[Belt of Grace] (Legendary)
A belt crafted by a forgotten artisan, imbued with the subtle magic of fortune. Those who wear it find that luck favors them in unexpected ways.
Durability: 200/200
Effect: Increases Luck by a certain margin.
…
Staring at the description, Ethan couldn't help the smile that slowly stretched on his face for a brief moment. This might not have appeared like much, but this alone in itself was totally overpowered!
In Lost World Online, luck was an invisible stat that could not be tweaked. It had been one of the most coveted and rarest bonuses one could get. It affected everything, from critical hit rates, to drop chances, quality of quest rewards for numerous quests, even the random events one encountered.
Not to mention, items that boosted luck were incredibly rare, and all of them could be counted on one hand.
Even though the belt was only legendary grade, its actual value was easily mythic tier.
During the gaming days, Ethan had even heard of a player that traded several sets of Legendary tier equipment for one luck enhancing item… these things were that good!
He didn't hesitate further and equipped the belt by fastening it around his waist beneath his shirt, where it wouldn't be visible.
The leather was surprisingly comfortable, conforming to his body as if it had been made for him.
Though he felt nothing, no surge of power, no obvious change, he was sure it was in effect… at least he believed it was; but then again, that was how luck worked, wasn't it? You'd never know it was helping you until you looked back and realized how many things had gone your way.
With that done, he turned his attention to the stat points he had acquired. He had all of a sudden went from nothing to 21 free points.
As is common knowledge for every gamer, this was a critical decision. Every point mattered, especially at low levels.
The conventional wisdom for Swordsmen was simple, and that was to stack on the strength stat for damage, add some agility for speed, ignore everything else until higher levels of at least above level 15.
Well… as it was, and certainly still is, every big player is divided into two categories. There are those that play conventional, and those who treat the game like a sandbox. Ethan was the later, constantly changing and creating new meta to test against his standard build to see which was better so he would conform to that one. Well, that was then, now, he'd just realized how fragile life was in this world. What he needed was survivability above all else.
As for how he would be sharing his points, he already had a good idea of how his build would look like, and how it should progress. If there was anyone with the best build for a swordsman, it would naturally be the #1 Swordsman in the entire game, and the #1 player, coincidentally… actually there was no coincidence, he was just that good.
He didn't hesitate and added 3 points into Endurance. That would give him 150 more HP, bringing him to a total of 350. A comfortable buffer for these early stages.
4 points into Intelligence. He needed the MP pool, especially if he wanted to use skills regularly. That gave him 200 more MP, for a total of 350.
4 points into Vitality. HP and MP regeneration was crucial. He couldn't rely on potions alone—they were expensive, and he'd run out eventually.
That left 10 points.
Normally, he'd dump everything into Agility. Speed was life in his combat philosophy—strike first, strike fast, give the enemy no chance to react, and let your high grade weapon cover for lack in strength… very sound strategy.
But… he didn't have that kind of weapon yet. Unless he wanted to be a strong escape artist, he needed to reconsider.
With that said, 5 points went into Strength, and 5 points into Agility.
Unsurprisingly, there was no special effect, he didn't feel anything or any change even after distributing all of those points. The only thing he could say felt different, was the feeling of having more energy? He could subtly feel his mana increase. That aside, everything felt normal just like before.
Once again, he stood up and took and threw a punch. To his surprise, the power was enough to disrupt the air and disturb the curtain a fair bit.
He swung his arm experimentally a few more times, and then twice with his sword.
He had immediately become faster, definitely faster, then he quickly looked for something to lift. The poor little table was victim instead of his bed. When he gripped the edge of the table and lifted, it came up easily, far easier than he had imagined. Then again, even he from earth could lift that table, though not with much ease.
His final stats were:
Strength: 10
Agility: 12
Endurance: 5
Intelligence: 5
Vitality: 5
…
Satisfied, Ethan dismissed his status window and lay back on the bed.
…
The next day, when the first light of dawn appeared and crept through his window, he prepared himself and left the Inn, without any incident, and made his way to the town's transportation hub.
It was a similar setup to the one in Salt Fish Town, and almost immediately, he found a wagon leaving for Salt Fish Town.
"Fifty copper," the merchant said. Then, noticing Ethan's height, added: "You're a tall one. Might have to charge extra for the space you'll take up."
Ethan just handed over the coins without argument. There was no need to drag attention to himself in anyway and from anyone… or so he thought.
The wagon had to pass through a checkpoint on the way out where guards were inspecting everyone leaving, looking for anything suspicious related to the mayor's son's murder.
Ethan's heart hammered as they approached, but he kept his expression neutral. He'd already moved his Novice Sword into his inventory, leaving him completely unarmed by appearance. Just another traveler in shabby clothes.
The guard who checked the wagon was thorough but ultimately found nothing. His eyes lingered on Ethan's height—in a world where most people averaged around 5'10ft, someone who was 6'7ft definitely stood out.
"Tall bastard, aren't you?" the guard muttered. "You see anything unusual last night? Anyone suspicious?"
"I was asleep," Ethan said, which was technically true.
The guard just grunted and waved them through.
The journey back was to take two days, at most three. For most of the travel, Ethan just pretended to be asleep, a sound strategy to avoid talk with the passengers, while he gathered his thoughts on what to do next. The other passengers were a family of three and an elderly merchant. The child with the family tried to play around with Ethan, but he maintained a cold demeanor and didn't engage. Forget another world and the murder from the previous night, he didn't like kids that were all over the place even back on earth.
When they finally rolled a days journey to Salt Fish Town, Ethan felt a strange sense of relief. He could say for sure now that he had escaped.
Taking care to mark the places, he asked to be let off way before Salt Fish Town. Everyone was confused, but he insisted.
"You sure?" the driver asked, frowning. "The forest is not safe, especially with night coming. Wolves, goblins, even worse things."
The other man shook his head, easing Ethan as he explained that monsters weren't frequent around these forests, "though, he is right about the wild beasts." he explained.
"Thank you. I'll be fine," Ethan said, dropping down from the wagon.
"Your funeral," the driver muttered, and continued toward town.
Ethan stood at the forest's edge, looking into the shadowed trees. He didn't really need their concerns, after all, he knew the surroundings, perhaps even better than the locals. Nevertheless, he was grateful for their concern, it felt oddly, comforting.
The dangers in this beginner area was around level 0-5 monsters. Wolves, hogs, goblins, giant rats, the occasional bear. Just like the man said, goblins were rare, but the others were very much present. There were other animals for sure, but as far as danger, those were the main ones.
Being level 4, he wasn't afraid to venture into the territory, and more importantly, he had a very good reason to risk it.
Hidden in this forest, if he remembered correctly, was something valuable, something that would set him even further ahead.