“I want to be an Armorsmith.” Sam said simply. TJ didn’t respond, instead letting the teenager explain himself as they walked into the remains of Roger and Susan’s house. “I want to be able to protect myself as well as others. That’s why I took the Skills to get the sword and shield, because I thought that I could use them to protect Mimi. I planned on getting armor from another Skill too, so that I could be a knight, like in books and movies.”

    The young man blushed a little at that, but he didn’t walk back his statement.

    “And why did you decide not to do that?” TJ prompted. Sёar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    “I saw you.” Sam answered limply. When TJ squinted a little, trying to understand the statement, Sam continued, “You have Skills, real ones that make you… I don’t know, like someone who can actually become a god. That’s what all this is about, right? And I was trying to be a knight, not a god. So, I want to become something more than someone who can put magic armor on. If I can make it, I can be like Hephaestus or… I don’t know any other gods of blacksmithing.”

    Again, Sam blushed, but he didn’t have anything else to say. After a moment, though, he looked up at TJ for approval. TJ gave the unsure kid a thumbs up and smiled. “That’s a good idea. I didn’t think about how you need to perceive your path forward, so I just wanna say good job on that, since that change in perception is pretty important. I think. Whatever. Anyways, I wish Michelle was here to help you with that, but since I’m all you got, I’ll do what I can.”

    “Who’s Michelle?” Sam asked.

    “Someone from my Tutorial. She was already a blacksmith before the Integration, so she got the Occupation of Blacksmith. I bet she’d be able to teach you more about smithing, but I can give you directions on creating leather armor. If we have questions, we’ll see what we can learn. How’s that sound, kid?”

    Sam smiled a surprisingly sweet grin and ducked his head. TJ counted that as a victory and turned to Mimi once again. “What was your idea?”

    “I don’t want to be a Crafter at all.” Mimi said, avoiding meeting TJ’s eye.

    “Fine by me.” TJ shrugged. “What was your idea, then?”

    “I want a fighting Occupation.” Mimi almost whispered. “I know they’re not common, but I need to be able to protect myself.”

    “That’s not a bad point.” TJ said, nodding. “However, I’m sure you can make your Class more of a fighting and healing type of thing. Why would you want to change your Occupation? That’s the one that seems much more flexible than the Classes are.”

    “I… I don’t know?” Mimi responded, her face suddenly worried. “I don’t know if I realized that was an option?”

    “I’m not telling you what to do,” TJ clarified, “I just wanted to ask. If you’re sure you don’t want to have anything to do with creating or crafting, then you should stop doing it entirely. Nothing more. You’ll get to Copper tier some other way, and then you’ll get more levels in your Copper Occupation. The trade off will be that your Class’s levels will be more Dirt tier than copper, but as far as I can tell, that’s basically a moot point. My Class gives more Attributes than my Occupation, but I’m willing to bet it can go either way.”

    “I… Ok.” Mimi said, but it was surprisingly little time before she made a decision again. “I still want a fighting Occupation. I want to be able to heal people, and be really good at it. So, I’ll stay a Disciple, but I still need to defend myself. So, Occupation.”

    “Sounds good.” TJ nodded. “Then we’ll leave most of the cleanup to Sam, though I’ll do whatever is most needed.”

    Sam groaned, but TJ shrugged. “Look, I won’t get anything from this. I was one of the first 5,000 people to hit Copper tier in the world. I’m level 26, and some random Dirt tier harvesting will just be busy work for me. Plus, my Occupation doesn’t care about Dirt tier materials. It needs to be more divine than that. As a matter of fact, if you weren’t around, I wouldn’t harvest these wolves at all. I’m offering you experience, though this isn’t exactly what you’re wanting to do. Even so, you’ll get levels and you’ll get stronger, so don’t complain.”

    The faces of awe and disbelief that replaced the more casual looks that had decorated the teens’ faces. For a second, TJ wondered what they were so surprised about. Then, he asked, “Was it the first 5,000 thing?”

    “How do you know that?” Sam asked, confirming the answer.

    “Well, I was offered a Class for that when I evolved to Copper tier.” TJ shrugged. “Said I was one of the first 5,000. Didn’t take the Class, though. It would have changed me.”

    “... Ok.” Sam answered. Mimi merely closed her mouth before looking at the Spear that was still in her hands. Then, she looked up at TJ with puppy eyes.

    “No.” He said with a chuckle. “That’s mine. If I had something better, I’d pass it on, but I don’t. Plus, don’t you want to have a sword or something cooler than a bone and horn spear?”

    “No.” Mimi answered, holding the spear out for TJ to take it. She managed to maintain eye contact, and somehow, the sad look she gave as she returned his weapon to him made him realize that he was going to be giving her something before long. She continued, “This is good. It doesn’t have Attainments, but I want a spear.”

    TJ groaned as he gave up on resisting what he was going to do for this girl. “Ok. Ok. I’ll do it.”

    Mimi acted innocent, as if she didn’t know what he was talking about, but instead of engaging with her about that, TJ turned to Sam, who shook his head wryly as the older man walked to the Vargr’s corpse.

    “Does she always do this?” TJ asked.

    “Quiver her lip and pout to get what she wants? Yeah. Didn’t work at…” Sam trailed off before restarting, “It didn’t work at home, but she could get most people to do what she wanted this way.”

    “Well, from here on, don’t let me near her when she wants something.” TJ laughed. “I don’t think I’ll be able to afford it.”

    “Hey!” Mimi answered. “I resent that!”

    “Then resent it!” TJ laughed as he carved the flesh from the creature’s thigh. Its femurs would be here, and they would, together, probably be more than enough to work as the haft for her spear. “I’ll help you out this time, because I was already planning on making Sam something, so it’s only fair. But instead, you need to practice with my Spear until I’m done with yours. I’m also going to make you fight any and all monsters that come through here. Clear?”

    The little laughter and small points of relaxation from the past hours felt good. TJ cut the first femur free and flipped the corpse over to begin working on the other as he felt a pit building in his stomach. These couple of days hadn’t been too bad. In fact, they’d been positively pleasant compared to the Tutorial. And that made him afraid. Afraid something was going to happen. Would a Silver tier come through and kill all these people TJ was allowing himself to relax around? Would they turn on him? Would a Participant decide that they were going to subjugate everyone and make this all go away?

    TJ remembered the dreams he’d had of Kukulkan, of other people coming to usurp the faith in him. Of a god coming to challenge his sovereignty. The violence that continued beyond the day to day. Then, there were the visions he’d seen of the others in his Tribulation. Would he have to fight off hundreds of people? Would the monsters always attack?

    Then, there was the promise he’d made to the System.

    “I’ll be your monster.”

    This wasn’t him being particularly monstrous. He was just… pretty regular right now. Helping some people out and just taking things a day at a time. Sure, he had the ulterior motives of gaining a Skill from protecting the teenagers or from getting followers to help him out moving forward, but he was still doing objectively nice things. Frankly, he wasn’t at all monstrous now. There was so much he could do that was so much less dark and painful than destroying every enemy in his path. It was so much better to teach these deserving people, to take time and laugh and relax.

    Would that keep him safe if a Silver tier came knocking?

    No.

    TJ was willing to take time and effort to help these people, but the time was gonna come soon that he’d need to leave them behind. He was Copper tier, so far beyond where they were, and he wasn’t going to get any levels out of just watching them as they slowly caught up to him. With a grunt of effort and a wet pop, TJ pulled the other femur free from the Vargr’s pelvis and Appraised Mimi and Sam.

    Zealot, 18

    Disciple, 19

    Each had gone up, though Sam had gained more levels than his sister. Not too surprising, considering what their Classes demanded of them. But even if they were as exemplary as he had been, they were at least four more levels away from Copper tier. And, until now at least, they hadn’t been. So, how long would it be before they got even close to being able to keep up with him?

    TJ thought about the Skills they had evidently taken, and realized that they’d be at least level 30 before they could be approximately where he was. That… wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

    As soon as he realized that, TJ knew what he was going to have to do. He’d make the things he promised them, keep the pair safe through the night, and tomorrow he’d visit Sven’s little community to see if he couldn’t find a safe place to drop them off. There was a long way to Silver, and TJ was sure he could protect tons of people until then, enough to get him the Skill he needed. But he’d never get that Skill if he was holding himself back.

    With that in mind, TJ took the two femurs and one of the Vargr’s other bones, either its tibia or fibula, and set about making the two weapons he’d said he would. As he worked with the materials, TJ wondered to himself how he would explain it to these two kids without making them feel like he was abandoning them.

    —-

    Since he’d learned how to bind things with Ritualistic Transfer, TJ was willing to admit that the knife he made for Sam was better than his own. That the materials, experience, Skill, and Attributes used to create the item were all of higher quality was beside the point. TJ acknowledged that it may be time for him to replace the Wendigo Blade. Once the knife and the Spear were both complete, TJ set them to the side and Appraised them.

    Item: Weapon; Bloodbound Fungr (Copper, (I)). This knife is a common implement created by a Participant with the ability to Bloodbind materials. Made from the fang and bone of a Copper tiered Vargr, this knife is sharp and strong, able to cut through Copper tiered materials with little difficulty. As a remnant of the beast it was made from and the blood that bound it, the Fungr thirsts after blood and will reinforce itself with whatever blood is offered to its headgrants its wielder the ability to spend MP and Stamina to grant it an ethereal blade twice the Fungr’s length that will cut even Silver tiered materials with effort. This equipment grants additional Attribute points to its wielder. Points granted: +5 to Strength, Agility, and Endurance.

    Item: Weapon; Bloodbound Geirr (Copper (I)). This spear is a common implement of created by a Participant with the ability to Bloodbind materials. Made from the fang and bone of a Copper tiered Vargr, this spear is sharp and strong, able to cut through Copper tiered materials with little difficulty. As a remnant of the beast it was made from and the blood that bound it, the Geirr thirsts after blood and will reinforce itself with whatever blood is offered to its head. grants its wielder the ability to spend MP and Stamina to grant it an ethereal blade twice the spearhead’s length that will pierce even Silver tiered materials with effort. This equipment grants additional Attribute points to its wielder. Points granted: +8 to Strength and Endurance, +5 to Agility.

    The weapons made, TJ offered them to the two teenagers. As night fell, excited explanations of how they’d use the weapons filled the air, and TJ, unable to bring up the news of his inevitable parting from them, let them enjoy the evening as he prepared dinner.

    Thanks for reading! If you''re dying to read more, join the Patreon, where you can read up to 28 chapters ahead!

    Join the swarm! .gg/RqzsKj8hkD