VRMMORPG: Dragomancer Reborn

Chapter 203  Dangling a Carrot

Arthur's words were confusing to Val. At first, she thought that he had misspoken, but he soon repeated.

"I don't wish for other players to know that I am also a player." Arthur spoke.

"H-how? Huh? Do you mean they think you're a NPC?" Val finally picked up on it.

"Yes." Arthur replied leaving the girl speechless for a minute.

The cogs in her mind started to move and things clicked for her.

"Your level… They can't see it of course!" Val exclaimed and understood why Arthur wanted to keep it a secret.

She could see the advantages of doing so as it could keep the players distracted. Plus it also helped Arthur have some freedom from pestering players.

'If I hadn't seen him, and learned about him later, I might be the same. Badgering him for things.' Val thought to herself. "Alright, I won't tell others." She stated.

"Good." Arthur smiled under his helmet. "I'll give this to you then."

Val took the small Plant core from Arthur and held it awkwardly.

"Uhh… what do I do with it though now?" She asked.

"You can use it to get a better bow made." Arthur replied. "Keep it as one of the materials for now, and look for others."

"What materials should I get?" Val's eyes lit up.

So far she had only been using the default shop weapons and hadn't gotten to crafting. She had no idea or knowledge about what could work for a good bow here.

But she felt like Arthur would know exactly what she should get.

"I can't tell you that just like this." Arthur rejected her.

"Huh? Come on, please?" Val didn't expect him to reject this fast.

"If you want information you have to pay for it." Arthur decided to teach her another important lesson for Morpheus Online.

"Do you want coins? But I don't have many. I'd have to sell this to get them. But then that defeats the purpose." Val replied while pouting.

"There is also doing work for me." Arthur suggested. "Transactions like these are a lot better than one sided favors. It would be best you learn this." He stated.

Val titled her head as she hadn't experienced enough of the world to understand this. She might have been pretending to be an older teen, but Arthur knew she was just 13.

'Perhaps she had been taken advantage of in the game before too and was unable to grow much.' Arthur thought of a potential reason about her not being among the top ranked players.

"If you say so… I'll assist you in more quests I guess." Val answered after thinking for a bit.

'She didn't get it fully… That's fine though, she'll learn eventually.' Arthur was fine with this much progress too.

"I'll tell you what things you need then." Arthur finally said, making Val's eyes gleam with excitement. "Do you know what constitutes a bow?" he asked.

"Of course! A bowstring, two limbs and the grip." Val quickly answered.

"Oh? That was fast." Arthur pretended to be surprised.

"Haha, I've been using bows since I was a child." Val laughed, while also revealing more clues about herself.

It was intentional on Arthur's part as he didn't wish to reveal that he already knew who Val was from his side. It would be a lot better if he 'naturally' figured it out through the things that she had revealed to him.

"Oh, I see… Guess that's why you have above average skill with bows here." Arthur spoke.

"I was surprised about that too. I didn't think this game would be so similar to the real world. It feels almost the same as when I use bows." Val replied. "No wait… it's actually a lot better in game." She corrected herself.

"Let me guess, using the bow is easier and you have better physical abilities?" Arthur questioned.

"Yeah!" Val nodded. "If I used a bow like this in the real world, I would be tired after a few shots. This takes a lot of strength to pull." She answered.

"But here you can use it multiple times as if it has no weight." Arthur finished the sentence for her.

"Yes," She nodded. "And with every level up, I feel better too. I wish it was like this in the real world too. Would make things easier for me." She let out a sigh.

"Haha… yeah…" Arthur awkwardly laughed, remembering his own situation. "Coming back to the topic, you'll need the same materials that you would need to make a real bow." He changed the flow again.

"Hmm… so I need wood for the limbs and grip along with some flexible and stretchable material for the bowstring." Val listed them out.

"Indeed… Think of all the things in the real world, and you can match them to the game too. Of course, they can be a little freaky in the game, but the basics are the same." Arthur explained. "As such, if you need to make an item, the same method as the real world would apply."

"I see… then I'll just look for similar materials… but I still don't get where the plant core would come into play." Val presented her doubts.

"I'll give you another clue. Not just for the Small plant core, but many more materials." Arthur said, making Val intrigued. "For the properties of most materials, you simply need to think about the characteristics of the creature they came from."

"Since the Small plant core is from the Man Faced Walking tree, it should have properties similar to it." Val muttered to herself.

Arther let her think as it was a lot better for her to come to her own conclusion.

"If their properties are similar, then the Small Plant core should be able to impart some of the characteristics of the Man Faced Walking tree." She analyzed.

"You're coming close." Arthur was pleased by her thinking.

"So… considering that the Man Faced Walking Tree was tough, the core should offer better durability?" Val guessed after thinking.

"Correct. But that's not all." Arthur confirmed. "What else do you think might be possible?" he asked.

"Hmm… It seemed to be regenerating HP too, but I don't think that would work for a weapons." Val shot that option down. "Is it the ability to grow?" She guessed next.

"In a way yes… though it will reflect in the flexibility of the bow. That can affect the limbs of the bow as well as make the Bowstring stronger." Arthur explained.

Hearing this, Val's eyes lit up.

"And all this is on top of the basic properties of the materials themselves?!" She asked having a hundred thoughts going through her mind.

"Indeed. That Small Plant core is an addition material and can be used to impart specifies properties to different weapons when used in their manufacture.

The effects can vary depending on the kind of weapon its used on but in the case of a bow, it should improve its durability as well as the range due to the improved flexibility of the limbs and strength of the bowstring.

And this is just after the addition of one such material. You can technically add several more and make it even better.

Of course there is the matter of diminishing returns and the optimal use of materials. For a lower quality bow, you wouldn't want to waste too many good materials on it." Arther explained in detail, highly intriguing Val.

She listened to it with sharp ears and tried her best to memorize as much as she could. Val knew for sure that this would be coming in handy for her in the future a lot.

She also had a hunch that what Arthur was saying was worth a lot Val might be young, but she still had her instincts that told her when things were different. It had helped her in her short life so far more than what he had asked of her.

Val might be young, but she still had her instincts that told her when things were different. It had helped her in her short life so far and would be coming in handy in the future too.

After all, she went to a prestigious academy which meant tough competition. Others would want to drag you down and wouldn't easily help others in an attempt to keep themselves as the superiors.

"Thank you, I'll look out for materials like that." Val said with a smile feeling gratitude towards Arthur. "What do you need for me to do though?" she asked.

"Just stay in my party and help me out in quests and more." Arthur's request turned out to be something very simple and what Val would have wanted either way.

What she didn't know was that Arthur was attempting to forge a strong connection. With the Carrot of beneficial information that he had dangled in front of her, it would be hard for her to resist for long.

And sure enough, she had taken the bait and would be a lot more willing to listen to his orders.

'She is worth training for sure. After a while, she'll be a good teammate.' Arthur thought.