<<< * >>>
“So... some kind of skill that activates when I’m in a critical state?” He was in a critical state frequently, so it should be quite useful in the future. He did not know what returning to his origin meant. Maybe he was supposed to pray to the goddess? That did not sound right since he was not a priest, but he would figure it out later.
Either way, he chose the ability as it seemed interesting and was probably important somehow. After he selected it and accepted it as his choice, a new option appeared above the intermediate level. It was called, ‘A further step on the path.’ He could not afford to purchase it with his ability points, so he held off on that one for now.
He also chose a new spell. Scott read through the information for his new ability then nodded. He took a deep breath then raised his hand up, palm out. The image of a gentle breeze flowed through his mind. The breeze suddenly became a violent roaring tornado. “Howling Gale!”
A fierce gust of wind tore through the area with a hideous sound reminiscent of a howling beast. Tree limbs bent back and leaves were torn clear. Very little else happened, however. “Not bad, but I’ll definitely have to train the hell out of it to get any real use.”
Howling gale was a wide area attack spell. It did little damage, but if it were increased in level it would be strong enough to blow away enemies even if they weighed quite a bit.
“Hmm, six points left... Looks like I’m done upgrading.” Scott closed down his menu. He unequipped all of his items and opened up his status screen to see how he really stacked up now.
<<< Status >>>
Name: Scott Jacobs | Class: Sorcerer | Race: Human
Title: The Unbreakable
Age: 18 | Level: 13
EXP: 55,609
Next Level: 611
Ability Points: 6
Health: 189[189] | Mana: 173[173]
Attack: 88[404] | Defense: 107[419]
Strength: 79[79] | Agility: 78[78] | Accuracy: 58[58]
Intellect: 91[91] | Luck: 37[37]
<<< * >>>
“Seriously, am I actually stronger without any gear?” He could wear his boots and claws to increase both his attack and defense by a large amount without detracting anything from his stats. Had he already outgrown his armor?
He did not bother to put it back on, but did do a quick calculation. Most of the agility penalty was mitigated by his gauntlets and the armor bonus for wearing a complete set. So, he did not even need to see the stat difference to know that he would have a much higher defense with his armor equipped.
Scott also did not need to check to see how much weaker he would be with the boomerangs. He would lose the unarmed combat bonus when he equipped them and the accuracy bonus would not come close to making up for it. They would be good for use as a range extender though, and unlike his spells they did not require any mana. “I’ll have to learn abilities and develop a few combos to make them work for me now.”
Thinking of magic made Scott wonder about the nature of spells and how powerful they were. With the force-up addition from gaining the first upgrade at level ten, at least one of his spells would be able to do over seven hundred points of magical damage without a critical hit. His burn spell would have a force rating of eight. What sort of damage would a full mage be able to accomplish? What about higher-tier spells?
Scott had a sudden overpowering urge to acquire all of the spells that he could now that he had decent stats. He felt that he had made the right choice earlier by upgrading his level-up modifiers, but that did not keep him from wanting to see what his other spells would do. His mantra had always been, ‘passives first.’ Yet, he still wanted to do cool new things.
“It’s like I am finally reaching a point where I can do something other than just prepare.” Scott was absurdly pleased. Life would no doubt become quite interesting soon. Though, how it could be more interesting than crushing a goblin army inside their own lair was something he would have to wait to see.
He closed down his menu screens then tried to contact Ero once more. He heard a soft sound inside his mind that reminded him of someone snoring. He concluded that she was still resting. He smiled softly. If she was snoring, she was probably alright.
“Guess I’ll head back to town.” he said.
Scott did not start walking, however. For the first time he intended to try and use one of his special abilities, the world traveler ability. “Let’s see how fast this fast travel ability is supposed to be.”
He brought up his map screen then tapped the icon for the town of Meaden. An option to travel immediately to Meaden in the fastest means possible popped up. He accepted and a screen popped up prompting him to start walking toward his destination.
The sorcerer did as directed and after taking seven steps the world began to grow dark. Soon, the forest faded away entirely. A large number nine appeared in the darkness. Experimentally, he took another step forward. Nothing happened. He took several more steps and the number dropped to eight. Scott counted his steps after that. Every time he took seven steps forward the number dropped by one. He tried walking backwards but it still dropped by one.
When it hit zero the world slowly returned. Scott was surprised to see that it was early afternoon. “So, time passed like it said it would. How much time, though?”
He checked his system menu and noted that it was close to three in the afternoon. He had only taken a few dozen steps but he had traveled all the way to Meaden. Yet, nine hours had passed in the world while he traveled. Was it some sort of alternate dimensional travel ability? Could others do that?
How did something like that even work? Wouldn’t it cause some sort of weird timing issue? Of course, that was only if other people could use the ability. He thought about it for a moment then chose to let it go. It was not that important, yet.
“Man, that is so useful but I could waste my life away without realizing It.” said Scott.
It had taken about fourteen hours to get to the mine before, so world traveling was not only easier on the feet, it took a lot less time. He had not really tried it out before for various reasons. There had been no reason to bother with it when he was still at Victory Station since he hunted right outside the gates.
Simple curiosity was the only reason came to mind. However, he had never moved more than an hour or two from town. He had largely forgotten about its existence, to be honest. He apparently had an ability to defy death as well, and he certainly did not wish to test that one out any time soon.
The only real reason to use world traveler before now would have been after he had reached the waterfall shrine, but he had been trying to keep that ability hidden from Rhea.
Scott headed into town. He had to offload his junk then seek out an armorer to repair his badly damaged equipment. There was no way that he would be heading out again for a few days, given that factor. What could he possibly do in town for a few days? While he wondered at what to do with his downtime, eyes watched him from the darkness of the nearby forest.
“Is that him?” asked a rasping masculine voice.
“Blue hair, wood armor, came from the right direction... It could be him.” replied another voice.
The duo watched as their possible prey passed the town gates. The first speaker stood up, revealing himself to be a barrel-chested orc. The second speaker was a hobgoblin. “Log out and tell that idiot that we’ve probably found the sorcerer. Show him the scan.”
“Right, I can’t believe that moron went and got his entire army crushed by one low-level Noob.” said the monster.
The orc shook his head. “He relied too much on the auction site to recruit. His level and his army are pitiful.”
“True and he got his ass handed to him for It.” said the hobgoblin.
“If it were just him, I would not give a damn. He made the whole guild look bad.” replied the orc.
“Yeah, fucking Karsh... If he wasn’t the leader’s brother I’d just tell him to go fuck himself.” said the hobgoblin.
The hobgoblin snorted then shook his head. “That sorcerer, he’s a player isn’t he?”
“Yeah, he has to be. Have you ever known a local to be able to crush an army by themselves unless they were much higher in level?”
The overly large goblin looked at the town gates. “Too bad he’s human, a guy like that would have been nice to recruit...”
“Yeah, true. Oh well. We’ll crush him anyway. Just have to wait for him to leave town.” replied the orc.
“Wonder how long that will take?”
“Doesn’t matter. If that’s the guy, we’ll call it in to the guild. We’ll have enough guys here in a few days to take him even if he’s in town.”
The hobgoblin cackled maniacally after hearing his superior’s words. That was true. What could one low-level Noob do against real players?
Chapter 10: Seriously, What the Hell?
People often come to blows over the simplest of things. Over time the sounds of screams, shouts, and bitter conflict can become similar to a dysfunctional serenade. Anyone who has ever heard two people shouting at each other will have noticed that there is a certain rhythm and cadence to that activity.
When two parties come into conflict they strive to achieve an outcome that is superior to the precious state. This type of conflict can lead to difficult and harsh battles. It can be difficult to understand which side of the conflict is in the right, if true righteousness is even part of the equation.
A hard battle of that type was currently being waged within the heart of Meaden’s top jewelry and accessory store, a Regal Alice Franchise. Two indomitable foes tore into each other with their righteous weapons, each seeking to prevail and be declared the victor.
“Sir, we cannot pay more than that for goblin souls.” explained a woman with bright green hair. She was a local manager hired to run the franchise by the franchise owner.
Scott frowned at the manager then shook his head. “I just saw how much you charge for these things. How can you try to buy them from me for five percent of the retail value and call it a fair deal?”
“Our sales prices and purchasing prices are not the same. Goblin souls are not difficult to acquire if you have the proper skill specializations or just defeat a lot of goblins. We don’t need to purchase them for more than the offered amount.” replied the woman, anger lacing her words.
He snorted at her. “Fine, I’ll sell them elsewhere. Your trade license ends at the gate. I’ll set up shop up the road a bit and sell them at one-fourth of your asking price. Hell I’ll do that with every lore ring I find.”
“You can’t do that! The trade agreement between towns and the merchant guild clearly states that no one...!” The woman began to rail at Scott in a most undignified and unprofessional manner. How she had managed to keep her position for so long was anyone’s guess.
He interrupted her with brutal precision. “Why do I care about that? I’m not a merchant. You can’t control trade outside of towns to any great extent. The only thing the guild really has a strangle hold on are professional grade lore skills and healing tonics. If I sell anything else outside of their network it is unlikely to stir up trouble, at least not till I am done severely undercutting your store.”
Scott had asked Rhea a lot of questions regarding how retail worked in this world. She had known about the health potion sales limitations, so he had decided to become as knowledgeable as possible regarding such things.
The manager glared hatefully at Scott. She was about to retort angrily, but another customer entered the store. Her personality changed completely upon the arrival of a potential paying customer. She ignored Scott and moved to greet the newcomer.
Scott decided to end the pointless negotiation. The manager did not seem to understand professional courtesy. Worse, she did not comprehend the simple fact that selling something for twenty times the amount that it cost to purchase it is an insult to the people who actually acquired the item for you. Making a profit was one thing, a fine thing. Why would anyone even bother to sell to your store if they could make more selling items on their own outside of town? Most people sold their junk items to stores so that they could avoid having to do that sort of thing.
None of the other shop owners in town had tried to undercut him so badly. A few of them had even paid him fifty percent of the retail value for the items that he had brought them. Why did this shrew think that she was entitled to such a high potential profit on items that were rare drops?
Scott decided to cut his losses and leave. On the way out of the store a screen popped up.
<<< * >>>
Thank you for visiting the Meaden branch of Regal Alice! You are listed as a VIP by the master franchise owner. Would you like to take a survey to inform her of the level of service that you have received at this branch?
[Yes | No ]
<<< * >>>
“I’m a VIP?” Scott smirked then narrowed his eyes in a dark and suggestive manner while looking at the screen. Why yes, yes he would like to take a survey.
He accepted the offer and answered all of the questions negatively. How bad was the service? The service was one star out of five, easily. The prices were terrible. The management did not know how to talk to potential customers. When prompted to write a few parting thoughts he went into detail about his beliefs on proper retail courtesy.
By the time Scott finished with the survey and hit the submit button the manager had finished speaking with the new customer. A screen appeared before her. She blinked, obviously surprised at its sudden appearance. She stared at it for a moment.
“A negative survey review? How can that be? I know all of the VIPs who come here regularly.”
Scott heard her and shook his head. He had not been aware of that VIP status before. He did not allow that to deter him from using it to screw with the green haired harridan. He could not resist bashing her over the head with it. “Not all of them. Next time I visit with Regal Alice, I’ll be sure to remind her of just how much I enjoyed your customer service.”
The manager’s eyes went wide at the realization of what she had done. He had been dressed so poorly that she had not considered it to be a problem. “Sir, I...”
“Save your sirs for someone who cares. You treated me like most people would treat a wet dog rolling around on a fancy couch. Good luck with your employment review whenever that comes around.”
The manager stood there with her mouth gaped open. What had she done?
Scott left the store and headed toward his room at the inn. His armor would not be repaired for another two days. The damage had been quite extensive and he suspected that the local armorer was not as good as the one at Victory Station.
“Not a bad haul, though.” He had made a bit over thirty-six thousand Fayth from the crappy loot that the goblins and other monsters had dropped during the battle, plus half of the loot from the three day hunting binge with Rhea. When everything had been settled, he had earned over one hundred thirty thousand Fayth in the last four days.
He would have had another fifteen thousand Fayth if he had sold the goblin souls, but selling them for that price when they were sold in the shop for twenty thousand each would be an insult to his sensibilities. He would have understood offering twenty to thirty percent due to the profit margins and time it would take to sell the items. Five percent was just abusive.
“Wait, wait!” called a voice from behind him. The manager from the store was running toward him as fast as her stiletto heels could take her.
“What is it?” asked Scott irately. As far as he was concerned, he was done with her.
The manager tripped and nearly fell to the ground, but she was close enough that Scott was able to reach out and catch her. She looked at him thankfully. “I...”
“Yeah? Like I said, what is it?”
She righted herself and then
said, “I did not know you were a VIP, sir. We have a different pricing scale for people of your quality.”
Scott snorted at her. She did not think much of his quality earlier. He truly disliked people who treated people differently based on appearances alone.
She winced at his dismissive attitude, but persevered. “I’m prepared to offer you twenty-five percent of the retail value for your items, sir.”
“I want forty.” replied Scott. He knew damned well that she would balk at that price. Still, he did not want to make this easy for her.
“Sir, I... Forty is impossible. I’m not authorized to offer that much to anyone.”
“Are you sure about that? The next time I see Regal Alice, I’ll ask about her pricing policies.”
The manager grew pale, and started to shake a little. It was a strange reaction to be honest. Scott had never seen a manager so worried about what the store owner would think.
“T-the maximum I am allowed to offer to anyone is thirty-percent.”
“Give it to me then.” said Scott. He did not need more than one of the rings, but he did need more than five percent of their value.
“G-great! Just hold on one moment while I prepare funds for the sale.” She pulled up a menu screen and started fiddling with numbers.
<<< * >>>
You have received an offer of 90000 Fayth for (15) goblin soul lore rings.
Do you accept? [Yes | No]
<<< * >>>
Scott wasted no time and accepted that offer immediately. It was a much better deal overall. The idea that she had wanted to pay him fifteen thousand for those rings before still bothered him, however. The store would sell them for three hundred thousand altogether.
Ninety thousand Fayth became his, and several unnecessary rings became the property of Regal Alice’s local franchise. Scott was absurdly pleased with the sale, though he refused to show it in front of the manager.
Origin ARS (Origin A.R.S. Book 2) Page 15