A Dream and a Purpose

This was the minion he desired and deserved. Not a slime but a fierce warrior.

She was well over six feet tall, and, unlike him, she was a true orc berserker. But he still somehow towered over her. Her skin was darker, more grey than green and her head was shaved bare except for a long braided pony tail on the back of her head. Her eyes were blood red and angry. But, most importantly to him, her body was built perfectly. Thick. Powerful. She exuded an aura of sexuality even clothed in a heavy armored bodice and chain skirt. Never far from her grasp was a war ax to cleave her enemies in half.

The proud warrior clearly rejected her status as a mere minion. She played hard to get at first. Alternating between coldly ignoring his commands to help him build his dungeon or kill adventurers and lashing out in bursts of **** **** when he cornered her.

He could have simply overpowered the exotic beauty. **** her to her knees against her will and made her service his proud manhood. But instead he used patience and cunning. Day by day he broke through her defenses. His battle prowess and acts of bravery, his ruthless conquest yet generosity to his loyal followers, she was his long before she recognized that truth.

Now was the day he finally took what was his. Standing together in broad daylight on an elaborately decorated balcony. She offered herself willingly in front of his assembled empire. Her attendants stripped her bare before him and the crowd revealing the muscular body covered in tattoos and piercings. No scar had ever marked her body. No man had touched her until today. He was enthralled by her enormous breasts. Her dark nipples were pierced and linked by a golden chain. He used the chain the pull her to the edge of the platform so she could watch the crowd as they witnessed him claiming her.

Tight wasn’t the right word, but she was warm and impossibly wet. Her cunt took him to the base of his cock in a single thrust. It pulled and sucked and stimulated him from the tip to the root. Even his balls felt like they were being caressed and stimulated.

The crowd roared their approval. The female orc moaned and panted as she was **** into continuous orgasms. Her cunt vibrated as if it had a mind of its own. His own need was quickly overtaking him. He dug his nails into her soft flesh he finally erupted...

And woke up clutching at air. The power of his orgasm was very real; however, and he lurched forward as he came. The stimulation along his cock never ceased as he shot rope after rope of thick orc cum. It was even more powerful than two days previous when he had used the goblin chiefess for his pleasure.

“Suo” The slime chirped happily at its master.

The slime’s tendrils still moved down his pants continuing to massage his shaft and balls and coax out every last drop of the delicious substance therein.

For a horrifying moment the orc thought the slime was trying to eat his sensitive man parts. As he watched in paralyzed fear, he realized it was only the large load of his cum disintegrating as the slime absorbed it.

“Get off!” He barked angrily at the slime as he finally returned to his senses.

The slime quickly disengaged from around its master’s pants and crotch and retreated, fearful of the angry outburst.

The orc felt a momentary twinge of remorse. The simple creature couldn’t understand what was so wrong about the disgusting act. Had he been talking in his sleep? Had the slime interpreted it as orders? Or had it simply been searching for breakfast?

It was shameful and revolting. It was a good thing no one else could ever find out what had happened. Using a slime to resolve your sexual urges, was there anything lower? But still, there was a nagging reminder in the back of the orc’s brain. Namely that he had never cum so hard in his entire life. Maybe this was a use for slime’s no one had simply ever discovered before? Maybe what happens in the dungeon stays in the dungeon?

The orc considered the mass of liquid still cowering several feet away from him.

“Listen, slime...”he began somewhat apologetically.

Then he stopped. What did he really want to say? He didn’t really even know what to call it. All he had done the day before was bark orders. Maybe the thing was just a beast of instinct. Or maybe it was searching for a way to please its master. But first and foremost the orc realized he needed to change his own approach. And that started by recognizing the minion as a being. It needed a name and since the two had first met there was really only one option.

Clearing his throat, the orc tried again more gently, “Listen... Suo... Just don’t do that again without my permission.”

The blue status bar above the slime instantly shifted to fit its new name

Suo, Slime - ???

The small creature rippled with excitement, though whether from having its own name or the implied promise that he could taste him again in the future the orc didn’t know and didn’t care to think about.

Leaving the small alcove he had slept in, he went down the nearest curved stairs to check the progress of the level under construction. The pair of dust golems had continued their ceaseless work through another night and again he saw that they had made excellent progress.

And again the orc knew that he would have a long day of resource gathering ahead of him just to keep up with them. The strange way he had woken up had managed to kill his appetite, but he realized he hadn’t had a proper drink in quite a while. He was tempted to go ahead and put the spring in the large room. He thought he could at least place it temporarily until the lowest floor was completed, but he wasn’t completely sure he’d be able to move it again once he did. Rather than risk ruining his blueprints he decided to go to the forest first today. There were plenty of water sources he could find as he harvested even more resources.

Today was the fourth day since he had respawned, but today the forest felt different. Even Suo didn’t stray from his side to try and eat various plants, sticking close to its master instead.

They managed to make it to the forest without incident, but he hadn’t even began to harvest when he was ambushed.

Tendril like vines shot down from a tree's higher branches, and attempted to wrap around him and drag him off his feet. The orc took a small amount of damage before he was able to snap the weak vines and free himself. Looking up he quickly found the white status bar of the offender.

Tanglily - ???

Some sort of new plant based monster from the looks of it. It’s body was a green mass of coils of vines with a single eye stalk protruding from its front, blinking as it stared down at him. The rest of the creature appeared to be the long vine appendages that would try and capture prey to bring back to its main body to feed.

White status. Not a threat. The thing didn’t, or couldn’t, move as he charged a blast of Dark Energy.

+2 Experience

The weak monster was easy enough to kill but hardly seemed worth the trouble or mana cost. But if the beasts were going to stand between him and the resources he needed for his dungeon, they were going to have to go.

Two more trees and two boulders were harvested without further encounters. However, a single hostile goblin with a stone knife appeared near his favorite grove of resource trees. Using the method from the day before, Suo provided a distraction and the orc easily finished it off for two additional experience points. He found it a little strange to be fighting a goblin again after his previous friendly encounters but the thing was unwilling to talk and clearly hostile. Suo needed to refill its health so it was a pragmatic decision to allow it to eat the corpse.

Three more of the plantlike tanglilies clustered in the trees of the resource area. But they were easy enough to spot once you knew what to look for and were really only a danger if one stood directly under them. He dispatched them at his leisure before tapping the trees. It took longer than punching, but with the sudden increase of combative monsters he didn’t want to lower his health bar unnecessarily.

With a bit more stone and plenty of wood gathered, his next priority was a drink. The orc and the slime picked their way carefully through the underbrush staying alert for any danger as well as any water. Eventually the gentle sound of running water could be heard among the usual noises of the forest.

A small stream flowed down from the higher land of the mountain on a bed of well worn and rounded rocks. It cut a small uneven path through the trees and brush. The stream wasn't large enough to impede movement but the path it cut did open up a long line of site in the forest. The stream was barely deep enough to keep itself moving but it was good clear fresh water. The orc cupped his meaty hands to form a bowl and drank his fill. Meanwhile the slime splashed happily in the shallow water just downstream, either drinking or playing he didn't know.

“Suo,” a tendril formed out of the slime’s body to fish something out of the rock bed and offered it to its master.

Grabbing the dark stone the orc held it up wet and glistening in the canopy filtered sunlight.

Obsidian - (rare)???

It must have washed down from the mountain. The dark piece of volcanic glass was still rather sharp unlike the surrounding stones, so it was likely a more recent addition. But Imporne wasn't a volcano, was it?!

There was another splash from further downstream. A larger splash. Something heavy had hit the water.

The orc turned to see that something kneeling down at the stream's edge to pull a similar stone from the water. It was big, it was covered head to toe in full polished silver plate armor, and it had a massive sword strapped to its back.

SirWalterTheDread - ???

The adventurer’s status nameplate was red. Blood red. The color of overwhelming power. The color of so many of the orc’s deaths.

The adventurer turned upstream to examine the pair of monsters but his gaze quickly went to the stone the orc still held in the air.

They both moved at the same time. The adventurer pulled the giant sword from his back and began a splashing charge up the stream. The stone in the orcs hand vanished into his inventory. His free hand was already pushing on the earth to create a summoning circle for the skeleton. The orc didn’t wait for his summon to materialize. As soon as the circle was complete he grabbed Suo and began to run away.

He hadn’t made it ten paces, less than the length he could throw a spell, when he felt the connection with his summon being obliterated. Dead in a single hit. He didn’t bother turning to see. He knew. He just hoped the skeleton bought him at least an extra second.

“Suo”

For some reason that sounded like a warning. The orc immediately changed course to his right. A tree to his left exploded as a hand ax sailed through the air and pushed through it. The orc’s stamina was depleting but it was going down slowly. He wasn’t sure if he could outrun or outlast an adventurer but he had **** but to try.

“Suo”

Again the orc changed direction, barely evading yet another ax.

“Suo Suo”

What the hell did that mean?! The orc didn’t dare turn around to find out. He caught a glimpse of the sparkle on the tree next to him as he ran past. It was only then that he realized the vine hanging in front of his face wasn’t a vine at all.

The orc ducked. For the first time in his life he was grateful to be a mere five feet tall on the tips of his toes. The ensnaring tendrils grazed his disheveled coal black hair but he just passed under. However, the much taller adventurer just behind him did not. The grassy monster attempted to haul in its prize. Of course a high level adventurer had no problem breaking free of the forest prison but it delay him.

From that point of the chase forward the orc looked for resource trees. Not all of them had the plant creatures, but enough did. His lungs burned, his legs screamed in protest, but the orc didn’t dare stop. By the time the orc’s stamina gave out he realized he had been sprinting alone. The adventurer had given up the chase somewhere along the way. In his place he was greeted by a new system alert.

A vendetta has been issued by SirWalterTheDread
Fame increased!
Fame: 138
An Enemy has Declared a Vendetta! +7 (Expanded)
Enraged Someone Enough to Remember You! +2
Survived an Overwhelming Opponent! +5

The orc collapsed in exhaustion. He crawled his way under the thickest of the nearby brush. That drink of water was definitely not worth it! He remembered the goblin’s warning from the day before. Many many more adventurers. Were the new monsters tied to the rise of adventurers? Was this just the start? How was he supposed to harvest the tons of resources the dungeon required? If he died would everything reset and would he loose everything he had built?

He had to get stronger. But how did one get stronger? How did adventurers get stronger? A stupid question, they were already strong. But they got even stronger right? Yes, by killing monsters and beating dungeons. So how does a monster get stronger? By killing adventurers. As if it were that easy. If he were strong enough to kill adventurers he wouldn’t have this problem. It was all circular arguments.

He had a dungeon. He had fame. He had allies. It was time to stop reacting to situations and start taking control. He set out as soon as his stamina had refilled enough to allow it. He gathered a few more resources as he moved but his main goals as making it back to his dungeon without any more fighting. He had run further into the forest than he was comfortable and it was already dark by the time he returned home. Several times he grabbed Suo and hid under a tree or dense shrubbery as the shadow of something large flew overhead.

The dust golems had finished the second level and had moved on to construct the lowest level. He moved to one of the waing archways in the new second level and pulled up his construction options. Knowing how long it would take a slow construct to climb the curved stairs, he shouted for one of the golems to join him before he even selected what to build.

Construction:
Hallway
Requires:
8 Stone
1 Ore(Any)

The medium length hallway had two more sealed archways on either side as well as another on the far side. Again he kept the simple cut stone and dim lighting. Along with the golem, he made short work of the construction as Suo watched on. On the first door on the left he spent another good bit of stone as well as some ore and wood to start a magic workshop. The second door to the left was turned into an item workshop for even more stone, ore, and wood. Each of the workshops would be approximately sixteen foot square so he guessed the length of the new hall must be at least thirty-two foot long. Building off of a large circular room made the blueprints rather strange to fit, but he planned this to be his main working floor. Across the hall at the first archway to the right he started to place a storeroom for the new workshops. However the blueprint for the storeroom was twice as large, taking up both spaces on the hall, and costing twice the resources to build. But if he was going to start production he'd need a place to keep everything. He pressed the accept button.

Finally he tried to check the building options at the end of the hallway but received an error that he was out of stone. Instead he had the golem go to work on the first new room while he had the last of his half eaten cooked meat for a late meal. He showed Suo how to tap to increase construction. As expected the slime produced hardly any progress but it seemed happy to be helping. He also summoned a skeleton to work before hammering the progress bar himself. He needed these rooms completed and every little bit counted.

They worked through the night. The golem more than proved its worth for construction again, while he made steady progress. Meanwhile Suo and the skeleton... contributed. He took short breaks and naps as the night progressed. Suo gave out completely in earliest hours of the morning. But by morning they finished the three new rooms and the golem stomped off to resume its work with its twin on the lowest level as the orc checked the new additions.

The first room, the magic workshop, fit its description. It was indeed a sixteen foot squared room designed like the rest of his dungeon with simple cut stone blocks. Though the lighting was much better in this room. In addition to the usual dark roughly forged metal sconces in the walls giving off flickering flames, there were all manner of contraptions in the room exuding their own source of light in rainbows of colors. The main feature of the room were three tables, one on each wall away from the door.

The table to his left held a number of small tools such as hammers and chisels for engraving. There was an open tome siting upright on a small easel. The pages display runes and instructions on how to use them as well as binding magical circles. A thin tall tube sat on the corner of the desk filled with a glowing blue liquid. Suspending in the tube, small silver bubbles rose and fell, pearlescent in the light.

Enchanting Table

The table across from him had even more books piled on top of it. Magical dictionaries and encyclopedias. There was a strange armature that held a number of magnifying lenses of varying power. On the side of the table there was also a rack of thin glass test tubes holding liquids of varying colors and smell next to a dish that held swabs and pipettes.

Appraisal Table

The final table to his right was absolutely covered with more of these test tubes as well as additional shapes and sizes of vials and flasks. Some of these were connected together with an elaborate series of thin looping pipes. Small magical circles produced flames of blue and green and pink that kept some of the containers boiling constantly. Other larger tubes spiraled up towards the ceiling where they connected to a thick glass condenser that emptied into tall beaker. The rest of the table was dedicated to mortars and pestles holding dizzying variety of powders.

Alchemy Table

Between the tables there were even more bookshelves and chests. Even though it was just created it gave the impression of a busy, cluttered room. He started with the enchanting table, carefully tapping an open spot on the crowded table top.

Welcome to the Enchanting tutorial. Use this bench to add or remove statistics or effects to equipment using gathered resources as a catalyst. Please note you must have the required MP to fuse items or to separate them into their base components.
Enchant now?

He pressed accept and was shown a list of his current equipment to choose from. Picking his trusty staff to try first he received an error.

unidentified items cannot he enchanted/disenchanted

The only other items he could currently select were shabby pants or shabby boots. He selected the pants.

Leather Pants
Deer Hide x1 + Shabby Pants x1
Simple leather pants able to be worn by all. Can be dyed a multitude of colors. Offers minimal protection from the elements.
-note- non explicit characters may not unequip pants.

Tarnished Metal Reinforced Shabby Pants
+1 Defense
Scrap Ore x1 + Shabby Pants x1
These pants have been reinforced with a scrap metal mesh granting additional defense at the cost of extra weight. They appear to be in very poor condition.
-note- non explicit characters may not unequip pants.

He didn’t care how they looked. The benefit seemed obvious. He pressed accept on the metal reinforced pants. The torn trousers he had been wearing disappeared, leaving him nude except for his boots. His suddenly exposed man parts began to shrivel in the cool air. Realizing he now had a new progress bar on the table, he began to tap

Enchanting: Tool Penalty, Intelligence Penalty,
Skill Bonus

The green bar moved quickly but he saw that as the progress bar increased his own mana bar slightly decreased. With his summoned skeleton still out, he didn’t have much free MP to begin with, but it looked like the cost for this item wasn’t very high.

The pants he created were still ripped and stained, but they were certainly heavier. Examining them closely he could see the tiny metal threads running through the torn cloth. He quickly re-equipped them and moved on to his shoes.

Again he had the options of leather or metal reinforced. And again he chose the reinforced option. The new boots were a match for the pants. Shiny threads inter spaced with his normal, dilapidated boots. But despite how they looked they provided much better protection than before. He moved to the appraisal table.

Welcome to the Appraisal tutorial. Use this bench to identify unknown characteristics of equipment or resources. Please note in order to successfully appraise an item you must meet or exceed a required intelligence score.

Even with the skill boost his intelligence was only fifteen. Hopefully that would be enough for the basic items. He selected his staff once again. This time rather than a progress bar there was only an option to appraise. Once pressed he was greeted by a system pop up.

Appraisal Succeeded!
Orc Novices’ Staff
+1 attack

The orc stared at the screen. Plus one attack... plus one attack?... PLUS ONE ATTACK!... his rage boiled over. How long had he carried this stupid stick?! How long has he used it to channel his meager magic believing it to boost his power? All this time it wasn’t a magical weapon at all? It was a.... club?! The orc screamed as he bashed the wooden stick against the stone floor. Finally he flung the weapon away in disgust. Only for the slime to chase after it and helpfully bring it back. Maybe he could improve it, but right now he didn’t want to look at the damn thing so he just stuffed it back into his inventory.

Since he had it he might as well see if there was anything special in his inventory.

Hammer (Tool)
A stone hammer.

oooh

Deer Hide (common)
A basic leather resource. Can be used as a primary resource for item crafting or secondary resource for construction. No special properties.

aaaah

Pork Belly (common)
Uncooked food item.
-note- Eating raw food may result in a status ailment

Another poor use of the new room. He pulled the piece of obsidian out of his inventory. He had high hopes for it, but it was a rare item. Did he meet the intelligence requirement?

Obsidian (rare)
A hard to find stone resource for crafting or construction. Intermediate magic enhancement.
Gemstone - Enhances Dark Attribute spells or skills.

Ok, with the exception of the obsidian, his inventory was disappointing. However it seemed like the bench was connected to his dungeon inventory as well.

Pine Wood (common)
A basic wood resource for item crafting or construction. No special properties.

What was he expecting?

Sweet Grass (common)
A small pleasant tasting plant. The primary component for minor healing potions.

So that disgusting grass really was useful.

Creeping Moss (uncommon)
A parasitic moss that grows on trees. The primary component for minor paralysis potions.

Maybe he wouldn't use it for bedding after all.

Scrap Ore (uncommon)
A basic metal resource for item crafting or construction. Minor physical enhancement.

Better defense was already proving itself.

Walnut Wood (uncommon)
A slightly stronger more durable wood resource for item crafting or construction. Minor damage enhancement.

Wait, what wood? Some of the wood drops must have been the rarer walnut instead of pine because of his luck or maybe something to do with the update. The orc really wasn’t sure where they had come from. He hadn’t seen it before and hadn’t been aware he had been gathering anything but the common wood. Also stone wasn’t listed since he had run out. Well he'd have more soon enough.

Finally he came to the item that really caught his curiosity, the five gemstones. This was the only resource that showed the number in inventory.

This time when he pressed appraise, something strange happened. A small window appeared that rapidly cycled between all the different gems of the world. They spun by in a kaleidoscope of shapes and colors. Underneath the window there was a flashing button that read simply:

Stop

When he finally pressed the waiting button the rapidly changing pictures gradually slowed until the last picture stay fixed as

Amethyst (rare)
Gemstone - Enhances Wind Attribute spells or skills

Four more times he repeated the process for the remaining unidentified gemstones resulting in another amethyst as well as

Emerald (rare)
Gemstone - Enhances Earth Attribute spells or skills

Sapphire (rare)
Gemstone - Enhances Water Attribute spells or skills

Amber (rare)
Gemstone - Enhances Health

Remembering he had another item that wasn’t in his inventory he went out to the alcove and retrieved the shirt he had been so far unable to use.

Mage’s Tunic

2% magic attack
Requires at least 15 intelligence to equip.

He barely cleared the requirement. Better yet, he was able to equip the shirt now that it was identified. The shirt was mostly black but it was trimmed with thick wavy purple bands. It was very loose overall and the front plunged unnecessarily far down his chest. The sleeves were wide and fell free just past his elbows. The waist was cut just as strangely. The fabric was cut short on the sides at his hips, but hung down in front and behind him nearly to his knees. It was an odd sensation to wear a shirt for the first time. Overall he thought he looked ridiculous, but what mattered more now was function not style.

A thought occurred to him and he picked up Suo and placed it on the table.

Appraise

Slime
Slimes are low level bottom feeding monsters that are capable of digesting nearly any substance. Though they have a remarkable body structure they lack true intelligence. Scholars have theorized that all slimes begin as the same creature then later evolve into a subspecies due to their primary dietary source.

Suo, Level 2 Slime
Monster, Slime, Explicit
Experience to level up - 190
Attributes:
Strength 5
Dexterity 19
Stamina 7
Charisma 1
Intelligence 2
Wisdom 4
Feats:
Physical Damage Reduction - Racial trait. A slime’s fluid body negates 50% physical damage.
Absorption - restore HP by consuming objects.

About time he could see his own minion’s information. He had a nagging suspicion the appraisal bench wasn’t supposed to be used this way, but as long as it did work...

Skeleton
A humanoid skeleton lacking any weapons or armor. The base form of the undead. Weak to Light attribute attacks and resistant to Dark attribute. They lack any will of their own and unless otherwise controlled they will mindlessly hunt down any living creature.
Level 3 Skeleton
Summon, Skeleton, Non Explicit
Experience to Level Up - N/A- A summon will always be one level lower than their summoner.
Attributes:
Strength 14
Dexterity 7
Stamina 18
Charisma 0
Intelligence 0
Wisdom 0

“Golem, come here!,” he shouted out the hallway. He might as well check them all.

Realizing it was going to take a while for the small construct to arrive, he moved across to the store room. There were barrels and crates stacked to the vaulted ceiling, and row upon row of shelves in the stone room. Most of them appeared empty at the moment. However he was given a pop up.

Dungeon Inventory:
49/500
Pine Wood x 13 - (common)
Stone x 0- (common)
Sweet Grass x5 - (common)
Creeping Moss x 12- (uncommon)
Scrap Ore x 6 - (uncommon)
Walnut Wood x8- (uncommon)
Amber x1 - (rare)
Amethyst x2 - (rare)
Emerald x1 - (rare)
Sapphire x1 - (rare)

He moved the piece of obsidian out of his inventory and set it on a shelf where it immediately vanished.

50/500
Obsidian x1 - (rare)

At least now he could see the resources he had gathered. He really was completely out of stone. It was lucky he had had enough to finish the construction. He could also see exactly how much storage space the dungeon now held. That would make planning easier in the future.

He checked back in the large circular second floor room to see if the golem was up the stairs yet. Instead he was surprised to see the golem coming down the stairs from the third level. The pit in the center of the floor was now also completed. The other golem must have finished the bottom floor during the night while he was focused on the workshops. They were already hard at work on the last piece of his current construction, the top floor.

Dust Golem
A Lesser Earth Elemental, the weakest form of an elemental. It is tied to the magical energy of the place it was born and cannot leave. It is minimally intelligent and enjoys working and being useful.
Level N/A Dust Golem
Elemental , Non Explicit
Experience to Level Up - N/A - An elemental’s level is tied to its form and strength of place of birth.
Attributes:
Strength 20
Dexterity 8
Stamina 20
Charisma 1
Intelligence 10
Wisdom 12
Skill:
Crafting (Stoneworking)
Mining (Stone Resource Gathering)
Feats:
Child of the Earth - Can construct natural caves at no cost. Increases construction speed for all allies. Increased chance of discovering rare resources from mine resource nodes. All attacks are Earth attribute and cannot learn other attributes.
Unending Endurance - Stamina refills faster during rest. Stamina decreases slower during exertion. As long as the connection remains to its source of power, stamina never decreases.

He felt like he nearly threw out his back lifting the tiny golem but the information was worth it. The child of the earth feat was interesting. He wasn’t sure what use mining resources would be as long as it couldn’t leave the dungeon, but the free natural construction made the next phase of his plans closer to reality. And if he was reading it right, the golem would get stronger as the dungeon grew.

“Back to work”

He let the golem jump down from the table rather than try and lift it again, and moved to the other new workshop. The item workshop was similar to the other room. It was sixteen feet squared and held three more, equally cluttered, tables.

The table to his left had rows of tools: hammers, chisels, saws, and a foot powered lathe. There were drawers with gritty paper and sticky glue.

Wood Carving Table

The table across from him had even more tools. More variety of hammers and tongs. There were whet stones and honing blades. There was an impressively sized anvil. But the obvious feature of the entire room was the blazing forge giving off a massive wave of heat. A barrel next to the table held some sort of oil.

Smithing Table

Finally the table to his right held a foot powered sewing machine. There were shelves of various threads and needles. There were strange pointy tools and punches. Another easel held open a book of fitted patterns. A group of barrels containing tanning chemicals gave off a foul stench.

Cloth and Leatherwork Table

That seemed a very flammable table to sit next to an open forge. What would a structure fire be like in the dungeon? Perhaps there was a fame ability to fireproof it. Nothing to do about it now. Placed around the room there were racks for weapons and mannequin torsos for armor.

He checked the wood carving table first. There were blueprints for clubs, spears, shields, bows, and finally what he wanted, staffs.

Pine Wood staff
+1 attack
Pine Wood x1

Its name was different but it looked the same as the one he had now.

Walnut Wood Staff

5% magic attack
Walnut Wood x1

That was an improvement. He pressed accept and again found himself tapping to craft the item.

Next he moved to the smithing table. There was an arsenal of knives, swords, axes, spear and arrow heads, shields, and real armor

He had upgraded his pants and shoes without considering there might be better alternatives waiting for him.

Tarnished Metal Boots
+2 Defense
Scrap Ore x2
Ugly boots pieced together from scraps of metal. Stealth penalty while wearing metal armor. Requires Stamina greater than 20 to equip. If Strength less than 20 results in movement speed penalty.

His strength was nineteen, just under the threshold. Did he dare take the penalty? He had only just been able to escape his last encounter with an adventurer. If his speed had been any less...

Upgrading his current equipment wasn’t a waste after all. Soon enough he should have better stats and better items for even better equipment. For now he would take what would benefit him without adding penalties. Unfortunately, all of the metal armor options carried similar penalties, but just to be safe he checked the weapons list and was surprised by two of the options

Tarnished Bladed Metal Staff
+2 attack
Scrap Ore x2

Tarnished Bladed Obsidian Staff
+2 attack

10% Dark Magic Attack
Scrap Ore x2 + Obsidian x2

He only had the single piece of obsidian but that staff would be a goal for the future. Next he looked at some of the accessories he could create.

Tarnished Metal Ring
Scrap Ore x1

None of the tarnished accessories granted any bonuses on their own but he had a stash of gemstones he could probably use it together with at the enchanting table. It was cheap and fast and he was curious about what else he could do with it, so he crafted a ring.

He moved on to the final table. He only had the single deer hide but that did give him options to create simple leather equipment. Although there were no benefits to any of the items he could make, he was tempted to try the leather bracers or leather helmet and see if he could enchant them. He assumed at the very least he could do another metal reinforcement. He wavered for a moment but finally decided even a small improvement was worth the cost of his blanket

Simple Leather Bracer
Hide (Any) x1

Finally he went back to first room to check his enchanting options.

He decided against using the piece of obsidian. It was the most useful for enchanting in that it gave him a bonus to his dark magic attack, but it was also the hardest of the stones to come by. After his last encounter he was in no hurry to return to that stream or any other, and it was possible he wouldn't find another piece anytime soon.

Walnut Staff of Wind
+5(15) Magic Attack (Wind Magic Attack)
Quick Cast
Walnut Wood Staff x1 + Amethyst x1

The additional damage only applied when using Wind attribute spells which was basically useless to him since he didn’t know any, but the free feat Quick Cast greatly reduced spell charge times. Along with the standard five percent damage increase it was much better than the club he had been wielding his entire life. it was also more interesting to look at. The dark wood staff was four foot tall, straight, tapering down to a rounded nub at the base, while the top opened up into a latticework that held the light purple gem.

Leather Bracers of Life
+5% HP
Simple Leather Bracers x1 + Amber x1

The roughly stitched tan bracers now had a trim that matched the deep orange-golden color of the amber gem. They fit his forearms snugly though they felt a bit out of place. And while they looked a bit odd with his other clothing, the five percent boost had a noticeable effect on his health bar.

Lastly was the ring. He was most tempted to place the piece of obsidian in it. The table did say it could remove enchantments back to their base components. But he decided against using the precious stone as a test case.

Tarnished Sapphire Ring

2% Water Attribute damage
5% MP regeneration
Tarnished Metal Ting x1 + Sapphire x1

The band of the ring was a rust spotted uneven chunk of metal. Even the blue gem seemed to lack some of its luster in its current setting. Once again the elemental damage was currently useless but the extra mana regeneration more than made up for it.

He checked his character sheet. Two hundred and eighty nine points to reach level five. His equipment was undeniably much better, but was it good enough to kill adventurers? He did had five scrap ores left.

The orc went back to the smithing table. With the first three ores he made:

Tarnished Short Sword
+2 Attack
Scrap Ore x1

With the final two ores he made spear heads. Then used two pieces of the better walnut wood to create the shafts.

Tarnished Walnut Spear
+3 attack
Walnut Wood x1 + Scrap Ore x1

Three short swords and two spears. The weapons had different strengths and a different reach. The sword was a faster weapon to make up for its lower attack. And although the spear had a higher attack, it was slower and would be ineffective at close range.

The orc was tired. He was hungry. He had a purpose to achieve.