by Kong, Aleron
CHIME!
Congratulations! You have advanced to Reputation Level 2! “I think I’ve heard of you.” New quests and opportunities will become available to you!
You have completed the Quest: Fight for those Who Cannot I. The nonhumans of Yves will now look upon you favorably. Many may decide to come to the Mist Village. Bonus Reward: The contents of the thieves’ chest. Reward: 3500 XP
TRING!
You have reached level 9! Through hard work you have moved forward along your path. As a Chaos Seed you gain 6 points to distribute to characteristics instead of the usual 4. You also get 25% advancement to the skill of your choice! Crush your enemies, honor your allies, LIVE!
Richter was once again faced the pleasant dilemma of how to allocate his points. The real difficulty with his abilities was that they were almost all mana dependent. His most powerful skill was still Imbue Arrow, and that was a serious drain. Many game players liked to specialize in one area. That was never Richter’s style. He liked to have the ability to grow in many directions. His value as a player always came from finding unorthodox solutions to problems through combinations of his skills and abilities. He liked to think that where others saw problems, he thought of solutions. He saw no reason to change his style now. So he put all of his points into the only characteristic he had not directly invested in yet, Wisdom.
Name: Richter
Age: 24
Level: 9, 37%
Health: 280 Mana: 210 Stamina: 160
Strength: 15
Agility: 17
Dexterity: 30
Constitution: 16
Endurance: 16
Intelligence: 19
Wisdom: 18
Charisma: 20
Luck: 14
Abilities:
Limitless
Gift of Tongues
Winds of Change
Skills:
Herb Lore Lvl 4; 11% to next level, 100% affinity
Potions Lvl 1; 0% to next level, 100% affinity
Analyze Lvl 4; 82% to next level, 100% affinity
Stealth Lvl 4; 51% to next level, 100% affinity
Archery Lvl 5; 17% to next level, 100% affinity
Imbue Arrow Lvl 4; 15% to next level, 100% affinity
Focus Lvl 2; 6% to next level, 100% affinity
Swordsmanship Lvl 1; 88% to next level, 100% affinity
Small Blades Lvl 1; 11% to next level, 100% affinity
Unarmed Combat Lvl 1; 10% to next level, 100% affinity
Pressure Points Lvl 1; 15% to next level, 100% affinity
Light Armor Lvl 3; 12% to next level, 100% affinity
Air Magic Lvl 3; 38% to next level, 100% affinity
Life Magic Lvl 1; 49% to next level, 100% affinity
Earth Magic Lvl 1; 46% to next level, 100% affinity
Water Magic Lvl 1; 19% to next level, 100% affinity
Map Making Lvl MAX
Trade Lvl 1; 11% to next level, 100% affinity
Marks:
Master of Mist Village
Resistances:
Air 50%
Mental 15%
Spiritual 15%
Race: Human (Chaos Seed)
Reputation: Lvl 2 “I think I know that guy!”
Alignment: Neutral
Language: All
Richter finished with his internal management and enjoyed the increased regeneration of his mana bar at corner of his vision. By the time they had arrived at the ladder that led to the alley behind the inn, a fair amount of his mana had recovered. He still felt some aches from bruises, and walking shot pain into his lower back where he had been stabbed. These were minor annoyances now though, rather than debilitating injuries. The healing abilities in this world were amazing. His healing herbs were truly magical. St John’s Wort eat your heart out!
“We need to go back to Aldimah’s Focus,” Terrod said once they were back in the inn. “I’m not sure what protections are on that chest, but I’d be surprised if there were not both magical and nonmagical traps. Killik and Leandra should be able to help. Will you come with me? You convinced the thief to give us the chest. I’ll happily relinquish the contents of the chest, but please let me see the ledger!”
At Richter’s nod, Terrod spent a few moments checking in with all of the former captives. He had apparently not rented out any rooms since the first trouble with the Night Blades several days prior. He had foreseen that the nonhumans would need a place to stay away from prying eyes until he could get them back out of the city. Richter asked if the gang knew Terrod was involved with getting the nonhumans out of the Kingdom. If so, they would obviously come to the inn looking for retribution. Terrod said the arrangements were made through intermediaries, and his name should not have come up. He still seemed a somewhat uncertain though.
Terrod passed on the care of the nonhumans to his staff who assured him that everyone would be fed, given a bath and a place to stay. The wounded were already being cared for and the dead laid by the fire with what were clearly loved ones sobbing over the bodies. Three fighters had given up their lives in the fight. Terrod, Sion, Richter and Jeremy walked out into the night. There wasn’t much noise other than their footfalls. Terrod looked at Richter, “Not everyone would have the stomach to kill a man on his knees like that.”
Richter answered without looking back. “Where I am from horrible things happen every single day. No one helps. We even have the ability to know about atrocities on the other side of the planet, but nothing changes. I personally, was too weak or too scared to do anything about it. I don’t like slavers, and that is what you are if you hold an innocent against their will and intend to profit by it. That is what this Kingdom seems to be approaching. When the Night Blades tried to sell people, they crossed a line. Now that means they were on one side, and I was on the other. I don’t regret killing that man. I am happy the world has a bit less evil in it.”
“You let the final thief go,” Terrod observed. “That Nil, who killed his own man.”
“Everyone makes mistakes. Nil’s was being part of a group that had partaken in the slave trade. I do not enjoy killing, but as I said, I will not apologize for making the world a better place. Now all three of those men who surrendered were given the chance to make amends. The first was asked twice by you. Then in the most reasonable terms I could manage, I asked him a third time. Now even where I come from, neither god nor man can ask for more than that. So when a man has been given every chance to amend for a heinous crime, and yet still decides to stand defiant on the wrong side of the line,” Richter finally turned to look at Terrod, “I will snatch the soul out his body, and smile right after.”
Terrod looked back at him, “I think we understand one another.”
They arrived at the magic shop, and Terrod lead them around to the back door. He knocked once and then waited. The familiar face of Killik filled the window, and then they heard a bolt being drawn back before he opened the door. The filed into the room with the table Richter had seen before. Terrod wasted no time. “We took a chest from the Night Blades. We need it opened.”
“Why did you bring us this trouble in the middle of the night,” Killik said heatedly. “You know how hard I work to keep Leandra away from this!”
Terrod took the abuse silently, and then said, “It’s the only way to find Isabel.”
“Of course we will help,” Leandra said coming down the stairs set in the back of the room. “Killik get your tools. Where is the chest?” The man looked like he might argue, but then changed his mind, and did as he was bidden.
“I have it,” Richter said. “Where would you like me to put it?”
“One moment,” she said. She placed both hands over the table. There was a blue glow, and a circle inscribed with runes appeared on the table. “Set it here.”
Richter retrieved the chest, and placed it on the table.
Killik returned with a leather bound item. Unrolling it next to the chest, various metal implements could be seen, each in its own spe
cific place. He looked at the four of them, “Just stand back, and let us work.”
Killik and Leandra huddled around the chest murmuring to each other. They circled it several times planning their avenue of attack. A lot more than several times actually. The next thing Richter knew he was being shaken awake from the chair where he had sat while waiting. Sunlight streamed through the window and the sounds of foot traffic could be heard. All the innocuous events of that occurred, and were in turn ignored, each and every morning. This morning however, they were remarkable to Richter, standing in contrast to the blood spilled and lives lost the night before.
His focus was quickly pulled to what was in front of him. The chest lay on the table the lid ajar. Leandra and Killik sat nearby looking drained. “That thing was a nightmare. You’re lucky you brought it to us,” Killik said.
“That bad,” Richter asked rubbing his eyes.
“Well not bad if you would have enjoyed your blood boiling and parts of your body sloughing off, namely your c-”
“Leandra,” Killik interrupted sharply. Looking back at Richter, “Point is the chest is open now. We will let you handle your business. I only did this for Isabel. Come Leandra. We are going to leave them to it.”
The young mage complained but Killik was hearing none of it. He herded her out to the front of the store and out of sight.
“Who is Isabel,” Richter asked.
Terrod paused on his way to open the chest, “A wonderful woman. A wood elf. She is… precious to me,” his voice catching at the end. Richter now understood Terrod’s passion to free the nonhumans. Terrod opened the lid, and set it back on the table. The chest was less than half full. Several vials were on top that he placed to the side. Underneath was a thin book bound in brown leather. Terrod took the book and began to go through it page by page, the other contents of the chest already forgotten. Sion moved to the vials examining them, leaving Richter to examine rest of the contents of the chest. The first thing he saw was a gilded dagger in a sheath that looked like faceted crystal.
You have found: Glass dagger. Damage 15-18. Durability 250/250. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Superb. Weight 0.5 kg
The blade was almost ridiculously light, but the edge seemed wickedly sharp. The blade’s material was the same clear crystal that the sheath was made of. When he turned the blade he could see through it with no issue. Turned on the other axis the thin blade seemed to almost disappear. Setting it to the side, he looked at the rest of chest. There was a jumble of copper, silver, and gold coins, with some random jewels. He had a thought and just poured the content into his bag. Gotta love that autosort! It looked like there had been roughly two hundred copper coins, thirty silver and ten gold coins. Seven stones of varying types made their way into his inventory. There were also two rings that glowed slightly. They just appeared as “Magic Rings,” he would have to see if Leandra could identify them. At the bottom of the chest was a necklace and a book. The familiar and frustrating prompt, “Magic necklace and Magic Book,” greeted him when attempting to examine them. He HAD to find a way to identify items himself. Sion held up the bottles one by one.
“Frost resistance, Fire resistance, Healing, Mana replacement.” He paused before lifting the last. Richter examined it, “Magic Potion,” appeared on the prompt. Nodding understanding at Sion, he reached out his hand and placed it in his bag. The first four could prove useful in the coming days. Terrod was still pouring over the ledger, and so Richter walked up front. Leandra was standing behind the counter, and that gorgeous smile was on her face when she saw him.
Smiling back, still a bit awestruck by the beautiful creature in front of him, he asked, “There are a few items I can’t identify. Can you help?”
“I have an identify spell, and I also have a reasonable amount of Lore, I can look if you like.”
Richter looked slightly confused, “What is Lore.”
“Oh, well there are two main ways to identify something. Magic is the most common way, either with ability, spell, scroll or item. Identification items are rare though. The other way is to have studied enough about magic that you can recognize some or all of an item’s properties. I have level 3 in my Lore skill which should work for most basic items. Now let’s see what you have,” she said with a small laugh.
Richter handed her the rings, necklace, book and vial. She looked over the necklace, running her hands along it, closing and opening her eyes slowly seemingly lost in thought. After a minute she smiled reached out her hand. He took it and she placed it over hers with the necklace between them.
You have found: Necklace of Scry Defense. Will block all but the most powerful scrying spells. You will not be able to be seen by divination, identification, tracking or detection spells. Passive ability. Durability 200/200. Item class: Rare. Quality: Superb. Weight 0.4 kg
This might be the most impressive item he had found besides the magic core! Right now he was a small fish as far as this world was concerned, but if he kept making waves like say, attacking an established underworld guild, it was probably a good idea to protect himself from those who might look for retribution.
Leandra removed her hand, a little slower than she needed to in Richter’s happy opinion. She repeated the process with both rings, one at a time.
You have found: Ring of Hidden Dangers. +25% to trap detection. Passive ability. Durability 15/15. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Average. Weight 0.1 kg
You have found: Dungeon Ring. Will open most basic locks and some magical locks. Can be used four times per day. Durability 20/20. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight 0.1 kg
Both could come in handy! It was too bad Jason hadn’t been wearing the first ring when they attacked the thieves. Leandra picked up the book and went through the same motions as before. Frowning she set it back down and focused. A familiar white light came from her hands. After a minute though she shook her head, “I’m sorry Richter, my Lore level isn’t high enough for this, and it is resisting my identify spell. On the plus side though, it probably means it’s very valuable!” She handed the book back to him.
Picking up the small vial, she immediately gave a small gasp. “I know what this is! It’s a Potion of Clarity. I have seen one before, and it had the same clear water with little motes of light inside. This is valuable Richter!”
Somewhat taken aback he asked, “How valuable?”
“It depends on how much the experience bonus is and how long it will last for. The potion I saw increased experience by 15% for twelve hours and it was selling for one gold.”
“So how much do you think a potion that increased experience by 25% for a day would sell for?”
“Oh at least three gold! That would be almost impossible to find though! I don’t know the all the ingredients to make the potion, but I know they are all difficult to obtain and expensive. Why do you ask?”
A slow and small smile grew on Richter’s face. Changing the subject he asked, “Can you teach me you Lore skill?”
“No, but I do have copies of a few of the books I used to obtain it. I can sell them to you if you like.”
Richter said yes and thanked her. She left to go get them out of her room, and Richard spent the time perusing her shop. He had noticed a mortar and pestle when leaving last time. Moving around he saw that they had extensive amount of magical ingredients, alchemy sets, mortar and pestles, measuring spoons and any number of other implements required to pursue the magical arts. Behind a glass cabinet were various types of potions. There was also a small library dealing with herbology, potions and a list of other subjects. Each item was clearly marked, and it was somewhat surprising that there were different grades of alchemical equipment ranging from average to superb. Richter assumed that the equipment theoretically probably ranged from trash to masterwork, just like his other equipment. From what he had seen of the determined man though, Killik would not allow trash or poor quality inventory into his shop, and he probably simply didn’t have access to exquisite or masterwork items. T
hat might be all for the best for while an average alchemy set cost a few silvers, the superb quality was ten gold.
He picked a few healing herbs, and resolved to discuss the price of the other items with Leandra or Killik. As bright and sunny as the girl was, she was no less difficult a negotiator than Killik during their first bargaining experience. He was convinced that her personal desire for the staff was a large reason as to why he had gotten such a good deal on his spells.
Leandra came back to the front room carrying two thick books. They said History of Magic I and II respectively, “I’m warning you now, they can be pretty boring at times, but they got me to Lore level 2. Unfortunately, I don’t have the third book, but there are others that can increase you Lore as well.”
“I’d like all of the other books you have out here as well. I need an alchemy set and a way to transport it. Some healing, mana and stamina potions. Sion will pick all of the ingredients he needs for potion making and any herbs he needs. Oh, and all of your empty vials. I think I’ll have a lot of things to sell,” he said, grinning again.
After talking to Leandra, Richter decided to get the superb set of alchemy equipment. It was apparently needed to make higher level potions and also created potions of increased potency no matter their level. He had always believed in paying a bit more on the front end, rather than being nickel and dimed to death later on. It also wasn’t a small thing to get back to the city if he needed an upgrade. Once he was back in the Mist Village, he was pretty much stuck with whatever he brought back until he could spend a few weeks and make it back into the Kingdom. Luckily she had hundreds of empty vials that he was able to bargain down to one vial per copper piece in light of the large amount he was buying.
The books were almost ridiculously expensive to Richter’s mind. They ranged from three silvers to two gold pieces each. He supposed it made sense though. On Earth, before the printing press, only priests or nobles had access to books or even had the ability to read. He was insanely thankful that his Gift of Tongues seemed to extend to the written word. Knowledge was power in any world it seemed, and so he paid with minimal grumbling.
