There were also hundreds of players around, easily discernible. They had all kinds of clothes and armor and instead of walking, they ran everywhere. I didn't see any of them leave the city, though.
I hadn't seen a single other kid in the city since the one in the gate. It was probably for the best. Damn kids these days had no respect for their elders.
Everyone gave me weird looks, but I just guessed it was because of me being a foreigner; the Enlightened had said I was an unusual sight.
Fewer stores than expected were on the streets. Words on black metal plates above the doors heralded the few that I could find. There weren't showcases of any kinds, only the signs. It clearly wasn't a merchant city.
A 'weapons store' was not that far from the city gates. I entered it and found myself in a place filled with weapons everywhere. Hanging on the walls, on metal displays, on metal shelves, on the floor. Maces, spears, bows, crossbows, swords, pikes, halberds, daggers, scythes, even some claw-like weapons I had never seen before.
The first fat drow I had seen until now walked from an inside door, wearing a golden silk shirt, red pants, and blue shoes. His hair was white and his eyes black. His skin was oily.
"Greetings, greetings! What a pleasant day for business! Would you be interested..." The animation in his voice dropped the more he looked at me. "In some old daggers? Maybe a good butter knife? I'm sure I can find something of your... standard." There was doubt in his voice.
"Hello, good merchant. I come to negotiate." I began to open my bag. "I have these-"
"No, no, no. I only sell. Unless you have something enchanted," he said it with sarcasm. "The sooner you leave, the sooner you can find yourself a more appropriate store."
"Actually, I might have something, but it is clearly better suited for different hands to evaluate," I said trying to have the last word for once.
"Clearly. I'm pleased we are in accord. Please, leave."
Kicked out of the store with my pride damaged yet again, I was highly annoyed at the NPCs of the game. Not a single one of them had helped me in any way.
Except for the big black guy saving my ass. Hell, that's a weird phrasing.
The only other one who had come close to it, High Lady Renno, had only saved me from certain death to have the privilege of killing me herself after torturing me for months. I had chosen an unbound deathlord for the diplomacy bonus, but it felt as if I was playing against the world.
Yes, the undead were not loved by people, not even the most open minded ones, and it was obvious that the drow were not the warmest guys in the vicinity. They were the evil cousins of the elves, after all. Vampires disliked unbound deathlords and to be fair the ghosts had also turned the zombie out of the catacombs, from what I had heard. Yes, it all made perfect sense, but it still made me upset.
How big was the surface world, anyway? Did I even need the diplomacy bonus I'd receive there for being unbound? Because in the Underworld, it didn't seem to do much for me; if this was them being neutral, I didn't want to know what their hostility looked like. Perhaps starting over as an elf or human wouldn't be so bad, after all.
I took a big breath. No, I'm not a quitter. I refuse to give up. If the game wants to beat me, I'll show it who's the boss. I'm the boss.
The black sun over my head gave no light but added a sense of motion to the silent city. Too silent. Suddenly I realized how people didn't talk on the streets, except for an occasional player or two, and only muffled voices came from some buildings. Thinking back, I also couldn't remember listening to people in any of the other drow cities. Even the hungry dogs had only whimpered away.
All weirdos, everyone who live in these caves.
Just for spite, I screamed.
A big, loud scream, putting all my frustration in it. Wordless, formless, raw emotion.
The drow on the street looked at me and moved away. A Blackguard appeared, looked around, and disappeared again.
The looks on the drow faces wondering if I was crazy made me smile.
Now genuinely happy, I resumed my great quest for commerce.
God, I needed that. I hadn't noticed how the heavy atmosphere was weighing on me. The game was amazing. And dangerous. A guy could grow depressive in this place. That's probably the reason they require someone of age to play any of the Underworld species.
It took me some time and some walking to fulfill my great journey. After visiting fifteen stores, I went back to the third one, where I had got the best prices for everything: clothes, pelts, rusty sword, zombies clothes, and Shai's greatsword.
Now, that had been a difficult decision to make. The big sword was awesome and parting ways with it hurt me deeply. But I had to be practical, and I needed the money more than I needed a useless lump of metal. Even with my seven points in strength, I still received a level nine encumbered status. I wouldn't be able to use it for a long time.
NPCs usually bought items for a much lower value than they sold it, so logic dictated that I find a player to sell the greatsword to. And I would've done it if it wasn't the fifth day of the game. People could only buy a hundred gold pieces with real life money and the NPC was offering me a much more than that.
The selected store was clean and spacious, with weapons and armors organized by kind and size in isles. Contrary to all other stores, this one didn't look as if all its weapons were on display, only main ones. What differed most, though, was the shopkeeper.
Tharnya was her name. She looked young, her white hair arranged in a braid. Her face was beautiful, no matter that it was blueish. Really polite and gentle, I instantly distrusted her. But she paid well.
"You are back, Traveler! What a pleasure to see you in my humble store yet again."
"Hello, fair lady." I remembered the tips from the kid. Be direct, but not blunt. It was also close to what my mother had taught me. The memory made me sour, but I didn't let it affect my business. "It's also a pleasure to be back, especially for the opportunity of seeing you. Unfortunately, I come for business, not pleasure."
"That's a shame, but enjoy that as well. Buying or selling?"
"Selling," I put all of the stuff I wasn't wearing on the table, except for the greatsword. I also unmade the makeshift bag and removed the extra pants and shirts I was wearing.
"Well, I can offer you the same I did last time. Twenty copper for each cotton shirt; eighteen for each cotton pants; forty for each pair of shoes; ten for each belt; five for each dog pelt, and I'm just paying that because I like you; a silver for each sword, leather armor or leather pants. I have no interested in the fishmen eyes, as I already told you."
"Come on, you must at least know how much they are worth. Just pay me half their worth and we are done."
"No. I would love to take care of that big sword you are hiding..." I stopped myself from saying something not very dignified about that. "...but I will not trade alchemical ingredients."
I sighed. "Ok. Take everything but the eyes."
She did. "That's eighteen silver and sixty-one copper coins," she gave me a purse with the money, and I counted it in front of her. She looked a little annoyed at it but didn't say anything.
"Everything's here. Now, wanna see my bad boy?"
Her expression was of absolute nausea for a split second before realization came to her. It was enough for me to see the business mask off. So, she was not as pleased to see me as she had said, and was also probably cheating me somehow, I just had no idea how. In the Enlightened words, I was being cheated in a way I couldn't even begin to guess.
Sadly, I really needed the money; eighteen silver could buy me nothing. At least she was the one who was cheating me the least.
Her eyes shone as I unwrapped the weapon, revealing the onyx on the pommel and the dull black blade. All merchants had reacted excitedly to the sight of it. I had checked their wares before showing them the sword, though. If I had been buying it from them, its price should be around three hundred gold.
Of course, they'd only pay me part of it and most of them wo
uldn't even get to half the price.
"We agreed on a hundred and fifty gold coins, right?" She eagerly took the sword from my hands.
Time to some barter. "Give me two hundred and it is yours."
She showed biggest smile to date. "Don't be like that, dear costumer! You know I'm paying you better than anyone else."
"Still, Tharnya, I'm not sure I even want to sell it in the first place. I'm sure we can get to a better agreement. A similar sword in your own store would be bought for four hundred gold coins." I said the price wrong on purpose.
She sighed theatrically. "That's not how business work. Just because I'm buying this sword from you, doesn't mean I'll be able to sell it quickly. Look around, costumer; there are plenty of unsold items in here, including the similar swords you just mentioned; and they cost three hundred coins, not four hundred. When I'm buying, I have to account for storage space, calculate how long will it take me to sell the item, add in the risk factor..."
"Don't be like that. You know as much as I do that if I hold this sword for a month, I'll be able to sell it to any other p-" I stopped myself from saying 'player.' Games always penalized players who did that. "To other Travelers in a month's time. And I bet you'll even have raised your prices by then. You're clearly going too far in your risk factor."
"A month from now is a month from now. I don't deal with possibilities. For all I know, I could be robbed, or my business permit could be revoked, or Deathlord Shai could come back for her sword. If you're really willing to take that risk..."
"Wait, what? How do you know- Shit, the item name?" She nodded. "Don't worry about Shai, she's dead and buried." I coughed. "At least that's what the guy I bought this sword from told me."
"I'm sorry, dear costumer, but this guy lied to you. She was dead and buried. But she has been resurrected."
"She what?"
"A strong enough mage with both death and life magic was luckily sent to whenever you- Sorry, your friend, buried her in time. Oddly enough, it's your name that she gave as the one responsible. Dakar isn't happy about what you did, and when Dakar isn't happy about a terrorist, people usually aren't happy about said terrorist's presence, either."
"A terrorist? Slow down a moment. Shai tried to murder me! And after that Renno was about to-" I stopped as I saw Tharnya lean closer, a look of deep interest in her face. She didn't know about Renno.
"Yes? High Lady Renno was about to...?"
I took a deep breath. That was probably what the merchant wanted when he broke the news about Shai: to destabilize me. "Holy shit. Deathlord Shai is alive."
She went back to a perfect vertical position; her posture was impeccable. "She is. And if she finds out you've successfully sold your sword to a drow in Ter'nodril, Dakar won't be happy with us. So, you see, my risk factor is actually very sensible."
I frowned. "What do you mean Dakar won't be happy?"
"I'm sorry, mister costumer, but I'm only a simple merchant, not a knowledgeable politician. I already said more than I should. A hundred and fifty gold coins, yes?"
Closing my eyes for a few seconds, I recovered from the blow. "After what you just told me, I can't in good conscience put you in such risk. You were too good to me and I'm not ungrateful. I'll have the sword back, please." I extended my hand.
She hugged the blade as if I was trying to take a child from her. "Now that you talk about it, you were also very good to me. I just realized I forgot to also calculate the gratitude factor. I'll give you a hundred and fifty coins now and in a month's time you can come back to get yourself ten more gold coins."
I kept my hand extended. "I can't in good conscience sell your safety for a mere ten coins. But I could understand your stubbornness in protecting me, your valued costumer, if you paid me a hundred coins in a month."
She smiled at that. "I don't want to protect you that much, my dear valued costumer. But for eleven gold in a month I'd be happy to take this heavy burden off of your hands."
"Burden? What about the burden to my heart to know that you're in danger because of me? For ninety-nine gold coins it'd be much easier to bear it."
"But you're my valued costumer! How could I bear with the knowledge that you'd be carrying so much money in the dangerous Underworld in a month? It's for you, not for me, that I insist in only providing you with twelve gold coins."
"Exactly, Tharnya! You are such a fair lady, that surely a thief will see you as a much easier target. And you said yourself that you could be robbed! If you give me more money – say, ninety-eight gold coins – you'll be much safer!"
Such haggling took the better part of an hour. Eventually, she changed her terms to avoid giving much more gold later, and settled for giving me a hundred and fifty-five gold coins now, plus a magical lockbox, and fifty gold coins in a month's time.
I was damn satisfied with myself.
"Pleasure doing business with you," I said to Tharnya as I took the heavy small lockbox, which looked like a chest, and an iron key from her hands.
"You should buy yourself a backpack. It was... Uncomely to see you carrying your possessions in that bag of yours. And very unsafe to travel the streets of the Underworld carrying all your money in your hands."
"You drow really like your backpacks, huh? Do you know where I can buy one at a good price?"
"Equipment store on the Third Street, owned by Surenor. Tell him I sent you and he'll give you a discount."
"If he's half as good as you in keeping his money, I'll make sure to say as distant from him as possible."
"You got me. I was only sending you to him because I hate him. I wanted to see you steal his pants just like you stole all my money!"
"Why, and here I thought I was being so good to you!" A drow player in leather armor entered the store and I blinked to the shopkeeper. "See you."
"Bye, bye."
I wasn't lying when I said I would stay as far away from her suggested seller as possible. Not after all the struggle I had gone through to get myself what I was sure was her set price since we had begun negotiating. I had turned into a skeptic.
Thanks, game, took me years to trust someone again and five days to throw it away.
An hour later, I had discovered that magical backpacks were ridiculously expensive. The cheapest one I had found cost three hundred gold pieces. I repeated the number in my head: three hundred gold pieces. For a backpack.
Three hundred absurd gold pieces.
For a backpack.
Yes, they were enchanted, but still not nearly worth that much by a long shot.
I'd look all the city for a cheaper one, even if it took me a year. And it could well take that, for the size of the place. After an hour I was still on the same street on which I had entered the city and hadn't got to the center.
The street got crowded as I walked. After a long time, the street finally ended, and my jaws dropped.
A few hundred meters ahead of me was the Dark Temple.
It was black, like everything else in the city, and huge, like everything the drow did to impress. Three black metal rings, each one four stories high, were on top of each other, each one of them half as big as the one below. It reminded me of a wedding cake. A big, black, metallic wedding cake. The top floor almost touched the spinning Devourer, and thousands of translucent big dark spheres created black trails in the air as they floated around the temple like ghosts.
Lots of drow were entering and leaving the temple in huge double doors. Two drow with black hair and black robes, the first I had seen, were on each side of the doors.
"Excuse me." I stopped a man who was walking in white robes. "Can you tell me how-"
"Mind your own business, deathlord." He cut sharply.
Lovely people.
I tried again, now with a woman: "Excuse me, can you tell me how to enter the temple?"
"Walking, idiot." She moved on.
I would get no help from the passersby and entering the temple could wait anyways. I kept looking for a cheap backpack.
Low Quality C-Size Enchanted Backpack
» Drop chance: 3%
» Slots: 30
» Max items per slot: 10
The way the item worked was that anything that could go through the opening would fit inside, up to three hundred items. The magic of the thing allowed it to hold thirty different items, and ten 'copies' of each of them. Meaning I could have put ten of the ghouls' rusty swords in the bag, and it would have occupied a single slot.
It had a virtually unlimited space inside, as long as the rules were obeyed. I could put a five thousand kilometer rope inside, and it'd only occupy a single slot, even if I'd be unable to carry it because of the weight. I could put ten such ropes inside, and they'd still only occupy one slot. If I tried to put more stuff inside than the numerical limit, though, it had a chance of either fitting or ripping the backpack apart, no matter the size of the item.
Any items inside would be lost if I died, but the backpack itself had only a three percent chance of dropping.
The items would still weigh as much inside as outside the bag, but it made them super easy to carry. It had cost me a hundred gold, and it was the best cost-benefit I had found. A medium quality backpack lowered the chance of being dropped by one percent at triple the price. I would have bought it had I had the money.
After the acquisition, I was now down to fifty-five gold, eighteen silver and sixty-one copper coins. I left ten gold coins, the silver and the copper in a pouch and the rest of gold inside the chest, which in turn was inside the backpack. I wondered if I could put lots of containers inside containers in the magical bag and store things infinitely.
Now that I had it, I could understand all the talk about proper backpacks. I felt like a man now. A true adventurer. The lord of death, walking the dim streets of the evil elves' city under the mighty Devourer.
Oh, the power of a backpack.
"Hey, jackass with the ugly backpack, do you have any quests for me?"
Unbound Deathlord: Challenge Page 15