Resurgence Of The Rogue Blacksmith

It took less than a second for Raphael to close his gaping mouth and react to the Wandering Lord-class monster in front of him.

With a turn of his foot, the hulking Orc Raygo Blacktooth faced away from the enormous Anura and started madly dashing away with all of his strength. His light green face had an expression of pure anger plastered all over it, the veins on his neck and forehead bulging out from the exertion.

'Please don't notice me, please don't notice me, I swear I'll go to church for a month, no a whole year! Just… Please. Don't. Notice. Me!' Raphael fervently prayed to the powers that be, as he strained every fiber of his body to flee away from the monstrosity that had killed his teammates.

Running within any wetland was not an easy task, but it was much harder when you were an Orc that, even without his chainmail and plate armor, was over 2 meters tall and weighed close to 200 kilograms.

Twisting his head a little bit, Raphael looked towards the Wandering Lord Anura, to see whether it had decided to finish the massacre it had started. Curiously enough, the massive behemoth of a frog was idly standing in the same spot, with a blank look on its face, as if it was spacing out.

'Lucky! It didn't notice me, no aggro for this frail Orc to carry on his puny shoulders!' Raphael inwardly rejoiced as he kept zig-zagging through the barren landscape, jumping over puddles now and again.

Just as the lucky stars had seemingly aligned in his favor, Raphael felt a tremor spread across the ground beneath his feet. It was so powerful, that he had to stop and hunch down. Looking back towards where the ill-fated tent had perished, Raphael saw Anura shifting in its spot, lazily turning to the side and then it jumped, leaving a crater in its wake, the ground collapsing under the stress. Raphael idly looked at the oddly-tranquil image of a hundred-meter-tall frog stretched out as it covered an amazing distance with just one jump.

'Phew, almost thought I jinxed myself there. I wonder why there wasn't a crater when it landed on our tent?' he pondered, as he watched the less-than-majestic Anura steadily climb higher and higher.

Just as he had mentally sighed and written off his teammates' death as a weird accident, a portal opened in front of the Wandering Lord, and it disappeared.

Raphael blinked in confusion. 'What the heck?'

Suddenly, his surroundings started steadily darkening and the torrential rain disappeared. Feeling the hairs on his neck stand up, as he slowly edged his line of sight upwards.

He count faintly make out something closing in. Something big and slimy.

'Oh no, nonono! Not like this, any other way but not like this!' Raphael pleaded internally and shot out with renewed energy, trying to dodge the gigantic Anura.

As the colossal Lord of the Bog steadily fell towards the ant-like Raygo Blacktooth, Raphael finally realized his end was near. Despite this, he continued struggling and did not stop in his tracks.

Slipping and almost falling down, Raphael ran as if hell itself was behind him. 'Damn you Origo and your wretched Wandering Lords! I swear on my cat, if I ever fi–…'

It was at this point that Anura, Lord of the Bog, belly-flopped Raygo Blacktooth into oblivion.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

▸▹▸ You were killed by Anura, The Lord of the Bog... ◂◃◂

▸▹▸ The Gods frown upon your cowardice. You have been afflicted with a curse. ◂◃◂

▸▹▸ All Attributes are permanently lowered by 100. ◂◃◂

▸▹▸ All Skill Cooldowns are permanently doubled. ◂◃◂

▸▹▸ Please choose a respawn point: ◂◃◂

➊ Nearest Graveyard ➋ Designated Base

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Raphael felt his heartbeat begin to race as the messages popped up one after another.

'Lowered attributes and doubled cooldowns? Nonono, this can't be true, I must be dreaming! I've played for over a decade, you can't do this to me‽ This has to be a dream! Come on Raffy, wake up!' he lamented, but the screen remained unchanged.

After a few seconds, he finally decided to select the first option and respawned at a small town that he had passed on his way to the Bog of Despair.

With trepidation, Raphael opened his character's information.

– – – – – – – – –

Character: Raygo Blacktooth (Orc)

Status: Weakened (Curse of Anura)

Guild Affiliation: None

Class: Paladin

Level: 285

HP: 1695/1695

MP: 1120/1120

Defense: 615

Main Attributes: Strength -50, Agility 0, Endurance 205, Intelligence 112, Vitality 113.

– – – – – – – – –

Raphael looked at his stats with disbelief as he realized that none of his items gave him boosts anymore, as he didn't cover their requirements because of the curse.

Even worse, because his Strength had dropped to minus 50, he could no longer stand up from the bed in the infirmary he had woken up in. The armor he previously thought of as light was now constricting his every movement, so much so that even breathing felt like a Herculean effort.

'This can't be happening! I promised them, every time I visited, I promised my parents I'd make something of myself…, Raygo was supposed to be my masterpiece!' he lamented.

Suddenly, a weird noise starting ringing in Raphael's ears, and the world around him started to crumble, as a single line appeared.

▸▹▸ Life-threatening changes in user's vital signs have been detected. Please remain calm, emergency medical services have been automatically contacted. ◂◃◂

As his ARRIVAL 900 capsule opened up, Raphael only had a moment to open his eyes before he felt the onslaught of pain from his c.h.e.s.t. It felt as if a spear had gone through his c.h.e.s.t, the pain radiating outwards.

'Am I having a heart attack? No, there's no way, I'm only 32 years old!' Raphael thought as he tried to take control of his spasming muscles and stand up. The capsule's VR connector had uncoupled itself, as was protocol when a player had any sort of health issue.

Unsteadily, Raphael's feet touched the ground and he strained himself to finally stand up. As his head bobbed up, an unspeakable dizziness took over and Raphael's body fell down like a sack of potatoes.

Groggily, Raphael Simon looked towards the front door of his apartment as sirens could be heard in the distance.

"E-everything's g-g-gonna be fine, I'll get through this…" he said, holding his c.h.e.s.t as the world around him dimmed.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

A ray of light barely entered through the curtains, as a mobile phone's alarm started ringing, its jazzy tune echoing off the small room's walls.

♫♪♫ I think it's time we blow this scene. Get everybody and the stuff together. Ok, three, two, one, let's jam– ♫♪♫

A skinny hand grabbed the phone and turned it upside down, the screen now facing downwards, and the alarm stopped as abruptly as it had started. Raphael Simon weakly lifted himself up from the small bed, rubbing his aching neck.

"What the heck, was that really just a dream?" he said through a yawn, as he struggled to open his eyes wider than a slit.

As he stood up, his right foot's big toe met the edge of a low table.

"Argh! F*** your mother and all the demon trees you spawned from! Who the hell put you there‽" Raphael yelled out in anger, as he jumped up and down in the same spot, holding onto his right foot.

"Wait a second…, this isn't my apartment. Did I go on a drinking binge again‽" he wondered aloud, as he lightly put some weight on his aching right foot and reached for his phone.

"It must have been some sort of drinking marathon. Did I break my phone and switch to my old hiPhone XXS?" Raphael continued talking to the air around him. "Better call a taxi and get the…"

Abruptly, Raphael stopped talking as his jaw almost unhinged itself in shock as he couldn't comprehend what his eyes were seeing.

The trusty hiPhone XXS, the most secure and unhackable telephone of its time, was gleefully showing today's date as August 9th, 2052, with a high chance of rain…