Accidentally smithing: Chapter 1 - One

„ Uhhhhmmmm“

Class evaluation... High Compatibility with Engineer, Smith

Whatever is happening just now, Engineer sounds good, I have been studying for that for over 3 years now so let's goo he thought. Upon which he was quickly interrupted.

Item of "Exquisite Intricacy" found. Unique fingerprint of Nik Thems detected...

Wait, there is nothing Exquisite on me. What are those boxes talking about? Upon which his thoughts were quickly disrupted again.

Sufficient rights to discern item purpose missing. Item of "Exquisite Smithing" Quality.

This is bizarre. There is nothing on my person that has to do with smithing. My Phone?

Class rating analysis... High Compatibility with {Smith}, medium Compatibility with {Engineer}, low resonance with {Messenger}, {Scribe}

Where did Messenger and Scribe come from? Why did my Compatibility go down?

Uhhhm what? Can’t I say no?

Nik Thems: Class {Smith}: Level 0 obtained

Item of "Exquisite Smithing" Quality: Smartphone. Creation before class had been obtained.

Maximum Experience that can be granted 99.

How? I am not a smith! What is happening?

And just as Nik thought that he went and got bombarded with another round of boxes appearing in his vision, pushing the rest into the background.

Class skill [General Tool Proficiency] learned

Independent skill [Identify] learned

[General Tool Proficiency] you know how to use the tools of your chosen Class.

[Identify]: Inspecting items, goods, and people results in knowledge about them depending on your Class and Race levels

Alright, so skills are good I guess but why and how? There are no skills is this a video game? I have to be dreaming right?

Unique Deed unlocked:

[Interplanetary Travel]: You have been on more than one Planetary Object.

[Realmer]: You have passed through the fabric of space itself and visited another Realm of existence.

Well, there goes whatever idea I had of being on earth. But that might just be subconsciousness messing with me. Alright, I will just roll with whatever is happening right now. Nothing I can do about anything right now.

*oooraaaawwwwWWW* came from the mountains.

"Ohh shit", Is that a bear? But his thinking was abruptly interrupted with another infobox.

Nik Thems: {Extraterrestrial Human} 3 x Level up! You have accomplished the Unique Deed [Interplanetary Travel]. 24 Stat points have been awarded. Three General Skill Slots unlocked.

Nik Thems: {Extraterrestrial Human} 3 x Level up! You have accomplished the Unique Deed [Realmer]. 24 Stat points have been awarded. Three General Skill Slots unlocked.

Nik Thems: {Extraterrestrial Human} Level 6.

That's fun and all but I really wanna be able to see again and not have those boxes impairing my whole field of vision. And with that thought, all of them disappeared from his vision. Sadly for him, that didn't change much. The boxes had not been physically existent even though Nik had still seen them. His eyes should have adjusted to the dim moonlit night by now yet they hadn't. Fixing that however, was only a matter of time. Just like the arrival of the creature Nik had heard howling 3 times by now. Each time a little bit louder.

The Humans facial expression looked pained as he strained his ears to listen to the next howl. And it came, louder than the last time. He was sure of it. Since Nik hadn't climbed up to the top of the boulder instead he was still on the ledge right below on which he passed out earlier. Considering whether he was safe where he was right now or he should move up higher he started panicking. Both options were valid depending on who or what was approaching. Could whatever was approaching right now jump or climb, he would probably be safer on the highest ledge because it would see him from one direction only and he had a big stick and a Stone to try and defend himself. But if the animal was able to do neither he would be safer even higher.

In the end, Nik decided to stay put. Moving in the darkness could prove dangerous and he wasn't that confident in his general athletics. With his weapons, especially the branch used as a dull spear, the smaller ledge was more defendable. Ramming it down from above could result in a pretty strong hit. Nik scooted back until his back touched the cool stone, leaned his branch next to himself, and grabbed his stone in his hands, prepared to throw it at whatever was approaching.

The minutes stretched on, as Nik looked towards the direction of the sound. It seemed as it had been curving slightly. While the sounds grew louder and louder with each passing howl it might not be moving towards him directly. So he waited with the stone in a death grip. It had been quiet for almost a minute now and Nik wasn't about to relax, but his heart didn't feel like it was going to explode anymore. But that did not hold true for the rest of his body. Nik assumed the pressure he felt on his whole body was adrenaline though he wasn't sure.

*oooraaaawwwwWWW* and this time it was loud!

Shocked into paralysis Nik stood on his outcrop with shaking knees. I wish I could do anything else right about now. Wait, I have skills now. There has to be a way to use the skills right? I have two available to me [Identify] and [General Tool Proficiency]. The last one doesn't help me right now. If I figure out how to use the spells I should definitely try [Identify]. [General Tool Proficiency] won't help me right, or will it. Are sticks and stones tools. Kind of I guess, a stone can be used as a hammer. And with that thought, he felt the stone in his hand grow almost comfortable. Nik thought about the rock in his hands and about [Identify] but nothing happened as he kept scanning the surrounding area. Irritated he looked down towards the rock and suddenly a small dark box appeared ontop of the rock.

| Rock | - Dense. High Durability. Currently used as a |Hammer|.

But there is more. What did it say about stat points? Wait, no if another box appears I am going to be blind for minutes again. Can't risk it. Sparing a glance to his left he saw nothing and turned his attention back to his right just in time to see a large boar thrash through the undergrowth.

Nik stared at the one-and-a-half-meter-high creature that had horns protruding from its forehead. It was hard to discern more features by the dim light of the two moons. The beast was approaching with a breakneck speed towards his position. And Nik tried to use [Identify] on it. He wasn't sure why, but any information could help.

[Reinforced Tusked Boar][Lvl. 17] - Prime specimen.

Well, that's just useless and Lvl. 17, I am so done for. I don't even have a level!! Ok, think fast... battle plan. If it gets up here, I need to attack its eyes. If it can't see me, I can't hurt me. No, it can but it can't attack me. Try to hit the eyes, but that might be difficult with the tusks. Maybe, if their sensory organs are remotely similar to humans' then going for the ears might be an idea. In the short time Nik had, he didn't come up with anything better so he would just go with it.

As the boar reached the top of the hill crouched down, still moving towards his boulder, and jumped. It didn't jump as high as Nik expected but managed to reach the first ledge with its front legs and torso. With its landing, a crunching resounded through the forest and the boar answered it with a growl. The back legs were hanging over the edge for just a couple of seconds until the boar managed to push itself over the edge. It fit barely onto the smaller ledges Nik had used to get up and down the boulder. The boar orientated itself towards the next ledge and scratched a slash into the rock wall. Nik put his stone down and grabbed for the branch hoping the boar wouldn't jump any higher. It couched down again and jumped. This time there was no sound upon the reaching of the next ledge.

While the monster was trying to get further up Nik bent down and started thrusting towards his adversary. The first blow missed the boar by a bit and landed between the two. Only just stabilizing himself with the branch he got up and leaned back dragging the improvised spear back up. Raising it high Nik threw it at the now crouching boar again. Without even looking at the boar he reached for his stone again. The branch hit right below the forehead just as the boar pushed itself upwards the next ledge. Nik had the improvised hammer in his hand as something squished and an ear tearing howl resounded around him.

Two horned paws and front legs lay on his ledge with a struggling and bleeding head right behind them. The tusks were directed towards the night sky. Without much consideration, Nik reached downwards and smashed the rock towards the boar's face. It tried to move its head down to skewer Nik but it couldn't. With supernatural speed, it turned to its side to protect the remaining eye and scooted backwards. The boar however wasn't fast enough to escape Niks strike and was hit by the rock on the side of its head.

As the boar and stone vanished together from Niks view he heard another low growl combined with the sound of rock scraping. In quick succession, there were 3 audible thumps each accompanied by slightly more angry howls each time. To find out what happened Nik shuffled to the edge and peered hopefully downwards, but it wasn't to be. The boar was already getting up again, even though it looked to be harmed quite a bit. Especially the ribcage and one of the hind legs had suspicious deformities. And while the boar had suffered quite some damage Nik was now unarmed.

Looking around in a panic Nik spotted the branch he had used as a spear first. It was located two platforms below him. Whereas the stone was now broken in half on the ground. Ok, I have two options, first I could just stay up here and wait for the boar to leave, but what if it doesn't? The second would be to get my stick and try to poke out the other eye. I don't really have a choice do I and I really need a weapon. If there are levels who knows what that thing might be able to do.

Wait, I have another option. If I get the stick I can kind of defend myself even if the stat screen is bright, I just need to prevent the boar from getting to me and it doesn't seem to be able to jump. He turned his back to the boar, which had started trying to ascend again without any success, and descended two platforms down. With his makeshift weapon in hand, he began trying to get to his stat distribution.

"Soo uhmm Stats.", nothing happened. Nik tried again. "Damn! Menu! Options! Character!". A big dimly lit window appeared in his vision.

Status: Nik Thems Race: Extraterrestrial Human [Lvl. 6] Class: Smith [Lvl. 0]

Stats: 48 Stat points available

Vitality 100 Healthpoints 10 - + Strength

1 Strength

5 Hp/hour

10 - + Physique 100 Stamina 10 - + Endurance 10 SP/hour 10 - + Wisdom 100 Mana 10 - + Willpower 10 MP/hour 10 - +

Skills:

Smith [Lvl. 0] : 0 Skill slots [General Tool Proficiency] Extraterrestrial Human [Lvl. 6] : 6 Skill slots

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HUD:

Disable/Enable APPLY Extraterrestrial Human: 0/10 Class Lvl. Smith: 99/100 Exp

After some experimenting, he came to the following results. Each point in Vitality results in 10 Healthpoints, Strength increased Strength by 0.01 and 0.5 HP/hour, Physique and Wisdom worked like Vitality but for Stamina and Wisdom. As far as Nik could tell Endurance and Willpower both only changed the regeneration rate of Stamina and Mana. He wasn't sure what the outliers were and didn't care right now but since the strength number looked odd, it was probably strength.

After some consideration, he figured that the first three would give him the most advantage right now. And that was his first goal right now. So he Placed 15 Points in Vitality, 25 in Strength, and 8 in Physique. He wasn't really sure what they would do, but they sounded right for his current task. He also switched his HUD status and now he instinctively knew where he was status-wise.

Status: Nik Thems Race: Extraterrestrial Human [Lvl. 6] Class: Smith [Lvl. 0]

Stats: 0 Stat points available

Vitality 250 Healthpoints 25 - + Strength

1.25 Strength

17.5 Hp/hour

35 - + Physique 180Stamina 18 - + Endurance 10SP/hour 10 - + Wisdom 100 Mana 10 - + Willpower 10 MP/hour 10 - +

Skills:

Smth [Lvl. 0] : 0 Skill slots [General Tool Proficiency] Extraterrestrial Human [Lvl. 6] : 6 Skill slots

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HUD:

Disable/Enable APPLY Extraterrestrial Human: 0/10 Class Lvl. Smith: 99/100 Exp Healthpoints 221/250 Staminapoints 167/180 Manapoints 100/100

Strengthened Nik braced himself. Maybe I can actually do something against that monster, but for one I am sure as hell not waiting to starve up here. Grabbing his branch he leaned over the edge, not worried that the boar was going to reach him due to the deformed hind leg, and started stabbing at the boar with his branch. It felt easier, his arms didn't feel as tired anymore and the branch didn't feel as heavy anymore.

At one point, after several minutes Nik managed to destroy the second eye. The boar turned into a frenzy at that point and started attacking everything around him. Upon ramming the boulder it got stuck with one tusk. It stabbed a stone! What is this?? In its rage, the aggravated beast thrusted its tusks in every direction. That slowly but surely turned away from the boulder and downwards the hill. Upon further consideration, Nik descended from the last. The stone he had hit the beast with had shattered in half upon dropping which worked quite well in Niks's opinion. He grabbed it and was going to try and slice the boar so it would bleed to death and he could go to sleep again. He had used a hundred and fifty Stamina during his stab attacks, a feat he surely couldn't have managed hours ago.

With the branch in one hand and chipped stone in the other, he approached the upset boar. It had gotten to the treeline again so Nik positioned himself next and slightly behind a tree in the path of the boar. He put the stone down again and placed it behind the tree. It took almost a minute until the boar had reached him but once he was close Nik charged yelling at the boar and thrashed at its legs. Once, twice, thrice. The boar was slightly off balance but quickly turned around towards the already retreating human. The monster angled its head down and charged towards Nik who tried to dodge to the side. But due to the boar's blindness, it stumbled so it pierced, and tore Niks leg with a tusk.

He yelled, screamed, and whined in agony. Unfathomable pain flowed through his body. But his leg didn't hurt. Every other fiber however felt as if it were on fire. Subconsciously Nik realized that his health was draining at a fast pace. 10 health points per second. 95, 84, 73 ... It stopped at 10. It didn't matter, he was never going to be able to walk again. How did everything go so horribly wrong in just a couple of hours? Why did I wake up here or more importantly how did I wake up here? Wait, I am not hurting anymore. Nik looked down but didn't see much besides a torn and bloody jeans. So he moved his hand down. There was skin and blood, but no flesh or open wounds he could feel. His leg did feel very skinny though. The boar! Shit, where is it? I need to get away! Nik started paying attention to his surroundings again. And found the boar three meters further away struggling to remove his tusks from both, the ground and a tree.

He saw his stone next to him on the ground and picked it up. Approaching the struggling boar from behind quietly he braced himself to hit the boar again. He hit with the sharp side and managed to draw blood, but the boar reacted and kicked at him. It hit his belly. Wheezing he pulled back. Nik felt as though he had to throw up. Instead of giving in to his urges he moved around the boar hunched over and started hammering at the head of the boar. Eventually, he heard a crack and the boar stopped moving.

Just as Nik was about to walk away he thought If I was able to heal my leg somehow then what can this monster do. I have to make sure it won't get back up. He took the sharp edge of the stone and started cutting into the unmoving body. After several cuts on both of the flanks, he saw a small window appear in his mind's eye. That was enough for him so he angled himself towards the boulder and started walking. Stopping only to pick up the branch that had as a long-ranged weapon.

Steadily Nik followed the upwards slanted path of torn grass created by the infuriated monster. Once he had reached his impromptu shelter under the moon he threw the make-shift spear on top of the outcropping above him. With a pained look he looked upwards. This is gonna be a pain in my butt. Better take a quick breather.

He leaned against the stone and was just about to slide down but thought better of it. If I were to sit down now, I won't get up until later, well maybe never. He straightened his back turned to the boulder and gripped a small outcropping and stepped with his better leg into one of the gashes created through the violent actions of the boar. It was surprisingly easy. A lot easier than it had been earlier that day what was especially impressive since he could barely put any pressure on the previously injured leg.

Once he had reached the first ledge he thought about his Vitals.

Healthpoints 30/250 Staminapoints 52/180 Manapoints 100/100

Motivated by his incredibly low Healthpoints he pushed himself up to the next plateau after having thrown the spear up there as well. In the end, he again only managed to climb to the fourth ledge on which he fell asleep with a bloody branch in his arms.

Nothing else woke him that night.