Chapter 5 Stolen Experience

"Why are ye just standin’ there, Gramps?" The same Dwarf as before asked, keeping up his somewhat grumpy demeanor but mixing a light smile into it.

Eisen laughed apologetically and scratched his beard, "Sorry, sorry. I’m new here, and I just thought that this town is beautiful. Seems like I got caught up in my thoughts."

The Dwarf slightly frowned, and just then Eisen felt a shiver going down his spine. He wasn’t sure what exactly happened, but he felt like something was staring right into his soul. Then all of a sudden, the dwarf ripped his eyes open in surprise and his jaw dropped.

"What the- ye a level 1?! At that age? And you only have a single skill, a Rank 0 Appraisal skill? How the hell is that possible?!" He yelled out in utter disbelief and stepped around Eisen, carefully inspecting every part of him, "The hell are ya, Gramps?" He decided to ask at last, crossing his arms while still looking at Eisen suspiciously.

Eisen swallowed down the saliva in his mouth and looked down on top of the Dwarf’s head while thinking about what to do. It was then that he remembered Ari’s suggestion. "I’m nothing special, young man. Actually, not even I myself know who I am. The only things I know about myself are in my Status. My name is Eisen, and I’m a level 1 Giant-Dwarf Halfing without an occupation. So you know as much as me, haha." He laughed nervously and looked the Dwarf in the face, whose eyes quickly shot open again.

"Holy- Ye’re a Giant-Dwarf Halfling?! I was so surprised by the rest of yer status that I didn’t even see that! I thought ye’d be just some human! I’ve never seen one of yer kind before! Listen, Gramps, I can see that somethin’s not going right. I’ve got a suspicion, so how about ye come with me for a bit, I’ve got a friend who might be able to help ya." The Dwarf explained with a curious, but still suspicious grin and decided to walk down the spiraling streets. Agreeing to follow him, Eisen shrugged and stepped next to the Dwarf, stopping him for a second to introduce himself properly again.

He held out his hand for the Dwarf to shake and with a big smile said, "Thanks for your help, lad! As you know, my name is Eisen."

The Dwarf in front of him laughed slightly and shook Eisen’s hand with a tight grip, "The name’s Belrim. Nice to meet ya, Gramps."

Belrim and Eisen continued walking down the road silently until they reached the front of a shop. Through the display window Eisen could see a few different glass bottles filled with colored liquids that he wasn’t able to identify. Next to those bottles were also a few books whose titles he wasn’t able to read, because they were written with letters he didn’t recognize. The wooden sign above the window read ’Everything Magic’.

"You comin’, Gramps? I don’t have all day." Belrim grumbled and opened the door to the shop, stepping inside a second later, followed by Eisen who was wondering what this place was about.

Belrim looked around the front of the shop, and after not seeing anyone walked to the door leading to the back. "Oi, Morrom, ye got a customer ye bastard!" He yelled into the darkness behind the door, and the only respond Eisen could hear was a rumbling coming from the back, together with the sound of glass shattering. After hearing these sounds, Belrim sighed loudly and held his hand to his forehead while grumbling out "Don’t accidentally kill yerself on the way."

"Sorry, sorry, haha..." From the back came a young man, maybe 20 years old, wearing a robe that reached to his ankles. He had messy hair and a short beard that looks like he just hasn’t shaved in a few days. His ears were slightly pointy, which Eisen somewhat recognized from Xenia. But compared to hers, his were far more rounded. He was just slightly taller than Belrim, and while Morrom’s arms and legs weren’t as thick as his, they still were thicker than one may expect from a human of his general stature.

After Morrom stepped into the room and stood at the counter, Belrim turned back to Eisen and crossed his arms. "That’s Morrom, he’s a halfling like you. Just the Dwarf-Elf variant. He’s the town’s own Magic-freak. He should be able to help ye out a bit."

Eisen tilted his head in confusion. "Help me with what?"

Belrim gave out a frustrated sigh and shook his head, "Gramps, I’m not exactly sure, but seems like yer experience was stolen. I don’t know how it happened, but the signs seem to be there. Tell me, when you woke up in that forest, ye didn’t have any skills, did ya? Ye got yer Appraisal on the way to town, right?"

Eisen nodded quickly, explaining that he was appraising everything he saw on the way there to level it up.

After that, Belrim just nodded as if this was proof of his theory. Morrom grabbed the grumpy dwarf’s arm in disbelief while staring over at the huge man in his shop, "Are you sure?! And you said he doesn’t have ANY skills?!"

Belrim continued to nod, "I’ll bet me arse that the old man’s experience was stolen. I know that it’s near impossible to get his levels and memories back, but maybe ye can at least re-awaken some of his skills, Morrom."

Morrom sighed out loudly while hanging his head. "I can try at least. It’s not easy to tap into someone’s soul, you know?"

Eisen stood there unsure what they were talking about. He didn’t have any skills to begin with, so how could they get them back for him? But instead of not doing it, he decided to play along. "Oh? That kind of thing is possible?"

"Of course it is, Gramps! Why else would I have dragged ye here? But I’ll have ta leave, got work down in the mine. Morrom, I’ll leave it to ya."

"Thanks, Belrim. I’ll try my best!" Morrom answered full of conviction and looked at Eisen with an excited smile. Before leaving the shop, Belrim sighed with a slight smirk, "Ye better do, ye bastard."

Near to instantly after the door closed shut again, Morrom walked up to Eisen and looked up at him, extending out his hand, introducing himself to Eisen. He shook the young man’s hand with a smile and introduced himself as well.

"Now then!" Morrom exclaimed happily and clapped his hands together, "Let’s get to it then! For the process, could you please take off your shirt, Eisen?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, sure." Without further ado, Eisen quickly stripped his top while Morrom grabbed a few materials from under the counter and mixed them together. To Eisen, they seemed to be simple black ink, and a few herbs he didn’t recognize, as well as a fine blue powder. After those ingredients mixed into a single liquid, Morrom looked over to Eisen. "Oh, eh, are you a human?" He asked with an embarassed grin, realizing he hasn’t asked before.

Eisen shook his head and laughed slightly, "No, lad, I’m a Giant-Dwarf Halfling. Belrim mentioned that I’m a Halfling, remember?"

Morrom’s cheeks turned a bright pink and he laughed uncomfortably. "Hehe... Sorry..." He mumbled out and added two small crystals into the mix that seemed to dissolve instantly. The Half-Elf Half-Dwarf man turned back to Eisen and walked behind him. "It’s going to be a bit cold, sorry, haha."

"Don’t worry about it, lad, I can take it!" Eisen laughed loudly and crossed his arms, waiting for whatever Morrom was about to do. After a few seconds, he felt the cold modified ink touch his back through a paintbrush. Although he didn’t mind the cold feeling that came with it, he was still curious what Morrom was doing, but decided to wait until afterward so that the kid could concentrate.

Morrom continued to paint some kind of formation for the next 15 minutes, then waited another five minutes to let it dry completely.

After that, he placed both of his hands on Eisen’s broad, scarred back, and Eisen felt a warm energy enter his body. It was nothing that he had ever felt before, and the warmth spread throughout his whole body as if he was a container that someone poured hot water into.

[Your Racial Skills have been locked to hide your identity as a Player and pretend your experience has been stolen. Keep playing along with that theme whenever it’s necessary. Now that you have them back, have fun playing the game, Eisen!

-Ari

P.S.: I would ask for the way to the Inn]

[A Giant’s Strength Racial Skill Unlocked]

[A Dwarf’s Hands Racial Skill Unlocked]

[Original of the Mechanical Arts Title Unlocked]

Eisen slightly jumped when he saw these notifications pop up suddenly, greatly surprising Morrom behind him, causing him to trip and fall. "Ouch... Eisen, what happened?" He asked while rubbing his butt after the drop, but after seeing that the magic circle he drew on Eisen’s back slowly faded away he sighed because he realized that he succeeded.

"Ah, sorry, lad! It seems like I got two Racial skills and a Title. That just kind of surprised me, haha..." Eisen laughed while scratching his beard and looked back at the man behind him, who suddenly showed a slight frown. "You only got your racial skills back? Well, better than nothing, I guess. Ah, and just to make sure nothing went wrong, judging from your race they should have been... A Giant’s Strength and A Dwarf’s Hands, right?" Morrom closed his eyes and crossed his arms, trying to remember the correct name of the Giant Racial Skill.

"Exactly, lad. Those are the two skills I got just now." Eisen nodded in approvement and stood up, putting his shirt back on, then turned around to face Morrom. "The sun seems to be going down soon. Is there an Inn anywhere in this Town?"

Morrom nodded surprised, not expecting this question all of a sudden.

"How much is a night there? Ah, and do they have a restaurant or bar?" Eisen asked as a followup, hoping to find out if the money he has is a lot or not.

"Erm... It’s five copper a night. And yea, they have both there. A drink costs about one copper, and dinner should cost about two or three copper." Morrom explained swiftly, after which Eisen crossed his arms and nodded as if he just decided something. "Alright, Morrom! Then I’ll treat you to Dinner tonight! And as much as you can drink!" Eisen laughed out loudly. It’s just common sense to treat someone to something to eat and drink when they helped you out like Morrom did, after all.

"E-Eh? Are you sure? Do you have any money on you?" Morrom asked surprised. Eisen didn’t feel insulted by this, of course, and he didn’t think that Morrom was assuming he didn’t have any money because of the way he looked, but instead was surprised that a man who didn’t have any memories was running around with enough money to spend a night at an inn and even treat him to dinner and drinks.

"Don’t worry about it, Morrom! I’ve got enough money on me, hahaha! When does your shop close?" Eisen asked with a big smile, patting Morrom on the back. Morrom explained that he’d usually close in an hour, but would clear up the shop earlier today since it wasn’t very busy anyway.

Eisen shrugged, and told Morrom he wouldn’t mind waiting for him. Then, while Morrom went to the back and began cleaning up. Taking that chance, Eisen inspected his new skills and his Title.

[Name - A Giant’s Strength]

[Rank - 0][Level - 1]

[Description]

[The innate strength of a Giant. When activated, physical strength rises significantly.]

[Effect]

[+10% Strength for 10 Minutes]

[Name - A Dwarf’s Hands]

[Rank - 0][Level - 1]

[Description]

[The innate ability of a Dwarf with his hands. When activated, your hands are much more nimble and dexterious.]n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

[Effect]

[+20% Dexterity in your hands for 30 Minutes]

[Title - Original of the Mechanical Arts]

[Description]

[A Unique Title only belonging to Eisen, due to his immense knowledge on different Crafts that influenced every Craftsman everywhere in the world.]

[Effect]

[Higher Possibilities in the area of Craftsmanship]