Final Preperations

The last two hours flew by in a blur, but they certainly weren't without progress. John had resorted to spam crafting the Metal Bracelets, with one exception being a ring to fit his last equipment slot. It took him a lot longer to level Extract Material than Craft, but with the help of his new potions, that wasn’t the problem. While he was at it, he also used the time to bring Transreceptive Eye back up to the soft cap.

Craft, Lv.7
Extract Materials, Lv.5
Gamer’s Luck, Lv.4
Transreceptive Eye, Lv.9

Quest Complete: Work in progress
Reach Level 5 (4/4):
+500 XP
+1200$
+1 Silver Bar
+1 Skate Module
+4 Non-combat skill points

Bonus Objective completed!
Fill all Equipment slots with gear:
+300 XP
+800$
+2 Coldsteel Bars

Skate Module
Use this Module in the crafting of an item of the Shoe type to give the item skates

Coldsteel Bar
Instead of being smelted like normal steel, this type of steel has been produced under the influence of extremely low temperatures and magic, making it more durable and enchantable than its hot produced counterpart. Heating the bar to melting temperatures will destroy any magic properties. Items produced with this alloy are automatically magical, are more easily enchantable, and can store more magic than items made from mundane alloys.

So he now had to decide where he would put those skill points… Especially with 7 of them having to go into non-combat skills… At least one or two into Meditation, to see if that regeneration would go up… Also Bond would make sense, to buff that without needing to spend at least a quarter of his mana...

On the Astrid front some progress was made, but nothing in the weapon department. It seemed like her body rejected any kind of weapon… did this have anything to do with Titania? What kind of weapon did that Valkyrie use anyway? Maybe that weapon was more suited for Astrid thanks to their connection.

During the training session, John also found out why Astrid wasn’t concerned about Titania taking over. Apparently, the person assigned by the Order to help Astrid, a Miss Kislev, analyzed the connection between Astrid and Titania and found out that the ‘switch’ should only happen under **** duress equivalent to the fear of dying, **** rage or **** grief, so nothing that would happen in any normal training situation. She would still have to undergo daily checks for a while and some emotional training so that it was provided that she was safe to be around.

While she didn’t actually have any progress with any weapons, both Brun and John were able to point out various basic flaws in her movement, which made it easier for her to deal with the attacks of the dummy. That didn’t mean that it was easier for her to retaliate though… with every weapon it felt like she was just aimlessly slashing and bashing about without any real grasp on how to strike her enemy… this would need further inspection at a later date, for now, John had to deal with a certain Barrier…

John had also meddled a bit with the settings of the training field, switching the Terrain style multiple times. The changes weren’t instant, but every time it looked like the field simply ‘rebuilt’ itself to fit the new setting. He didn’t really touch the dummy yet; he felt like that might’ve been unfair towards Astrid, as she was still trying to deal with the brawling dummy.

The three of them, Brun, Astrid and him, were just leaving the Nexus with Aloy saying that she wanted to stay behind to wait for John to open the Nexus again from home. His clock told him that it was close to 4 P.M. now, meaning that he should hurry to not let Kim and Kaen wait too long… First he would have to get home though, so that he could get Aloy’s bow and spear, which he stupidly left on his bed…

As they left the Nexus, John just finished up his explanation as to why he had to leave quickly now, “So that’s why I don’t want to keep Kim waiting… I hope this doesn’t seem rude, but I have a feeling that this is important…”

Thinking about it for a second, Brun clapped her hands together, “If it’s that important, then I should come with you to back you up! No sense in you getting offed without me when I could’ve prevented it. Most of the Valkyries seem to be out though, so I’m your only backup.”

He was really grateful for that, “That’s totally fine; this is more than I expected anyway! So, do you need to fetch something from your room or are we ready to go? And is this okay with you?” he turned to Astrid.

She just nodded, “It sounds dangerous, but I’m sure that you and Sis can deal with anything going on at school. And since the two of you aren’t alone, you should totally be fine. Just be careful nevertheless.”

John tenderly planted a kiss on her lips, “I promise I’ll be careful, can’t speak for your sister though,” he added with a grin. For that comment he received a hit to the back of the head.

“Ungrateful idiot, here I am offering to help you and what do you do? You mock me. BM, dude… And no, I have everything I need with me.”

That lightened the mood among the three of them a lot before they made their way towards the bikes.

As they reached the bikes, John could see someone kneeling to the side of his bike. The figure had ginger hair tied to the back of the head in a ponytail and judging from the slim figure was probably female. Seeing as how neither Astrid nor Brun seemed to be surprised by her, he deducted that she was probably one of the mechanics working at the workshop.

“I wouldn’t touch that bike if I were you… I have no idea what kind of security it has…” he shouted slightly concerned.

With a dismissing wave, the women just shouted back, “Yeah yeah, was a real workout to get past those runes. Gotta say, whoever inscribed those really knew his craft.”

Sighing exasperatedly, Brun just said, “Gudrun, you shouldn’t break the runes of other people, some might find that rude..”

Finally turning around, the girl on the floor was looking at Brun with a confused face. “But… I’m just improving them, why would people find it rude if I just improve on their work?”

Looking at the face of the girl almost made John’s heart stop. Just like the other Valkyries, the girl on the ground was practically a supermodel, extremely beautiful and a body that only strengthened that… hazel eyes, small, cute face and a bust some women could only wish for. Even the oil smudges on her cheek just seemed to improve her beauty, giving her a natural look.

Gudrun Gjoskenholm
Lv. 12 Runesmith
RP: +35 (Youz a hunk, hopefully Brun shares)
Preference: Dirty, Public
Mood: Relaxed, Curious

Well, that Observe certainly was interesting…

“Yes, it’s rude because you improve on their work without their approval, that’s like if someone went ahead an improved on your runes without you knowing,” Astrid slowly said from John’s other side.

Gudrun seemed to think about that for a moment before simply shrugging, “I wouldn’t mind. It just means that my work had flaws, and I’m happy someone could correct them, maybe I can even learn from their work.”

That was certainly a refreshing, if not a bit naive, mindset, but one John could agree with. It would really help everyone out if they would accept more help from others.

Simply sighing, Brunhilde apparently just gave up, “Anyway, do you need my bike for the foreseeable future? I need to help Johnny Newbman here with something.”

Shaking her head, the ginger mechanic gestured towards Brun’s ride, “She’s all yours, greased up and ready to go. I’ll tell your mother you’re out once she comes back.”

Brun gave her a thumbs up while she strode towards her bike.

Gudrun meanwhile looked to John’s bike and then to him, “That’s a good bike you have there, looks practically new.”

“‘Cause it is, got it just this morning. Still having to get used to riding a motorcycle”

“Cool. So you a new rider? You’re going to be around often?”

“Yeah and yeah, or that’s the plan at least.”

“Nice, maybe we can talk about your bike some more then?”

“Sure, I’d love to. Sorry, gotta go now though, important business.”

He turned around and gave Astrid another kiss on the lips, “I’ll message you later when I’m done with… whatever it is I’ll have to deal with…”

The girl pulled John’s face back in to give him a longer kiss, “You better, I know where I can find you.”

The ginger girl next to John’s bike looked at him dumbfounded, “But… I thought Brun?... Uh…” Her brain seemed to need a moment to actually process what just happened, giving John the time to chuckle, put on his helmet and swing onto his bike, kicking the ignition in one go.

Slowly riding ahead, Brun quickly caught up to him, now clad in her leather gear. Since she already knew how to get to his house, she overtook him, flipping him a finger in the meantime.

’Well, I’m not about to say no to a challenge.’

Challenge!
Reach your home faster than Brunhilde Gjoskenholm.
Rewards:
+200 XP
+500$

Accept?(Y/N)

Oh he certainly was not about to say no to that!

In the end, John didn’t manage to beat Brun; she was simply too experienced on her bike for him to catch up to. But he swore to himself that he would beat her some day, and he would goad it over her.

As he arrived at his home, the Valkyrie was already sitting on the perch, waiting for him to arrive.

“Took your sweet time,” she said with a big grin.

He waved his hand dismissively, “Yeah, yeah, blame me for not being as experienced as someone who rode her motorcycle for years.”

“Well, seeing as how you apparently break any logic with all your other skills, leave me this achievement at least.”

“Fine,” he just said as he unlocked the front door.

Seeing as how it was locked, his mom still wasn’t home, which would make this quick. Jumping up the stairs with his Flash Step, he landed in the door frame of his room. Quickly grabbing Aloy’s bow and spear, he immediately opened up the Nexus, which Aloy then exited out from.

As he handed her the weapon, he asked her a question, “Soooo… are you going to help me? Or do you want to go back to your world?”

She looked at him in a playfully offended way, “What do you think of me? Of course I’m going to help you! Even if it’s not as bad as you expect it to be, it wouldn’t hurt to have more people around. I’d like to go back after that, though. I feel like I need to find some answers in my world...”

John just couldn’t bring himself to tell her right now about how she was from a video game… this would be in too much of a rush right now, between getting her stuff and checking out that Barrier…

Nodding his head, he looked at Aloy, “So, do you want to go back into the Nexus and I’ll pull you out once we’re at the destination or do you want to ride with me on the bike?”

With a smile, she answered, “Well if you ask me like that… Give me a helmet!”

Laughing, he tossed her the helmet from his inventory, “Remind me again, why did you not want to ride with me to my house?”

The ginger looked at him a bit embarrassed, “Well, I just needed a bit time alone… I’ve never been around someone this long, and I have to get used to it…”

Yeah, that made sense to him.

As they descended down the stairs again, Brun was waiting in the frame of the front door, looking at the two of them coming down. “You two ready?”

Holding up a finger, John remembered something as he put his foot on the bottom of the stairs, “Just a moment, need to do something.” Opening up his character sheet, he decided to use his skill points now. The skill point that he could use for combat skill was going into one of those for sure. Now the question was, which combat skill would give him the most benefit if it were to be increased by a level? Basically, anything that he could use for more damage wasn’t bad, but it also didn’t feel like it had that much impact there… It would probably be the most sensible to use it on a skill that costs a lot and that would unlock more possibilities to use it. That meant either Essential Alchemy or Essence Aura, and seeing as how he just power leveled the Alchemy skill, Essence Aura it is!

Essence Aura, Lv.3: You can now imbue essences on weapons, giving them special powers for a certain amount of hits.

Nice, that will certainly help him.... Now that he thought about it, that ability was pretty powerful anyway, why didn’t he use that more often? Sure, it needed some prep time, but it gave him some powerful advantage. He had to remember that for the next fight…

Now on to the non-combat skills. Like he had planned before, he put at least one point in Meditation to see if that would improve the ability.

Meditation, Lv. Max: Increase effect of Meditation to HP regen x2.5 and MP regen x4

Well that was underwhelming… sure, the regeneration was nice, but in the end it was pretty much useless in any kind of combat situation…

Now, what else to level up? Bond immediately came to mind, since every other level seemed to grant some kind of new power, and they generally seemed pretty useful in what they could do.

Bond, Lv.8: You can now give half of your current HP to a bonded person once per day.

Okay, not what he expected… But that could be really useful!

The remaining four skill points he sent into Detection and Observe since he would probably need to use these abilities extensively in that Barrier.

Observe, Lv. Max: An enemy will now be judged with a threat level from --- to +++, depending on their current skill set and enhancements. Also, Abyssal creatures and persons will have their current abilities be judged on a scale from F to A. The categories are Physical, Mental, Offense, Defense, Utility.

That was certainly a nifty addition to the Observe window.

Now that he had assigned all the points, he was ready to go, “Okay, done now, let’s roll!”

Both Aloy and Brun nodded, and they made their way to the school.