Chapter 79

The Magical Merit Shop

“It’s here.”

Two simple words from my Simulacrum that tell me oh so much about what is going to happen next. These were the words my Simulacrum and I chose to use for one thing, and one thing only. To explain when the traveling Merit Shop appeared in the town of Crossroads.

Seeing the words, my first impulse was to do a switch with my Simulacrum right then and there, of course that would ruin the whole idea of my going around as Sabrina, a spiritual body that I could supposedly get rid of at any time. If I had transitional switch, right then and there, then it would have been noted that I was able to both switch positions with my Simulacrum, and that I was able to take on alternate forms, other than my natural body. These were of course two things that I did not want to get out.

My Simulacrum and I had a plan, a set of code words to use for situations such as this. In this case, we would both make our way to a bathroom, lock ourselves in, and then use Positional Switch, to swap places with my Simulacrum.

Poof.

One second, I am on floor 53 of the Arcanarus Tower, and the next, I am on the second floor, inside the Mage’s Guild. I am in my healing office, in the back where my Simulacrum has laid out a set of clothes for me to switch into. Ideally, these would be the same exact set of clothes that my Simulacrum was wearing. Don’t worry, she is still clothed, I hope, but rather these are generic mage guild robes that everyone has access to. Since I would be going out for my Simulacrum it made sense that I would need to both change my appearance back to my base form and wear the same exact clothing as my Simulacrum.

Even while changing my clothes, I already see the fabled shop in question. Just seeing it causes my skin to shiver slightly as I am so excited by this very moment. Nine point four million, that is how much experience I spent towards this plan, nine point four million for a total of ninety-four merit points. That is an astronomical amount of experience that could have easily pushed me to over three hundred for both my primary and secondary classes. Of course, such a rapid evolution would mean I would be stuck with minor improvements, my classes would not have altered or improved based on the way I played, like my Void Walker class transforming to Void Healer. Also, it should be noted that there are also in game measures designed to keep people from doing things just like that, where my classes could have become Diluted, basically if I go over a hundred levels without achieving anything of note, like my recent duel where I won against a Duelist, then my class could devolve due to my personal choice of quick power over gradual progression.

Also, as noted before, there was a one-hour cool down timer on all the potions, so despite still having had access to the potions, my Simulacrum would have still been forced to drink them. Though I am fairly certain that she likely would have gone on strike after a point given the terrible taste assigned to the bottles. All this led to the fact that when we, my Simulacrum and I, were offered a chance to get an easy out with Merit points, we jumped at the chance. Particularly as the trade in made it so we were halfway done with cleaning up after our caper. We still had over a million pounds of gold coins waiting to be destroyed, but that was just a million experience points that could help fill in the gap for what still remained of the pile of gold coins that all had to be marked as trash. That was another thing, if I could get rid of my Broke flaw, then our destroying millions of gold coins would be pointless as we could just keep them and claim them as our own. While the extra million experience was exciting to think about, honestly not having any lingering trace of the crime linked to either myself, the Mage’s Guild, or my Simulacrum would be ideal.

These were my thoughts as I finished getting dressed to play off one of my easier roles to portray. Namely, I would go as me, or rather I would go as the way my Simulacrum portrays me.

Stepping back from the back dressing room, I am immediately greeted by Zero.

“Hey boss.” Zero says, swishing forward in the way that only a tiny flying dragon can and immediately goes to embrace me.

“Hey Zero,” I say, petting the big guy, and suddenly wondering if I really am mean to my familiar. Honestly, I didn’t think that Zero could tell the difference between me and my Simulacrum, but based on the way he his hugging me now, maybe I was wrong.

There is a long-drawn-out moment, where I think Zero is going to break and say something, but after a long minute, he relaxes and then nods to himself, before finally letting me go.

“You good?” I ask.

Zero pauses, then presses his snout flat against my chest once more, as if to hear my heartbeat for a moment. Then after a quick second, he pushes himself away and nods.

“I, wow.” I stammer out, but then stop myself before I too am found to have given away more than I intended. I know I am being watched, but we haven’t been able to determine if I am being watched while in a Doppelganger form. Still, that doesn’t really matter much, as so far, I have only interacted with the system while in my Doppelganger forms, but still good to keep a layer of separation between the two of us.

With that awkward moment aside, I leave and go to the Merit shop that is a glowing golden train car that has been purposefully separated from the main body of the train, and allowed to set up shop here in Crossroads for the time being.

Seeing the shop, I casually stroll out to the shop.

As I move, I am instantly flanked by two men. My instincts kick in, telling me to be prepared to defend and flee, but then I quickly realize these are just my normally assigned guards from Lenny’s. Mentally I wonder how my Simulacrum’s relationship with Lenny is going, but ultimately, I choose not to ask, as that would likely cause more questions. What do you mean how are we? How would you say we are doing? That sort of thing, and it would ultimately just be annoying, which is why I decided to avoid any such questions, and just focus on my mission.

“Good afternoon.” A deep baritone voice calls out, sending chills down my spine. It is the voice of Glenn, the voice that I have instantly assigned to that of Rahul, when I read out loud. Just hearing the voice is enough to make me stop and want to talk to him. But I press on.

“Pleasant afternoon Glenn.” I say with a slight nod and a curtsey as I push my way forward to the offered converted traveling train car.

“This is a scam!” The shrill voice of Hilda can be heard as she angrily exits the vehicle, as two massive body guards come out to block her from being able to reenter the car. “Fine, how about just a five percent discount for touching my wares?” The old crone says, as she flaps and jiggles her sagging chest towards the guards. The guards both raise up their eyebrow in some form of synchronized sign of disgust.

Seeing the complete look of revulsion on the two’s faces, Hilda once again changes her plan. “Fine, fine. How about a 5% increase for your two guards to handle my merchandise?” She offers, once again shaking her chest in a way that reminds me of waterfalls and the way they are long, thin, run off down the natural slopes and contours, and then make a giant splashing pooling at the bottom. And yes, before you ask, she is wearing a seemingly customized corset that is little more than the equivalent of dipping her girls in a giant billowing chef’s hat that was sewn to her outfit, where she just let them sit like that against her stomach. I know, I know, not the nicest of images, but since I am being subjected to it, you all are as well.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Just how much do you have to spend in this fine establishment?” A cultured voice calls out from behind the two guards. The voice belongs to an old gnome.

“Why nothing, your prices are outlandish.”

“So when you make this deal, you are offering a 5% tax on nothing?” The cultured voice calls out.

“What do you mean nothing? These fine men get to sample my goods, and if they play their cards right, they might get the chance to see under the big top, if you know what I mean?” Hilda says, as she gestures to her billowing robe that does little to hide just how enthusiastic Hilda is about life, and about eating. I don’t want to ever call another woman the f-word, you know, fat, but there are occasions when it might apply to some, and I will leave it at that.

“You two, scan for paying customers.” The gnomish shop owner states.

The two guards give a crisp nod.

Then after that, a number of people who had been within the train car all were forced out. From there, a strict vetting process came into place, as everyone was forced to show proof that they in fact had any Merit Points to spend.

I of course was super nervous about this, as I can’t wait to enter. I wait in line, and finally am allowed to approach, that is when I show my system receipt.

Merits Awarded: 94.

The two guards baulk at the card, casting some form of spell breaker on it. When the soul bound card stays intact, they nod to themselves and both take a step back, allowing me to ender.

“Right this way, valued customer.” They say loud enough for the gnome who had been inside to hear.

At that greeting, the gnome that had been tending to the shelves, comes around and greets me.

“Finally, a customer.” He says to himself, as he comes around. “Might I know your shopping limit today, so that I might be able to better assist you?” He asked.

At that I nodded and showed him my soul bound slip. I pretend to already be scanning the different items around the shop, but I can still see everything in this shop, including the owner’s shocked expression. He of course gathers himself before I can look at him directly, but I still saw his complete reaction with my Angel’s Sight.

“Right, with that, you can purchase pretty much everything here.” He says emphatically, gesturing to the whole shop around him. “Is there anything in particular you are looking for?”

At that I nod. “I was wondering if you had a way to increase one’s Unbound rating?”

At that, the gnome looks troubled for a moment. “I am deeply sorry ma’am, but sadly those are not available. I might have the recipe to make something similar, but it will be a very expensive ordeal that will sadly take you over most of the planet.” The Gnome says, pulling up a glowing golden scroll.

Magic Recipe: Unbound Recipe (One Time Use): Want to unlock your true potential? Already have your potential unlocked, but want to fully awaken your ability, then this is the recipe for you. Just gather… ah, ah ah, no peeking before purchasing. Effect: This one-time use recipe will allow you to increase your base attributes and skills by an additional 25%. Can only be learned by the purchaser. The potion created can be given to anyone, but only one can be created, at which point the recipe will be erased from your mind. Cost: 7 Merits.

So that was how they got around such a limit, of these merits being only allowed at character creation. They create a onetime use formula that can do the same thing, but then make it a nearly impossible quest in the meantime. Seeing it, I can’t help but be impressed by the craftiness of the system developers and the in-game AI. They didn’t break their word, those merits were only available at the beginning, now if I wanted the same, or a continuation of those same merits, I would get a self only quest recipe, well played.

I tab the recipe to be added to my cart, at which point the gnome grabs it and places it on the counter to be ready for checkout. I want it, at the very least, it will give me something to work for in the future. Being able to get all my skills up to level 150 would be amazing, along with getting my base attributes up that high as well. For an end game purchase, that would be one I would go with.

With that I look for other recipes, there is a 25 Merit Recipe that will allow me to create a potion that allows me to get an extra Trait slot. This is similar to the one I stole from Legrand, but rather than being just a one-time use recipe that will be eliminated from my mind, this one is slightly different.

Magic Recipe: Extra Trait Slot Recipe: This is a recipe that allows the user to create a potion that will generate an extra slot that can be used to host a personal Trait. Effects: Creates an extra slot for a personal Trait. Can be made more than once, but every person can only gain the benefit from this potion once. Will stack with other similar products already out in the world. Cost: 25 Merits.

Again, there was another quest type potion, as I was certain the ingredients for this recipe would not be cheap, but that did help to mitigate the costs slightly, especially since I could make more than one. I could set up a quest where I offer to make the potion for someone straight up, if they provide double the needed ingredients, that way the provider of the crafting materials gets one, as do I. Also, assuming I make enough of those deals, I could later sell those other potions for additional currency, of course, once I got rid of my Broke flaw that was.

I tabbed that recipe to be purchased as well.

“That reminds me, do you have anything that can get rid of flaws?” I ask.

At that the gnome visibly winces. “I am so sorry. We only deal with Merits here, I am afraid I have not even heard of a Flaw reduction process. I could look into it, but it would likely take a year or so. Is there any flaw in particular you are interested in getting rid of?” He asks.

At that, I just shake my head.

After a year most of my Flaws will have run their full course on their own, so that is not really worth looking into at the moment.

“Very well, is there anything else I can interest you in?”

I nod my head, “yes, is there anything you can do to increase one’s magical affinity?”

“I sure do, I have a whole slew of potions that can take you from any rank to any other rank in a particular field of magic, up to tier VII.” The man says.

I nod, as that is exactly what I purchased when the game began.

“Is there anything you can offer for increasing one’s rating above Tier IX?” I ask, not really expecting anything, but willing to be pleasantly surprised.

“I will admit that my stock in those types of potions is a bit limited, first in the fact that I can really only stock Spirit potions here. And second, the best I can offer are these one-time use potions. I will warn you however, that these potions can only be taken one time in a lifetime. Meaning that you should only take them if you are absolutely certain that you cannot grow your magical potential any other way.”

At that I nod and am shown a list of potions.

Magic Item: Enhanced Potion of Spirit Potency: Guaranteed to increase the Spirit Tier rating of any individual by two Tiers. Restrictions: can only be taken once in a lifetime. Cost: 50 Merits.

Seeing that potion, I realize that I might be able to purchase another life, but then ultimately discard that idea, as I still like the idea of only living one life, my best life. Also, I would not want to redo seven years of being poor and destitute again. It was a good experience, made me appreciate everything I have, but I would never want to go through that whole ordeal again, and as I was just told the Flaws, well they are there to stay. No best to get such notions of restarts out of my mind. This is your best life Cassie, live it.

The gnome sees me hesitate on the potion.

“I assure you; this is the best for what you are looking for, a guaranteed two-Tier increase, regardless of the Tier rating you are already at.”

“For Spirit magic?” I ask to confirm.

“For Spirit magic,” the gnome says, pausing for a moment. “I’m sorry, had this been the regular world I could have brought more, but given that this is the spirit realm, my managers demanded that I keep my selection focused. Thus, the only one I could take with me was this.” He apologizes.

At his comments, I realize his concern.

“Oh, no that is perfect, in fact please go ahead and add it to the other two items.” I suggest.

Mentally I track that as 82 of my 94 total merits being spent. Meaning, I am down to the final 12, and this is when things start to get real for me.

“Now, would you be interested in any items?” He asks.

I think about it, and finally ask. “Do you have anything that is soul bound?”

“Sadly no, I do have a few items that scale with you, but soul bound items, no.”

At that I nodded, understanding that those would likely be out of my league.

“What else do you have?” I ask, having 12 Merits and feeling that they are burning a hole in my pocket.

“I do have some skills. Basic skills are 1 point a piece. Advanced skills, like Alchemy are two points.”

I wave my hand at that, “I am already an expert in Alchemy,” I assure the gnome.

“I figured as much, but could never be too careful, especially with your two earlier purchases.” He states.

He was right, my first two potions would be solely reliant on my Alchemy skill, fortunately a 125 in Alchemy should help me increase my limit first, then my ability to produce one time use Trait Slot increasing potions.

“Well,” The gnome then goes on. “Class specific skills will cost you three merits, and you can buy four of those.” He states.

And that is where the fun part finally gets good for me, as I decide to make the best use of these final twelve Merit points, getting as many skills that will be able to help me adapt and survive as possible.

All in all, today was shaping up to be a really good day.