Archie began reading through his skill options and the first one caught his eye.

  Runic Mending (Uncommon): With this skill, you can repair a rune without replacing it altogether. By channeling mana into the rune’s structure, you can restore its power and effectiveness, ensuring that even heavily used items maintain their magical properties over time. Runic Mending is a vital skill for keeping runic gear in top condition over the sands of time and heavy use.

  "Wait, runes degrade?" Archie said aloud. "I mean, it makes sense, to be honest, with the faded sigils in Myrddin's cabin. But I wonder—do all runes need to be repaired? Does the Soul-Bound rune need maintenance, even though it's linked to your soul?"

  , Archie thought, before moving on to the next skill.

  Rune Extraction (Rare): With this skill, you can safely extract a rune from an item you've crafted or own. This skill opens up the opportunity of reusing powerful runes that may have been bound to previous gear.

  "Meh," Archie muttered, glancing at the skill. While it was Rare in rarity, it felt like nothing more than a glorified cut-and-paste ability.

  "Why would I want to reuse a rune from an item I’ve crafted before—just to save time?" Archie said. "I mean, I can see the appeal of copying interesting runes from a runic item you find and putting it on a different item. That might be useful. But I'd rather study the rune and learn it on my own, without copying it."

  The only rune Archie had copied blindly was the Soul-Bound rune, but every time he etched the rune his understanding of how it worked grew. Now, he was 80% sure of how the rune worked. With a dismissive wave, Archie moved past the option and turned his attention to the third one.

  Rune Removal (Uncommon): This skill allows you to safely remove a rune from an item you've crafted or own without causing harm to the item itself.

  “Oh, I really haven’t thought about removing a rune before,” Archie said. “I guess based on the first skill, I can just wait for it to degrade over time or just spam use the rune until it fades away.”

  , Archie thought, already thinking about various applications of using such a skill; testing out slight alterations on runes with different items. .

  Rune Erosion (Uncommon): This skill, when active; allows you to channel your mana into runes and gradually erode their magical pathways, making them inert. The longer you maintain focus, the more the rune weakens, though you must be careful—this process can also destabilize nearby runes.

  “So a slower, worse version of Rune Removal

  This skill and Runic Mending If I chose one, it wouldn’t be difficult to reverse engineer the other, Archie thought before moving to the last option.

  Gaze of the Forgefather (Epic): The gaze of the Forgefather is known to spot even the smallest imperfections on forged items. Allows the Novice Forgesmith to transform their own eyes to spot the imperfections on forged items. Whether it’s a slight imperfection in a rune or item, you are able to see it clearly while forging.

  “Bralmir, you free for a quick question?” Archie asked, still transfixed by the skill’s description.

  “Yeah, what’s the matter?” Bralmir replied, his voice accompanied by the weight of a hand settling on Archie’s shoulder.

  “I got a skill with your name in it,” Archie said.

  “Oh? Which one?” Bralmir asked, his tone mildly curious, which threw Archie off slightly.

  “Gaze of the Forgefather

  “I’ve got a decent amount,” Bralmir replied casually. “Your skills will be similar as you evolve and affirm your Journey.”

  Archie blinked. “Wait, really?”

  Bralmir made a sound of acknowledgment. “Gaze of the Forgefather

  “Oh,” Archie muttered, trying to process the significance. “So... will I get more skills with your name in them?”

  “Probably not,” Bralmir answered. “The few people I’ve blessed have, at most, received one or two named skills from me. It’s a system limitation, though I’m not entirely sure why. Every being connected to a god can only receive a maximum of one or two skills named after that deity.”

  “Huh,” Archie mused. “So... you recommend I take this one instead of holding out for something better?”

  Bralmir’s voice turned flat and Archie could feel his deadpan gaze on his form. “Wow... you’re offered a skill that I’ve personally crafted and honed over cycles, one that every smith in existence would kill to obtain, and you’re asking me if there might be something better?”

  Archie’s face flushed with embarrassment as he quickly replied, “Sorry, man. I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “I know,” Bralmir chuckled. “I still recommend you take it. It’ll help you forge better items— better than the ones you’ve made so far.”

  “Asshole,” Archie said with a laugh. “Alright, thanks, man.”

  “No problem,” Bralmir replied before making the weight on Archie’s shoulder vanish.

   it is, Archie thought, selecting the skill.

  Curious, Archie immediately activated Gaze of the Forgefather

  “Hmm... I used way too much strength here, and too little there... I blotted the magical pathways a few times and extended them too far,” Archie mumbled, tracing the highlighted imperfections with his eyes.

  Archie thought with a satisfied nod.

  Archie reached the camp an hour before he had to meet up with Evelyn. Looking around the camp, Archie noticed Evelyn’s stand was bare; pots and pans missing. , Archie thought.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  But upon seeing her stand, Archie remembered to grab more leather straps from Bill. After buying about thirty pieces of them and becoming 40 Tutorial Points lighter, Archie continued to wander the camp.

  While wandering around the camp, Archie found James standing behind a few archers who were doing target practice.

  “Hey, James!” Archie shouted, gaining James’ attention and the attention of the other archers.

  “Continue what you were doing!” James shouted at the archers before he made his way to Archie. “What’s up?”

  Archie met him halfway and said, “Got your stuff ready.”

  “Don’t keep me waiting,” James smiled, “Show ‘em.”

  Archie held the compound bow in one hand and the six daggers in the other and passed them both to James.

  “Oh,” James said, looking at the steel daggers and compound bow. “These are great.”

  “Thanks,” Archie said. “You wanna give them a try?”

  Without hesitation, James unslung his old bow, notched an arrow, and aimed at one of the targets. With a practiced release, the arrow soared through the air and pierced clean through the target.

  “It shoots great,” James said, facing Archie with a smile. “ How much do I owe you?”

  “A thousand for everything, sounds fine?” Archie asked.

  “Reasonable,” James answered before paying Archie. “These will last me a while.”

  “Appreciate it,” Archie said, “By the way, do you know where Michael is? I’ve got his greatsword ready.”

  “He’s over by the vanguards, giving them a few tips,” James replied. He waved for Archie to follow. “Come on, I’ll take you to him.”

  After walking for a bit, Archie and James found Michael standing in front of three sprawled vanguards clutching their heads in pain.

  “Take it easy on them Michael!” James chuckled, grabbing Michael’s attention.

  “Take five,” Michael commanded the three sprawled vanguards and getting groans of pain in return.

  “Hello,” Michael smiled. “To what do I owe the occasion?”

  Archie raised a brow, “You forgot too? You commissioned a weapon from me.”

  Michael chuckled before rubbing the back of his neck, “Sorry, it slipped my mind.”

  Archie smiled before taking the greatsword from his spatial storage and seeing the look of surprise from both Michael and James.

  “Holy crap, this is great,” Michael breathed as he held the greatsword and gave it a few test swings.

  As Archie was looking at Michael swinging his greatsword around, the Magmasteel reminded him of the volcano dungeon. “Oh, yeah. I found a dungeon in the volcano when I was getting the material for your weapons. It was cool as hell.”

  Archie’s words made Michael stop mid-swing and James slowly turned towards him.

  “Volcano Dungeon?” James questioned, “I didn’t see one when I was there. Where was it exactly?”

  “You sure? You know the long lava river running around the volcano?” Archie asked and got a nod from James. “It’s connected to a tunnel and in the tunnel was the dungeon.”

  “I saw the tunnel before, but from what I could see from afar; it was just empty. But then again, I didn’t really get close enough to it. Too many E-Grades around to fully check it out” James said.

  “I walked around a kilometer until I found the dungeon door in the tunnel. It was called ‘Dungeon of the Infernal Minotaur,’ Archie continued. “The lowest level creatures there were level 68, and the highest one was 77. The boss was level 85.”

  “You killed the boss?” Michael asked, eyes wide. “But you had to have been at least 20 levels under it!”

  “It was challenging, but fun as hell,” Archie smiled. “Not to mention the gear I got from it.”

  “What type of gear?” James asked his tone a little too sweet sounding. Archie explained the gear he received from killing the Infernal Minotaur and enjoyed the jaw-dropped looks he gained from them.

  “We can do it all together, once you guys are strong enough to tackle it.” Archie offered. “I really want to try some minotaur steak.”

  Michael was about to ask a question but was interrupted by someone behind them.

  “Hello, dearies,” Evelyn called out to them, making the three of them turn around and greet Evelyn.

  Instead of her normal attire, she was now wearing white robes, a wand in one hand and a straw basket in the other.

  “Are you ready to go Archie?” Evelyn asked, making Michael and James confused, but it wasn’t their business, so they didn’t pry.

  “Yeah,” Archie said. “Let’s go.”

  Archie dodged a swipe from above, grabbed his attacker’s left foot, and pulled it toward his face. Archie ignored the scraping claws, cutting through his gauntlets, and Identified their attacker.

  [Razorbeak Roc Lv 57]

  Archie grabbed the creature’s neck with his free hand and swiftly snapped it, its lifeless body crumpling to the ground. Turning, he found Evelyn staring at what he assumed were her system notifications.

  “Did you get XP and Tutorial Points from the kill?” Archie asked, drawing her attention.

  “Yes, I did,” Evelyn confirmed, before casting another healing spell. The scratches on the back of Archie’s right palm knit themselves together under the soft golden light.

  “I just reached level 24 in my Class,” Evelyn added with a small smile.

  "That's good progress," Archie commented before glancing at the sun. "We should be able to get you to level 30 in your Class before nightfall"

  "Alright, but don't push yourself too much," Evelyn said, concerned, looking at Archie.

  "Don't worry about me, I can handle anything this part of the jungle could offer." Archie chuckled.

  Evelyn’s confused expression made him pause. “The jungle’s divided into two parts,” Archie explained. “This area has high-level F-Grades and low-level E-Grades. Go about 30 kilometers deeper, and you’ll start seeing higher-level E-Grades.”

  Before Evelyn could respond, a cacophony of shouts and screams erupted from the jungle. Archie’s smile vanished as the ground beneath them began to tremble.

  “What was that?” Evelyn asked, worry etched across her face as she scanned their surroundings.

  Archie frowned. “Me and my big mouth,” he muttered before turning to her. “Hop on my back. A stampede’s coming, and the camp’s too far to reach in time. I spotted a cave about 15 kilometers behind us earlier.”

  Evelyn hesitated but then nodded, climbing onto his back.

  “Hold on tight!” Archie shouted as he kicked off the ground, launching into a full sprint. The sudden acceleration nearly unseated Evelyn, but she tightened her grip just in time. Moments later, the clearing they’d just vacated exploded with creatures of every kind, tearing through in a frantic stampede.

  Archie dashed through the forest, weaving under branches, leaping over roots, and dodging other terrified beasts. The wind whipped past his face as the chaotic sounds of the stampede closed in behind them.

  Shouts and screams from various beasts resounded from just behind them and a few from his sides giving him purchase to quickly Identify them.

  [Canopy Reaver Lv 65]

  [Sunscale Anaconda Lv 62]

  [Murkstalker Panther Lv 57]

  [Poisontipped Raptor Lv 52]

  The last beast made Archie do a quick double-take.

  Archie felt the breaths of the beasts behind him, he knew they were less than a meter away from reaching the both of them. The cave he remembered was now in sight, just three hundred meters away on his 10 o’clock.

  Archie quickly ducked, dodging a lunge from a scaled creature. Archie quickly leaped over it as it tumbled across the jungle floor, followed by pivoting off a tree branch and launching both himself and Evelyn towards the direction of the cave.

  Archie quickly covered the distance between them and the cave.

  Archie quickly scanned the cave and found an abandoned den. Archie assumed.

  “Stay on my back,” Archie told Evelyn as he saw some beasts who followed him into the cave.

  Eveyln did not give a verbal response to Archie, rather he felt her grip on his shoulders tighten and a light golden glow surrounded the both of them and a feeling of warmth touched his heart.

  Archie did not have any time to Identify the beasts, rather he activated, Thornscourge Expansion Relentless Flurry

  The first couple dozen beasts that burst into the cave were agility-focused beasts, with barely any Vitality, thus making them die within a singular punch or two. Now Archie had to face beasts, who could take more than a couple of blows before they died.

  Archie gritted his teeth as he bore the brunt of their attacks, dodging only the most lethal strikes while keeping the others at bay. Step by step, the sheer force of the stampede began to push him backward with their sheer numbers.

  His adrenaline surged, his heart pounding to a rapid tempo. Despite the pressure, a grin spread across his face.

  “I can heal you as long as you stay within ten meters of me,” Evelyn suddenly said, her voice steady despite the chaos. “Fight without worrying about me.”

  Archie nodded in response to Evelyn and felt her dislodge from his back, still feeling and seeing the healing aura around him.

  Archie quickly activated Adrenaline Rush

  As Archie pushed the beasts back, the smile on his face kept growing as the adrenaline rushing through him steadily rose within him.

  The sounds of laughter and joy came from Archie, piercing through the screams and shouts of the beast stampede.