Chapter 258: All Smith

    Of course, the person Brandi had in mind to test her new invention wasnt around yet. They were still out with Rayna, Jacks, and Stella. In the months that Derek had been gone, Stella had joined the hunting group with Rayna and Jacks. Jake, Jackss son, also joined them later on, then they ended up picking up Jensen, Walters son. They had a full five-man team now, and could run even harder dungeons.

    Though Jensens level was lower than the rest, since he was more of a support healer, he was able to keep up. Their composition wasnt the best, so they still had to be choosy when picking dungeons, and Raynas level still lagged behind the other three as well. But Brandi never heard anyone complaining about that.

    The man had graduated from the Academy, and chose to take some time off before deciding if he wanted to take a spot in the Kings army or not. It worked out perfect because the man was a water element user, just like his father, which is why he would be the perfect test subject for her new creation.

    Still, it was possible that she would have enough time to make a wind one for Rayna or a fire one for Jacks or Jake before she met them again. They were always busy with dungeons and beasts, especially since Jake had joined.

    The young man had become somewhat of a makeshift leader of the temporary team. He had a lot of experience while running dungeons with Edgar, and he knew a lot, even more than his own father. He had stressed the importance of skill level over their actual level, and everyone listened carefully.

    Though Brandi had also listened to him, it didnt really help in her situation. She gained experience with every craft, so it was hard to limit her experience while increasing her skill gains. Though, she found that working on the high-level mana cores had catapulted her skill levels even with failures.

    Then again, when she finally had a success, her new level caught back up instantly, and maybe even more so. She would probably even get more levels as soon as she upgraded her class. That was the only thing that had paused her level gains.

    With that in mind, she looked over her new stats at level 50.

    Stats

    Strength

    Dexterity

    Endurance

    Vitality

    Intelligence

    Wisdom

    165

    185

    185

    165

    165

    209

    189

    189

    189

    She closed her stats with a thought. She would use the gifts Derek had left with her when she closed in on her next class upgrade. That would be right before she hit the first threshold at 500 points. She wanted to make sure she crossed them all individually, and didnt want to risk a ton of stat points being dumped on her all at once. She would also slow down on her crafting and craft lower experience items as she drew neared to the class upgrade. With any luck, she would be able to stagger them all out.

    With that, she put her head down and began working on another mana core empowered weapon. She pulled out an earth core and got busy. She still wasnt planning on working on the wind core for Rayna or the fire core for Jacks and Jake until she was certain of success. She had already learned that lesson the hard way.

    Another week passed as she perfected her technique to craft the mana core powered weapons. Raynas team was scheduled to come back today, and she had finally made a decent wind empowered sword.

    She had also failed to hide her new style from her mom for long, as she had made Brandi take off the cloth and goggles she was wearing one night while they were eating dinner. It wasnt a fun experience the moment it happened, but the look on her moms face was something she could already look back on and laugh at.

    Another event was happening as well. It was time for Thomas to move on to the Academy. He was leaving the next day. Jake and Jensen, as Academy graduates, had actually offered to take him to the Academy and get him enrolled. It was much appreciated by everyone.

    For Brandis part, she had painstakingly crafted him another set of leather armor, this one much better than the last. The armor still looked basic, but it was durable enough to provide defense against creatures and beasts in the mid-90s. Her skills made it where she could craft items of a much higher level than herself.

    Speaking of level, she had gained another four over the course of the week. Using the mana cores provided her with tons of experience and skill gain, even if it was much less than she got the first time she successfully crafted the weapon.

    Still, she was a little sad to see him go. He was her best friend, even if they didnt see each other as often as before. He was constantly training with his spear and she was always crafting. Her thoughts became gloomy as she thought about the emptiness of the building once Thomas left.

    With Rayna and the others always going out, and now Thomas leaving, it would only be Brandi, her mom, Rudy, and Silvi left in the building. And Rudy was always so busy that he barely had time to eat anymore at least from what Brandi saw when she remembered about food or her mom dragged her upstairs to eat.

    She wasnt sad for herself, but for her mother. At least she also kept busy with running everything after Derek left, so there was that.

    Brandi came back from her thoughts and picked up the wind empowered blade that lay on her crafting table. This blade was nice. She had actually focused on making a top quality sword along with the mana core this time, and it showed.

    The sword handle was made out level 130 Spiker Boar tusk, and the blade was made with a high mana conductivity ore called Melcium Ore. There were other materials, but those were the two most important. Both materials were chosen for their high conductivity properties. They meshed well with the mana cores.

    In the handle, the small greenish blue gem sat in place. Intricate carvings ran from around the core and were etched deep into the handle and blade. These were the runes she had worked so hard on perfecting. The runes, that with one small error, could evaporite an unsuspecting girls eyebrows.

    In her later creations, she planned to find elemental based material to go with the mana cores as well. She was sure the effect of the core on a blade with the affinity of the corresponding element would be even better.

    Finally, she heard the door to the basement creek open and watched as her mother slowly and carefully crept down the stairs. When her mom saw that she wasnt in the middle of anything, her speed increased and she soon stood before her.

    You wanted to know when everyone got back her mother said. They are all here. Silvi just made dinner, you should join us.

    Okay! Brandi smiled and put her new weapon inside her storage ring before following her mother up the stairs. Her mom was the best. She understood everything she needed, and didnt smother her, even if she was overprotective sometimes.