***

Lilfira Rageflame. Level 1.

Character stats:

Stamina – 8

Strength – 16

Agility – 3

Spell Power – 0

Magic Energy – 11

Luck – 7

***

Eh? The hell? Lilfira having higher Strength stat makes sense since she’s a half-dragonkin, but what’s with her Spell Power being zero yet her Magic Energy being eleven? I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

All things considered, I expected her Strength stat to be higher or at least one of the highest stats overall, but seeing her Magic Energy being second best when her Spell Power was at zero made no sense.

“Ok,” I said, making a sour facial expression.

“Is something wrong, Master Rockin?” Ranalaiya quickly noticed it.

“Ah, no,” I said, but definitely didn’t mean it.

“Am I not good as a fighter, Mister Rockin?” Lilfira asked, becoming worried.

“What? Oh, no, no. I think your stats are great. I mean, you have sixteen in Strength which makes you a great fighter, Lilfira,” I tried to reassure her.

“Really? That’s great,” she said, my words making her cheer up.

“Do you mind if I look at your skills next, Lilfira?” I asked her.

“No, please do, Mister Rockin,” she said.

“Aah, do you mind not call me Mister? Just Rockin is fine,” I finally brought it up. It was getting under my skin, really, in addition to making me feel older than I actually was.

“But… you’re the Rockstars clan leader and… you forbade me from calling you Master, so…” Lilfira said with a sad expression on her face.

That’s because I am not your Master, doh. Besides, I wouldn’t mind Ranalaiya and Sylfrin stop calling me Master as well, but there are rules in this world which slaves need to abide by, and since the two of them refused to be released from the Master-Slave contract, coming up with the most ridiculous reason ever which we won’t mention here, they are basically required to call me Master. I was mumbling in my head, throwing glances at both Ranalaiya and Sylfrin, both of them averting their eyes away from me as if knowing what I was thinking about right now.

“Ok, fine. Call me Mister if you like,” I finally agreed.

“Ah, oh… ok,” Lilfira became excited for a second there, but then looked to be disappointed in the end.

Eh? Wait, did she expect me to say she could call me Master? I crinkled my nose, noticing it.

“Anyway, your skills…” I quickly turned my attention to the screen in front of me. “Twinstab: a quick double thrust forward to stab the target in front of you. Requires a spear or a polearm to use.” I read the first skill on the list out loud.

“Is it… a good skill, Mas… I mean, Mister Rockin?” Lilfira asked, her wanting to call me Master came out almost naturally.

“Ah, yes, it is, probably,” I said, my last word making it sound I was doubting myself. “I mean, you’d have to use it in a real fight to see how good of a skill it actually is, but stabbing twice in a row seems to be quite good.”

“Oh, great,” Lilfira said, perking up.

“Ok, next, Weapon Parry: allows the character to parry attacks with their weapon. The higher character’s Strength, the stronger attacks they can parry. Requires a weapon to use. Oh, ooh…” I gasped. It didn’t say it was a passive skill and it didn’t have a cooldown either which made me gasp in surprise at the end.

“Huh? Is it… not a good skill?” Lilfira became worried again.

“No, not at all. In fact, it’s an awesome skill. Look, it shows it is an Epic Rarity skill too,” I pointed it out, noticing that the skill was written in purple letters.

“Really? Wow,” it made Lilfira happy again.

“Ok, last but not least. Mining. Level one. Allows the character to mine ores. Yeah, that’s what mining does,” I said, making a silly grimace which made the girls chuckle too. “Right, that’s all, I guess. By the way, Ranalaiya, Sylfrin, how many Tarkee wings and Lesser Trent Wood the two of you have?”

“Oh, let me check, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said before opening her Item Storage Box.

“I’ll check too,” Sylfrin did the same.

We had a total of twenty six Tarkee wings and eight Lesser Trent Wood. I collected all of those from Ranalaiya and Sylfrin, and went to deliver them to Savirei. Savirei was rather careful with her words when she spoke to me, but was polite and in good mood. She refrained from offering any cheeky comments she’d usually make when talking to me and she didn’t make any advances against me when it was just the two of us in her storage room while I was unloading the wings and the wood for her.

I could tell she was self-conscious and was being careful with her words, but I wanted to make sure there was no animosity between the two of us, so I gave her a kiss before I left, leaving her charmingly confused. I added that I wasn’t angry with her personally, but was upset with what she did, also making a point I held no grudge against her or that I didn’t like her. That just made Savirei brighten up and show me the happiest smile she had ever shown me. I said I will be leaving for the mines now, so she said she’ll bring the money for the goods I delivered right away. I told her I’ll wait for her at the table where my female companions were waiting for me.

“Sorry for keeping you wait, Rockin. Here you go,” Savirei placed a pouch full of coins on the table.

“Hold on, that seems to be more than I expected to get for some meat and wood,” I said, picking up the pouch to check the money inside. “Huh? Hey, those are… gold coins. Why…” I felt perplexed.

“It’s the gold that Lilfira’s father had left before leaving. I thought I shouldn’t be the one to keep it,” Savirei explained.

“Oh… but wait, some of your diner’s tables were broken and… some walls were damaged too,” I said, looking around and noticing the walls were yet to be fixed.

“It’s ok. It’s clan’s money,” Savirei didn’t mind.

“How much would it cost to fix those?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Couple of silvers at best. I know a trustworthy carpenter to do the job,” Savirei told me.

“Ah, ok. Here,” I took out and placed two gold coins on the table for her to take.

“Wait, I said couple of silvers,” Savirei protested.

“Yeah, well. I think… this table needs fixing too and… maybe some chairs as well,” I said, giving the table a tug to try and show it was standing unevenly.

“Thank you, Rockin,” Savirei chuckled, covering her mouth with one hand.

“Ok, we’ll be going now,” I said, about to turn around to walk out.

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“Oh, wait, Rockin. I have something else for you,” but Savirei stopped me unexpectadly. “I completely forgot about it. Do you mind waiting a short moment longer?”

“Ah, yeah, ok,” I thought waiting a few extra minutes wouldn’t make any difference.

“I’ll be right back,” Savirei said, quickly rushing towards where her private quarters were located. She returned soon after, holding some papers in her hands. “So sorry about that, darling. Here.” She passed the papers to me.

“What are those? Oh,” I asked, but then realized what the papers she gave me were. Those were the clan application forms that Emmy, Arny and Luise have filled out. “Ok, why are there only three application forms?”

“Only three?” Savirei asked, feeling puzzled.

“Yes. The young girl, Luise had a companion. Didn’t he fill an application form as well?” I wondered.

“No. After all, he’s a- huh?” Savirei was about to say what I knew she would say, so I stopped her by raising my hand in front of me.

“Everyone in Rockstars Clan is equal. Slave or not, they have to fill out an application form and pay the fee, even if the fee is paid by their Master. Otherwise, I won’t accept them in my clan,” I told Savirei before adding. “Keep hold on to these for now and let them know I said that. Also, since Luise didn’t know about it, you can return the application fee to her if she decides she doesn’t want for her companion to join the clan. However, I won’t accept anyone into the clan who has a companion, but won’t let their companion fill out an application form or pay the application fee. Their companion will be helping them do the quests which means they will belong to the Rockstars Clan as well.”

“Oh wow,” Savirei gasped, touching her left cheek with one hand.

“As for Emmy and Arny, I don’t mind them joining the clan since I know them personally. I believe they are decent people,” I added.

“Ok, I will let them know. Right, here are the ten silvers that the two of them paid,” Savirei passed the money to me. “By the way, Emmy’s group was asking what kind of quests our clan had to offer.”

“Right, the quests. Here’s what I agreed with Alragus,” I went to explain to Savirei how the quest payouts and fees worked.

“Wow, really? That’s such a great deal,” Savirei exclaimed after I explained it to her.

“As for what kind of quests we have available now, we don’t really have any. To be honest, I was thinking that anyone inside the clan could post a quest for anyone to take. Unfortunately, we don’t have an official Quest Board, nor we have a place where to put it, but if you, Navirei or anyone else need something, just let others know about it. Of course, it would be better if we could put the quest details in writing and keep the records of what quests and who completed them for future reference. We can basically use the Guild’s quest listings as an example template to make it easier for us too.” I was basically thinking out loud while explaining it to Savirei.

“Oh my, you had really thought it through, Rockin,” but that was more than enough to impress Savirei.

“Yeah, well. I’d like to make it as simple as possible for everyone,” I said, rubbing the side of my head while trying to pretend I had planned it in advance.

“I’ll make sure to pass it on to everyone within the clan, darling,” Savirei smiled. I was glad she was so understanding and helpful.

“By the way, I just remembered something. I need something from the dungeon myself actually, but I think it would be a quest for someone who can fight Tarkees. I need Tarkee skins, you see. Unfortunately, they are really hard to get because of the low drop rate. I think I saw a quest at the Guild that paid one gold and two silvers for six Tarkee skins. That makes it two silvers per one Tarkee skin. Hmm…” I paused to think about it. “You know what, I’ll pay three silvers for one Tarkee skin and there’s no limit to how many someone can bring me. If they bring one, I’ll pay for one. If they bring ten, I’ll pay for ten. However, this quest is for the Rockstars Clan members only.”

“Wow, you’re really generous Rockin,” Savirei said.

“Yeah, well, like I said, Tarkee skins are really hard to get and people have to be strong enough to go to the sixth floor. At the moment, only Tarrion could do it, really. Oh, that’s right. I could probably put up a quest for someone to gather some Medicinal Herbs for me too. As for the pay… I could pay with the Weak Healing Potions instead of money, I guess. I could offer two Weak Healing Potions for three Medicinal Herbs,” I said that and then instantly thought it might not be such a good deal, but I had no idea how much Medicinal Herbs or Weak Healing Potion cost right now.

“I’ll let people know,” but Savirei accepted my request happily.

“Ah, ok. Thanks. So then, we’ll be on our way now. See you later, Savirei” I said, hoping that nobody will stop me on the way out.

“See you later, Rockin, and ladies as well,” luckily, Savirei only said goodbye this time.

Phew, that took longer than I thought, but I certainly needed to explain all the details about the application forms and about the quests to her. Savirei is helpful in that regard, but she has a diner to run, so I shouldn’t rely on her too much going forward, especially when we get more members in our clan. I suppose I will need to find someone who could be responsible for all the paperwork and stuff. Maybe I should ask Meribel for advice regarding that? Although, I don’t want to pester her too much. I was thinking in my head while we were making our way towards Alragus shop.

“Hey,” I greeted the big bison blacksmith once we were finally there.

“Hi. You’re quite late,” Alragus said, not that I didn’t expect him to say that.

“Yeah, someone overslept,” I glanced behind me, with the ladies averting their eyes once I did that before turning to face Alragus again. “And I had to talk to Savirei about the quests and stuff. It took a while.”

“Ah, right. I understand. Anyway, your equipment is fixed and ready to use,” Alragus said, turning around and walking to where he kept my stuff, picking it up and bringing everything to me. “Going to the mine now?”

“Yes, will be. I still need to re-supply and stuff, but I am low on inventory space. Can I leave some stuff with you?” I asked him.

“You can, but I have limited space to keep other people’s items, really,” he told me.

“How much limited?” I asked, making a silly face.

“I don’t know. I’d say up to thirty items,” Alragus said.

“Ok. It’s Carnabbit fur and Halluspider strings for the most part. Well, some Rhaki’s skins too. I was collecting them to try and craft something out of Tarkee skins, but apparently my Crafting skill is not high enough yet,” I explained why I had a bunch of those.

“That’s fine. I can keep a hold of those,” Alragus didn’t mind.

“Let me just check how many in total of each we have,” I said before going to talk to Ranalaiya and Sylfrin. After a short talk and taking the materials from them, I returned to Alragus. “Actually, I’ll leave you thirteen Rhaki’s skins and the rest will be Halluspider strings. I had more of those than I thought. I can get Carnabbit fur easily, so I’ll just sell it to the first merchant I will find. I need as much space in our inventory as possible before leaving.”

“Ok. For thirty items I will charge three bronze coins for one day. Is that ok?” Alragus asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Let’s see… Here you go,” I took out one silver and two bronze coins for him.

“You’ll be gone for four days? It’s only about two hours walk to the closest mine,” Alragus was a little surprised.

“I don’t know. If I go there, I’d rather collect as many materials as I can. Going there and back for a few ores seems like a waste of time, really,” I said.

“Right. I said I need six Plain Iron Bars which you can get by smelting six Brown Iron Ore pieces, but if you get more than that I can buy them off of you,” Alragus informed.

“Great. By the way, do you have any pickaxes?” I asked him.

“Pickaxes? I sure do, but you’d need someone with the Mining skill in order to mine the ore,” Alragus reminded me.

“Yes, I know. Lilfira has a Mining skill,” I said, showing a gleeful smile.

“Oh?” His eyebrows shot up, with his ears flapping up and down a few times. “Now I understand. How many do you want?” He asked.

“How many?” I was surprised to hear him ask me that.

“Pickaxes break,” Alragus said with a calm expression on his face.

“Right, yeah, of course. How about… three? No, make it four,” I corrected myself.

“It cost one silver each,” he told me.

“Yes, that’s fine,” I agreed.

“Here you go,” he brought the tools to me after a short while. They looked like simple pickaxes for the most part which I put in my Item Storage Box after paying for them. “These are just basic ones. I can craft better ones, but I assume Lilfira’s Mining skill is still at level one? Pickaxes are considered to be weapons too and better quality pickaxes have higher Equip Level too. She’d need to increase her own, as well as, her Mining skill’s level to be able to use those.” Alragus added an explanation.

“Oh,” I nodded, finally understanding that Alragus wasn’t exactly making fun of me earlier.

“Thank you,” I paid him for the pickaxes before putting them inside my inventory. “Just to let you know, we got some new people join our clan just recently. Their names are Emmy and Arny. There’s this girl Luise with her companion too, but I refused them because her companion hasn’t filled out the application form. Although, I am almost convinced they might join later as well. If you need anything else, just let anyone know about it. I will need to sort it out how or where to post our clan’s quests, but for now it is the way it is.”

“Yeah, ok, will do,” he said.

“Oh, one more thing, do you have any spears or polearms? It’s for Lilfira,” I asked, almost walking out of his shop without remembering about it.

“Yes, I have spears. You want one that has an Equip Level of one I presume?” Alragus wanted to confirm.

“Yes. She’ll need a better one after she gains a few levels of course,” I said.

“I have one that has an Equip Level of four as well. Green quality and adds two to Strength. Not the best level four weapon, but I had only Plain Iron to work with recently,” Alragus said.

“Oh, great. I’ll take that one too,” I said.

“That’ll be three silvers for Plain Iron Spear and one gold for the Plain Iron Spear of Strength,” Alragus told me how much it would cost.

“Ok, here you go,” I paid the money. It was pricey, but I knew weapons cost more due to more metal being used to craft them.

“Thank you for your business,” Alragus was happy to receive some money.

“Great, thanks. We’ll be going now. I’ll see you when we get back,” I waved before leaving his shop.

“See you,” he said, turning to go back to his work.

“Will we be going to the mines right away, Master Rockin?” Ranalaiya wanted to know after we left Alragus’ shop.

“Ah, no. We’ll go to the Guild to ask where the mine is first. They should have a map that shows how to get there. We also need to get some supplies and refill our water containers with water too. It will be four of us now, so we’ll need more water to take with us which means we need to buy more water containers too,” I explained to her.

“That’s right, we have Lilfira with us now as well,” Ranalaiya said, showing a smile.

“Well, let’s go to the Guild first and then we’ll take care of the supplies. Once we have everything we need, we’ll head for the mine,” I added, turning to go towards where the Guild was located, my three lovely escorts following me.