by Nikita Thorn
Seiki had no idea if his friend knew of the recipe she had mentioned, but he knew there was an easier way to check whether someone was really a Level 13 Woodcrafter. She only had to join their group and ask for proof. Unlike combat abilities, which were automatically visible to all group members, the Trade Skills section had to be requested, but it was still only a simple mental transaction away.
With an irked smile, Ippei picked up the materials, his eyes locked with hers. “No need,” he said as he reached into his pocket. “I’ve brought my own.”
Producing his woodcarving knife, the samurai put the two pieces of wood together, before running a finger over the edges where they connected. Crafting was always fascinating to watch, and the two blocks merged seamlessly into one larger piece of wood. He ran his knife over the midway point of the piece, dividing them horizontally, before putting them together again to form a flat square block of wood that was the starting material for the recipe.
Like all other Trade Skills, Woodcrafting did not require players to actually know woodwork. Depending on the level of the recipe, the crafter needed to follow layered, intertwining patterns with their knife. Standard items mostly used for leveling were quite simple, but could be tedious considering players had to complete a few hundreds of the best leveling recipe to get to the next level. For high level items, the challenge was more complicated, and sometimes required players to solve an intricate spatial puzzle as to which layer to carve off first. Top-end items were often timed. The faster it was completed without mistakes, the better quality the finished product turned out to be.
In silence, the room watched as a fan-shaped box slowly took shape in Ippei’s hands. The lid, curiously, did not have to be worked on separately from the body, and the samurai soon added the finishing touches, the engraved patterns on the lid and sides.
His annoyed smile turned into a grin as he placed it down on the table. “A hundred percent precision. You’re welcome.” He slid it over to Irumi to inspect. “My contribution to the Crafters’ Guild’s Festival efforts.”
The piece read Engraved Kiri Fan Box [treasure]. Made by Ippei. The tag ‘treasure’ denoted anything that had no use but could be turned in at the correct NPC at the Shogun’s Palace for Favors.
Seiki did not know where they got the part about a hundred percent from, as the information was not visible to him, but he could guess that it had to do with a subskill called Appraise, available with many crafting Trade Skill.
“It’s really a hundred percent.” Kentaro had looked up from his artwork, which was now filled with the black outlines of a majestic mountain range. “Definitely not your first time, then. Since when did you start practicing treasure pieces?”
Ippei gave a casual shrug and simply smiled. “Since I started having need for Favors.”
It turned out that perfectly-crafted [treasure] items were worth double Favor Points. Seiki then learned from Irumi that during this event, they could also be exchanged for Festival Tokens.
“You can’t donate Festival Tokens directly to your clan, but you can get around it by donating treasures to the clan, and the clan can trade them to get Clan Festival Tokens.”
“Oh, I see. So that’s what the White Cranes are going for,” said Mairin. “Although, I don’t think they have that many crafters, so they’re going really hard on quests right now.”
Ippei nodded. “That’s good. We might be lucky if that’s what’s keeping all the clans occupied.”
Irumi was turning the carved box around in her hand, somewhat surprised, and perhaps even a little impressed. “Well, who would have thought?” A mysterious smirk crept up on her face again as she looked at Ippei, but she said nothing else on the matter. “All right. Since you’ve agreed to donate this piece to our clan’s Palace Contribution efforts, I suppose we can grant you temporary access to our files.”
She clapped her hands twice, stared into the empty space in the air in front of her to make some mental commands, and after a few seconds a soft knock sounded on the door.
An NPC clan servant, a middle-aged man dressed in gray, cracked open the sliding panel and slid a thick pile of bound parchment through.
“Thanks, Tada.” Irumi turned to smile at the NPC, who efficiently disappeared as soon as his duty was over. She then lifted the document and placed it in front of them. “There you go,” she said, sounding rather amused. “For your hobby.”
Seiki had not expected the size of the volume. The book was nearly half a foot thick, with pages of different sizes, all messily bound. It was titled Favor Woodcrafting Items. Made by Kaori of the Crafters’ Guild.
The book was a collection of documents written by different authors, mostly players, at least one of whom was marked [unknown], which meant they had at some point after writing it given up on the character. The compilation was clearly in need of an editor. The categories were haphazard, and there were categories for both ‘Food-related Utensils’ and ‘Tableware’, plus one dedicated entirely to ‘Chopsticks’. Seiki flipped through until he found a section titled ‘Masks’.
Luckily, unlike some other lists in the book, this one seemed to have been compiled by a single author, someone called Abu of the Shinshioka Nobles. The list was fully illustrated, and covered two and a half pages, each with six different masks, of men, women, monsters, young and old, with a variety of expressions. Some were snarling demons, with horns or without, painted either red or white or black. Beneath each item was the title of the starter quest to acquire the recipe, and a note at the end remarked that crafting all available masks earned you an Achievement.
Seiki paused on an entry labeled Ko-omote Mask, a young female face depicted in an ambiguous mood. It was the closest to what he remembered from the mysterious figure, but the expression here was neutral and not outright malicious like the one he kept seeing. He supposed the elements were there, and if he put one of the demon mouths together with a pair of eyes from all the available options, he would be able to create the mask he had been seeing, but then again he knew that was not how crafting worked.
He finally closed the book and slid it back to Irumi. “Thanks. That was helpful.”
Irumi blinked. “That’s it? You just wanted to… look at masks?”
“I was wondering if there’s a way to disguise yourself, like hide your player tag.” Seiki knew it was impossible. Even Shadow Manor assassins, who almost always covered themselves from head to toe in black, always appeared with a label as long as they were within range. Whether their victims had time to read the tags was another story.
“Not really,” said Ippei, answering his question. “There was an event in Beta that was a Night of the Yokai Parade, where you dressed up in monster costumes and went out into Shinshioka. The costumes showed costume names instead of your player name.”
“Oh, like Halloween’s?” said Mairin.
“Yeah, except that some of the yokai running about were actually powerful rare monsters. The only way to tell them apart from players was they were tagged with [Level Unknown] and remained [Level Unknown] even when you attacked them. You killed them and they popped into confetti, and you collected the confetti and traded it in for more costumes and more rewards.”
Mairin’s eyes grew wide with delight. “That needs to happen now!”
Seiki could not help chuckling. A night of endless chances to scare people sounded like Mairin’s dream come true.
Irumi laughed. “Since each yokai costume came with a few special unique abilities, people didn’t hesitate to try them out on other people as soon as they stepped outside, so the whole event turned into a constant free-for-all brawl and ultimately no one managed to get any of the Achievements done. So, they’re probably going to have to rethink that if they want to relaunch it.”
“Yeah.” Yamura made a face. “Imagine everyone turning into an obake. That would be a complete nightmare.”
“That sounds so fun,” said Mairin. “What kind of special abilities?”<
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“If you’re really interested you can talk to my sister Ikumi at the Society. I’m sure there are a few volumes of Beta tales in their library.” Irumi turned to nod at Ippei. “Or maybe you can ask your friend here. He seems to know a thing or two.” The engraved fan-shaped box then disappeared into her sleeves. “Anyway, thank you for your donation to our Festival Contribution. I’m sure the Palace is going to be very pleased.”
“Enjoy your double rewards,” said Ippei.
From across the table, Kentaro cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Fortunately, there’s double rewards for this, too,” said the houshi.
In his hand was a landscape painting depicting a magnificent mountain range, outlined in black with different shades giving an illusion of depth. It was filled in with subtle shades of dark green, fading away near the edges, with negative space of white left in place of frothing waterfalls and low-hanging clouds that shrouded parts of the towering cliffs.
Seiki noticed Kentaro had used red ink, and so he scanned the painting for red. Finally, he noticed, near the right-hand corner, a single flowering tree, its bright red blooms dotted along most of its dark branches.
Seiki found himself holding his breath as he stared at the tiny tree, a corner of self-contained joy in the middle of nature’s majestic forces.
The painting was labeled: Commissioned Color Landscape Sumi-e [treasure]. Made by Kentaro of the Crafters’ Guild.
Not being at all well-versed in any form of art, normally just about everything looked impressive to him. This one, however, felt inexplicably alive, both turbulent and peaceful at the same time, transient and changing, but serene and everlasting. He blinked as he tore his eyes away, wondering if the feeling was his own or if the game was doing something to artificially elicit such an emotional response.
“Oh, that looks nice,” said Yamura.
“This is your best-looking one so far, Kentaro,” said Mairin.
With a smile, the houshi slid the piece over the tabletop to his clanmate. “I think we should donate this one, too.”
Irumi’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
The houshi nodded. “It’s perfect precision, and you only need 90% to qualify. To be honest, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought, so I can do it again any time. This should give us at least sixty Clan Festival Tokens.” He chuckled. “Hopefully more if we get Aiko to do the negotiation. We only have a week to buy that sun roof Omaki wants so much for our indoor herb garden, but there’s no rush on qualifying.”
Irumi appeared to consider the offer, but it was clear she had already made up her mind. “Wow, thanks, Kentaro. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. And you’re wonderful. Now if everyone else in the guild could be a little bit like you, we’d already have that sun roof.” She smiled in approval. “We’ll get the guild to sponsor the materials for your next attempt at the Sumi-e qualifier.”
Kentaro nodded, then gestured to the Needle of the Weaving Princess. “I’ve unequipped it. Thanks. The extra Precision perk is very nice.”
“Right?” Irumi grinned as she carefully wrapped the unique dagger up and returned it to its designated box.
“I might need it again, though,” said the houshi, almost as an afterthought, timing it rather perfectly as his clanmate slid the box shut.
“Oh, right, of course,” said Irumi. “Don’t worry. After the Festival I’ll tell the Society to put you back at the front of the queue.” She rolled up the painting and smiled. “Thanks, Kentaro, this was very helpful. I know you’ve already donated a few pieces to the guild, so you didn’t have to do this.”
The houshi shrugged. “Well, I suppose you can’t let yourself be outdone by just any random war player.”
Ippei looked at him. “Random war player.”
Chuckling, Irumi gathered up the box, painting, and Woodcrafting book, before rising to her feet. As she took her leave, she mentioned something about how the Shinshioka Scientific Society was looking for Festival volunteers and that the compensation was extremely reasonable and that it was something worth their consideration. She then added that someone else had booked the room so they would have about forty-five minutes more before they had to vacate.
“I’ll be back in a few hours if you’re still on and I’ll assign you some more of the clan quests,” she turned to say to Kentaro as she hurried out.
“Yeah, I’ll be here,” said Kentaro, earning a quick nod from Irumi.
As soon as the door slid close, leaving Seiki and his friends on their own once more, they all turned to Kentaro, who now had a triumphant half-smile on his face.
“And that, people, is how you craft a Level 32 secret item.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“Smart,” Ippei admitted.
Yamura nodded toward Kentaro. “Okay, so…”
“So now we put these away,” said Kentaro as he turned the ceramic ink dishes upside down, letting the containers magically empty and clean themselves. “Since we don’t want ink all over the Red Headband Master Pattern.”
They waited in apprehensive silence, and after a few seconds it became obvious that nothing of epic nature was going to immediately come to light before the houshi finished his task, which Seiki thought was much more meticulous than it needed to be.
Mairin turned into a white fox and dashed under the table to get an initial peek. Her effort, unfortunately, proved futile.
“Of course, he put it in his inventory,” the kitsune muttered as she retreated to her seat. “But you did it, Kentaro? You really made it?”
“Of course, I made it.” The houshi chuckled as he continued to slowly pack up his crafting equipment, using three fingers to reshape the bristles of his brush, automatically removing any residue ink and returning them into a pristine state of impossible white.
“You could have told us in advance you were secretly crafting it under the table,” said Yamura.
“There would have been plenty of time for that if you had arrived forty minutes earlier,” said Kentaro.
Ippei laughed. “Okay, fair enough. Take your time, Supreme Crafter. We shall humbly wait for the revelation.”
“In the meantime, if you don’t mind me asking,” said Mairin. “How does one simply borrow a unique? Like, does this happen?”
Kentaro smiled. “My social influence is far greater than you think.”
“Yes, that much is obvious,” said Ippei.
“All right, serious answer. To encourage members to level, every time you hit Level 30 in a Trade Skill, the guild promises to pool guild resources to help you with any crafting project you want. So I asked to get a jump start on Sumi-e Painting.”
Seiki had no idea how Sumi-e Painting was different from the many other versions of Painting, but he knew that these subskills opened up at specific Trade Skills levels. It was beyond his guess how Kentaro managed to be at the correct Calligraphy level in order to have a perfect excuse to borrow the unique dagger, but then again, if you were leveling multiple Trade Skills at the same time, that probably gave you more chances to begin with.
“Irumi didn’t expect I would go straight for the Needle,” said Kentaro. “But I’ve proven myself to be an extremely reliable member and I also promised to spend most of my time during the Festival helping her and Omaki get that indoor herb garden.”
“Yeah, talking about your clan secretary, I’m not sure she was a hundred percent convinced,” said Mairin.
“Definitely not,” said Seiki.
“Luckily your friend decided to amuse us,” said Ippei. “Although I don’t see how she could have guessed exactly what we were up to.”
“And how come I’ve never seen her here before?” said Mairin.
“She doesn’t come in much. She just manages things and puts instructions on the message board in the lobby,” said Kentaro.
Seiki took that as more evidence to support his theory. “She has other duties elsewhere.”
“S
ix other duties, you mean?” said Mairin.
Seiki nodded. “They all look alike, so I don’t think it’s meant to be a secret. Maybe it’s something of an in-joke.”
Taking that into consideration, he wondered if it meant the Shinshioka Scientific Society and the Crafters’ Guild were basically the same clan. And if memory served him right, one of the other sisters, the bard character, ran in high circles of the Shinshioka Nobles.
Seiki relayed his thought out loud to his friends. “Sometimes I feel like they’re all in cahoots and they’re just putting on a show for laughs.”
“I don’t think we did too shabby on our show earlier.” Mairin giggled. “Good job, guys, especially with the hundred percent precision. Anyway, Kentaro, how did you know you were going to ace the painting?”
Kentaro had now finished wrapping up his brushes. “I just happen to be very good at it. Some real-life skills do transfer, right, Seiki?”
“Uh, right.”
The kitsune let out a gasp. “Oh, oh, I see. You’re one of those people who buy adult coloring books!”
The houshi smiled, and Mairin squealed. “It’s true!”
Yamura frowned. “Okay, wait. That’s how Painting works? Man, that’s so lame.”
“Of course, that’s not how it works, Yamura,” said Kentaro seriously. “You decide on the composition and the color scheme and those take skills in artistry to do.” A delighted grin then lit up on his face. “But once the design is done, it becomes more like… painting with water, if you know what I mean. I don’t know why you never get to do that anymore after the age of five.”
“What the hell is painting with water?” said Yamura. “You mean watercolor?”
“Did you not go to preschool?” said Mairin.
“No. I went to my great aunt’s house down the street.” Yamura shuddered. “Horrible place.”
Watching Kentaro put away his spare stack of paper, Seiki suddenly said. “When can you start doing this again with Calligraphy?”