Checking out his newly learned mana shield, Dorian couldn't help but grin. Although the wizard had gotten him hooked on that annoying quest, his mana shield was good, to say the least. Unlike the usual 'bubble' shield that the normal mana shield was, Lochlands mana wove together in on his arm to form an actual heater shield, glowing a dull golden colour in the evening light.

[ Lochlands mana shield ]

Description: form a shield of mana.

Cost : 5 mana to summon the shield

+1 mana per second

+1 points of mana for every 1 point of damage negated.

Effect: negates up to 30% of incoming damage.

Duration: until the spell is cancelled or mana runs out.

The stats were vastly different from the normal mana shield, with less of a mana cost, and a greater effect. However, the shield only behaved like a normal shield, and wouldn't cover his blind spots like a regular mana shield would. Regardless, for a fighter like Dorian, this was definitely better. Although, this did mean that he would have to start investing points into his mana as well as his other stats in order to make the best use out of the skill.

Since he didn't have much he could do without any gear, Dorian walked over to the auction house, wondering if he had enough funds to afford anything. Fortunately, after having learned the specialised version of mana shield, he wouldn't have to worry about a shield, as long as he used his mana carefully, and played smart.

There was a guard at the entrance, armed with a set of leather armour and a short sword. Sweat slowly beaded on his skin, dripping down and quickly evaporating on the hot stone floor. His eyes were slowly wandering over the market stalls a short distance away, lingering on the women a bit longer than the men. Dorian walked through the door, unimpeded and seemingly unnoticed by the guard, who just gave a grunt as he walked past.

Inside the Auction House was an empty stage, with rows of seats in front of it. Some of them had people in, while the majority of them were empty. Sitting down, Dorian saw a list open up in front of him.

[ Auction House - Beginners Village ]

>weapons

> armours

>items

>consumables

>crafting materials

>crafting tools

[ Inbox ] [ Personal Storage (3) ]

Going to the weapons section revealed a whole new list of subsections. Navigating his way to the weapons > one handed > swords, Dorian looked at his options.

> Wooden training sword ( 3 Silver )

>Rusty steel sword ( 6 Silver )

> Polished steel bastard sword ( 18 Silver )

> ....

'Ah, yeah. This is why I didn't buy a sword last time as well...'

Dorian had looked to see if he could buy a sword when he bought his pickaxe, but after seeing the price, had decided to stick with his training sword. He guessed most people probably got more use out of theirs than he did with his. Going down a different line of thought, Dorian started thinking about the possibility of buying the materials from the auction house and seeing what type of result he could get with them.

' Instead of buying a sword, can I craft myself one? ' The question stuck in his head for longer than it should.

Navigating to the bottom of the menu, where the crafting tools were, Dorian scrolled through the list, trying to find a set that he could actually afford. He already had 3 goblin horns, and a few left over iron ores, so he was mainly looking for cheap production tools like hammer and tongs.

[ Small Blacksmithing Kit ]

> Light Blacksmithing hammer - 2 Silver

> Blacksmithing tongs - 75 Copper

> Blacksmiths' leather apron - 1 Silver

> Blacksmithing gloves - 15 Copper

Okay, So Dorian knew he was poor, but this was crazy. He was just about to leave, when something caught his eye. On the very bottom of the auction house menu, he saw that his personal storage already had a few items inside it. Looking through it, he almost found himself laughing with joy.

[ Letter from the developers ]

Hello, Dorian.

We thank you for bringing this bug to our attention. As compensation, we have rewarded you with a guaranteed random rare class book, as well as some gold for your troubles. We hope you enjoy your time in Nebula. For any further concerns or queries, contact our office via email, as you did before.

From the Nebula support team.

[ Random Class Change Book. ]

One time use. It will grant you a random rare class.

[ 10 Gold ]

The 10 gold was especially appealing to Dorian at the moment, since he had basically no money or power to do anything. After collecting the gold, he went back to the auction house screen, starting to imagine buying every piece in the auction house at that moment. Supressing those thoughts with great difficulty, he scrolled back down to the crafting tools section of the auction house, adamant on following through with his original plan.

[ Small Blacksmithing Kit ]

> Light Blacksmithing hammer - 2 Silver

> Blacksmithing tongs - 75 Copper

> Blacksmiths' leather apron - 1 Silver

> Blacksmithing gloves - 15 Copper

Bid! Bid until they are mine!

After the time limit ended on the items, Dorian had ended up spending 50 Silvers on just the blacksmithing kit. Wincing, he collected his items from his inbox, weighing them in his hands before putting them straight into his inventory. After reaching Karsis' smithy, he looked over the materials that he had at his disposal.

[ Goblin Horn ] (3)

[ Iron Ore ] (5)

Good enough materials, for a first few attempts. Sitting down in the forge, Dorian started to draw up a plan of his sword, before crafting it. The blade would be thick and heavy, for cutting as opposed to stabbing. It would have to be one handed, since Dorian needed to use the mana shield with his other hand. On the plan, he ruled a line 30 inches for the blade. Behind that, the crossguard, grip and pommel. The blade was straight, with a wide fuller and crossguard. Altogether, the sword design was about 35 inches long.

With the plan complete, Dorian got to work.