Raph, Erwin and Clark retreated briefly as they had now reduced the size of the group significantly.

“Clark dominate another one and use it to distract the group only, keep them busy.” Raph ordered. “Erwin with me. We need to take the big guy down as fast as possible.”

“You got it boss,” Clark said, while Erwin nodded as usual.

They moved, Raph and Erwin making a B-line for the Chief and Clark backing off to distract the group. Raph got as close to the boss as he thought was safe and struck his hammers together with Amplified Sound stunning the chief while Erwin moved in from behind, hacking and slashing away. Much to their surprise the chief countered with an earth wall that surrounded him and pushed them away. The chief continued its retaliation with rocks that came out of the ground around him and started flying at them both.

“We have to get up close.” Raph shouted as he was dodging the rocks.

Activating Forged Hammers and Forceful again, Raph pushed forward into the rock storm that the Chief was creating around him. His hammers obliterated anything that came in front of him with the force and damage increases. His Tough Skin reducing the damage from any of the stray rocks that got past him, Raph finally made it past the storm and directly in front of the chief. He struck the Chief in its chest and it flew backwards, Raph paused as he watched it fall back around three metres yet it seemed relatively unharmed. He noticed the Chief’s skin had an earth-like quality, it must have used a skill similar to his own.

“Erwin, it's using a defensive skill on itself.” Raph shouted again. “Can you do anything about that”

“Just give me a second and keep it focused on you.” Erwin shouted back as he backed away.

Raph kept his attacks up, even if he wasn’t doing much damage. For a few seconds he was getting concerned that Erwin might not make a move but thankfully he was wrong. He saw a flash of light and then.

SHHHLICKKK.

The Chief’s left arm, that had been holding the staff, was now on the floor completely severed from his body. The Chief spun around to target Erwin and Raph used the opportunity to go for the kill. Forged Hammers, Forceful, Eruption, The power Raph felt was immense. Upon using Eruption Raph's skin changed, from a healthy tan to a charred color with what looked to be magma flowing underneath. He exploded forward, one hammer going for either side of the Chiefs head and.

CRRUNCCHHH.

The Chief’s head exploded from the impact as the hammers slammed together in the middle where it used to be.

Raph stood there for a few seconds as he savoured the power that Eruption gave him, breathing heavily he turned to the small group that remained. Clark and Erwin moved out before he did, clearing out the rest of them in no time. Finally it was over, the cavern cleared and they were victorious.

Raph fell to his knees as the power left him and the notifications flooded in.

You have slain: Goblin Lv.29

…

You have slain: Goblin Lv.34

....

You have slain: Goblin Chief Lv.56

You are now Breaker Lv.28

…

You are now Breaker Lv.46

You are now: Isaac’s Apprentice Lv.2

…

You are now: Isaac’s Apprentice Lv.33

Breaker skill upgraded: Iron Skin

Gained Isaac’s Apprentice skill: Forged Body

‘Woahh.’ Raph felt the new power wash over him, it felt completely different to all of the other times he had levelled up. After checking his new status and assigning the points he knew why.

Raphael Smith

1st Class

Breaker Lv.46

2nd Class

Isaac’s Apprentice Lv.33

Status

Health

985/985

Stamina

1065/1065

Mana

420/420

Str.

303(+30)

End.

303(+30)

Vit.

88(+9)

Dex.

158(+16)

Int.

26(+3)

Wis.

25(+2)

Unassigned

0

Skills

Breaker Lv.46

Isaac’s Apprentice Lv.33

Iron Skin

Your skin is hardened by battle, increases physical resistance by 10%

Forged Hammers

The heat of your forge transfers to your hammers, increasing damage and forging ability by 5% for 5 minutes

Forceful

Imbue your swings with 20% more force for 8 seconds.

Blacksmith

Mastery

Making weapons and armor is 10% easier.

(Blunt Weapon)

Dual Wield

Two for the price of one! Increase damage with 2 blunt weapons by 12%

Eruption

Increase the power behind your swings by 50% for 5 seconds.

Amplified Sound

Smash your hammers together to stun all enemies in a 5m radius.

Forged Body

Your body is strengthened by the heat of the forge. +10% stat increase.

Unobstructable

Your weapons gain a 20% resistance to any external forces.

‘My Str. and End. have almost tripled in one fight? The second class really made a big difference didn’t it?’ Raph stared in shock as he read his new stats.

The others were much the same as Raph, checking their gains from the fight and analyzing their new skills and stats. It was a few minutes before anyone made a move, Clark got up and started to walk around. Raph and Erwin followed shortly after, getting up and looking around the bodies.

Clark Cooper -- Beast Tamer Lv.45

Erwin Fullmore -- Swordsman Lv.42

‘Good job guys. Good job.’ Raph looked at his companions as they searched the area. “Hey, we are all pretty close to a class upgrade,” he said.

“I can’t believe we did it so quickly, it’s only been like a week.” Clark said.

“A week!?” Erwin Shouted. “It’s only taken you a week to get to almost 50?”

“Yeah why, what's wrong?” Raph replied.

“You’re insane! That’s what’s wrong. No one levels that quickly, not that I’ve ever seen at least.” Erwin said frantically.

“Oh well if that's all then. We’ve spent most of our time leveling in here, that’s where Clark got his first class.” Raph explained.

“You’re both mad.” Erwin left it at that.

They kept looking around until they came up to a hut that looked big enough to belong to the Chief. Inside they found another small chest containing; 3 gold, some more potions, and a well made dagger that Clark took. They found Erwin’s sword leaning against the back wall of the hut and other than it being a little bit scratched it was fine. And what an interesting sword it was; the blade was around 1.5m long with a large cross guard, a bright silver sheen, and a long handle wrapped in a red cloth.

“If you like Erwin, I can sharpen that when we get back to Langreth.” Raph snapped Erwin out of the odd way he was looking at his sword.

“Uhh. Yes please, I would really appreciate that.” Erwin thanked Raph.

“Alright then, I think we’re done here. Let’s look for anything else interesting in the huts and then get back home, it’s been a long day.” Raph said as he walked out of the hut.

They finished collecting anything else of interest which amounted to another 1 gold for each of them and a few more potions. After that they made their way back to the carriage, where they loaded up and began the journey back to Langreth.

“So, fancy doing some hunting together to get to 50?” Raph suggested.

“I’m down.” Clark said straight away. Erwin looked unsure.

“It’s fine if you don't, Erwin. This was a temporary alliance.” Raph pointed out.

“It’s not that, I just need to talk to my father about it.” he explained.

“How about we come with you?” Raph offered.

“What? Why would you want to talk to Hobson Fullmore?” Erwin asked.

“Well assuming that’s your dad, maybe he’ll like me?” Raph suggested with a glowing smile.

“I won't stop you, but I will give you a warning. He’s a Knight, a true blue sixth generation Knight. He doesn’t really do small talk and he has no tolerance for nonsense.” Erwin explained.

“He sounds like a blast.” Raph practically shouted as he patted Erwin on the shoulder.

Upon entering Langreth again Erwin directed Clark to his house in the Noble Quarter. The building in question was reasonably sized, made from stone and wood and had a small but well maintained garden out front. The trio exited the carriage, Raph and Clark followed Erwin to the front door where he knocked. When it opened, it revealed a man presumably Hobson Fullmore, a smidge taller than Erwin yet probably twice the weight because of the sheer amount of muscle on him. He was younger than Raph expected but it might have something to do with his assumed high level. Hobson was handsome like Erwin with straw blond hair and blue eyes, yet he had a large scar that ran through his left eye down his cheek and neck.

“I’m back, father.” Erwin said.

“Son.” Hobson said as he moved forward and wrapped his arms around Erwin for a long hug. While he did so his eyes never left Raph and Clark, seemingly peering through their very beings.

“Perhaps, you could introduce your new friends to me.” Hobson interjected as he broke the hug.

“Oh yes!” Erwin said hurriedly he turned to Clark on the left. “Father, this is Clark Cooper.” Erwin then pointed to Raph. “And this is Raphael Smith. They both assisted me in retrieving my sword.”

Hobson took turns in shaking both of their hands. “How about you two join us for dinner?” He offered.

“We would love to!” Raph replied immediately as they walked into the house.

The inside was homely with a hearth to one side near the kitchen and a large table in the centre, the aroma of meat was heavy in the air and Raph was salivating after smelling it. Standing in the kitchen was a lady who looked to be the same age as Hobson yet she had greying hair at her temples.

“Hello mother.” Erwin said as he walked up and hugged her.

Erwin then turned back to Raph and Clark. “I’d like to introduce you to my mother Agatha Fullore. Mother, this is Raphael and Clark, they helped me get my sword back.”

Agatha gave each of them a hug. “Thank you for helping my son.” she said gratefully.

“So Erwin.” Hobson began. “Do you want to tell me what happened today?”

Erwin shifted nervously where he stood. “Well it started with..” Erwin went on to explain what happened in the Grotto, from the clearing of the first rooms to the battle with the chief and eventually how they found the sword.

Hobson didn’t say a word, sat perfectly still until Erwin finished.

"So son, what did you do wrong?” Hobson said.

“I. Ummm.” Erwin was thinking rapidly. “The fight with the chief, I shouldn’t have..”

“Wrong.” Hobson said intensely.

Erwin was flustered to say the least. “I. I..”

“What you did wrong was losing your sword in the first place. A Knight should never be without his weapon!” Hobsons voice rose in intensity to crescendo at the end.

Even Raph was starting to sweat at this point and the monologue wasn’t even directed at him. Hobson paused and turned to Raph, taking a quick glance at his hand as he did.

“Rapheal, how long have you been Adventuring?” Hobson asked.

“Ohh. About a week, week and a half?” Raph said absentmindedly.

Hobson just sat there, staring at Raph for an uncomfortably long time. Raph didn’t realise what he had told Hobson would cause him such a shock.

Agatha coughed as she walked out of the kitchen snapping Hobson out of the trance.

“Anyway.” He said re-focusing. “I would like to offer the both of you my thanks for helping my son, he was in need and you were under no obligation to help him again.” Hobson stood up and bowed to Raph and Clark, Erwin audibly gasped as Hobson did so.

“Dinner’s ready.” Agatha said, interrupting the awkward silence that followed Hobsons bow.

The five of them sat down to eat dinner, which was some kind of meat that reminded Raph of beef and it was accompanied with some vegetables. After the meal Raph and Clark excused themselves and left the Fullmore’s house with Hobson walking them out. Just before they left, Hobson took Raph to the side and spoke in a hush voice.

“Raphael, may I ask where you got that ring.” He said quietly.

Raph glanced at the ring on his finger. “I. Um. My teacher gave it to me.”

“Teacher? Well a word of advice if I may? I have only ever seen one of those before, and it was on the hand of the King.” Hobson said, his voice even quieter than the previous time.

Raph froze. The implications of the object on his finger only just hit him, he was given something truly precious by Isaac.

“Right.” He said solemnly. “I will keep that in mind.”