaning.

First, I need a reasonable understanding of smithing. This will prove to be a pain in the ass, as my strength stat is garbage. Oh, and then I have to somehow find a spirit pet of some kind.

Shit. You and me both, Whisper. Also, what the hell even was a spirit pet.

With a sigh, I began to flip through the book, looking through to see if it was actually worth it to go out and learn smithing. First, Whisper described the basic idea behind Spirit Forging, which was imbuing metal with otherworldly properties. They weren’t too sure at the start of their journey, but apparently their first major success involved creating a dagger that could deal spirit damage. When inflicted on an enemy, it would create a disorienting effect that stacked the more you applied it.

“Holy shit,” I breathed, as I read Whisper’s description of the debuff. “That would fit in perfectly with my fae trickery stuff!”

Next, Whisper discovered that the metal created during the special spirit smelting process could take enchantments extremely well. Plus, it was slightly more durable than steel in its most basic form, but as I read more of the diary, Whisper described how they had managed to imbue their weapons with a multitude of other properties.

Turning yet another page, I screamed and dropped the book, falling over backwards in my haste to get away. A bright blue light zipped up out of the page and began to circle around the room at extreme speeds.

Whatever it was, it was a problem, and I lunged as it passed over me, grasping it in my hand. It felt warm and sort of fuzzy, but in an indistinct way, like it was made of fluffy water. The little blue ball of light squeaked in fright and desperately tried to escape my clutches.

Growling, I clenched it tighter in my fist. “Stop. Stop it, you little shit, what the hell are you?”

The thing gave another attempt to escape, but when I growled a second time, it froze and stopped its wiggling.

“Alright, friend,” I said, doing my best to calm my frustrated tone. “I’m going to open my hand, and you’re going to stop rushing around the room, okay? I don’t want you breaking anything.”

It let out a muffled huff, like a petulant little animal, but otherwise stayed still. Carefully, I opened my hand to find that… it actually was just a little fluffy ball of blue light. When I focused on it, I was surprised to discover that it was a will-o-wisp, and a pet-grade one at that!

“Oh my god, you’re so cute!” I gasped, watching the little thing as it stretched its diameter out a little bit.

Knowing exactly what to do, I expanded the wisp’s status screen and quickly pressed the [Establish Bond] button. Instantly, the wisp’s demeanour changed, and it bounced up into the air, doing happy little circles around me. Hell yes, spirit pet achieved!

The little wisp had probably been WhisperWord’s pet too, once upon a time. I wonder why it had been stuck in the book? Couldn’t have been a pleasant experience for it, being all pressed flat like that.

Well, except that it didn’t have feelings, because it was just an NPC. Still, I could treat it like it had feelings anyway, right? Who knows, it could be an SAI underneath everything. I wonder if there was any sentient AI actually playing Rellithesh? Surely there were, right? They were treated as just another odd branch of digitally-bound humans now, but after the way flesh and blood humanity had treated them when they first began to manifest en-masse, I understood their reticence to reveal themselves as such online.

“Well, now that we’re friends, I guess it’s time to go and learn about smithing and smelting,” I mused, tapping my chin thoughtfully as I watched the little spirit creature bob lazily through the air.

The wisp chirped in response, then wiggled and dove down towards me. Specifically, it dove down between my boobs, nestling in my bra like it was a comfy bed.

“Hey,” I exclaimed, trying to dig it out of there with a hand, only to find myself hit by a tiny static shock. “Ow! Fine, goddamn.”

With the wisp firmly but safely ensconced in my bra, I shrugged and equipped my full outfit, then headed for the door. I knew I could buy a lesson for the smithing and smelting skills, but I wasn’t sure about having enough coin for the tools to continue.

Paying the rent for the apartment two weeks in advance had cost eight of my forty silvers, and the two beds had cost me ten silvers each. The whisky had shaved off another silver, and the three nights in the inns had cost me sixty coppers. Other miscellaneous expenses had taken a further two silvers and ten coppers, which left me with… nine silvers and thirty coppers. It should be enough for the lessons, but only just. I was going to need to go and do some grinding of my own tomorrow.

Leaving the house, I made my way towards a smithy that I knew took newbies. The streets were bustling with NPCs and players alike, as usual, and the sun was just beginning its descent towards the horizon. It was a pretty good day, too, as far as Porin weather went.

The walk through the city was pretty pleasant too, with the rushing of the hundreds of streams and little waterfalls drowning out much of the city noise to create an aura of calm. There was a reason I’d come back here even after getting kicked from my guild. I really liked this city, and it was sort of my home these days. Even if I really missed my Mom, and my older brother.

Riku would laugh and tease me if he saw how I was spending my time right now. He’d also be good natured about it, and apologise if he thought he’d gone too far. He was always so perfect. My pain in the ass lovable, perfect, painfully high expectation setting older brother. The exceptional bane of my mediocre existence.

Approaching the smithy, I pushed all the thoughts of family out of my head and focused on the task at hand. The smithy was another circular building with a central courtyard, but unlike the apartment, most of the internal wall was missing.

Multiple smelteries and forges were spread out across the roofed area, about half of which were currently in use. Smoke belched from the chimneys high above, and heat rolled over me in a radiant wave, mixing with the smell of dense, aged wood burning to create a pleasant vibe.

I stood in the center of the place for a moment, wondering how to find an NPC to teach me, when another player approached me. He was a tall, somewhat muscular elven dude with the air of a tank around him, although currently he was dressed in a large smithing apron.

“You need something made, gorgeous?” he asked confidently.

I stared blankly up at his face for a moment, but just as my eyes slid over his generic blond hair and blue eyes, so too did my brain unceremoniously dump his words into the garbage chute.

“Sorry, what?” I asked, craning my neck to meet his gaze now. God, he was way too fuckin’ tall.

“Need anything made?” he asked, raising one of the hairy blonde slugs on his brow.

“Oh, no thanks,” I said, smiling politely. “I’m here to learn smithing and smelting.”

Immediately, his expression becomes one of unrestrained mirth. “Oh man, that’s too funny. For real, though. I’ll make anything you want. I’ll even give you a discount if you let me add you as a friend.”

“Uh, why?” I asked, confused for a moment. Then it hits me, or rather, it hits me that he’s trying to hit on me. Frowning now, I tell him, “Uh… I wasn’t joking. Sorry, dude. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“Come on, beautiful, what are you going to smith with those tiny arms anyway?” he asks, still smiling, except now I see the lecherous light in his eyes for what it is. “A pretty girl like you shouldn’t need to even make your own gear.”

“Dude, I said no,” I said, exasperation piercing my tone. “Why are you even trying to hit on me? You’re like twice my size, and unlike in your favourite hentai, my body won’t stretch to accommodate your horse cock.”

My words stunned him for a split second, but then he grinned, “Oh, so you were checking out my bulge, huh?”

Nevermind that the stupid thing was convered by his apron. God, what a dumbass. My next words were laced with venom. “No, but you’re the type of guy who gives himself a huge dick in the game so he can finally experience what it’s like to have one. It was an educated guess.”

With my piece said, I pointedly broke eye contact and headed for a grizzled old smith NPC, leaving a sputtering man-child in my wake.