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CHAPTER 6 – ACQUIRE THE SAMPLES
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Alan got out of his capsule. Even after a long stressful day in RR, only 3 hours had passed. Taking time to stretch, Alan proceed to take care of his personal hygiene. After which he log onto the the Dark Gamer's site to search for information.
Although he didn't consider himself a Dark Gamer, Alan was introduced to the site by a fellow RR player in school. Finding the wealth of information useful, Alan worked hard to raise his rank on the site. He had started out at lowest of rank 'D', mostly as an errand runner for the higher ranks. He finally made his way to rank 'C', with an interesting article named 'AIs are born gluttons'. The article covered how delicious food affect both NPCs and mobs. This gave rise to newbies carrying chunks of beef while hunting wolfs; For emergency escape, throw a slab of beef per wolf and they will be too busy eating to give chase.
Dark Gamer site worked based on a contribution-point system. When you post something useful or provide services, points would be awarded, while reading information and putting up request would deduct points. Alan considered this system very fair as everyone would 'Give as much as they take'. Market prices of random items which seem useless to most was considered valuable information, therefore Alan would raise his contribution points by posting weekly (monthly in-game) price list of Serabourg.
Being done with his update, Alan browse around the information list. Sadly, there were no information on Animal Taming or Breeder in RR. The only interesting topic he saw was a video titled 'Cute professor giving a silent lecture' worth 1 contribution point. Two minute later, he regretted wasting the point and drooling at the back-view of the cute girl staring the show. Since the points are already spent, he just sit back and admired his own works of art, not the data created, but the heroine herself.
*****
Looking at the time, Alan got dressed and left for the VR-Cafe to claim his gold. The two way trip didn't take more then an hour. However, being on a Saturday, the place was crowded, Alan had to wait almost 30mins to complete his transaction. The process was simple, just meeting Bob's GM avatar at a low populated area. He had received 2145 gold, 495 silver and 500 coppers, making a total of 2150 gold worth of game currency, courtesy from Bob for breaking into smaller denominations. Newbies using gold draws too much attention.
“You avatar will be sold next week, its appearance and name will be changed too. Just to let you know, the NPCs by then will think the avatar Lance is also an NPC, so your sisterly act will end. Better get the most out of it while you can.”
Alan felt both relieved and depressed over Bob's parting words. Relieved, because there wouldn't be a chance of meeting his previous avatar online; Inability to rely on Lance anymore caused some discomfort.
Back home, the time was 3:30pm, Alan had 30mins left before daybreak in RR. He spent this time visiting pet-owner websites, understanding how to raise and breed rabbits. His parents and sister is out of town, they will only be back on Monday morning, therefore Alan had all the time to play.
*****
Serabourg, had 4 gates, the North and South gates are populated with rabbits, racoons and foxes, typical newbie hunting grounds. The Merchant's Guild and Merchant's Union were both build near the West gate, which led to Warehouses lining up the area. The East gate was the only lonely sight, where less notable people do their business.
Appearing at the East Gate, Bunny made her way back to the plaza. Her plan was simple, buy live rabbits from other players, then drag them into the sewers to fight Rats. Stocking up on herbs and bandages was required, food was also necessary. She also bought a brush, a bottle of ink, many pieces of cloth and sewing designs.
After reaching the South gate, Bunny first approach the guards.
“Hello” She greeted
“Young adventurer, you cannot exit the city yet” came the reply
“Oh, I am not going out, I just wanted to ask if live rabbits can be bought into the city.”
“Ah...Sorry, I thought you were another ignorant adventurer, any animal or beast can be bought into the city, as long as they are not hostile.”
“You mean, if I tame a goblin, I can bring it into the city too?” Bunny questioned
“Hahaha... thats a good one... Taming a goblin” one guard started laughing
Indeed, you can do it, but everything it does, will be your responsibility. If the goblin breaks anything, you will have to pay for them.” the other guard replied seriously.
“What if I buy a rabbit from someone, and it ended up terrorizing the grocer?” Bunny continued.
“If you bought it, then the responsibility will lie on you.” the Guard confirmed.
Thanking the guards, Bunny took a seat at the nearby bench and started her sewing practice. Failing 4 attempts to make a suit, she tore the failures and reworking them into a banner, which read:
Paying 1 silver per live rabbit
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
After making 5 more failures, all vests, her first customer appeared.
“Are you buying this?” Asked a young lad, pointing towards a small concussed rabbit he was holding
“Ah, yes I am” Bunny replied, making sure the rabbit was alive before fishing out a silver piece.
Bunny got her first experiment sample. She didn't know why, but when she held the fainted rabbit, subconsciously she said “Identify!”
g
You failed to identify the item.
You failed to identify the item.
Small Rabbit (Level 2)
A low level animal that is hunted for its fur and meat. This animal is 8 weeks old
Status: Faint, Fear
“That's interesting, I didn't know animals can be identified” Bunny mused to herself
Putting the rabbit back on the floor, she was approached by 3 more players, each with something to sell.
With 4 of them, Bunny found out she made a miscalculation. She didn't have a means to transport these animals. Taking down her banner quickly, Bunny remembered a chicken farmer who sold cages, he was located at the north-eastern side of town. She identified the 3 other rabbits too, which varies with size. Knowing more while training her identification skill was never bad.
Adolescent Rabbit (Level 3)
A low level animal that is hunted for its fur and meat. This animal is 14 weeks old
Status: Confuse, Fear
Grown Rabbit (Level 4)
A low level animal that is hunted for its fur and meat. This animal is 20 weeks old
Status: Faint, Fear
While thinking of a solution, someone approached her.
“Are you still buying live rabbits?” Asked a youthful voice.
Looking up, Bunny saw a handsome youth dressed in green robe with a hood, typical druid outfit. He was holding a hunting knife with his left, with an extra-large rabbit tuck under his right arm. His face was familiar to Bunny... correction... it was Alan. This was the druid who went around healing while crippling Loki. First impression: A petty, grudge bearing man.
Impressions aside, Bunny had to make use of the situation.
“Ummm... My shop is closed, but I can buy yours for 2 conditions.” Bunny started
“What conditions?”
“I forgot my cages, so I can only move two of them. I need you to help kill the rest”
“Last hit?” the druid asked, raising an eyebrow. The one doing the killing gets half the exp.
“No need, just a hit will be fine too. As a tailor, if I contributed, I can skin it for leather”
“Second condition?” He asked.
“I need to borrow your knife for skinning” Bunny replied hesitantly. Stealing borrowed items were common, so not many people are willing to pass their items to strangers.
“Alright, which ones to take care of?” The druid agreed without much thought.
“I am keeping the 2 biggest ones.”
When Bunny finished speaking, the druid grabbed one of the rabbits by it hind leg and slit the throat. Sheathing the knife while putting a vial under the wound in a fluid motion, he collected the rabbit blood. When the rabbit became almost dried, he motioned Bunny to finish it off. The knife was passed over for salvaging the carcass and returned. This process was repeated 2 more times.
Happy with his payment and blood, the druid bade farewell.
Bunny decided to change her first impression to: 'A petty, grudge bearing, unfeeling, naive, bane of cute things'.
Set back with a miscalculation, Bunny only lost time. The single piece of silver used could be compensated using the salvaged meat and fur. Using her Cooking and Tailoring skills, she could break even, assuming she stopped failing at tailoring. Bunny didn't forget to identify her last sample, before tucking both rabbits under her arms, and making her way towards the chicken farmer.
Large Rabbit (Level 5)
A low level animal that is hunted for its fur and meat. This animal is 24 weeks old
Status: Fear
*****
Alan got himself some useful information to post at the Dark Gamer's Site. Levels of mobs are approximate, not exact. For rabbits, they are thought to be lv3, but he found out the bigger (older) ones are higher in level compared to the smaller ones.
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