Path of Light

by A P Gore

  Thank God no one else exploded in those five seconds. Otherwise, it would have been a chain explosion.

  Now, nearly twenty people laid in front of Jon, two dead and eighteen crying in pain.

  “Lord Jon—”

  Jon raised his palm to silence Maggie. “Get out of here, and don’t come back unless I ask. This is a darkness curse.”

  “But you...”

  Jon smiled. “Don’t worry, I have a way to fix this.” This was a soul-related thing, and he was sure that nothing related to soul or darkness would kill him.

  “Vine of Light.”

  A vine shot from his bag and latched onto his neck. Warmth spread through his body, but at the same time his Spirit dipped down to nearly 0.

  System: You’ve been healed by Light Magic. Corrupt Blood curse is now cured.

  So, he really did have a way to fix this. Now it was time to plant the vine in the ground and see the effect. After waiting ten seconds to let his Spirit fill back up, he shouted in his mind.

  “Vine of Light Seal 1!”

  The vine jumped from his neck into the ground he pointed at. A small tree burst out of the soil, forming a cocoon with its small branches and leaves. It glowed with white energy and spread a calming scent. A white aura slowly spread through it and covered a five-yard radius around it.

  Swiftly, Jon arranged all eighteen people inside the circle of healing.

  His Spirit bottomed out, and a constant stream of 20 Spirit slipped from his body, but thanks to the Water of Darkness his refill rate had reached whopping 55, so it didn’t affect him at all. He was freely using the spell.

  Yet, to make it more dramatic, he gulped down one bottle of Spirit potion.

  The wailing people stopped crying, their pained faces easing a little as the light aura slipped inside their bodies. The calmness appearing on their face proved that the vine was working its magic.

  Seconds passed, then minutes, and after ten minutes one person’s body moved. His color had returned to normal, and his body seemed to feed on air to replenish his blood and flesh.

  It was weird to watch, yet Jon cast perception on him.

  Guildart

  Level 42 NPC guard

  Currently Retired.

  HP: 8000/12000

  Soul Damage status: 0%

  Other stats disabled due to level difference.

  Interesting. After he healed the soul damage, the guard’s body started healing automatically.

  “Guildart, move away. You are cured,” Jon said, panting. Of course, it was an act, but he had to show how much work he was doing for the guards.

  “Yes, my lord.” Guildart dropped on his knees, pressing his forehead to the ground. “This little one is in debt to you for his whole life.”

  System: A guard has pledged his loyalty to you. Do you want to accept? If accepted, the guard will start serving as your slave. Yes/No.

  He selected “No.”

  “Guildart, I’m sorry, but I can’t accept this. I prefer people remain free with their will intact. I hope you understand.” Though it was enticing to have a level 42 slave, he couldn’t accept that. The mayor might look soft from outside, but he wouldn’t like someone stealing his guards. Having a friend was much better than having an enemy.

  “Thank you, my lord. In the future, please let me know if I can be of help to you.”

  Jon nodded, and the man got up and walked away.

  The remaining seventeen guards did the same within the next ten minutes, but Jon didn’t accept anyone’s pledge. It came with a huge risk that he didn’t want to take. What would a farmer will do with so many guards, anyway?

  After healing all eighteen people, Jon dropped on his back and closed his eyes, faking exhaustion.

  “Mr. Jonathan.” The mayor’s joyous voice fell on his ears.

  Opening his eyes to spot the mountain of flab towering over him, Jon couldn’t help but think how fast he would die if the mayor tripped and fell on him. Along with dying, the stupid system would reduce his Intelligence for staying next to the mountain.

  “Mr. Mayor.” He tried to get up, but the mayor stopped him and pulled a red bottle with golden cap out of his bag. “Please use it to replenish your strength.”

  Jon grabbed it.

  Healing Potion

  Quality: Rare

  Heals the user for 1000 life in 5 seconds.

  First time consumption effect: +2 to Constitution.

  “A rare potion?” Jon gasped. It was like his Apple of Mana, a rare item that boosted a stat permanently.

  “A thank you gift, for not converting those guards.” The mayor smiled, and for the first time Jon spotted sincerity in his smile.

  System: Your actions have moved the mayor of the town Chinari. Reputation with Mayor +500. Reputation with Chinari +100.

  Wow! By a simple action, he’d gained one hundred reputation, pushing him to seven hundred in total with the town, and he’d received a rare item too. Maybe good deeds still existed in the world. Did they really? After what Kurush did to Kiara, he had decided not to expect good deeds from others. He only had one way. His way.

  And that was the only way forward.

  Without a thought, Jon gulped down the potion and increased his Constitution. He didn’t even refuse it politely. Why would he?

  Wiping his lips, Jon jumped to his feet. “Mr. Mayor, I must thank you for such a good potion. Let me heal the remaining one hundred people now.”

  The mayor nodded and clapped to call his guards. Meanwhile, Jon collected the corrupt blood in a bunch of empty bottles.

  Chapter 42

  Jon sunk his aching body inside the bathtub, enjoying the warmness of the water easing his aches. He wondered if Maggie too did the same. The memory of her soft touch and flowery scent lingered in his mind. It was too bad the stinky smell of the nearly dead guards had vanquished the scent on his clothes that Maggie left behind.

  As his body eased down, and the debuff of exhaustion vanished, he closed his eyes and cleared his mind of thoughts.

  It was a good day. He’d healed one hundred eighty-seven guards while thirteen died due to explosions, yet those only added to his collection of corrupt blood. And then he received +1 to Spirit Cycling, which was another plus. If he converted his healings to reputation, he had nearly gathered six hundred twenty-three reputation points with Chinari. Too bad he couldn’t cash it in right away. He would have to wait until he finished his task. Only then would the points come.

  Once the points came in, he could call his daughter.

  Fantastic!

  A smile spread over his face. Finally, he would be able to see his daughter’s face.

  The caretaker walked inside the bathroom, and Jon had to struggle to hide his private parts. Why the heck did everybody try to spy on his private parts? Were the game developers a band of gays?

  “Esteemed guest, Miss Maggie is waiting for you in the waiting room.”

  “I’ll be there, and don’t sneak in when I’m bathing,” Jon said and quickly washed himself clean. Before walking out of the bathroom, he put on a new set of trousers, as the old one reeked with dead blood. He had plenty of pairs of clean trousers now. He used his Shudder skill to clean his shirt. And over the shirt he wore the Cloak of Zero and activated Double Dip, increasing his town’s BP by 90. At the current moment, he had 215 BP. In three days’ time, he should be able to initiate the TM skill tree for production. It would help all the farmers in the village.

  Smiling, he stepped out of the bathroom and padded toward the waiting room.

  “Good evening, Maggie. You look stunning in that dress.” Jon smiled as he stepped in. Maggie wore a loose light blue dress with bird patterns weaved across it. Though loose, it curved around the meaty parts of her body perfectly.

  Red rushed to her cheeks as if she read his thoughts.

  Jon changed the subject. He didn’t want it to go on awkward route. “I hope you like the guest house.”

  Her eyes shone with reverence. “It
’s awesome. I’ve been to many cities and towns, but never had a chance to stay in a baron class guest house. Now I wonder how lavish the viscount or count class guest houses would be.”

  Jon stroked his chin. “How much reputation does a viscount need?” Chinari had a nobility system. Baron, Viscount, Count, Marquis, Duke, Arch Duke, and so on.

  “One thousand for Baron, five thousand for Viscount, fifteen thousand for Count. Further than that, I don’t know.”

  “So, I’ll be a baron once I finish the quest. Actually, I’m already a baron with the current quest progress.”

  Maggie visibly trembled on the couch. “You’re a noble already? But how?”

  “I got five hundred reputation for the expansion, then this quest has already got me over six hundred. When I finish this quest, I’ll have at least four thousand two hundred reputation. Damn, just short by eight hundred reputation, or else I’d have taken you to the viscount class guest house.”

  Maggie shook her head in disbelief. “How do you do this? Why do you always have these trump cards?”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “Because earning reputation is very hard in any NPC town. Do you know how many quests you have to do to earn baron nobility?” After seeing Jon shaking his head, she continued. “Almost five hundred. There’s no quest that grants more than two reputation points, and you’re gaining it like rain falling from the sky.”

  Agreed, it was falling like rain, but wasn’t he doing hard work too? Healing one thousand one hundred guards wasn’t a simple task. He had to use his blood, sweat, and Spirit to do that. He even had to drink Spirit potions unnecessarily. “But why do people want to be a noble? What use do these titles have other than these guest houses and the protection of the guards inside the town?”

  “You are without a doubt the most fortunate noob in the game. God, if there was a title, you would get one.” Her blue eyes pitied him. “Once you become a noble, you get a five percent discount from all the shops. That increases with each title upgrade. As a baron, you can buy a small house inside the town, as a viscount you can buy a villa and a shop, and so on. A viscount can hire an NPC guard as well.”

  “A guard and a villa?” Damn. Even the discount seemed awesome. F-k, he should look into every detail about this game. Without knowledge, he would lose out on so many good things. “Thank God, I’ve got you.”

  Maggie sighed. “What was it you wanted to meet about?” She relaxed against the couch’s back.

  Jon leaned forward in his chair, staring into Maggie’s eyes. “I need your help. Can you hire one hundred basic builders for the village and take them there with you?”

  “Why do you need them? I can work faster than them.” Hurt could be seen in her eyes.

  Jon sighed. “It’s not that I don’t trust your capabilities, but we need to increase the BP production, or we can’t grow the village at the pace we want to.” This was his biggest concern right now. “That’s the only way I’ve right now. The current production is too low. There’s too many things to do, and I can’t do those alone.”

  Maggie shook her head. “Noob. Who said that need to stack up builders to increase your village’s BP? That’s a crude method.”

  Jon furrowed his brow. “Care to explain?”

  Maggie leaned forward. “People are never the best source of BP. Buildings are. Or you can steal a guild branch core.” She smirked, but Jon didn’t get her joke. “Anyway, back to practically possible things. Buildings are the best source of BP generation. After the temple, you must have gotten extra BP, right?”

  Jon nodded.

  “So, you need to build buildings that provide you the most BP, and for a level 1 village that would be Palace, Temple, and Food Mill.”

  Closing his eyes, Jon rested his head on the back of the couch. This was like squeezing someone’s neck and expecting a reply from him. How was he going to solve this problem? “Why did I strike that deal? It’s a vicious cycle. This way, it will take me ages to upgrade the village and gather BP. That f-ing TM skill menu would take 500 BP to just initiate that tree.” Everything was tied up together.

  “Don’t worry. There are other ways too. Like a special rare building that doubles your BP production, or stealing the guild core crystal.”

  Jon eyes popped open. “There’s a building like that?”

  Maggie nodded, a smile appearing on her face. “But it has an upper limit of how much it can double. For a level 1, it’s capped out at 100 BP.”

  “Same as my Cloak of Zero.”

  “What’s that?”

  Jon pulled the shiny cloak out of his bag.

  Maggie’s eyes widened. “Where did you get a unique item?”

  “I bought it in the monthly auction for three hundred fifty gold or something,” Jon said, indifferently.

  Maggie’s face again showed traces of shock. “God, how much money do you really have?” She threw her palm in the air. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

  “Right now, only around one thousand gold. But once I sell the herbs, I harvested this morning, we should gain lots of money. But keeping that aside, tell me more about this building and how much gold I need to buy the blueprint.”

  “One hundred eighty should be enough with your discount.”

  “That discount won’t come before I finish this quest, so take this four hundred gold and please build this building. Also, hire fifty wood workers and take them to the village. We need to collect wood. Do you know anything about stone and iron ores, and where can I get that for our village?”

  Maggie shook her head.

  “Okay, then let’s settle this for now.” Jon was worried that Maggie wouldn’t know that, but at least he learned about the new building. With that building, he should be able to boost his BP production to 135. Not to the level he wanted, but at least better than the initial 45.

  MAGGIE ROSE AND WALKED out of the guest room when their conversation finished. At first, she’d thought this man was immune to her charms, but his gaze at the start of their conversation told her something else.

  Suddenly her cheeks turned hot.

  Why was she blushing, when she should be angry? She hated these perverts. No, Lord Jon wasn’t a pervert. Though his eyes had a hint of lust, it vanished as soon as it appeared. Not like the others who stared at her like a consumption item, and if a man doesn’t have a little lust then he wouldn’t be called a man, right?

  Pushing these annoying thoughts away, she walked toward her own guest house. Thanks to Lord Jon, she had received the sort of treatment she’d never dreamed off. A lady caretaker to attend her every need. Food that cost gold in the high-class restaurants, and a bed that sucked her whole-body in. She had spent sixty years in the game, but never got her reputation to the baron level. Actually, she never stayed in a town for so long, so it was impossible for her.

  However, a man who hadn’t been in the game for more than a month had pulled it off.

  Living inside a baron class guest house, that was a dream for many players, and yet Lord Jon took it as a small thing. This man was complex. Despite being a noob, he did things she couldn’t even dream off. For some unknown reason, she had a feeling that signing that contract with him was a good thing, and she might want to stay a bit longer helping him.

  Chapter 43

  Jon walked down the street painted in white and red palettes, eying the sharper colors for a change. This was the Red-White street of Chinari. When he inquired about it, the guard following him told that a legendary painter had settled this town a few hundred years back, and he’d painted the first five districts in red and white. This was one of the oldest streets in town, hence the name.

  An interesting fact. Only God knew what weird ideas would pop out of the stupid game developers’ brains. Maybe tomorrow they would develop a yellow shit-colored district for a change.

  Gross!

  System: Morale decreased by 10 as people in your village are fed up with eating the same food in. Tip: Give them som
ething else to restore morale levels.

  Damn, did he have to take care of this as well? God!

  Suddenly, the combination of red and white annoyed Jon. Though he had never paid attention to these things before, walking down a three-mile road with everything the same color irritated him. If he could, he would paint the street and buildings green, brown, gray, black, and white—the colors of nature.

  Maybe he should choose a good color palette for his village. Was there an option for that too?

  Jon made a note to check on that later.

  “Lord, we have reached the seed and crop shop. Seed World.” The guard bowed slightly and stood outside the shop. After Jon had successfully saved five hundred guards, the mayor had dubbed him Lord John of Chinari. He also stipulated that a guard would accompany him everywhere when was in town—a privilege only a viscount could get, but Jon got it without holding the title. Yet. In three days’ time, he would complete the quest and receive the EXP and the title both.

  A joyous smile appeared on Jon's face as he entered the red and white shop.

  His steps halted as the rich aroma of plants and seeds hit his nose. Damn, it was like entering a tier 3 greenhouse in the real world.

  In his whole life, he’d only once entered farmers’ heaven—a tier 3 greenhouse. Once a person received the award of Master Farmer, he had time to choose a new plant species he could grow on his personal land. He had chosen Metaformed Mushrooms. For a few months, he flooded the local market with a vegetable deemed for rich people.

  Jon sighed, taking in the rich aroma of seeds and plants. Currently, he felt like visiting the greenhouse again. Too bad this wasn't a real one. Yet, the fragrance made him happy. Well, nothing could beat the feeling it induced in his heart. It was like inhaling oxygen after a minute of sinking in deep water.

  “Ahh, a guest who likes plants.” A monstrously loud voice attracted his attention.