Before diving into the crafting, Kai checked his main profile. Reaching Level 20 in Nyxfall was a leap from the early Level 19s. Until now, his damage, health, mana, and stamina bars had remained almost constant, but now they had received an immediate step up.
***
Name: Renatus_Kai Lv.21
HP: 200 (1%/Min - Effects vary based on hunger.)
MP: 20 (1%/3 Min) (+1%)
Attack (ATK): 10 (+12)
Defense (DEF): 10
Speed (SPD): 10 (+8)
Stamina (STA): 10
Resistance (RES): 10
Magic Attack (MATK): 10 (+7)
Magic Defense (MDEF): 10
Evasion (EVA): 10
Critical Rate (CRIT): 0.02%
Active Skills (3): Infernal Scion (Bloodline Skill), Godstep(⬟⬟⬟), BloodWorld(⬟⬟⬟).
Learned Skills: Earthstrider (⬟⬟)
Available Skills: Tracking (2 SP), Silent Movement (1 SP), Quick Draw (1 SP)..More
***
His HP and MP had doubled, just like in his last timeline. From now on, the base stats would double every 10 levels instead of waiting until Level 20 like in the beginner phase. The game kept the stats consistent in the early stages to avoid overloading new players with too much information right away.
Now that his skill slots had increased from two to three, Kai could finally use all of his active skills at once. He couldn't remove his Bloodline skill, but the other two could be swapped out depending on the situation. Until now, he had to replace Earthstrider with Godstep whenever he needed to teleport—thankfully, that was no longer necessary.
The +12 to Attack and +7 to Magic Attack came from his bow, while the +8 to Speed and the extra 1% in mana regeneration were thanks to the Mantle of the Hollow King. He had to acquire that mantle again after trading this one—it was incredibly useful, especially considering the massive MP demands of his two mana-hungry skills.
Combat in Nyxfall was all about managing equipment and mastering skills. But that only applied after one had a solid grasp of the basics. A new player with doubled stats and overpowered gear was still easy to deal with if the opponent had essential skills and decent combat techniques.
It wasn't just about having knowledge of real-life martial arts or fighting methods—though that definitely helped. Since everyone started with the same base stats, learning techniques was easier here if you put in the effort. The VR headset helped players build muscle memory using nanobots, meaning they didn't need months of training to adjust. Techniques that took six months or a year in real life could be learned here in just a month.
Of course, learning and mastering were two entirely different things. Once the headgear came off, most of that acquired knowledge faded. Still, some of it stuck. And compared to real life, this place genuinely helped with learning and acquiring knowledge. Add in the five-times time dilation, and it became the ideal space to live life to the fullest.
The landing planets and other games weren't nearly this advanced yet. And that, ultimately, was why this game stood above the rest. In his last timeline, a famous news channel had even called it heaven on Earth.
Kai took a long look at his inventory, trying to remember what ingredients he'd used before. Some were familiar, but most were new and strange to him. He had used various useful arrows and charms in his last timeline and still remembered how to make them on the spot if necessary.
To put it simply, Stonebinder crafting was divided into five stages: grinding, distillation, fermentation, infusion, and crystallization. Grinding was the pulverization stage, where solid ingredients were crushed into fine powder or dust. Distillation involved heating liquid or semi-liquid ingredients to extract purer forms or concentrate volatile components. Fermentation allowed ingredients to age or transform under specific conditions like temperature and light. Infusion was the melding stage—soaking or blending one ingredient into another, or applying it directly onto weapons and equipment to allow their properties to merge. Finally, crystallization was the solidification step, where liquids or powders were compressed or cooled under magical or natural pressure to form stable crystals.
With only limited item slots, players had to experiment with different combinations and orders of processing to create unique effects. Kai separated a few ingredients he planned to use for basic crafting and set everything else aside. He was tempted by the rare and uncommon boss drops—many of them sounded like they could lead to fascinating results—but for now, he would stick with what he knew.
Once he was done organizing, Kai made a list of what else he needed and headed to the market to buy whatever was available. By the end of a full in-game day, he had collected enough materials to make five items: Crippling Oil (a weapon coating), a Fire Resistance Charm, an Explosion Arrow, a Minor Poison Arrow, and a Blinding Arrow. Crippling Oil had a 10% chance to slow a target on hit. The process still needed testing, but in theory, it should work.
Some of the materials took quite a bit of hunting across town, while others—surprisingly valuable—were being sold for cheap, bundled with trash items. Kai stocked up on as many of those as he could. They were useful for basic crafting now, and he knew they would become much more valuable later on. He didn't have the money to buy everything yet, but with his daily dungeon dives, that would change soon. The crafting system and its endless possibilities still hadn't been realized by the broader player base. The game was only in its first week after all. Anyone collecting those items right now was likely an older player—just like him.
After wrapping up his crafting prep, Kai spent a couple of hours completing smaller missions that rewarded useful skills and items. That was when he got a message from IgnisBellator, letting him know they had arrived in town and were currently in line as first-time visitors.
Perfect timing.
He was just finishing a small mission, saving a little girl from a den of shadow howlers. After massacring the wolves, he picked up the girl and ran back toward the town, calling for the others to meet near Maeka's statue.