by Tao Wong
“How come we’ve not met many of them?” Harry says.
“Why would you?” Ali says, shaking his head. “Outside of the giants, who took over the Alps, most bigs can’t fit into your standard dungeon configuration. Smalls can, but they struggle against standard monsters until they hit Advanced Classes. They’ve also got their own culture, including planets and the like. Semi-corporeals did turn up, but they’re hanging out in places you guys don’t care for. The middle of volcanoes, the deep ocean, the Mojave Desert, so on and so forth. As for noxes, well, you saw some. Hell, the captain who brought us in was one. But most prefer to stick to their own Dungeon Worlds or home worlds. Not a lot of fun choking to death because your respirator died.”
Well, that makes some sense. Environmental factors might be of less concern once you head up in Levels, but that doesn’t mean that we’re comfortable in weird environments. It’s like the various dungeons I’ve heard of that sit in the middle of some space lanes. They’re just a lot less appealing to a ground-pounder like me. Still, if I ever get bored, running a dungeon while suited in a full-on spaceship mecha sounds kind of cool.
The next few hours has us watching the scenery pass us by. Soon enough, everyone grows a little too bored. You only view so many similar alien buildings before you’re done, even if Ali does his best to point out the major landmarks and pepper his discussion with informative little tidbits. Rather than continue on the same old same old, Ali guides us to the merchant district. At that point, we split off, since everyone has their own little shop to visit. Harry hits the Shop sphere while Mikito decides to do some window shopping in the physical shops. As for myself…
“There’s a branch office?” I say, my eyebrow rising.
“Of course. It’s Irvina. Where else would they have a physical shop if not here?” Ali says, waving me on. “It’s been ages since I’ve visited it. But prices will be a little lower.”
“Fine. I’m coming.” I take off after him, the pair of us strolling through the cavernous innards of the building.
Pedestrian walkways, crawl ways, and roadways run alongside one another. Everyone’s mostly following the laid-out routes, the occasional oblivious or arrogant rulebreaker receiving a violent reminder of why the rules are in place. It’s kind of amusing how people just move around the burgeoning fights and occasional accidents with barely a glance.
Violence is, at worst, a fineable offense. After all, when everyone heals from broken bones and cuts within ten minutes, there’s little concern about such acts. It does lead to certain circumstances of bullying, but it seems a Galactic norm to ignore all but the most egregious events. It’s why guilds, associations, sects, and corporations are so popular—always good to have someone looking out for you.
By the time I make my way to the shop, I’ve had to break one set of legs and throw up my Aura to scare off the idiots. The shop itself is a simple affair—yellow trimmings on the outside with large double doors that are keyed to one’s Status. I step forward and the doors slide open, allowing me in.
Once inside, I find myself in a beautiful yellow room with a simple counter to greet guests, a waiting and lounging area for those wanting to take their time perusing their wares, and a couple of doors. The layout is a copy of their main offices, so I know from previous experience that those doors lead to private rooms where a customer can browse the wares themselves.
The moment I enter, a svelte young thing comes up to me, all willowy form and transparent dress. That what she exhibits beneath the dress involve dozens of small mouths with hundreds of tiny teeth kind of mutes any allure the angular-faced, slit-eyed attendant might have.
“Redeemer Lee. It is a pleasure to meet you.” The attendant bows, one hand over her right chest. “I am K’Senia Maroo. What may I do for you, Redeemer?”
“Got a bunch of things to sell,” I say.
K’Senia nods and waves toward a private room. I follow the lady, idly eyeing the area. I kind of miss having actual physical products to browse, but considering the size of the room we’re in, I’m assuming they just deliver it from whatever warehouse they use. Once inside, a gesture is all I need to dump my gathered items onto the floor. Loot from pirate corpses and their used gear makes up the majority of my merchandise this time around.
“Ah, I see you’ve had a busy trip,” K’Senia says. “Do you intend to continue traveling without insurance?”
“Not really.”
“A pity. I won’t inform our proxies to be ready for more such material then,” K’Senia says, deftly moving the loot around to sort and price everything.
“There’re people who do that regularly?” I say.
“Of course. It’s quite a popular pastime among certain Master Classes. And nearly all Heroics. Of course, most pirates leave Heroic Classes alone. Even a Heroic-level Artisan is a danger, especially when one considers most have significant influence in the galaxy,” K’Senia says. “The optimal time for such activity is around Level 20 to 40 for combat Master Classes.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
K’Senia finishes up with her work and sweeps everything into her storage before asking to be excused while she deposits everything away properly. I nod and turn back to my notification screens, restocking my usual assortment of grenades and disposable weaponry. It’s frustrating how expensive everything keeps getting as I go up in Levels.
I hold up one of the many things I have to repurchase and glare at the rather expensive toy.
High Explosive Grenade (Tier II)
Hand-crafted from mithril and oxmallium alloys, the HEG II is a mainstay of Advanced and Master Class Adventurers, able to clear large numbers of low Level creatures.
Base Damage: 287
Area of effect: 5 meters radius
Cost: 1250 Credits
I have to buy a dozen of these just to be safe, not to mention buying incendiary grenades, flash grenades, Chaos grenades, and even portable shield generators. Sure, the effect is amazing and everything has to be handmade at these levels to do the kind of damage we’re looking for, but it’s still a ton of funds. And still not as good as a single strike from my sword. But it’s an area effect attack that throws up a ton of fire and smoke, which is useful.
It’s one of the major differences between the real Erethran Honor Guard and me. I’m a lone fighter, without the resources and funds that back the entire army. They can afford to purchase handcrafted mecha and repair them when they’re inevitably damaged. If I tried the same, I’d be even poorer than I am right now. As much as I’d love to equip myself with the latest tech, it’s not viable.
“Redeemer Lee, it seems we have an item awaiting your pickup,” K’Senia says when she comes back. “Would you like to take ownership of it now?”
“Of course.”
A moment later, K’Senia has twitched her hands and handed the knives to me. I blink at my old friends now firmly etched with runes and reinforced with stronger metals. Rough edges have been worked out, along with numerous minor adjustments. I pull out one, staring at the item’s new status with awe.
Enchanted, Reinforced Toothy Throwing Knives (5)
First handcrafted from the rare drop of a Level 140 Awakened Beast by the Redeemer of the Dead, John Lee, these knives have been further processed by the Master Craftsmen I-24-988L and reinforced with orichalcum and fey-steel. The final blades have been further enchanted with Mana and a piercing Skill, as well as a return enchantment.
Base Damage: 238
Enchantments: Return, Mana Blade (+28 Damage), Pierce (-7% defense)
“Very nice,” I say.
As I look around, K’Senia cannot help but smile a little and point down the room to the farthest corner. “Feel free to test out your knives. These rooms are rated to withstand even Tier I attacks.”
I nod in thanks, pulling the knives from their sheaths and reviewing each weapon. There are minor differences in the base damage—probably due to various defects in the way I first crafted the knives. More
importantly, the enchantments make these weapons deadlier than ever. These do nearly double the damage of my soulblade when I first received it. I could easily one-shot any low-level monster with these.
Once I’ve verified everything, I look at the simple baldric that’s been enchanted as well, providing the return enchantment a focus. With a shrug, I toss the knives underhand at the far wall.
There’s nothing special when I do—no explosions, flashing lights, or swell of music. The knives fly out of my hand with a smoothness that seems all too familiar, grouping themselves within millimeters of one another and sinking in nearly all the way to the hilt. K’Senia raises an eyebrow, appearing somewhat impressed.
Me? I’m more impressed when the knives flicker and suddenly reappear, one after the other, in the enchanted baldric. I test the weapons again, tossing them one after the other and counting off till they return. Just under three seconds.
“Hey, Ali, these won’t randomly return if I throw them really far away, will they?”
“Maybe? Depends on how far. The runes have two triggers—time after impact and time after reaching throwing speeds. You can also forcefully return them by touching that rune.” Ali highlights a rune on the baldric for me. “Push your Mana into it and boom. Knives back in sheaths.”
“Thanks.” I make mental note about that and the potential problems the enchantment might have.
These are a nice addition to my attacks, one that doesn’t require me to use my sword. The biggest advantage of these weapons is that they give me a ranged option that isn’t Mana intensive or as flashy as my Blade Strike.
I slip on the baldric before turning to K’Senia and pointing at the skill I was browsing while she was gone—Galactic Body Language. “So…”
“I see you’ve begun to face issues,” K’Senia says. “I’m surprised this was not recommended to you earlier.”
“Yeah, about that. I don’t get why I was able to read most of the Galactics on Earth perfectly well, but now I’m getting conflicting feelings. It’s rather frustrating when you Galactics go from happy to sad to outraged. At least, from your body language.”
“Skill translation,” K’Senia says. “You understand that the skills you purchase, language and otherwise, often are derived from individuals? Or in the System’s case, a large number of said individuals?”
“I got that.”
“Then you should be cognizant that such information comes with behavioral and body language knowledge as well. To make proper use of the correct body language, the System has to overwrite specific portions of one’s body,” K’Senia says. “In so doing, the original host’s tics are overlaid.”
“Wait. You’re saying that because they learnt English from the System, they also got the body language from the individual the skill was taken from originally?” At her nod, I slowly rub my chin. “So when they spoke English, they were showcasing mostly human body language. Which is why I had no issue reading them.” Except for one particular Truinnar. But I was never sure if that was because of his skills or because the man always set me on edge. In a good way. Mostly.
“Exactly. But most of us learn to speak Galactic while growing up. As such, there is no ‘natural’ body language to acquire, and so the Galactics you’ve met are all exhibiting their ‘natural’ body language,” K’Senia says. “Most of us learn to read the major races quickly enough. Merchants like me then purchase ranks in the skill you are looking at. And in some cases, diplomats and others have Skills to ensure their meaning comes across, no matter which race it is.
“You, on the other hand, are relying on your human understanding of body language and movements. While some of that will, slowly, disappear, in the short term, you will be faced with significant misunderstandings.”
I exhale, shaking my head, and swipe the skill over to my buy pile. Thinking about it, I chat with K’Senia about what else I should get. Soon enough, we’ve added a bunch of “generic” knowledge to the pile that I hadn’t bothered purchasing or which Foxy, my normal attendant, had not recommended. Eyeing the large list and recalling the way the System likes to dump information directly into our bodies, I confirm the purchases for now. I’ve got dozens of other skills I want to purchase but taking this in batches is probably for the best. Even then, I’m sure not all of it will “settle” immediately.
Information floods into my mind and my eyes widen, flicking from side to side as my brain rushes to capture the information. My boosted Intelligence gets to work grabbing and sorting the flood of information, settling my mind down even as my body processes a series of micro-impulses.
Once that’s done, I highlight a few new low-level spells. Mostly I add on to my control spells, layering some ice, metal, and air to the mud and fire walls I already have. I briefly consider adding a healing spell but discard it, happy enough with the one I have. Truth be told, my Mana is limited. Once again, I confirm the information and feel the rush as spell knowledge floods my mind.
It’s painful to see more of my precious Credits flowing out, especially since my savings is limited. Unless I run more dungeons, what I have is what I have. Deciding against spending any more for now, I take a quick look at my Status Screen before heading back to the hotel.
Status Screen
Name
John Lee
Class
Erethran Paladin
Race
Human (Male)
Level
24
Titles
Monster’s Bane, Redeemer of the Dead, Duelist, Explorer
Health
3520
Stamina
3520
Mana
3330
Mana Regeneration
273 (+5) / minute
Attributes
Strength
238
Agility
318
Constitution
352
Perception
178
Intelligence
333
Willpower
358
Charisma
116
Luck
72
Class Skills
Mana Imbue
3*
Blade Strike*
3
Thousand Steps
1
Altered Space
2
Two are One
1
The Body’s Resolve
3
Greater Detection
1
A Thousand Blades*
3
Soul Shield
2
Blink Step
2
Portal*
5
Army of One
2
Sanctum
2
Instantaneous Inventory*
1
Cleave*
2
Frenzy*
1
Elemental Strike*
1 (Ice)
Shrunken Footsteps*
1
Tech Link*
2
Penetration
3
Aura of Chivalry
1
Eyes of Insight
1
Analyze*
2
Harden*
2
Quantum Lock*
3
Elastic Skin*
3
Beacon of the Angels
1
Eye of the Storm
1
Vanguard of the Apocalypse
2
Society’s Web
1
Combat Spells
Improved Minor Healing (IV)
Greater Regeneration (II)
Greater Healing (II)
Mana Drip (II)
Improved Mana Missile (IV)
Enhanced Lightning Strike (III)
Elemental Storm (Fire, Ice, Lightning)
Polar Zone
Freezing Blade
/> Improved Inferno Strike (II)
Elemental Walls (Fire, Ice, Earth, etc.)
Ice Blast
Icestorm
Improved Invisibility
Improved Mana Cage
Improved Flight
Haste
When we get back that night, we have a very short discussion about plans for the next day before we crash, our first day in an alien world somewhat underwhelming. No gun fights, no major altercations. Just a lot of sight-seeing and a little shopping.
Chapter 5
“Are you a member, an applicant, or a browser?” the weedy old man with a tuft of hair sticking out of his gigantic ears asks me.
I stare at the weird gnome-like fellow, eyeing his suspenders for a moment before I answer. “Applicant please.”
The Questors’ hall is in the fifth ring, which was a bit strange to me at first glance. Only when Ali pointed out that not only do the Questors require a significant amount of space to store all their collected knowledge but also have little to steal did it make sense. Then add the fact that everyone knows Questors don’t have much in the way of Credits and have the backing of some truly powerful folk. It’s kind of like libraries on pre-System Earth. Sure, you could steal the books, and some people did, but was it worth it? Mostly, not so much. Add that together and the building, as a whole, was left alone by local troublemakers. The halls’ visitors aren’t so fortunate, but localized teleportation nodes and a direct transportation stop for the gravline keeps most of the crime down.
Not that assaulting and stealing is considered more than a minor, fineable offense. Damnable Galactic law.
“Very well.” When the silence grows between us, the attendant finally rolls his eyes. “Show me your System Quest notification. How else am I to verify your suitability?”
