by Dakota Krout
Quest complete: Attack of the extroverts! Exp: 1000! (500 x2 for unintentionally creating the situation in the first place.) Charisma +1, luck +1! If the owner ever sells her shop, she will sing your praises to the next owner! Permanent 15% discount at this store location!
“You made so much money today though! You were amazing! Cutting deals, negotiating like a champion, you knew the price of every single item in here without having to look at a chart or validate the information!” Joe was confused by her reaction to this good fortune.
“You are a good child, Joe, but I don’t think you understand. I don’t need the money! I’m filthy rich. Disgustingly so. I liked to have people in here to chat with, to laugh as they dived into piles of gear, see their eyes shine as they found a great deal on rare items! That’s all gone now.” She seemed terribly sad about this outcome. “People would… ah, it doesn’t matter. I think I’ll find an apprentice. Pass some of my hard-earned knowledge onto the next generation. That’ll give me someone to chatter away with each day, at least. Only thing is… I’ve never found anyone I can stand for more than a day! You think you can help me out with that? I’d rather they worked to better themselves, but you can tell them I’m looking to quit if you need too.”
Quest alert: Apprentice to a Sage! The merchant Sage of the Odds and Ends shop has decided that it is time to move on and wants to ensure that the shop gets a worthy owner. Find a person willing to become a merchant and send them for tutelage. Reward: Variable. Bonus: Don’t tell the person they are going to work for a Sage, and don’t let them know they will get the shop upon quest chain completion. Bonus reward: Random Artifact rarity item for your class. (After the person you find completes their chain quest).
Joe read the quest, his mouth almost breaking from the force of his jaw dropping. He accepted the quest and promised that he would find a worthy person. She nodded and smiled at him, handing over a ring and his robe. “That’ll be ten gold.”
Eye twitching, Joe handed over the money and took the items. Looking over the cloak, he smiled as he saw that it was fully repaired. It had beautiful fractal patterns on it, and instead of being a muted grey, the robe was clearly made with various shades of shimmering purple. He frowned in consternation after he equipped the comfortable, plush robe. “Wait, don’t I get a discount now?”
“On anything you buy in the future, yes. We don’t retroactively change agreed upon prices!” The old lady cackled at his expression.
“Ugh,” Joe groaned at her. “Anything I need to know about the ring?”
“Put it on!” she instructed brusquely. “It will use a couple points of mana when you put anything in or take anything out. The more intricate the item, the more mana it will use. Uncommon items will cost more than common, rare even more so. Et cetera. Just focus on it, and you will know what to do.”
“It uses mana? How can anyone but a mage or cleric use it?” Joe’s brow furrowed as he stared at the unassuming trinket.
“Everyone has mana; it is just that not everyone knows how to access it!” the old woman declared with a snort. “Why do you think that anyone can go to the mage’s college and become a mage with enough effort? When a person reaches their tenth level, they will automatically have access to their mana. That’s when they rank up and specialize, after all.”
“Rank up? Specialize?” Joe’s ears perked up like a deer hearing a twig snap.
“Well, of course!” She seemed to be irritated with Joe now. “How do you think we get people like… hmm? You have no idea, do you? When you get to level ten, you choose one of your classes to specialize in and rank it up to a higher tier. Yes, you can have multiple classes, but you pick one to focus on. Doing jobs that build your skill in this class will award class experience, similar to jobs at level five. That is why it is important to know what you want to do in the future, so that the job you take will complement your class!”
Joe’s eyes were wide. He needed to get this information to his guild; it would give them a huge advantage over time if they were able to get various or rare specializations. “Could you give me an example of a specialization?”
“Huh, um. What would help you…? Oh! Not dying is always good. Let’s talk about assassins.” The old lady smiled grimly at the constipated look on Joe’s face. “Yes, not a fun topic. At level ten, a rogue, thief, or other unsavory type can find a class trainer that will admit them into the ranks of the assassins. They become even stealthier, and their blows change toward devastating. As they complete jobs and their class experience reaches the tenth level, they can specialize again. Here they are released from their contract with the assassin guild that trained them, and they have a choice. They can become a Death Adept, a Freeblade, or a Temple Assassin.”
Her face darkened. “Unless you are at the same class rank or higher, you will never know when you are targeted by them. You will simply die. There are some steps you can take to avoid this fate though. A Death Adept stays with the guild that trained them, carrying out brutal assassinations that are designed to send a message to others. A Freeblade is guildless and able to take any contract offered to them: glorified mercenaries but still dangerous. A Temple Assassin is–as the name suggests–taken by a temple and sent to hunt down heretics and groups of the opposite alignment. As a cleric, you have the most to fear from them.”
“Can they rank up after that?” Joe’s voice was a bare whisper. The slow nod of the merchant made his breath catch in his throat.
“Oh yes. Twice more. The path of the Freeblade brings them into politics and low ranked squabbles. They can become–for example–an Assassin et Marque, followed by the final class, the Assassin Politico. Politics, toppling empires... nothing is too difficult for them to accomplish. The Death Adept becomes an Annihilator then a Kingblade. They cut a bloody swath through any in their path, the need for stealth and secrecy left far behind.” her words slowed, “I am a merchant, but that is only my job class. I was an Archer, then a Seeker, a Treasure Lord, and am now an Arcane Loot Lord. The point here is that there are so many possible paths to take that it is impossible to know them all. What I have told you is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many unknown or hidden classes, and finding the requirements for all of them would be the work of a dozen lifetimes.”
Joe digested this information, already trying to determine the best way to progress along his own path. He was the only Ritualist, so unless he wanted to do something totally unrelated to his current class he would need to find a different way to advance other than finding a class trainer. Perhaps… “Is there any other way to rank up a class instead of finding someone to show you the way?”
She gave him a queer look but nodded. “Indeed there is. There are books–manuals really–that detail the requirements for certain rankings. Some classes are even able to be purchased if you find someone willing to share their secrets for coin. Of course, you can simply fulfill every requirement that exists and pick from the results. Ha! Finding the necessary requirements is how people have their classes in the first place, but there is a reason there are now entire guilds devoted to the process.”
“Very difficult, I assume.” Joe grinned at her. He had all the time in the world; why not find the absolute best specializations? “Any tips?”
“Humph. Any class rank worth having requires titles, titles, and then better titles. Start collecting those, perhaps. I’d still recommend finding a class trainer. Much less time intensive.” She waved at the door. “Get out, I’m tired.”
Joe thanked her and left, only remembering that he had nowhere to sleep as the door locked behind him. “Well, dang.” He was getting pretty tired as well; it had been a long day.
“There you are!” a voice called out of the darkness. Tiona’s face became visible as she walked towards him, looking him over before noticing the shop behind him. “Why am I not surprised that you are here? Trying to get the last good deal of the day or something?”
“No, I was working. I had a quest here. Even got a thousan
d experience for it.” Joe grinned at her as her face blanched.
“A thousand…? How do you keep pulling these random quests out of thin air?” She motioned for him to follow her. “If I am going to get to level ten, I am going to need big, hairy chunks of experience like that.”
“It’s pretty easy,” Joe told her. “I just keep asking them questions or offering services until they break down and finally give me a quest or let me do stuff for them. In this case, I organized her shop. There’s no real need to fight all the time. This is more efficient.”
“To think, I’ve been spending days at a time perfecting my skill as a warrior, learning the proper way not to die, fighting people and beasts to perfect my forms, when I could just… color-code a few bags.” Tiona rolled her eyes. “Higher levels don’t mean much if you can’t do anything with them.”
Joe searched for an answer to that but had to concede, “Alright, fair point. By the way, was there a big open space the guild found to sleep in? I need to talk to the guild leader pretty badly. Just got some great information.”
“You know, you could just call him by his name,” Tiona snickered at him. “Yes, we rented an empty barracks belonging to the city guard. They normally only use it a few times a year.”
“Perfect!” Joe’s eyes seemed to glow. “Also, what is his name?”
“Really? You joined his guild and didn’t ask his name?” Tiona punched him lightly. “It’s Aten. He says he chose that name because he is so sexy that every time anyone looked at him, they would see ‘a ten’, so it might as well be official.”
“Humble.”
“Who in this game is humble?”
“Another good point.” They walked in silence until they got to the barracks and needed to offer a password before they were allowed entrance. Joe walked right over to guild leader Aten, interrupting whatever else he was doing. “I’ve changed my mind about the guild.”
“You want out?” Aten sounded quite disappointed; Joe wasn’t the first person to want to leave after they had lost everything they had stored in the tavern.
“No, I want in. You offered me a high starting position and good terms right off the bat. That still on the table?” Joe was all business right now, his time making sales had not been wasted.
“It is, but… what changed?” Aten was pleased with this development, a permanent cleric was going to be a huge boon to the guild.
“I got some new information. You have any of those contracts handy?”
~ Chapter Thirteen ~
Aten held his head in his hands. After granting Joe an officer position, he listened raptly to what he had to say. “Why have we heard nothing like this before? We all knew that the job we took would be important, but you are saying that if we don’t find something that complements our future build… we may miss out on good specializations?”
“Yes,” Joe enunciated clearly. There were a few people taking part in this meeting, and all of them seemed shocked. Joe had asked for only trusted officers to hear this.
“And so many possible classes!” Aten was pulling on his hair as he tried to think. “We were led to believe that anything beyond what is being offered by the city was a pipe dream. Joe, you may have just made us the most powerful guild in the game. I don’t think anyone has reached level ten yet, but some people are getting close, like Tiona and I. We need to start searching for these hidden trainers and learning what their requirements are. Now we have a plan, at least. This will help us move forward; this is good.”
“What about the Hardcores?” one of the guild officers demanded.
“They burned down the tavern in retaliation, I am almost sure of it. What can we do though? We kill them and they just come back.” Aten shrugged dejectedly. “It’s unfortunate, but if we focus on them we are just going to fall behind in our race to the top. At least we know why the guards are so frustrated now; they can’t really hold us accountable for our crimes! It is going to be really difficult to grind reputation with them, but we need to find a way if we are going to become a Noble Guild.”
Joe started laughing as Aten’s words registered in his mind. The others looked at him strangely, but even when Aten angrily poked him, Joe couldn’t stop himself. “We… haha… we need to get reputation with the guards? Here? The city guards?”
“Yes.” Aten seemed exasperated. The cleric hadn’t seemed so eccentric when he had invited him to the guild. Maybe his position could be one that didn’t require attendance at meetings? Or interaction with anyone of importance? “Getting reputation with the guards is almost impossible because they are so suspicious of everyone. They know that you are trying to get on their good side, and it makes them trust you less.”
Joe howled with laughter for a long moment. “And we need reputation with them… that’s one of the last requirements for becoming a Noble Guild?”
“Yes, and knock it off,” Aten growled at him, crossing his arms. “Do you have something to say?”
“Show… haha… show reputation: Human Guards, Ardania,” Joe managed to choke out. There was a moment of bewilderment, but then all of the people in the meeting got a pop-up.
Reputation for Joe ‘I’m a healer! I swear!’ with Human Guards, Ardania. Current standing: Friend.
“Are you kidding me?” Aten shouted indignantly. “Friend? You already have friend status with them? How! Who are you?”
“I got it from my very first quest!” Joe explained before the atmosphere could go from jubilant to suspicious. “As a cleric, I was asked to heal a few guards. I may have gone a bit overboard, and I healed all the guards I could get my hands on. Before I knew it, I had fixed everyone and attained ‘friend’ status.”
“And there was no way for you to know you should be grinding reputation!” Light was glinting from Aten’s eyes. “Joe, as an officer, you are supposed to get your own team. Since Tiona is also a guild officer, you two are not supposed to stay in the same group. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind throwing the leadership position out the window and staying with her team? You have the right to ask for command, but your job would be to help raise our newest people’s levels instead of doing your own thing. If you stay on her team, we can put you on special assignment without anyone grumbling. That okay with you?”
Joe nodded easily. “I’d rather be able to focus on my own projects than need to grind with other low-leveled people. You do remember that I have a long-term quest from my deity so doing my own thing is a must. What do you need from me?”
“Tomorrow I’d like you to go to the guards and offer your services as a representative of our guild. Since you are friends with them, they should accept that even if they whine about it a little. You are our secret weapon for becoming a Noble Guild. Can we count on you for that?”
“Absolutely.” Joe smiled as the people at the meeting dispersed. “Aten, can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?”
“Sure.” Aten walked over to his room and motioned for Joe to follow him.
After closing the door, Joe turned and gave a hard stare at Aten. “Guild leader, I need to know if I can trust you.”
Sensing the serious tone, Aten’s face turned grim. “You can. So long as you don’t try to hurt me or the guild, we’ll stay on your side no matter what. I keep secrets very well.”
Joe’s eyes searched Aten’s face for any signs of falsehood. He nodded slowly and sighed through his nose. “Alright. Let’s find out how far this trust goes. Aten, it took me a few days to decide on what I wanted to really do in Eternia. I don’t know what my endgame is, but I know how I want to get there. I plan on one-hundred percent completion. I want to find every secret, get every achievement, find all the secret quests, and explore every bit of every dungeon. As a part of that, I plan to get any skill I acquire to the maximum Sage rank.”
“I mean, good luck with that, but that’ll take years. It also isn’t much of a secret that you want to get more skills, we all do.” Aten waved his hands uncomfortably.
“Right, well…
I may be a bit further ahead than you know. Remember, not a word about this!” Joe opened his status screen and looked at his skills. He had twelve unused skill points, and one after another he began assigning them to his ‘Jump’ skill. Eight points later, the skill reached sixty, and he was asked to confirm his decision. He smiled and pressed ‘yes’.
New skill tier reached! Your Jump skill has increased to (Master level 0). Your dedication to a single aspect of yourself has inspired you to climb to new heights! Or in this case, Jump to them! You are able to find the magic in motion, the power in leaping, and the freedom of falling!
Skill updated: Jump around! You have jumped so much that it is now a natural part of you, and adding your jump score to basic actions now no longer costs mana! You are now able to add your jump score to more esoteric actions, though this may have detrimental effects if you ‘jump’ to conclusions! Skill will be lost if another player’s jump score becomes higher than yours.
Guild alert! A member of this guild has achieved Mastery over one of their skills! The royal court has taken notice and grants an additional +1000 reputation to your guild! (Lost if player leaves guild.)
Though Aten could only see the last message, his eyes were round and unfocused. “You got a skill to Master already? You’ve been playing for like… three days!”
“I’ve gotten a bunch of skill points from completing quests around town, and I got to the expert rank because the Hardcores forced me to jump off a cliff, and I just so happened to survive. Oh, right, the skill I mastered is ‘Jump’. I wouldn’t recommend the experience; I was splattered all over the bottom of a cliff. I have an item that keeps me at one health point if I lose too much at once, so when I hit the ground and didn’t instantly die, the system freaked out and boosted me all the way to expert rank,” Joe explained to Aten, who decided that it was a good time to sit down.
“You made it to the expert rank by accident?” Aten released a frenetic giggle, his eyes a bit crazed. “Then the Master rank from completing–what–social quests? Your jump skill, you say? Have you ever actually just… jumped?”