Calvin

Fifty-five seconds later, the duel is about to start. The countdown was nearing its end. 5...4...3...2..1.. The sound of clashing steel marked the start of the duel. I clenched my left fist and ran towards him with my sword towards him. Griswald stood there with a grin on his face. "Wipe that grin off!" I said, dashing towards him. I struck him in the shoulder, but it seemed like it didn't even hurt him.

Calvin [13/13 HP]

Griswald[14/15 HP]

I was confused about the reasoning behind this but I trusted Griswald and I knew that he'd have a good reason for doing this so I accepted the challenge. I unsheathed my Starter Basic Sword from my waist and took a battle stance. The countdown for the duel began. The duel was the first to hit zero loses, so I needed to deplete his life completely. "Griswald.. Prepare yourself!" I said.

"Come with me." I stood up immediately and I followed him through the forge. He lead me out into the alley behind the shop. He stopped there and opened his menu. A few seconds later, I got a window prompt. 'Griswald, the Blacksmith challenges you to a duel. Do you accept?' I stood there with my finger hovering over the accept button. "W--Whatever.." I said, as I hit the accept button.

I returned the next morning, curious as to what Griswald has in store for me. When I entered the store, Griswald was standing behind the counter. Upon seeing me, he picked up a sword and started walking towards the back of the store. I tilt my head to the side with a confused expression on my face. "Uhm.. Griswald? Should I wait out here or what?" I asked, as I went over to a chair that look like some children craft it.

Griswald burst out laughing. He walked over to the pile of weapons and picked up an axe. He studied it carefully. "Listen, matey. Go get ya self some proper rest and come back here tomorrow." I gave him a puzzling look and then decided it was probably a good idea to do what he says. I began to walk out the shop but stopped when I reached the door. Without turning around, I yelled back to Griswald. "Hey, Griswald..." "Yeah?" "...thanks." He smirked as I left the shop.

I awoke the next morning when Griswald approached me in the forge. I had fallen asleep resting on the anvil. "Morning lad." He looked next to me where a pile of about six or seven weapons lay. "You made all these yourself?" I nodded. "That's a fairly decent pile of weaponry ya got there." "You can have them... as thanks for teaching me your ways." He chuckled. "Ya think you're done?" I looked him in the eyes. "You know the expression 'you can't learn a profession over night'?" I glanced over to the pile of weapons I had made. "Guess I proved them wrong."

"Would you mind if I stayed here in the forge for the night?"I asked Griswald. He looked at me with a questioning glare. After a few moments, he accepted my request. He finished packing up and went to his room for the night. I returned to the forge. I took the iron out of the forge and placed it on the anvil. I was determined to become a respectable Blacksmith. I needed to, if I had any chance of surviving in this cruel world. With fierce motivation, I continued practising. For the rest of the night, the sound of hammering iron could be heard throughout the town.

"Once ya get the metal to the right forging heat, start hammering it into shape at the anvil. After the forging process is complete, the finishing process begins. It mainly involves refining the metal at a grinding stone." He showed me the process and helped me practice for a few hours. Eventually, the time came to close the shop. I approached Griswald as he was preparing the close the store.

After a long day of mining iron and killing monsters, I finally returned to the Blacksmith shop. I returned the pickaxe and gave Grisward the only iron ore I had collected. "This enough?" I asked Griswald. "Should be. Now that that's all done, we can finally get ya crackin' on some real Blacksmithing." he replied to me. I followed him to the back of the shop where I found the shop's forge. Griswald explained to me the process of Blacksmithing.

Another miss.. I start to feel the frustration I had the other day when I was fighting the Dire Wolf. This Cave Wolf is different from the Dire Wolf, so I shouldn't have a problem ending this things life. I gripped onto my sword tight and dashed towards the wolf. "Okay, stay calm Calvin. Everything will go smoothly if I don't panic." I said, as I get closer to the Cave Wolf. With a powerful horizontal slash, my shining sword cut straight through the wolf.

Calvin [11/11 HP]

Cave Wolf [0/5 HP] DEAD

Missing my other attack was something I should have never missed in real life. I let it slide this time, but I couldn't let my next attack miss as well. I ran towards the Cave Wolf with my sword behind me, running like some kind of ninja. "Come on, Calvin!" I said, attempting to encourage myself. My confidence went straight down to hell when I missed my attack once again. In frustration, I attempt to deplete its health by punching it.

Calvin [11/11 HP]

Cave Wolf [1/5 HP]

I grin at the Cave Wolf and ran up to the wolf hoping to end its life here. "DIE!" I shouted, as I strike down upon the Cave Wolf. The wolf ran under me, dodging the attack. My sword hit the floor, missing my target. I turn around quickly re-positioning myself for another attack. The Cave Wolf starts to growl at me once more, but this time I dash towards it not letting it have time to react.

Calvin [11/11 HP]

Cave Wolf [1/5 HP]

I could feel the breeze from the outside going through the cave. The Cave Wolf followed the current and attempt to pounce towards me. I dodge the attack and went in for a strike. The wolf's health dropped to the red zone with only a hit left to go, but it won't be over until I see polygons fading away. "We're not done yet!" I shout, as I ran towards the Cave Wolf attempting to end its life.

Calvin [11/11 HP]

Cave Wolf [1/5 HP]

This time, I calmed myself, I was ready. I grabbed my Starter Basic Sword and dashed towards the Cave Wolf. With a horizontal slash, my sword cut the wolf in its face. I kick the Cave Wolf back into the darkness, ignoring the surroundings around me. "Alright, I'm back to my normal self now." I said, as I take a couple of deep breaths. The wolf starts to growl at me and barked like a dog.

Calvin [11/11 HP]

Cave Wolf [2/5 HP]

The wolf lunged at me. With a lot of concentration and luck, I caught its head with my feet. I rolled to my right three times, attempting to hurt the wolf in the process. The wolf broke free and jumped back. I saw the anger in its eyes as it proceeded to lunge at me once more. Still thinking that the walls might close in, I just laid there trying to come up with a plan. I'm on the ground frozen with no way of getting up. 'Come on, Calvin! Get up!" I screamed in my head.

The monster revealed itself from the darkness. It was a hungry looking wolf. It was only a low level monster, but I had no way to defend myself. I was still on my back so I couldn't run either. I glanced to my right, where my Starter Basic Sword was sitting. It was too far away to reach in time. I tried to think of the possibility of dying here, but I shook my head. "I can die yet, I still have so much to live for!" I said, trembling.

"Ow..." I brushed the dust off my legs when I heard a subtle sound. I squinted as I looked ahead. A figure emerged from the shadows. 'Great...' I thought to myself. An enemy is approaching and I'm unarmed. I start to panic, because the walls around me were quite small. It looked as if the walls are closing in, attempting to crush me here. 'I need to clear my m--mind. Take a deep breath, Calvin.' I thought to myself.

As I entered the cave, Griswald's last words were lingering in my head: "Don't die." Something caught my eye, the glint of metal in the rocks about 20 meters ahead. It was iron! I broke into a sprint as I ran towards the iron deposit. However, I quickly came to a stop when my foot caught a rock on the ground and I hit the floor with a thud. I dropped my Starter Basic Sword as I fell and it landed to my right.

"Alright, uh... The name's Calvin." I said, trying to not look awkward towards the NPC. "Okay then Calvin, ya can call me Griswald. Anyway, I can't really teach you much unless I have the materials to do so. Take this pickaxe and go down to a nearby cave. Mine some iron and bring it back to me." He handed me the pickaxe. "Oh and one more thing..." "Yes?" I replied. "Don't die." After those words escaped his lips, I never gulped down so much saliva in my life.

They were all way too expensive. I couldn't afford even the lower-quality ones. What was I going to do? The man seemed to read my expression. "Ya know... if you can't buy a sword, you could always make one." he told me. "That's a nice offer but I don't really know anything about blacksmithing." I replied back. "Well, I guess I could teach you a few things... provided that you do a few things for me in return." I looked at him for a few moments, thinking about what he said. At last I replied. "I'm in."

After the incident, I thought about what I would do next. I looked down at my Starter Basic Sword. My weapon would mean the difference between life and death. I couldn't afford to take any risks. I needed a better sword. I entered the blacksmith shop and approached the counter. "What could I do for ya, boy?" the man asked me. I replied, "I needed a new sword." and he told me that I could buy any sword in the shop, provided I had enough Col. I searched through the list of swords and saw a few decent ones but I was shocked at a new revelation.

I took a rest by the entrance of Starter City and sat by the gate. "I guess I need to take a profession right now." I said, as I lean back on the bench. There were a total of eight professions waiting for me to pick one of them and I didn't know which would be a better fit for me. I open up the Floor One map and found the quest hall. "I guess I have to go to the Quest Hall to take a quest for a profession." I said, as I swipe away the menu.

My sword starts to glow a bright white color, as I focus on eliminating the monster. "Okay. Times up buddy. It's time for you to leave!" I said, dashing towards the Dire Wolf. "HYAAAH!" I shouted, as I pass through the wolf. For a moment, you could hear the a squeal and it shatters into a million of polygons. "There is still more for me to do." I said, as I walk back to Starter City.

Calvin [3/9 HP]

Dire Wolf [0/5 HP] Dead

The Dire Wolf attempt to attack me by pouncing on me, but I manage to stop it from hurting me further by placing my sword between its mouth. "Okay.. Now take this!" I said, as I slash the inside of the wolf's mouth. The Dire Wolf gave out a loud screech, but I kicked it back to the field. It starts to limp for a bit, and I couldn't help it. The Wolf is a danger to me and this is a virtual world. It's not like Kayaba is monitoring how many monsters I kill and killing off innocent animals.

Calvin [3/9 HP]

Dire Wolf [2/5 HP]