Zara stayed at the estate and went back for dinner with Julia and the real Selena. She might be able to learn something useful about the forest. The main thing is not to have problems pulling her away from the food later...
Before leaving, I notified Patrick about my progress and plan. The answer came quickly, with important info: there really aren't any friendly settlements further ahead, but several obelisks can be found in high-level locations, and in the Underwood you need to beware of trees with yellow trunks. According to him, there aren't many, but when spotted they need to be avoided by a mile. When I asked "why?" he advised to just believe him. Strange, but I'll keep it in mind.
So I'm walking leisurely through an unremarkable "residential" district of the village. There are few people, once did I encounter a merchant's cart.
And I'm very glad about this, because initially from Selena's expensive district I walked into some fucking dirty slums. The expensive street literally abruptly turned into sagging barracks. I was shocked by such planning, since this is the direct path to the main square. In moments like these, I forget that this is just a game.
Being there was about four times scarier than at the "elite" market. Shady types stared from windows, suspicious sounds were heard from everywhere, children in tattered clothes played along the road. And when I wasn't looking at them, they moved surprisingly fast in my direction.
I developed a theory that the village is secretly ruled by some player or party. After capturing it, they could have deliberately brought the district to such a terrible decline, created gangs, put these children in place and ordered them to rob other NPCs and players. This explains why such a nightmare is right next to the expensive district.
The implementation is pretty simple—just gain control over the location's "main person" one way or another, and you'll unlock the administration mechanics. Everything not banned by the rules is fair game there—you can literally conjure up gangs and homeless kids out of thin air. It's a perfect way to farm gold passively, but if someone exposes the scheme, it could trigger a territory war.
Possibly, these elections in the village are part of it. Fortunately, all this doesn't affect quest generation.
If the theory is correct, then mind control is likely involved here. Possessing something like the Dagger of Madness, theoretically you could subjugate an entire king and rule a huge kingdom from behind the scenes... Ah, dreams, dreams.
Luckily, I managed to avoid any incidents in the slums, making my way out of there in quick steps in about ten minutes. I'll find another way back.
The residential district didn't attract any attention. Distracted by the harmonious melody of a flute, I don't notice how I come out to the main square—
—or rather, to a huge sign "CENTRAL SQUARE". Without it, I wouldn't have understood this.
There isn't even a paved road here. The square forms a circle, with a dark monument in the shape of a huge lantern standing in its center. Real lanterns are scattered here and there, and around the perimeter there's a mix of residential houses, administrative buildings, shops and small eateries.
Signs like "FRESH MEAT" and "BEST DEALS ON BOARDS" immediately make it clear that there's nothing valuable here. With heightened awareness, I start searching for the obelisk.
This took about half an hour of annoying wandering. Then I gave up and thought to ask locals. As it turned out, I had stumbled upon the obelisk at the very beginning, just didn't understand that it was one.
In my imagination, it was a tall colorful monument with many runes on the walls. In reality—a gray "pole", conveniently hidden behind... a shop selling fertilizers. However, there were runes on it, just covered with layers of dust and dirt. Seeing it, I could believe there aren't many mages here.
Its operating principle is simple—transfer to similar opened obelisks on the server. Although I hadn't approached obelisks in Novalux, the main spawn point is by default open for quick travel, so there's no problem.
I put my hands on the obelisk, its runes slowly light up. After some time their glow reaches maximum, then in semi-transparent font appears:
Choose destination for transfer:
Misty Slope Village (current).
Central District, City of Novalux.
When hovering over Novalux, it shows that I'll skip 224 miles (360 kilometers). Well, it would take a while to get there on foot... Forward!
I choose the point, the font disappears, my body is "enveloped" by the glow from the runes and I'm suddenly thrown upward.
For less than a second I fly through a multicolored tunnel. Blinking, I find myself at the familiar spawn. The music changes abruptly. Not much has changed here since connection.
The transfer feels very similar to a portal. There are also no negative effects.
I message Zara about the successful transfer, immediately bolt from spawn and head toward Twilight Rampart from memory. Passing by the local market stalls, I hear vendors calling out, promising huge discounts. Oh hell no, you bastards, I'm too smart for that now!
****
Twilight Rampart Market, Novalux.
Never thought I'd be so glad to see a gloomy bandit face that dreams of chopping me up or robbing me.
Having reached these elite views, I was completely wiped out and barely dragging my feet. I hadn't fully realized how much Patrick's mount had added to our speed. I thought I'd get there in ten minutes running, but in reality the distance turned out to be all forty. And that's with me actually running half of it. Need to start thinking about getting my own mount, it's rough moving without one. I'll try to forget about the fact that there's no universal mount that all servers would support.
Similar problems didn't arise when I moved around the market. I quickly found the most truthful signs and flew into the shop. The ringing of the bell was immediately followed by the sound of jumping onto a stool.
"Welcome! Visiting us is your wisest decision of the day!" the rabbit girl sang in the same way.
"Second in a row?" I couldn't help but smirk.
Stolen novel; please report.
"Exactly so, dear visitor! In Enchantia it's impossible to think of anything wiser than visiting our shop," she wasn't embarrassed at all.
Expected.
"Glad to see you again too—"
"We're more glad! Have you already found the necessary sum for the scroll, or have you come to replenish supplies and change equipment?"
"First—yes. Second—we'll see."
"Wonderful! We didn't doubt for a second that you'd find the gold. I'll bring your scroll, you can transfer the money meanwhile."
She jumps to the floor and runs into the passage that clearly leads to the warehouse. It's very painful to part with such a sum, especially giving gold to her, but I signed up for this myself.
How quickly you get used to other people's money...
You sent 1,500 gold coins to user meowICEDTEA.
Literally the next second after the transfer, the rabbit girl returns from the passage and hops onto the counter with a neatly wrapped scroll in hand. I bet she was just waiting for the money.
"Here's your scroll, dear visitor. You won't find such an EXCLUSIVE item anywhere else!"
I take the scroll and am about to reply sarcastically... when suddenly my jaw drops.
I rub my eyes, but it's not an illusion. I wasn't expecting even a fraction of truth in her words, but this... This is absolutely insane.
For complete certainty, I unwrap the scroll, and after confirming what I see, my eyes bulge. The front side is a shimmering crimson, the written text in the ancient language glows golden. In my hands is nothing other than a torn page from the Lava Folio—according to the lore, it's a lost artifact of the gods, fragments of which are scattered throughout the Lower World, one of the most hardcore locations in the game.
By activating it, I'll get not only double the amount of mana points, but also a random spell from the fire school. The approximate cost of such a scroll fluctuates around 5,000 gold. My hands shake from shock.
"Rabbit girl, haven't you mixed something up?" I asked, almost stuttering. God, I hope she mixed up.
"I apologize, dear visitor, but our shop doesn't support a refund policy," she stated imperturbably.
And how to explain this? Why on earth did she give me such an awesome scroll that isn't worth the transferred money? In that case, why did she sell Zara two scrolls, separately for mana and spell? And of much worse quality at that.
Where did she even get it from? And how many such items does she have?...
It seems really cool, but there's a clear feeling that something is hellishly wrong. Especially if remembering Patrick's words.
I throw a glance at the salesgirl—she has slightly closed eyes and a constant cute smile. She can't not know the scroll's value and must have noticed my reaction. However, she acts as if this is how it should be.
Incredibly suspicious, but I can't think of any possible scam scheme. Okay, right now I can only use the scroll.
For this you need to run your fingers over each letter of the text, which I do. The scroll starts to smolder, particles from it absorb into my body.
Congratulations! You have unlocked Mana Pool!
Received 17 mana points.
You received the active ability [Ignition.]
I immediately looked at its description:
Active effect: you summon a fireball and deal 450 magical damage to the target. When attacking the same target, you'll deal 20% more damage and add this value to your next attack. Cooldown—5 seconds.
17 MP—nice, with that amount you can comfortably last for several levels. Leveled intelligence boosts mana regen, but barely affects the actual mana pool. You need special artifacts and gear for that.
The ability is solid, though it'll burn through all your mana in longer fights.
Because of this feeling that something's off, I can't fully embrace the positive emotions. A sense of unease stays with me, even though there are no objective reasons for it.
For now I'll write it off as wild luck. Later I'll personally tell Patrick, interested in his opinion.
The only problem is that I can't physically cast spells without a conditional staff. Spellcasting without auxiliary items is only available to leveled mages.
"Dear visitor, are you satisfied with your purchase?" the salesgirl blurted out as soon as I returned my gaze to her.
"Ah... quite."
"Perhaps you're interested in some other items? Don't be shy, we're closing tomorrow anyway."
Obviously hinting at that very conditional staff, she clearly understands the mechanics perfectly.
Damn, Patrick advised not to deal with her anymore... But what if she has something else worthwhile for a reasonable price? Asking isn't scary.
"I remember. In that case, do you have any magic conductors left, like a staff or wand?"
"We suspected you would be interested in items of this type. And you're lucky again! Officially everything is sold out, but EXCLUSIVELY for you we can offer two energy spheres and gloves made of enchanted fabric. Each item costs 2,500 gold, but if you decide to purchase today, we'll give you a discount of whole 50% as the buyer of the day!"
What if somehow she really picks items exclusively for you? But she's not an AI...
I thought about it. Both spheres and gloves... are crap, honestly. Not suitable for a beginner at all, casting will be difficult. At this point I could turn around and leave, but the discounted price turns out to be profitable. Unlikely that someone else in the market will cut the price so much.
Although these thoughts are abstract. Even when selling everything looted, I doubt I'll have even half this amount. But worth a try.
"One moment..." I take off my backpack to get the emerald. Suddenly my hand catches unfortunately and the recently received talisman falls to the floor.
"Oh! You must have gotten this talisman in the Bewitched Forest?" the rabbit girl suddenly said.
Did I hear right?
"Um... How did you know?"
"This is quite a valuable item that can only be dropped in four locations in the entire game. Dear visitor, I can assure you, the talisman will not be of use to you. Prior to closing, our shop wouldn't mind acquiring this item. Upon our hypothetical return to business, it would find its buyer among our refined clientele. I propose an exchange—the talisman for either the spheres or gloves."
The wariness suddenly increased sharply for some reason. A similar feeling appears due to perception when danger is nearby. This makes the situation even more inexplicable.
If not looking at this, it sounds very, very tempting. But how does she know it won't be useful to me?
"Why are you sure this item won't be useful to me? What is it anyway?"
"This is an artifact of divine quality, but you physically won't be able to use it."
WHAT THE FUCK?! DIVINE?
I peer at this small trinket that doesn't look divine quality at all.
"I think you're trying to mislead me," I said. "And why won't I be able to use it?"
"Dear visitor, the final choice is yours. But believe me, few places will appreciate this item at its true worth. Would you like me to add 300 gold to sweeten the deal?"
She really wants this talisman. But knowing her method of doing business, a question arises.
"Then why did you reveal its true value to me, and not wait and buy it cheaply?"
"Dear visitor, our shop has its own interests. It's profitable for us to buy it from you for exactly this price and sell it to someone who can realize all its potential."
The longer the conversation continues, the more my head breaks.
"Okay... But why won't I be able to use it? What effect does it have?"
"Dear visitor, this talisman is not intended for your faction. You need a talisman of a different type."
"What? I'm not in any faction," I was amazed.
"Unfortunately, we won't be continuing this conversation for free from this point," the girl smiled especially widely. "Do you agree to the exchange with an additional 300 gold?"
Very shady stuff... She might be making up facts for her benefit and to confuse me. But what's the benefit here?
"Okay, I agree," I answered after brief hesitation. Strangeness aside, but personal benefit is huge.
"You made the right choice! I'll send you the offer now..."
User meowICEDTEA offers exchange:
You'll receive: [Gloves of Enchanted Fabric (Dark Energy)] and 300 gold coins.
You'll give: [Solar Eclipse Talisman].
The gloves themselves are rare quality, but Dark Energy will give various buffs to spells of the same school of magic. Hope the system gives at least one in the near future.
Exchange offer accepted.
The gold transferred instantly, the gloves appeared in inventory and I easily put them on. They reach to the elbow but fit comfortably. In a critical situation, I can even switch to sword.
"Always happy to do business with you!" the rabbit girl remarked. "Would you like anything else?"
I asked about mana potions (for myself too), health pots, cheap gear for mana regen, a pack of those glowing green sticks and several other things. She brought everything and offered a price that again reeked of a 15% markup.
Now this is a mistake. Unlike last time, I've got time to haggle.