Emy found a cheap leather belt with several pouches capable of carrying a variety of things. She placed her measly six jewels into a pouch on the right side of her belt.
“What do you think?” She twisted left and right to show off her new attire.
“Thats a fine belt, Emy.” Rupert looked at the compartment holding her jewels. “Want to spend some of those?”
She shrugged. “Sure.”
Rupert walked into his shop behind him, gesturing for Emy to follow. As she entered the rectangular building, she took a good look around. There was a small display counter with cards sitting on stands so you could read them easier. There was a desk to the side with a couple stacks of paper and writing instruments. It wasn’t an enormous building but could easily accommodate a group of villagers if needed. There was another door behind the display case, which Emy assumed led to his home.
“What do you think of my shop?” Rupert asked.
“It’s very nice.”
He gestured toward his display counter as he stepped behind it. “All of my available cards are here.”
Emy looked at the ten available cards. They were all registered slot cards, and rank F. Most of the selection was basic weapons and armor. For weapons styles there were swords, daggers, maces, axes and bows. And for armor there was a light and heavy variety plus a shield card. The other two cards were a basic ration and waterskin.
“How much do each of these cost?” Emy inquired.
“The armor and weapons are five jewels each and the other two are three jewels.”
“Any recommendations?”
Rupert looked Emy up and down. “I don’t want to make any assumptions, but your wearing all dark-colored clothing with a dark cloak makes me think you’re some kind of rogue.” He held up his hands defensively. “Now, I don’t mean to offend you by implying you’re shady or anything.”
She giggled. “No offense taken. I’m trying to go the stealthy route.”
“Well. I would recommend that you stick to light armor then. While heavy armor provides more defense, it’s bulky and loud. You’ll find it hard to sneak around when you’re covered in few dozen pounds of metal. Now for a weapon,” he reached into the case, pulled out a card and placed it on the counter, “I would recommend daggers. At the F ranks, all the weapons do the same amount of damage, but picking a weapon early will allow you to gain valuable experience with it in combat. Daggers are easy to hide, lightweight and effective.”
Emy picked up the card on the counter to inspect it.
#029 - Practice Dagger / Item - F / ∞
A wooden practice dagger. This weapon always does 1 damage.
The card had an image of a wooden dagger, complete with a wood guard. The dagger was leaning on a leather holder. It looked very ineffective and just generally weak. So weak that Emy had to ask the question in the forefront of her mind.
“Do I actually need a weapon? My spells seem to be pretty effective.” Emy asked.
Rupert nodded. “It’s always good to carry a weapon. Most spells, even the weak ones, have cooldowns. What do you do when you don’t have any spells available and a dozen monsters are attacking?”
Emy thought about the pair of pink fluffers she fought. Once she killed one, she was forced to hop around and dodge the other while her spell’s cooldown refreshed. And that was when she was only fighting two monsters. If it was a horde of pink fluffers, she might not have been able to avoid them.
“But can’t I just punch things?” She asked.
“You could but have you ever tried punching a charging monster? Especially one with scales or armor? Your fists will only be effective against the weakest of monsters. I suggest picking a weapon early, training with it and picking up higher rank versions of it as you go along.”
Makes sense. She thought. She opened her belt pouch and placed five jewels on the counter. “I’ll take it.”
“Excellent!” Rupert waved a hand in the air, and a system message appeared in Emy’s vision.
You have obtained card #29 - Practice Dagger. You currently do not have this card registered, and it has not reached its registered-limit. Would you like to add this to your registered card slots?
Yes / No
She tapped on ‘No’ and flipped her book open to the back where she could activate cards. She was rather impatient and didn’t want to wait for the sixty seconds to elapse that would force the card to revert back into an item. She placed the practice dagger in the activation slot.
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It burned away in golden flames as a wooden dagger, complete with a leather sheath, materialized out of golden flames. The dagger was hovering in the air a few inches above her open book. The entire process took only a few seconds and when it was done, she grabbed her new weapon out of the air and attached it to her belt.
“Now you look like a proper rogue.” Rupert complimented.
“Thanks.”
“Do you plan on resting for the night or are you going out to collect?”
“I’ll probably head back out but…”
Rupert cocked his head. “But what?”
Emy’s stomach choose that moment to growl loudly. The hungry sensation her headset was giving her earlier was gone because she ate in the real world but her in-game avatar was still hungry. An icon of meat on the bone was hovering over her stamina bar. It alerted her that her stamina regeneration was cut to fifty percent until her character's hunger and thirst was satisfied.
It was at moments like this that she wished she could afford one of the more advanced VR pods, but they were way out of her price range. Instead, she would have to ‘eat’ something in Collector’s Quest and in the real world. It would be the same for sleeping as both her and her character would get tired independent of one another. Although the pods had limitations of her own.
“Do you know where I can get a fast bite with a single jewel?” Emy smiled.
Rupert chuckled and pointed out the door. “Head straight across the street to Mac’s place. He runs the inn. Most of his food is most than a jewel though. Hmm…”
Pulling open his book, he flipped through the pages. He pulled out a card and tossed it into the air. A cloud of smoke surrounded the card, much like when the pink fluffers died. A second or two later and an apple dropped dropped into Rupert’s awaiting hand.
He tossed the apple to Emy. “Here. On the house for buying something. It should hold you over until you complete my quest and can afford something more filling.”
“Thank you.” Emy bit down on the apple. The sensation of fresh fruit juice filled her mouth. She had to give Vortex Industries credit when it came to their programming. She felt like she was actually eating an apple. They nailed everything regarding food. Taste, smell, touch, everything.
When she finished devouring the small morsel, she said her goodbyes and headed for the forest. By the time she reached it, night had fully fallen. Between the large moon in the sky and the abundance of fireflies, the area was decently lit. Because of that, it was fairly easy for her to spot the pink fluffers bouncing about. It also helped that they were vibrant pink, a stark contract to the green landscape. They stood out quite a bit.
Ok. There’s two of them. Time to try this practice dagger out. “Produce flame.” She whispered as quietly as she could. As soon as the flame appeared in her hand, the monsters reacted. I’m an idiot. She thought as she dodged the first one leaping toward her.
Keeping her eyes on the second one, she waited for it to be mid-leap before tossing her flame at it. At the moment right before she finished throwing her attack, the first pink fluffer hit her back and caused her flame to go wide right. The second monster’s attack also landed before she could regain her balance.
A Pink Fluffer hits you for 1 damage.
A Pink Fluffer hits you for 1 damage.
Emy pulled her dagger and swung at the closest creature. Her dagger hit it with a thud. The force of her attack caused the pink fluffer to bounce backward several feet away from her.
You hit a Pink Fluffer for 1 damage.
Her eyes went wide when the monster didn’t transform into a card. These things must have two hit points. Dammit!
She dodged the monster closest to her, taking a wild swing at it as it passed her. Her attack wasn’t even close to hitting its mark, and she noticed her stamina drop by a few points from her physical exertion.
Focus, Emy. Focus! She took a few steps to the side so she could keep both of her opponents in her line of sight. The one she had already damaged was hopping toward her, gaining momentum. When it was only a couple of feet away, it sprang up at her but she was ready.
You hit a Pink Fluffer for 1 damage.
Quest Update! Monster Boom - Monsters Slain: 16/25
The monster was bashed to the ground where it exploded into smoke and transformed into a card.
A Pink Fluffer hits you for 1 damage.
She wasn’t quick enough to dodge the second one as it hit her side. “Produce flame!” The flame appeared in her free hand as the pink fluffer bounced near her. She looked between the flame and her new dagger before tossing the flame to the side.
Grinning, she rushed the remaining creature. It bounced to attack her. She tried to counter with a diagonal slash but she missed the tiny target. The game of cat and mouse continued for several minutes while Emy learned the basics of her new weapon. She took several additional hits, reducing her to four hit points, before she was able to land two blows and win the fight.
You hit a Pink Fluffer for 1 damage.
Quest Update! Monster Boom - Monsters Slain: 17/25
Collecting the monster card and placing it in her book, she frowned. The first monster had long reverted back to a defeated corpse, making it impossible for her to collect. “So much for making some money.”
A loud screech drew her attention, but she wasn’t quick enough to avoid the monster soaring through the air at her. The black furred bat collided with her chest. The force of the blow proving enough to knock her on her rear.
An unknown monster hits you for 2 damage.
“Oww…” She rubbed her back as she got to her feet.
The bat was at eye level, circling around her. She used her produce flame ability and waited until she found an opening to throw it. When the bat flew in for its follow-up attack, she tossed a flame in its face.
You hit an unknown monster for 2 damage.
The bat fell to the ground in a panic. It was flapping its wings, desperate to get airborne. Emy capitalized on its suffering and drove her dagger down on its head while it struggled.
You hit an unknown monster for 1 damage.
Quest Update! Monster Boom - Monsters Slain: 18/25
Lucky for her, the monster transformed back into a card. She collected the fallen monster’s card and took a look at it before placing it in her free slots.
414 - Island Bat / Other - F / N/A
A bat who lives on remote islands. It sleeps during the day and hunts during the night.
That was close. I should probably rest for a bit and allow my HP to recover. She sat on a nearby rock and reviewed her new dagger as she got lost in thought. If I want to collect all the cards Rupert has, that would cost me… forty-six jewels because I’ll need another dagger for my registered slots. Even with the quest reward, at one jewel per two slain creatures, this is going to take some time. Well… Rupert did say I should practice with my new weapon.