Chapter 3: Knowledge is my weapon

Ah yes, the starter city! This is the place where every beginner will start their journey of a lifetime in the World of Trials. I am not an exception, as the author himself I understood what I needed to do. Why am I in a rush? I’m not the main character that can idle around, time is of the essence they say. Before the story starts I need to be prepared, and what I need is some early progression

[System: You’ve gained 100 tokens from successfully clearing the Tutorial trial! You’ve gained 50 more as the GM watchdog holds you favorably]

‘What the hell!? This guy is getting on my nerves! Haaayah! This is pretty troublesome I should have just played it safe and waited it out, but if I did I wouldn’t have gained some levels… sigh even if it’s troublesome it’s not a trade that I’m willing to pass on. Since im here I might as well visit that character of mine… I’ll act all desperate and needy of an item but it’s only gonna work once. That guy has a soft spot for beginners so I can trick him to get my hands on some early gear mwehehehehe!’

Once he finally set foot in the city of Grequil his first thought was to visit a place he had in mind. As a cannon fodder of a character, he needs to gain every little advantage he could’ve gained. One of the said advantages was visiting a shop belonging to one of his characters

“Hello is there anyone here? I’m a player that needs to buy some items… hey! I have some money over here can you open this door you motherfu–,”

Before he could’ve ever cussed the door opens slamming his face and a man ranging from his thirties appears. A bearded mug equipped with a variety of scars, an eye that was seemingly red as blood, and the smell of alcohol in his shirt. Many would’ve mistaken him for a washed-up drunk unless they read the sign on top of this old and dusty hut

[System: You’ve taken 3 physical damage by the cause of the door!]

‘Fuck!’ He gets back up before the drunk middleaged man sees his his sorry ass state

“Welcome dear customer! Come in, come in, we’re just about to open,” The man welcomed him to the shop which he entered. He caught a glimpse of a room filled with all kinds of items on display. But what surprised him the most was the man’s face when he’d gotten a closer look

“Did I come in the wrong time?” His expressions change and his tone makes the man aware of his worries. The man chuckles in response and he tells him the reason for his bruises

“Hahahahaha! Don’t get so worked up lad, I just had a lot to drink and you know the rest I blacked out. After that, I woke up with these things on my face. Aside from your worries is there anything else you’re here to offer me…? Something like tokens perhaps,” His eye sparkled in delight and waited for him to spout any kind of request

“I would like to see more of your items before I make my choice I have 150 tokens on hand,” When he was permitted to browse the section, he wandered from left to right for an item that may pique his interest

‘This kid is pretty odd… from all the customers I got so far they always ask me what’s the best item suited for them. It looks like he doesn’t even need my help, I wonder what he’ll bring back? Something tells me he isn’t your run-of-the-mill newbie?’

“All of the items I’ve seen so far are great but I need something that’ll help me at the beginning and maybe the long run. 150 tokens are enough to buy me a full set of armor, but I rather not… my strength hasn’t gotten passed on the normal standards,” He muttered to himself and continued to browse the shop

‘Even after my level up, I can still be compared to my frail body back on earth. My stats are exactly what I wrote in my book, im too weak for my story. Can anyone roll the ending credits? That’s what I’d like to say if I don’t have any background knowledge about this world. The first thing to my advantage is the information of by far the most broken items to ever debut in my novel. Let’s see what we have here?’

[Column one:

• Blood arts – 250

• Swordsmanship for idiots – 100

• Bandit knives 25

• Asian slipper – 5

• Belt of chaos – 500

• Cool looking totally useless clothing – 999

• Mana potion – 356

• Talk no Jutsu – 777

• Strawhat – 15

• Dragonic ball no. 1 – 5000

• Bleach – 3]

‘Man, all of these are pricey as shit. Even if I became a prostitute overnight the money I’d make wouldn’t cut. At least put a plot armor for sale! I’m a side character fated to die. Speaking of my anti-side character death plan there’s another game-changing mechanic that a loser like me has. Stats…’

He browses from the many columns in search of a broken item for Christopher could gain an edge even for a little

‘Im weak as fuck, average players start with stats about 28+ while my body right now is lower. However I can feel the effect of the stats, I became faster and got a little stronger. But im still not past the stats of a normal person. Wait… is this what I think it is? But it’s a one-use item. But even that one time can save me and if I use it correctly I can even take down a boss-rated monster,’

He saw an item that made him blink twice whether he was dreaming or not, an item that he designed to be good for the start of the story as it continues. Even though it’s a one-time use, this would help him in many ways beyond his wildest imagination. He grabbed it before anyone could lay their eyes on this item he went running back to the owner

“Slow down kid what seems to be the problem that’s getting you riled up,” The man looked at the item Morris was holding which lowered his expectation

‘Wait isn’t this artifact useless? Why does he need that item from all the things he could pick? Why is this good-for-nothing item?’

“This item… how much for this item? This is very useful for my growth,” he placed the item on the counter while the old man paused for a moment

‘This kid might have been tricked into buying this if so I can only talk him out of it,’

“Pick another one. That’s not even useful, if anyone tricked you into buying this then don’t even bother. You’ll die if you waste every bit of your penny after passing that trial,” The man takes the item away saying it was useless for him to buy

“I need this… I won’t ask for a refund please sell it to me, (The requirements might be demanding but as long as I have a certain skill this will be beyond broken),” He begged the man to sell him the item, over and over until he got irritated with his voice

‘I guess it can’t be helped,’

“Just take it, that item is useless to me. Nobody ever buys it, but don’t complain about what happens to you after you use it,” The man gives the item back

“Are you sure about this? (Jackpot! Mwehehehehe for a merchant he’s acting like a complete idiot. But I can’t blame him, this item hasn’t been a popular choice for a beginner item. But in later years this was one of the items that came to be popular after the first main trial had ended),” Morris takes the item from the owner’s counter after he gained his permission

“Just buy something else with your money look around for a bit you might find something that can help you survive,” The man said while Morris remained in his view that doesn’t have a clue what to buy after he got ahold of his desire item

“Do you have any suggestions for me? I’ve only come here because some of the things I need can be found in your shop. Aside from this, I don’t have any idea of what I’ll buy,” The old man was thinking of what item best suited him. Soon after he had made his decision, he got off the counter and browsed his shop, the old man asked Morris about his class. This question was crucial for the merchant to know what item suited him best

“Have you ever thought about what class you’re going to choose as you continue your life here?” Morris paused for a moment to think about his class

‘He’s right I forgot about this important part… What class will I take after I reach LVL 10 should I continue to become a swordsman? I got a good handle on my sword, but let’s face reality for the moment. Starter rarity weapons are light compared to common rarity weapons. My body isn’t that strong enough to wield a normal sword should I try a different class? Wait… how could I forget about this, my main strong point before I even level up is Mp (magic power) should I become a magician?’

“Do you have any items that are related to magic? I think I want to be a magician,”

The old man searched for his requested items and brought three items back to the counter. “How about these three items? If you buy all of them I’ll make consider them a set and lower the price to 100 tokens. You said something about items and not any weapons so I thought you might have gotten some prize money,”

[Standard wizard staff – A staff made of an enchanted wood that resonates well with mana it’s pretty sturdy it can be used as a melee weapon when the user is in a tight situation

Attack damage: 10

Magic damage: 15

Mp: 10

Durability: 30

Novice magic book – A book that contains beginner-tier magic spells before casting powerful spells one must start from the basics

Magicians necklace – A necklace that can summon a protective shield for 15 minutes one use only after it has been used the item will disappear]

“I’ll buy it,” Morris gives the tokens before exiting the shop to look for the cheapest tavern that he could find

‘I’m finally finished with my preparations! Now there’s only one thing left before I enter this city’s rower of trials. I need to raise my level before I do so I need to find a tavern, the sun is about to set. I need a place to stay for the night and I don’t want to get mugged on the first day!’

…

An hour later

“Good evening traveler are you here to eat or stay in for the night,” The tavern keeper greeted him with a bow

“Both how much will that be?”

“7 tokens, 3 for staying in the night and 4 for dinner and breakfast,” He gave the tavern keeper the required token for his food along with a place for him to stay

“Here please inform me when the food is ready im going to be busy,” After he finally set foot in his room he closed the door and placed his equipment on the rough and dusty floor

‘It’s time to practice some magic! While this book doesn’t have any value to me In terms of learning spells, it contains where I can find some herbs. That will be important once I gain a full set of a brewing table, why am I so confident of myself? When I was trying to cast a spell back in the tutorial I could feel my body gathering some mana. I thought of performing a spell before canceling it, I didn’t want to get the GM’s attention. If I didn’t stop they won’t easily let me go to the starter city. Now let’s begin the basics of casting a spell only need three things… 1. A full understanding of the spell, 2. The mana needed to activate the spell, 3. Visualizing the shape of the magic,’

“If one thing is missing from these requirements, for example, you can’t visualize the shape of the spell, you need a chant. Second, if you don’t have the required mana the spell won’t work making it an automatic fail. Third, if you don’t have a full understanding the spell will not work as the description said, it’ll cause a misfire…” He paused fit a brief moment and breathed heavily while shutting his eye

“Then there’s a ‘What if situation’ if a person that has all of the requirements came to the World of Trials. In theory, they would be seen as geniuses since they can do what most mages will learn as they progress. These people were said to cast magic without ever needing to chant,”

A key aspect of magic was visualization, and many authors like Christopher Morris were known to imagine a scenario. His focus instilled the dormant if not unbelievable source of power known as mana to heed his call. The energy seeped everywhere and circulated through his palms little by little exits his flesh. This energy encircled his palm till it formed a spiraling ball that lit the entire room

[System: You’ve learned Magic orb – A spell that can act as a light source or an offensive spell

Magic damage: 10

Mp: 5]

“Rasengan!” He jokingly says and focuses back on the spell when its light dwindles in the loss of his concentration

‘The difference between getting isekaid and transmigrating apart from the world is quite easier to find. Isekai will mostly be people who use their knowledge of their past world or are even blessed by the powers of the god of that world. Transmigration however is decided whether you’re a mob character, op side character, or the main character. Every character in a transmigration story already has their power ranking, but how do I overcome this? Knowledge… with that, I can make about anything as long as I have the things I need. For now, a simple spell will do, I can easily learn a spell as long as I know the way they function and as the author, I know lots!’

*Knock* *Knock*

“Hello sir, your meal is ready! Please come down before it gets cold,” the tavern keeper knocked on his door until he heard her voice

‘Guess I’ll try learning the other spells later im starving. Now that I’ve thought about it, this whole thing feels like one of my previous fever dreams. If the place where the backstabber stabbed me was deep then I wouldn’t be alive. But I can’t see my ignorance as my undoing, who the fuck would believe something to be true? I’m a man of logic so I deemed this to be a dream, but now I can finally say that I won’t be as ignorant as before,’

[System: You’ve arrived at Quilgor, a starter city that mostly contains items. Though this place was said to be harder than Grequil, the rewards are bountiful. Have a wonderful stay, dear player!]

Meanwhile, in a different location in the world of trials, a man appeared at the entrance of a particular city. He dons a hospital gown and was covered in blood whilst he wielded a sword in his hand. A bandage wrapped around his head hints at an injury and an irritated expression. And it was later followed by a loud groan coming from his mouth that widely opened after it collected some air

“My head hurts!! Grrrh, Morris if you’re here, I’ll find you. And when I do I’ll hit you with a fucking lamp,” The mysterious figure entered the city gates once he finishes the tutorial

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep