Volume One: The Debut of the Legend

Chapter One: The Mechanical Alchemist

The setting sun cast long shadows of the tavern sign.

The short, chubby owner was tallying up the bar tab behind the counter.

The patrons sipped their ale, eyes fixed on the stage.

A bard, cradling his lute, was lazily singing:

"...When every legend writes its first chapter

It turns out so-called heroes are just like us."

Ryan Bennett was very fond of this poem by Hugh Hystery. It had a certain wandering, chivalrous flavor—heroes are not defined by their origins, and the term "hero" is merely an honorific given by some to one person. In truth, heroes are no different from ordinary people.

With a stalk of foxtail grass in his mouth, Ryan Bennett lay atop the old willow tree outside Bracada Vikin Town, leisurely whiling away the afternoon. Mining had been exhausting lately, and it was rare to get a break. As dusk approached, the lazy sunset cast a red glow over the town, and the evening breeze stirred up a faint yellow dust.

Men and women bustled through the town—mages and priests in robes, paladins in silver-white armor, barbarians, elves, humans—all busily creating value for the game company.

Some were gearing up to depart, others seeking parties, shouting loudly. The whole Vikin Town was lively and bustling.

"Level 35 full purple set, high DPS fire mage looking for Ashen Forest party, PM if interested."

"Level 40 high-defense, high-HP berserker warrior looking for Elasi Swamp party..."

"Level 40 elite team needs priest with 500+ healing, shout if you have it."

Watching these busy players, Ryan Bennett was filled with envy. When would he finally be able to start leveling up for real? Just thinking about his early days in the game made him feel depressed. Among all the classes, warlocks were the most marginal; they were the least needed for major quests, since their damage output could never match that of mages, and many of their control skills only worked on minor monsters. When facing a boss, all they could do was stare helplessly. Moreover, warlocks were considered a demonic class—except in Bracada, NPCs elsewhere were unwilling to give warlocks any quests.

Though warlocks were marginal, some quests still required them. The three warlock specializations—demonology, destruction, and affliction—had certain skills that were very useful in quests. If a warlock player had good awareness, quick reactions, and decent gear, their contribution could rival that of mages, who were called the soul of the battlefield.

Furthermore, the three warlock specs were kings of solo leveling; when leveling alone, their speed was on par with rogues, who were known as the kings of the wild.

But among warlocks, alchemists were the most marginal of all.

Alchemists were divided into potion alchemists and mechanical alchemists.

Potion alchemists enhanced their strength by brewing various potions. Their spell damage was very low; even after drinking potions, they could barely reach 80%-90% of a regular warlock's spell damage. However, the potions they brewed were extremely expensive.

In Bracada's main city, Edins, a high-level potion alchemist could auction off a single enhancement potion for one or two thousand gold coins.

If potion alchemists still had some use, then the mechanical alchemist that Ryan Bennett chose was the trash of the trash.

A mechanical alchemist's spell damage was only about 40% of a regular warlock's.

The mechanical alchemist's talent was engineering—they could create mechanical golems. Each mechanical alchemist could carry one mechanical golem, which also had some combat power. For example, a basic tier-one mechanical imp had spell damage output at about 80% of the mechanical alchemist's, which could somewhat make up for the class's low spell damage.

A mechanical alchemist plus a mechanical golem—their combined spell damage could compete with a regular warlock. If the golem's tier was high enough, the mechanical alchemist could even look down on any magic class.

Back then, Ryan Bennett entered the game with this fantasy in mind, enthusiastically learning the four production skills of mining, metallurgy, forging, and engineering, preparing to craft his own exclusive mechanical golem.

But the fantasy was quickly shattered. After more than a month, many players had reached level forty or higher, entered major dungeons, and donned high-level blue and purple gear, while Ryan Bennett was still stuck at level one.

Without a mechanical golem, a mechanical alchemist was just trash, completely unable to level up.

But making a mechanical golem was far from simple.

Advancing in metallurgy required money, forging required money, and engineering required even more money. All the money Ryan Bennett earned from mining every day was thrown into this bottomless pit.

After a month and a half, Ryan Bennett's four production skills had improved greatly, but his level remained at one.

Mining: Grandmaster, skill proficiency 307/500

Metallurgy: Advanced, skill proficiency 175/300

Forging: Intermediate, skill proficiency 102/150

Engineering: Beginner, skill proficiency 47/50