Best Shop In The Multiverse

Shout Out To My New Patrons

Evil_Bob

Red had only a split second to make a decision. Someone faster and more experienced might have tried to cut the limb before it pulled. Someone faster would have tried to dodge and been caught. Someone strong could have pulled the tree to him and turned it into firewood. A magically inclined person would have led with a barrage of fireballs. Red was a craftsman, or to be more precise, the shop turned him into one. So he did the only thing he could think would give him a chance, and he tightened the grip on his crossbow's strap to prevent it from falling off.

White limbs perfectly camouflaged with the snow move, popping even as small veins appear to stand out. He sees what looks like blood flowing through the tree's limbs, and the root around his ankle feels warm even as it lifts him off his feet to dangle. Up close, he can see thousands of tiny hair-like growths around the tree's limbs sensitive to changing wind, and he suspected temperature changes. It rose high on a web of spindly roots and pulled him forward until he saw what lay within. A beak like an octopus made of harder wood than he suspected anywhere else on the tree. It lashed out with more limbs wrapping them around his body like the coils of a snake as it brought him closer to doom. The beak opened, and he aimed.

Albino Cherry Tree (Trash+++): A spring tree raised in winter from the blood of powerful, warm-blooded creatures, it doesn't know the warmth of the summer sun or the joy of an evening shower in spring. All it can do to survive is aggressively attack sources of heat. 

Blood rushed to his head. One hand was bound, so he wasn't getting a second shot. He fired and prayed. The beak shut just as the bolt impacted it and exploded. Flames shot out in all directions as the monster threw itself to the side to evade something it didn't understand. He dropped his crossbow and held out his hand. A fireball formed and he fired into the section of roots that held him.

MP 4/13

When the first one flew, he fired the other three to use his perk. Two of the fireballs winked out before they hit their target, and one exploded with too small an area to matter. His last one exploded larger and more violently. He fell with the roots as the creature threw itself into the snow and tried to bury itself.

Red scrambled to get his crossbow. He pumped in a new bolt when the monster erupted from the snow, turning with its remaining roots facing Red and reaching out with its remaining roots.

His heart raced, and his eyes were wide as saucers. He mechanically pumped a new bolt and fired as the monster exploded. A swipe hit his knee from a stray root.

HP 2/17 

Red gripped his knee. If not for his HP, he would have lost the leg. That was a fact he couldn't get away from. There was a hole in his chainmail where the root slapped him. He gripped his knee as the monster finally stopped squirming.

Blood Logs (Trash+++) x 5 

White Cherry Petals (Trash+++): An ingredient that reverses one effect of another ingredient in an alchemic potion of the same tier. It mildly boosts the effects of a Spring Wood-based potion out of season.

White Cherry Charcoal (Trash+++): Burned and treated charcoal made from an albino cherry tree imparts the memories of a tree yearning for spring when burned in a forge. It improves all Growth effects. 

He received a whole bushel of petals, which was around 8 gallons of fresh alchemic ingredients. For the charcoal, he received around a log's worth, and he could tell it would be a great ingredient. By the way he received drops, he would only get a greater variety of drops for crafting.

With the improved ingredients, it was possible he could make his first common item and, get the achievement and earn more crafting tools. Or he could begin making his own that could wait.

Red walked past the burning albino cherry tree and used his Eagle Eyes perk to look around the snow. Leaves were there, with only the edges peeking out long roots with the same feelers. He could magnify his vision with his eyes and see the tiny color differences between the roots and snow.

Red fired and pumped his crossbow. Long, spindly limbs lifted out and smacked the ground. Snow banks rose and fell, blanketing the ground as bolts exploded. His bag of holding was filled with equipment as he did his work. Mobs fell, and he reaped the benefits. One after the other, he slew them until the way forward was clear.

In the distance, green rolling hills filled his vision, leaving the wintry climate behind. Dotting pixies fluttered on the wind with pink, red, and golden wings as tiny rain showers spontaneously soaked the ground and trees remained rooted. After a few hours, Red felt he was about to cross into the first layer of the dungeon.

…

Marcus slammed a mag in his crossbow and fired. He had common machine guns that couldn't do close to as much damage as the trash-tier crossbow. The people he let into his shelter were gunsmiths and survivors who knew how to pack ammunition, but they couldn't compete. The zombie apocalypse survivor imagined he was dealing with a pure craftsman instead of an apartment owner or a pure merchant like many in his friend group.

"I don't see why you're still using that trash when you have this," Nami said.

She tried to force a 9ft long katana into his hand. While it looked sick as hell it needed lots of dexterity to use right. Even if he had enough strength, which he surely did he wouldn't be able to handle it.

His Japanese companion partied with him and quickly became a blacksmith. She made many of the armor and weapons he enjoyed.

As a pure strength build, he enjoyed heavy armor and even heavier weapons, but he enjoyed the crossbow the most. It looked small, strapped to his bulky side.

It is a mere trash-tier weapon, but it could do so much. He could clear out mobs in the hundreds, and his friend sent him 20 magazines, each with 35 bolts. Seven hundred high explosive rounds that hit like a low-level mage build were incredible to see.

"I think being cheap is the point. Look at it. This thing is just wood and string, no metal at all."

"I will make you something better. You'll throw away that piece of trash and never look back, mark my words."

…

"Hello there," Red stopped as a fairy flitted before his face, clutching two spears in her hands. He noticed they were falling apart rotten in places, each barely helpful. There was even a rot debuff on them. "I know a mortal isn't sticking his fat nose in my territory and stepping on my nectar." The fairy said.

Red glanced down to see he had stepped on a few golden bulbed flowers. He was in a good mood and didn't immediately swat the fairy from the sky. Maybe this was an opportunity in disguise. He was a shop owner, so surely he could turn this around.

She raised one of her spears, and it broke in the haft. The fairy kept the break disguised with her hand. Her little face scrunched up in concentration. A small vine around the tiny fairy's wrist wiggled down and tied around the break. Many ties had turned brown, and the more he inspected the spears, the more they looked like a cast keeping rotten wood bunched together.

The way he saw things made him feel more like a craftsman than a merchant.

"How about I do something to compensate you? I'm a craftsman of some skill, and those spears look well used. How about I make a new set of spears just for you." Red said.

"Humans are poor craftsmen. Everyone knows that. What could you make better than a fairy craftsman like Lady Viviane?" The fairy asked.

"Oh, I never said my spears were better, but they are free," Red said.

"Free, alright, if they meet my standards, I won't curse you. Lady Viviane hasn't felt like making anything lately and my sisters don't have any better weapons than me. Make them for me."

Red pulled a Cherry Log (Common) from his inventory and decided to try and use another facet of the Wood Craft skill. Instead of using a tool, he planned to pull a spear free with will alone. He had moved wood before, so he knew it was possible. This was the perfect time to practice.

Red looked around the field of golden flowers and spotted a few smaller fairies flitting around the bulbs, drinking nectar and bees flying from bulb to bulb. The bees were as large as his hand but didn't bother the fairies. They also kept their distance from him. Despite the soft dew that covered the flowers, Red was confident he could burn the field down with a few bolts.

He closed his eyes and focused. The wood came into his mind's eye as his hand glided over the rough surface. There were no tools, only his will and his hands. At level 2, he had more information to go on, but the phenomenon was still more of a parlor trick than true magic or a weapon of battle. Red pushed his will against the wood, and out of the log, a single tube of wood grew large enough to carve two spears from.

When the tube was fully ejected, Red caught it and looked the fairy up and down. Her vibrant hair, green wings, and yellow clothes cut quite the figure, and then there was the way her hips swayed as she walked across the log. He sat aside, careful to avoid any flowers. One mistake was forgivable, but an immediate second one wasn't.

He checked the time he was 2 hours in and doing well enough. Symbols were etched into the wood as he curved it slightly for a throw that would slice through the air. Runes appeared on the surface for common maintenance that we couldn't add with tools. He stacked more symbols, including fairy wings, in the spear's tip.

Sweat poured down his face as he squeezed his Eagle Eyes for all they were worth. Shooting vast distances was great, but working on difficult projects was his bread and butter. Practicing these new skills would help him make far more SP.

The fairy started clapping in earnest. "Amazing. I've never seen anyone do this besides Lady Viviane. Are you a craftsman who has come here to learn under our Lady? Will you be the one who cures her melancholy?"

Red gave the spear a look over.

Cherry Fairy Spear (Common) 

Durability: E+ 

Damage D- 

Enchantments 

Repair (Common)

Pierce (Common)

Critical Up (Common)

Fairy Flight (Common)

Value: 100,000SP 

The numbers were getting crazy. He could probably make a weapon with far more enchantments, but his current set was the limit. He could try other categories, like adding mana to a firearm while forging. It was a far more advanced form of magic crafting that Red wasn't ready for. He needed to upgrade his intelligence to 20, the limit of trash, to have a chance. As it turned out, each point was worth more than the last, and each tier jump was huge. There were also many ways for a weapon to reach every day.

Red made a common weapon by stacking common enchantments while working on common material. A common weapon would be made of common materials by someone who could turn trash into a common weapon. That difference was important.

Someone who could turn trash into divine could turn a divine material into something truly incredible. That's the vibe he was getting. What Red had done was a cheap shortcut on the path of a craftsman. His fairy acquaintance with her inexperienced eyes was impressed because she didn't know what she was looking at. If she were who Red thought she was, Lady Viviane wouldn't be so impressed.

No, he suspected she would be angry at him professionally. But if there was one thing to snap someone out of depression, it was anger and a cause. Red also needed a craftsman teacher or possible employee for his shop.

…

"The night prevails," Lord Vrynos said.

Mary stood with her siblings before it was time to be seated. She was wearing a soft blue dress paired with tiny crystals and diamonds. Her siblings stood beside her near the head of the table with her lady mother and father, Lord Vrynos.

Together, they echoed the family words that had kept their people strong for generations. "The night prevails," Mary said.

Further down the table were her cousins, some here to be fostered by their father while others had come to visit away from their lands while the forces of Hermez preyed upon the populous. Wealthy merchant patriarchs turned when the Noctvalin family was weaker and were seated further down the table but still enjoyed the height of hospitality.

"You can stop looking. Your human isn't here." Kailith said.

Her brother's knowledge of Red's existence was a bad thing. Her brother's blue eyes twinkled before her father coughed lightly.

Mary stared at her sister's ruby earrings. "We know you offered him a contract and practically raked him over the coals, but it was an exciting conversation," Lyrena said.

"How did either of you find out."

"You filed it with clerk Tarkus. He bragged about it to Father, and Father told Mother, who told the rest of us. Well done, by the way. I didn't think you had it in you. Weren't you the one who always said we should treat our subjects fairly and the sign of a powerful ruler was a happy populace?" Kailith said.

"Well, it wasn't because I wanted to cheat him. Not after that royal toyed with him and robbed in our city no less."

"They did what?" Kailith said.

"She had her pawn nearly kill him with a kick to the chest and then stole an enchanted crossbow and several magazines," Mary said.

"I'm lost on what a magazine is."

It is the name of the bolt quiver Red invented. After loading it, it automatically reloads the weapon." Kailith nodded. "It isn't like having a servant place an arrow before a shot," Mary said.

"Well, that was my contribution to this conversation. Will you turn him and force the Father to pay for your wedding to this craftsman?" Lyrena said.

"Don't tease our dear sister. To call a mage a mere craftsman is a disservice. I've heard tales of a weapon that has decimated the Hermes faction's vanguard. That's right, 1 in 10 of all the forces in the area have met their end from a single weapon in a single night." Kailith said.

"You're playing with me." Mary said.

"Isn't this the kind of conversation you wanted to have? Look at my new interesting human. He made a weapon that can kill vampires. Isn't he the coolest? I want to lock him down with a massive contract and prevent him from leaving while I stalk him in his shop for fun. Guards, you are to stay outside. He's only a mortal. I don't need you to protect my virtue." Lyrena said.

A horn blew, alerting them of a new arrival. They turned to see a dark-skinned girl with eyes the same white silver as the moon. She was dressed in a blue dress that almost matched Mary's own in color, shape, and fit. It was almost like she was making a statement.

Lunethra was Solari's sister and beyond powerful. She walked toward the front of the table with her attendants on her heels. Glasses misted over as the blood within them froze in her presence. This was another show of power, stating clearly that she was superior.

She heard people talking in whispers that were too low for human ears to hear and impossible for her vampiric ears to pick out over vast distances.

Lunethra stopped in front of her. "You have a lot of nerve-stealing one of our pawns. Interfering with our game has its consequences."

The torch lights faded, and the air thinned as Lunethra focused on Mary.

"You do not have your mother's support or the king's support." The discussion froze as the eyes around her froze. "We've all heard the rumors; worse, we have the eyes to see the truth."

Lunethra bore her fangs, and it was a frightening sight as glasses across the table exploded as the blood within them erupted into spikes of blood ice.

The lights faded utterly, and she heard clapping. Her father's white smirking face appeared out of the dark as Lunethra stiffened.

"Thank you, princess, for the show, but your performance has come to an end. Go and mingle with your peers or drink from my table, as is your right."

"Your daughter, a lady of the realm, just slandered a princess in public."

"You're playing with darkness. As it happens, I heard no slander." The darkness around them swallowed the frozen blood and broken glass, leaving the tablecloth pristine. "My lady wife and I were discussing the gross attack on one of our shopkeepers by another princess of the realm. We were far too distracted by a known infraction reported by both our guards and lady daughter. As a tax-paying lord of the realm, you understand that I must keep my people happy and business flowing so royal princesses can play at being gods. Misinformed priests can turn into rogue vampires, and whole towns can be slaughtered. Your attempts to experiment with turning a mortal are known as the product of your experiments assaulting a shopkeeper. After my daughter attempted to soothe ruffled feathers and ease bruised egos, you came to what intimidated a family member into backing out of a contract."

Lunethra went quiet. Even her attendants were silent. "If you believe that I would sit here and let you insult my daughter because of your bloodline, then your education was a waste." Lunethra opened her mouth. "I did not give you leave to speak. You came unannounced and late to disrupt an event. Don't make this worse for yourself." Her father let the silence drag on. "Now you may speak."

"There will be consequences for this."

"Yes, there will be. I would like to announce that we have decided to sponsor a young mortal shopkeeper with a phenomenal talent for crafting and enchantment. He will arm our soldiers with cutting-edge equipment to take on the beasts of Hermez and even put this royal's heretical progeny down for good. Thank you for coming, Princess Lunethra. It was difficult to make a decision on my stance before."

If you can't wait for the next chapter then I have good news for you. Its on my patreon for only 1$ this will also allow you to view chapter 8 before anyone else when chapter 7 drops. It would really help me out. Here is the link