“Look here,” said Jude.

The <Ghoul Abominations> corpse had just disappeared and what was left behind was quite interesting.   There was a small pile of gold, a shining hammer and a dark wood staff.

“Oh wow, is this a crafting hammer?  I’ve never heard of a crafting item being dropped by a mob before!” Ellie Said as she picked up the hammer.

It was an exquisite hammer.  The head was a perfect cylinder and the shaft had intricate carvings on it all the way up to the head.  Both were crafted from the same material that was silver in color but when it caught the light it gave off different hues.  The whole hammer had a slight glow to it as well.

“Here let me <Identify> it for you.”

“Wow, that’s amazing!” Ellie said looking at the blue screen that popped up over the weapon.  “But how did such a high level object drop from this boss?”

“Huh?  What do you mean?” Jude asked.

“The Grimwar caves are only level 10.  Meaning that at most the mobs are only level 10.  So this boss should have been level 10.  Yet this hammer that dropped can be used to craft Divine objects!  It just seems a little out of the ordinary.”

“Hmmm,” Jude thought about it, “Maybe it’s because of the quest you are on and because a crafter killed a boss that only us attackers are supposed to be able to do.”

Jude added, “With risk comes reward.  Someone as low level as you and a crafter to boot, killed a level 10 boss.  Perhaps it is a reward well earned.”

“Yeah, perhaps it is.” Ellie said with a smile.  “Why don’t you identify that staff!  I bet its good too.”

Jude picked up the staff and said, “<Identify>.”

The staff was long and straight.  At the top was what looked like a large clear crystal the size of a fist.  It looked as if the staff had at one point grown onto the crystal and the crystal had grown into the staff, merging them into one whole body.

“Wow, this is really nice!”  Jude said, “But would <Spectral Weapons> be as good with staffs as it would with swords?”

“It wouldn’t look as good,” Ellie giggled, “But at least it would do more damage to the undead.”

Jude then laughed at himself, he had forgotten that skeletons and the like were weaker to blunt damage in most fantasies.  So of course they should be like that here.  Duh!

He then put away his sword and with the staff in hand he cast <Spectral Weapons>.  While doing so he naturally though of his swords from before.

“Oh, they are still swords!” Ellie said.

Jude was surprised, “Yeah, I was expecting staffs…”  Or was I?

He cast <Spectral Weapons> again, this time focusing on his staff.  This time they were staffs that appeared, however, the bottoms of each staff actually came to a point. 

Jude liked the swords better, but for now he would use the staff version of <Spectral Weapons>.  He was unsure at this time which version was better.  At least the staffs would be better right now against the undead.

They then split the gold and headed towards the Town Hall of Grimwar Caves.

Inside it seemed as if the place was suspended in time.  An alter used for ritual murders, with blood still running down its sides.  The blood soaked floor that was still fresh.  The wooded beams and pillars were all drenched in blood to the point that you could no longer see the original color of the wood.  Ritualistic symbols splattered the plaster walls and they all linked together forming a powerful aura of evil.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

On the alter was a broken stone, it stood impossibly on its corner.  It looked as if liquefied evil had been poured onto the stone, then crystalized.  Black fog flowed out beneath the stone but dissipated as it reached the floor.

“What the cosh is this!!”  Ellie shouted.

“Cosh?  Whats that?”  Jude asked.

“Oh, sorry!  But I think swearing at a time like this is acceptable right?”

“Yeah sure, but what is cosh?”

“Cosh is cosh, just like thad is thad.”  Ellie seemed a little embarrassed saying the ‘swear’ words, so Jude didn’t press it any further.

“So, what did we have to do here for your quest?”

Ellie responded, “It said, ‘An evil, greater than before, as imbedded itself inside the Grimwar Caves; brought here by the shrine setup before the sin had reached its end.  Defeat the embodiment of this evil and purify the shrine and you will be rewarded with a unique class all your own.’  So I guess that <Ghoul Abomination> was the evil and the shire is that alter.”

Jude replied, “Ok, so how do you purify the shrine?”

“That… I don’t know.”

“Maybe you have to craft something that purifies things. Do you know how to make any sort of soap?”

“Ugh, this is not a time for joking.”

“There may have been a little bit of a tease there, but I’m also serious.  You are a crafter, so crafting out the problem would make sense.  It’s not like we can go to the temple and get some Holy Water.”

“Holy Water?  I’ve never heard of that.”

“Ugh,” now it was Jude’s turn, “Is there nothing you can craft that might fix this?”

“Not that I can think of, there is not much that I can craft in the first place.  It may not even be something that I craft.  After all, the <Ghoul Abomination> was defeated through fighting.”

“Was it?  I’m pretty sure you crafted a pretty awesome crossbow that killed it in the end.”

“Yeah, but that was out of desperation.  I’m honestly surprised it even worked!  And after that last shot, it broke!”

“Tell me, did you have a plan or schematic for it?”  Jude asked.

“No, it was an original idea that I’ve had for a long time.  But this was the first time I actually tried making it.”

***

Time passed and Ellie tried several different things.  Crafting was a no go, spit shine also didn’t work, a mop without water also failed.

Jude had just got done checking the outside.

“According to the rate that the torches are going out, I estimate that we have about 2 more hours before the respawn starts.”

“I wish we knew what to do for this quest!” Ellie said in desperation.

“What about the hammer?” Jude asked.

“Bavary?  I have to have the Divine Smith class before I can use it.”

“Are you sure?”

“That’s how a requirement works, it said that it required Divine Smith.”

“Bear with me for a bit, but how does one get the class of Warrior?”  Jude asked.

“I think they have to kill something with a weapon, right?”  Ellie responded.

“Exactly, so how does one get the Wizard class?”  Jude had thought about this for a while now.

“I don’t know, I heard it is impossible, unless you are born with it.  Although it could be gained through a quest like mine right?”

“Maybe, but listen to this for a second.  Perhaps one just has to cast a Wizard spell to gain the Wizard class.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.  You have to be a Wizard to cast a Wizard spell right?”

“That is the traditional way of thinking yes?  But what if you could cast a Wizard spell without being a Wizard.  If the Warrior class can be gained by swinging a sword that one does not have any skill to use, then why wouldn’t it be possible for the same thing to happen with the Wizard class.  I believe the way just hasn’t been found yet.”

“Okay, that is interesting, but what does this have to do with Divine Smith?  We know even less about this class than we do about Wizard.”  Ellie asked.

“Everything, it’s about breaking perceptions.  Perhaps to complete the quest for Divine Smith you have to be a Divine Smith.  After all, to cleans this shrine would require something Divine right?”

“Yeah I guess, but how do I do that?”

“We have our first clue, your new hammer.”

“But I told you, I can’t use it, I don’t have the class!”

“Again, perceptions!  Take out that hammer and smash it on the alter!”

“I can pick it up, but I can’t use it!  The <System> won’t let me!”

Jude sighed, “Then don’t think about using it.  You can hold it and carry it in your hands right?  Don’t use a crafting skill, just let the hammer do the work.  All you have to do is hold it and bring it to its destination.”

Ellie opened up her tool pouch.  Bavary, had shrunk down to a jewlers hammer size when it was put inside the pouch.  Once she took out the precious hammer, it immediately grew to the size of a mallet.

Taking the Bavary in her hands she walked to the alter and set the hammer down.

Jude sighed again, “You’ve got to bring it to the shrine with force!”

“What if it rebounds?  Or disappears because I used it wrong?  Or rejects me because I’m not a Divine Smith?!”  Ellie pleaded desperately.

Jude brought his most gentle tone out and said, “I know you are scared, scared that you might fail.  Scared that you might lose something precious that you earned with your sweat and blood.  But trust me, I don’t know how I know, but I know that this is the correct way.  Remember when you asked earlier why such a rare item would drop on such a low level boss?  It was most likely for this purpose.  The quest has given you exactly what you need to finish it, now trust me and trust the quest.  It will work out; all you have to do is believe.”

“Okay,” Ellie said.

She tightly gripped the hammer. 

Raised it above her head.

With a deep breath she brought the hammer down with her full force!

The hammer smacked the broken stone on top of the alter. And a loud PING sounded.  The gooey looking crystal structure immediately cracked!

“Again!” Jude shouted.

PING! Again she hit the stone.  Black crystal shards began to fall.  The black fog began to disrupt and thin.

PING!  Again she hit the stone! The hammer Bavary started to shine brightly!

PING!  Again she hit the stone! Crystal shards now started to explode off the stone.

PING!  Again she hit the stone!

POW!  The stone was now clear of all black shards and it began to shine brightly!  Rays of light shot out of it and where ever a ray landed, blood and gore disappeared.  The stone shone brighter and brighter until Ellie and Jude could no longer see!

Then it was over.  The room had transformed from a den of evil to that of purity. The whole place was cleaned and restored to mint condition.  Chairs, tables, curtains, rugs, art and more were all like brand new.  Blood and gore were now gone.  The air smelled fresh for the first time they entered this hellish place. 

The alter slowly disappeared, replaced by a simple small table.  The stone remained and gently landed on the table top.

Ellie went from surprise to shock! 

“I can’t believe that it worked!”  She said.

“Of course you believed, otherwise it wouldn’t have worked.” Jude replied.

“What do you mean?”  Ellie asked.

“The power of faith can transcend all things, but you must be careful what you have faith in.” Jude said.

Ellie didn’t quite understand; she would ponder these events for a long time.