Accessories For A Dancer [Crafting/Solo]

[Valerie]

The Swashbuckler entered London, darting around the area to find St. Pancreas Station, or specifically, Christopher’s shop. She had recently learned about crafting accessories that could have certain effects applied to it. Valerie wanted to ask the Blacksmith about it, and if it was what she expected, she would ask to craft one, or a few. The small girl wandered around market, trying to find the familiar shop that was marked with an extremely vague sign that told the reader it was a blacksmith shop. She perked up slightly as she spotted the shop and quickly darted toward it, throwing the door open and hopped inside with a smile on her face. As her eyes adjusted to the lighting, the girl’s expression and posture changes when she spotted some customers in the shop, talking with her teacher. Valerie’s expression became blank and she slouched her back a bit as she wandered around the shop, pretending to look around.


Christopher had noticed the small Adventurer and hid a laugh with a hoarse cough as he finished talking with his customers. As the other people left, the blacksmith walked toward the girl, chuckling softly. “Well, hello Valerie. That was quite an entrance.” He teased lightly, patting her on the shoulder. The girl pouted slightly, but looked up at the Lander with a smile. “I guess it was.” She said, trying to keep the remainder of her pride intact. “Anyway, I was here to ask you about some accessories.” The girl said, trying to change the topic. “Metal Accessories?” Her teacher asked, clarifying he had heard the Adventurer correctly. When Valerie nodded, the blacksmith’s eye brows rose a bit, as he struggled to find the correct question to ask the Adventurer in front of him. “What is your Crafting level now?” Christopher asked her. Her eye brows furrowed in thought as the girl tried to remember, but when she gave up, the Swashbuckler opened her menu to search for it. “I’m currently a level twelve Blacksmith.” She said proudly, beaming at her teacher. The Lander’s eyes widened in amazement as her words reached his ears. “Wow, all that crafting did certainly pay off.” He said, impressed with the improvement.


“Would you like to try crafting your own accessory?” He asked the young woman. Valerie nodded vigorously, almost like she was going to bounce off the ground. Christopher laughed and waved her over to the main counter as he took out some metals. “So now you know that metals are all different, choose yours wisely.” The Lander said cryptically. “Think about what kind of accessory you want to make. You can choose whatever metal you want for this craft and when you have chosen your metals, come into the backroom. I will be waiting for you there.” He said before he disappeared into the backroom through a heavy metal door, leaving Valerie alone with the metals. The girl sighed softly as she carefully examined each metal. They all varied in colours and textures, and not one was the same as another. The Dancer didn’t know what she wanted make yet. There were all kinds of different accessories Valerie could remember from the real world. Personally, she had disliked flashy and shiny jewellery and accessories and was quite a simple girl. She would occasionally wear a simple chain necklace with a small pendent, or a thin, pale band on her finger. Perhaps she could make a ring, one that was similar to one she own in real life. The girl shrugged her shoulders as she eyes the metals again, thinking about what kind of material to use. Then Valerie spotted a yellowish metal, a pale silvery metal and a dark metal. Immediately, she grabbed them and held them together to see the colors side by side. Together, the colors contrasted and merged beautifully. Just the way she liked it.


Valerie’s face lit up into a bright smile as she walked over to the backroom with the metals in her arms. With a light grunt, she pushed the heavy door open and walked over to the Blacksmith who was standing near the furnace. “I found it.” The girl said as she held them out in front of Christopher, who turned to look at them and smiled. “Good. Do you have an accessory in mind yet?” He asked, and turned back to stab at the hearth a bit. “Yeah, I was thinking of making a ring.” She said as she placed the metals on the table. When the Blacksmith heard she wanted a ring, he chuckled under his breath. “Is it for a special someone?” The Lander asked, a sly smile sliding onto his face. Valerie’s face paled, as she doesn’t blush when she becomes flustered. “Noooo. It is for myself.” She said defensively, her eyes wide and filled with mild horror at the thought. Relationships were not something that crossed her mind in real life, as being a dancer was her main priority, and it was definitely something that disappeared from her mind in Elder Tale. The Lander patted Valerie on the shoulder, while a grin still rested on his face. “It’s okay. You can just keep it until you meet that special someone.” The man teased, and the girl’s face darkened from the constant teasing. It was not something she lived for, and she was definitely not going to make something for someone she doesn’t know. Feeling a dark aura coming from the Adventurer, the Lander shivered slightly before speaking. “And making it for yourself is also a good idea.” He said, hoping to recover the tense situation.


The girl nodded and stared at the metals. “It is pretty much the same as before?” The girl asked without turning to the Elder Blacksmith. “Yes, it is pretty much the same thing, but it will recognise the type of craft your making and automatically do the reforge, giving it a random bonus.” He said before he stepped aside and sat down on a stool, sipping an unknown drink that smelt suspiciously like coffee. The girl nodded absentmindedly as she walked over to grab some coals and toss them into the dying hearth. She pumped the billows twice, making the flames leap up from the bottom of the furnace. The girl stared onto the dancing flames for a moment before spinning around to point to the metals. “How much is it?” She asked the shopkeeper, a small smile on her face to indicate her dropped dislike for the previous uncomfortable topic. “If you’re making a level one ring, then it would be 10 gold. However, if you want to make a level twelve ring, then it will be 120 gold. Or a level ten is 100 gold. I suggest a level ten, though.” He said, shrugging. “Wow… Such a difference, I’ll make a level ten.” She said reluctantly.


Valerie drew out some gold, counting them before passing them to the Blacksmith, who nodded and accepted it. Once the transition was made, a screen popped up in front of the girl, indicating the new addition to her inventory. Valerie smiled softly and grabbed a pair of tongs and placed all three metals into the furnace to heat it up, and then she walked over to a stool beside Christopher and sat down. “Would you like some coffee?” The Lander asked, pointing to a flask of, apparently, hot coffee. The girl nodded and the man poured the young woman a cup of hot coffee. “You would like something to go with it? Maybe some sugar or cream.” The blacksmith suggested, but the girl shook her head. “It’s fine. I like my coffee black. Thank you.” She said, smiling slightly as she sipped her dark coffee. It was bitter but refreshing, reminding her of home. She liked her coffee black reminding her of the pain and bitterness that settled in the world as people grow older; life is not always filled with sugar and cream to cover the darkness and bitterness of the world.



Words: 1334

[Valerie]

Valerie waited in silence as she hummed a waltz she remembered from the real world, the song was called Love’s Sorrow, but it was a beautiful waltz. She swayed slightly as she waited for her metals to heat up and she closed her eyes, filling out the song will parts she couldn’t hum in her mind. As the song reached about half way, the girl stood up and walked over to check the metals. They appeared hot enough but Valerie let the metals sit a bit longer as she took a small, dirty apron from a nearby hook and slipped it on as well as pulling on a pair of protective gloves. The girl stood by with a pair of tongs in her right hand and a hammer in the other.


When she deemed the metal’s hot enough, the girl pulled the pale, silver metal out and placed it carefully on the anvil. Using the tongs, she held the metal in place as she hammered away at it, making it thin and long. The metal was not too big and should be more than enough to create a ring for the small Adventurer. When the metal was long enough for Valerie’s tastes, she placed the hammer down and picked up the hot chisel and carefully thinned the metal even more, making it almost like a wire. When she was satisfied with the size of the metal, she carefully picked up the metal and placed it back into the hearth to keep it warm.


Then she moved onto the golden colored metal, grabbing it with her tongs and switched her chisel for a hammer. She repeated the same process of hammering and chiseling the golden metal making it thin and wiry. It was tedious work, reshaping the chuck of metal into a thin wire, but it was needed for the ring she wanted to create. When the gold coloured metal was almost identical to the silver wire, she carefully placed it back into the furnace to heat up once more and took out the dark coloured metal, placing it onto the anvil. Valerie sighed softly as she had to repeat the same process to reshape the metal into a wire. The girl hammered and chiseled the black metal and shaped it into a thin wire.


As she finished thinning all the metals, Valerie allowed all the metals to heat up a bit more in the hearth and turned away to find a piece of measuring tape. The girl wrapped it around her pinky finger and held it where it over lapped and checked the area where the point of the anvil was round. She fitted the measuring tape around the point and marked it off in her mind. Valerie walked over to the hearth and pulled out the dark coloured metal and placed it horizontally on the anvil, and pulled out the rest of the metal out, laying them side by side. The girl had to work quickly or the metal would cool before she was finished, so she brought them together and braided the metals with a tong in each hand. Valerie carefully made the wire as even as she could and when she was done, the girl wrapped it around the point of the anvil and merge the two ends. Pulling the ring off the end of the anvil, she placed it back into the hearth and stuck the ends of the metal together, fusing them together to make a smooth ring. The girl smiled and pulled it out of the hearth, examining it carefully with her eyes. It was a small ring that with three different metals that were woven together to make a thin ring. Each metal seemed to radiate a soft glow, the black casted shadows, the gold radiated the sunlight, and the silver seemed to shine like a star in the lone night.


When she was satisfied with the outcome, she dunked it into a basin of cool water and it hissed softly when the hot metal hit the water. Valerie pulled the gloves off her hands and picked up the ring with her tongs and grabbed a polishing cloth and removed the dirt and soot that lingered on the metal, revealing the new accessory. Valerie turned around to face Christopher. “Now what?” She asked, confused. The Lander laughed and walked over. “Your favourite part, naming.” He said, leaning against the table with a drink in his hand. The girl grimaced and nodded as she slowly reached out to touch the ring.



Words: 757

[Valerie]

The moment Valerie’s fingers made contact with the ring, two different screens popped in front of her. The girl tensed slightly before sighing softly, she still wasn’t familiar with the random screens that popped up in front of her. The first panel said that the new level ten metal accessory had a Production Quality Increase of one level. Valerie made a sound of questioning and the Lander walked up to read the screen that was in front of Valerie. “Wow. Who would have guessed?” The man said. But it didn’t explain anything to Valerie. “So?” She asked, almost impatient that she didn’t get an answer to her question. “Production Quality Increase will increase your crafting level. A level ten will increase your crafting level by one, and so on.” He said, his eyes still wide as he stared at the panel. “Um… Okay.” She said, turning back to tap the first screen away and focused on the large panel that asked for a name and description.


Valerie turned the ring around in her hand as she thought about the description. [It is a metal accessory that increases the crafting level of the wearer by one. The ring is simple and plain without any jewels and special engravings. It is made of three different colored metals, gold, silver and black. All the metals are woven together to make a thin braid. It is meant to be worn on the pinky finger of a female and is quite small in size.]


The girl was done with coming up with a description. She was never very good with words and didn’t bother to explain the accessory too much. It was a simple description for a simple ring. However, Valerie had to come up with a name for the small ring. The girl hated naming things. Whenever she had a pet fish or something from a carnival, she would call it a fish or whatever it was, never giving the animal a name. She already had to struggle to find names for her two weapons, and jewellery was not her specialty. In the end, the girl gave up and heaved a long sigh and raised her hands to type onto the screen. [Tri-coloured braided Ring] Was the name she gave the new accessory.


Then Valerie tapped the screen away and another one appeared in front of her, indicating the new addition to her inventory as the ring disappeared. The Adventurer fiddled around with her menu and made the newly made ring appeared in her palm and promptly slipped it onto the pinky finger of her right hand. The girl turned to Christopher and gave the Lander a tired smile. “Thank you again. Good bye, Sir.” She said and quickly left the shop as her eyes drooped lower, tired from crafting such a small object.



Words: 470
OOC: Done crafting ring. 3/3

[Valerie]

A few days later, after a number of quick monster hunting trips, Valerie was back in St. Pancras Station with a new idea for a new accessory. The Adventurer quickly made her way to Christopher’s Blacksmith shop, passing by everyone else in the market place, and entered the shop quietly, though a soft ring from a bell signaled her arrival. The shop was once again empty, and the familiar Blacksmith appeared from the large metal door from his forge. The Lander greeted Valerie with a smile, which she returned as she walked over. “Hello Sir.” She greeted as the man opened the door to allow the Adventurer to pass through and access his forge. “It is nice to see you again, Valerie.” Christopher said in his deep, gruff voice. “What are you here for today? You seemed to be quite excited to craft something.” He commented, a hint of a smile lingering on his face. The girl nodded and walked straight to a tray of metals, scanning them with her eyes. “I thought of another accessory I want to make.” Valerie answered and picked up two pieces of pale silvery metals. She held them close together and compared the similar looking metals. One seemed to have a duller appearance while the other shone brightly in the dim lighting. Valerie smiled and walked over to her teacher and held them up to him.


“I would like to pay for these.” She said and placed them on the table beside her to grab some gold for the Blacksmith. The Lander looked at the Adventurer, slightly confused and opened his mouth to speak, but the girl beat him to it. “I will be making a level ten accessory again, so that will be one hundred gold.” Valerie said as she held out the amount for the Blacksmith, who accepted the money automatically and the metals disappeared as a screen appeared in front of the girl, who tapped it away. The girl immediately went to work and fiddled around with her menu, making the materials appeared back on the table. She pulled on the small apron that was hanging on a wall and slipped on a pair of protective leather gloves.


Valerie quickly grabbed a pair of tongs and tossed the two metals into the furnace and pumped the billows twice, to heat up the hearth. Then, the Adventurer had to wait for the metals to heat up, so she turned to the Lander, who had sat down on his stool with a cup of coffee in his hand. “If you want to do some work, I will make sure to be out of your way.” The girl said softly, but the man shook his head. “It is alright, I do quite enjoy watching you craft.” He said, humor clearly heard in his voice. Valerie’s brows furrowed, not sure how to respond, but she nodded, acknowledging his words.


Then the girl turned back to watch the metals heat up, picturing how her craft will turn out. It was going to be tedious work to make the chain of a necklace and to carefully carve out the pendent she was planning to make, but hopefully, it would turn out to be alright, if not, she could probably give it to someone else for some gold. Maybe she could even make a profit off of it. The girl laughed lightly at the thought. She had never planned to make a business out of crafting weapons or accessories for other people, but rather hunting monsters, and the idea of starting a business was quite amusing to the Adventurer.



Words: 601
OOC: Starting crafting Necklace (Metal Accessory)

[Valerie]

While Valerie was waiting, her dark violet eyes searched the forge for two certain items, pot and a very particular mold. She fumbled around the Lander’s forge drawing a curious look from her teacher. “What are you planning to make?” He asked, tilting his head slightly at the strange Adventurer. “If you don’t mind.” Christopher added quickly when she didn’t reply immediately. “A simple necklace.” The Swashbuckler said softly as she continued to search around the workplace. The man nodded in response and strolled over to the girl. “I can see you seem to be searching for something. What is it you need, may I ask.” He said, amusement heard in his gravelly voice. Valerie stood up to face the Lander with a sheepish smile. “A melting pot and a chain mold.” She said softly, looking away, trying to look for the particular items.


The girl heard a deep chuckle and turned around to find the source of the sound. The Adventurer’s deep violet eyes spotted her teacher holding the exact items she needed. She gasped softly as the Lander smiled broadly at the girl and held out the two items out for the girl to receive. Valerie’s face lit up in a bright smile as she gladly took the pot and mold. “I suppose you know how to use them…” Christopher said, trailing off, looking at the girl expectantly. The Swashbuckler nodded and walked back to the hearth to check the metals. “Thank you.” She said, before turning back to face Christopher when the metals were not hot enough. She settled the two items on the table before turning around to face the Blacksmith. Another idea for her necklace had popped into her head, something with a gem, which was very unlike Valerie, the simple and plain girl. “Do you happen to have some jewels?” The girl asked, hoping that she would have something to work with that would make the creation in her mind come to life.


Christopher nodded and led the young girl to another drawer, which he pulled open and inside was a velvet cushion which many different kinds of stones lay upon. Valerie’s brows furrowed, worried, as she trying to find one that matched the one in her mind. Deep within the drawer as a dark, black stone, no bigger than the girl’s thumbnail. It was shaped like a star, but did not glow or shine like the other colourful jewels. The gem was not perfect, having dents in the sides, but it didn’t matter to her. The girl picked it up and held it up for the man to see. Her teacher just smiled knowingly. It was expectant of her to choose such a gem. He had known about her love for dark items the moment the Adventurer walked in and also when she made the black blade. Christopher nodded at her, allowing the girl to use it, at which Valerie smiled. “Thank you so much.” She said, grateful for the generous Blacksmith.


Soon, the metals began to glow, indicating it was hot enough to shape. The Blacksmith grabbed a pair of tongs in her left hand and a hammer in the other, and then used her tongs to pull a piece of silver metal out of the furnace and balanced it on top of the anvil. She reached back into the furnace and took out the remaining piece of metal and placed it into the small pot and placed it back into the hearth and then pumped the billows twice more to increase the heat. The pot was supposed to be able to withstand an incredible amount of heat before beginning to melt. Valerie had planned to use it to melt the silver metal and then pour the liquid metal into the mold to create a fine chain without the tedious crafting of each individual link.


Turning her attention back to the metal on the anvil, she began to hammer away at the piece of metal. She made it as thin as paper, lengthening the metal into a thin sheet of metal. Once it seemed about right, Valerie switched the hammer for a chisel and began to use the tip to cut out fine curving designs into the metal. It was tiring work, trying to cut out the extra metal to reveal holes in the metal that left behind a swirling design in the sheet. It looked about what she had imagined and quickly grabbed the black gem and placed it on top of the sheet of metal. The girl had to work fast, as the sheet of metal was cooling fast. With the tongs, she gently wrapped the jewel in the metal sheet, creating a star like pendant around the imperfect gem. Valerie cut away the extra metal and pushed it aside as she continued to work on her current project. The pendant was almost finished and only needed to finish cooling, which a quick dip in some cold water will easily fixed. The girl picked up the star pendant and dipped it gently into the basin of cold water. The metal barely hissed at contact, as the metal was already quite cool.


Satisfied with the pendant, the girl placed it aside and strolled over to check on the metal that had been sitting in the pot. It had melted nicely and she carefully arranged the mold to prepare for the incoming liquid metal. She lifted the pot out of the hearth and tilted the pot slowly to pour the burning liquid into the mold. It slowly filled up, but the girl was strangely patient about it. When it was done, she dunked the pot in cold water to cool it off and it hissed loudly, filling the room with the sound. The Dancer cringed slightly but placed the cooled pot off to the side as she refocused herself onto the metal filled mold. The girl flipped the mold shut and, with her tongs, dunked it into the basin of water. She doubted that it was still cool, but it was still be enough to cool burning hot metal. Lifting it out of the basin, she placed it onto the worktable and unlatched the mold, allowing it to fall open, revealing a silver metal chain necklace. Without removing her eyes from the chain, she pushed the mold aside and removed her protective gloves. The girl slowly slipped the newly make chain into the star pendant.


The moment it was finished, a panel popped up in front of her, as always. The girl sighed and placed down her newly created accessory, gritting her teeth as she attempted to write another description and name for this new necklace.



Words: 1114
OOC: 2/3 for necklace. 

[Valerie]

Just as she lifted her hand to type on the panel, another one appeared saying that the new accessory would reduce the cooldown time of one of the girl’s new skills, [Trigger Jackpot]. She had not had the chance to use the skill yet, but the effect would lessen the cooldown time by one second, which was valuable in a fight. The girl tapped the screen away before lifted her hand again and began to type on the panel in front of her. [This necklace has a simple silver chain with a small star like pendant. The pendant is made of a black gem that is encased by a silver metal casing with a swirling design. It is simple and not eye catching, which was the purpose of necklac-]


Valerie paused as her thoughts came to an abrupt stop. Lifting her hands off the interface, the girl tapped her chin thoughtfully. The girl thought of names of stars she remember back in the real world. The Swashbuckler was never quite interested in astronomy, but enjoyed reading many books and watching movies, which was where she learned many random things, including some commonly known stars. The first one to come to mind was the morning star, translated to Morgenstern by an old series she had read. Valerie pushed it aside as she struggled for a second star. The next was the North Star, the one that tells anyone who looks up, which way is north. That is, unless it is a cloudy day, then you’re out of luck. The girl sighed softly when she realized she was stuck with two names to choose from.


Slowly raising her hands, the girl began to slowly tap the interface, plucking out the name of her new necklace. [The Dark North Star] The Adventurer was still unsure on whether she liked the name for her accessory. Usually, she doesn’t care much about being precise and perfect, but when it comes to her creations and performances, perfection is the normal and she would not settle for any less. Though, at the moment, she is giving herself some slack, knowing how bad she was at naming things. As a child, she had multiple different pets, but she had never named a single one of them and only called them as they were. She was always very simple and never likes extras or add-ons that were for appearance sake. Everything she did would have a purpose, or she would not do it.


After a bit, Valerie shrugged and finished typing her description before tapped the screen away and another one appeared in front of her, indicating the new addition to her inventory as the necklace disappeared. The Adventurer fiddled around with her menu and made the newly made accessory appeared in her hand and promptly unclasped the chain, brushing her hair aside and clasped the chain around her neck. The necklace dropped and hung delicately on her chest, the metal and gem reflecting the little light in the forge. The girl turned to Christopher and gave the Lander a tired smile. “Thank you. I think that is all for today, Sir.” She said and placed all her tools away and hung her small apron back on a metal hook and turned back to Christopher, walking backward toward the door. “Goodbye, sir!” Valerie said, waving as she passed through the heavy metal door and out of the shop. She heard a soft goodbye from her teacher as she left, bounding through the streets of St. Pancras Station, excited to try her new skill that her new necklace changed the cooldown time for.



Words: 603
OOC: 3/3 of [The Dark North Star]