Spotting Kenneth walking up behind him Lauri turned around. "Ah, you're back."

Kenneth grinned and accepted the friend request. "I can't believe you won that."

"I must admit it was harder than I expected. They countered some of my best stuff."

"How did you see the ankheg that snuck up and ambushed you from behind?"

"I wasn't even near close enough to the buildings that it could have leapt at me from that far an angle. Of course I saw it."

"How did you spot me walking up behind you?"

"Because you weren't invisible. Duh."

"It's all those cool items ya' got ya' hands on hey?"

"Right, let's go have a look."

Heading to Survivors Guild they enter to see few people there and some are leaving as they arrive. White Wrath party walks over to Lauri, "well, we're off."

"On a quest?"

"Guild closed down."

"Huh, right, want to join my new guild?"

"Once you have it set up I'll check it out."

Mr Love adds, "why not, we were getting excited to go on an adventure and then this happened."

With Rebecca heading over to talk to Lauri the old men continued on their way and cleared out.

"Hey Lauri," Bec greeted.

"Hello Bec. This is Ken, short for Kenneth. You don't mind Ken do you?"

"Ken's fine."

"We're partying up. Want to join our party?"

"What level are you both?"

"I'm whatever level you want me to be."

Kenneth snickered "that's the worst flirting I've ever heard."

Bec laughed, suddenly realising that to be an inside-joke. "I'm level 17 but leveling slowly because I'm forced to go solo. If you want a fair share of experience then come back when you're level 18. I'll probably have reached 20 by then but you shouldn't get a penalty by that point."

"I don't wear this necklace because I want experience."

"I bet your friend wants to level up."

Ken nods, "to level 20 as fast as I can. Laz was taking me to see items. I can call you Laz, right?"

"Good luck you two, I'm heading to the main dungeon."

As they made their way to the library Harry the now ex-guild master spotted them. "I'm planning to pull a vanishing act. Even if I don't die first, you won't see me until after the first 10 seals break and all chaos has broken loose."

"Okay, good luck."

Ken looked puzzled, "say what?"

"Gathering your heroes party already, then?"

"I suppose so."

More puzzled, "a heroes party?"

"Make sure you don't let anyone less than level 10 into Library Dungeon."

"Huh... opps, Ken we can't go in yet."

"We can't?"

"Let's get you to level 10 quickly. Tutorial dungeon should do the trick. Let's go. Do you have a mount?"

Ken didn't have a mount so they dropped by Frank at the orphanage. "Hey Frank, here to grab my horse."

"Good afternoon Lauri." They walked over to the stables.

"That time already? Where are the other horses?"

"I sold all but one of yours at 250 gold each. Minus what you own me," he passes a bag to Lauri, "your takings are 1,750 gold."

"Thanks but I do have a question, not complaining or anything."

"I shall prepare to be insulted. What is your question?"

"If I sold them on the market for 150SP and then traded the SP for gold then I'd have more gold. So why isn't that the better choice?"

"Horses only sell for 150SP when someone needs a mount quick. At that price you are not only selling a mount but providing a service."

"What service would that be?"

"Immediate availability, no matter where you are or what the time is. Also you need to have a dimensional storage device capable of remote selling and even with a stable the horses still need love and care to be at their best and sell for top dollar."

"Oh yeah. Even during battle I could buy a shield, for example?"

"You would be better off ensuring you have a shield before going... why do you have two shields and no one-handed weapon?"

Lauri noticed that Frank was right. With one shield in his hand and another on his belt, but quite visible, he had two shields. "The stuff I put in my belt doesn't disappear for some reason."

"That's normal for belts but put one in your bag. Belt's sometimes act weird with two shields and your shields are large to boot."

"My bag only fits medium items."

Frank looks at him like he just heard the stupidest thing. "Just... why?"

"I got a Backpack of Many Items because I buy lots of potions and having them all go into my bag is convenient. Other bags I could afford only held like 10 items. Besides, you bought the bat-belt so how else am I going to store dozens of potions."

"Lauri, it's not about what you can afford."

"It's not?"

"You saw what was available. In other words things which either don't sell-out quickly or are being charged at a premium. For the bat-belt it was sold high because they knew it would sell quickly. For the Backpack of Many Items they do sell regularly at 10,000 but they also drop regularly enough that you'll see the price dip as low as 9,990."

"What's with that anyway?"

"Imagine someone undercut someone else by 1 SP instead of waiting in queue and then that happened 10 times."

"Then the first person to try and sell an item would be the last to succeed?"

"Well yeah but that's why the prices are like that. Someone picks a round number because we all like round numbers and then those after have no patients."

"Say, why do prices suddenly spike sometimes?"

"Take what Rebecca does with horses but we'll use a Backpack of Extra Holding this time. Elizabeth has 1,000 buy orders at 1,500 SP so making a buy order less than that is almost pointless."

"How much does that hold?"

"30 large items. Anyway, Elizabeth also sells them at 10,000 SP."

"Why didn't I see any then?"

"Well she sold out, clearly, because not enough people are selling them to her at 1,500."

"But if the items drops and people already have one then wouldn't they sell them? What's the point in having two?"

"Lots of reasons but the point is, you're going to place a buy order for a Backpack of Extra Holding."

"Ah. At 1,501 SP so that I get it before Elizabeth does?"

"Look at how much you can sell a Backpack of Extra Holding for. Oh, and ask for hold many buy orders in an appropriate price range."

{

SP: 6,199

([Count >= 3000]) [Offer in System Points]: [Item Name] (Durability)

(18) 3,014: Backpack of Extra Holding (min 9,900/10,00)

}

"Oh, I see now. So I put in an offer at 3,015?"

"Close. Put in an offer at 5,000 SP and you'll actually get one. Any less and you'll see at least a few people put in buy offers on top of yours and it'll take too long."

"That happen at 5,000?"

Ken had been listening and learning himself but at this point he breaks his silence to remark "at that price I'd go farm one myself and probably a second just to cash in on your offer."

"Exactly. In fact while you were there I'm sure you'd kill every monster that could drop anything. You pay the same entrance cost after all. A few lucky people might get your extra drops at around the 3,000 mark. Meanwhile Elizabeth won't be seeing any until someone floods the market and doesn't want to wait on new buyers."

"Speaking of, why doesn't everyone just wait for their items to sell?"

"You can list for sale as many items as you have levels. So there's a hard maximum of selling 250 items at once."

Ken asks "is 250 level cap?"

"For mortal humans, yes."

Lauri smiled, "so where do I farm Backpacks of Extra Holding?"

"Any monster can drop them from level 15 up. Best drop rates come from monsters near your own level, especially bosses. Between levels 10 to 15 is the best time for farming them, as the Dungeon of Woe has famously good drop rates of Extra Holding. Don't delay your leveling as it's not worth it, though the higher level monsters go the higher the range of items can drop and the less lower-tier items will drop."

Lauri considered telling Frank that he'd killed that dungeon but instead asked, "want to join our party?"

"No."

Sarah saw them from a window in the orphanage and waved then ran off, probably heading to see them. The stable didn't smell all that good so they mounted up the horse and Lauri lent it to Ken. Once outside Sarah met them but the sun was too hot for standing around, leading them inside the cathedral. Being well known by the nuns and priests, who were engaged in their weekly cleaning efforts, they gave friendly waves. Lauri teased Sarah "I don't suppose you want to join my party?"

"Of course but I'm not 18 yet."

"Then the 6th slot is yours once you get your blessing."

"Why don't parties get larger than 6?"

"Because of how many dungeons limit party size to 6 and because the rest use multiples of 6. Probably by decision but who really knows."

"Okay then I'll be the tank."

The priests and nuns look over at this. They're always concerned whenever someone pigeonholed into being a Priest suggests anything other. Feeling the pressure Lauri asks "why a tank?"

"Because you wanted to be a tank and couldn't so I'll live your dream for you."

"I'm definitely still going to be a tank. I don't think we need two."

"I'll be the damage dealing Warrior then."

"Bec has that role already you'll need to fill a slot not already reserved. A tank needs a healer. Could I ask you to heal me?"

Sarah sticks her tongue out, "Frank will heal you of course."

All the priests and nuns look at Frank, now half-only pretending to dust as they apply an invisible force upon him. "I'm not joining his party."

Sarah pouts. "But you said you'd adventure with me."

"Ah, yes. I shall help you learn the ropes of being a Priest."

Sarah gets demanding, "you're joining our party. Don't think you have a choice."

Frank is almost sweating. He really cares what his fellow priests think. "But I couldn't possibly take your role away from you."

Sarah brightens up as she's had an idea. "I'll be the mage then."

A bead of sweat forms on Franks forehead. "That's a bad idea. Uh, right Lauri?"

Passing the buck? Lauri would have been upset if he hadn't remembered a plan he'd had before he himself had asked to be a Healer. It's not a 'starting profession' but... "Actually that's a great idea!"

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Why?" Daggers were shooting from the eyes of most of the people in the room and Frank was more asking why would Lauri say this than why it would be a great idea. Even Ken melted into the shadows to escape from the situation.

"A White Mage and a Sealer. It's like the stories of legends, don't you think? We'd be like an ultimate tag-team." He was hamming this up of course, since Lauri didn't know that there had indeed really been famous party compositions as such.

"A White Mage?" Sarah asked.

[System propaganda to a minor has resulted in a 24 hour minimum 50% EXP penalty]

["Oh noooo."] Lauri projected to the System as sarcastically as possible.

Frank smiles, "that's an excellent idea and did you know that the most powerful of White Mages actually 'profession swapped' into it within the Priest Class?"

Lauri wouldn't have suggested it if he hadn't know but he played along, "really? Wouldn't they be of equal power if they were the same profession?"

"Only Priests can access healing skills, you see, so White Mages are able to combine some healing spells and abilities with their white spells and effects to deal major damage to undead and other powerful combinations."

Sarah pipes in, "I don't want to be a Priest."

Lauri felt sympathy for her, he'd felt so pressured himself back when, it was up to the church now if they were to convince Sarah otherwise. "Don't worry, you can still be a White Mage with the Mage Class, sounds like you just miss out on healing. Same as Paladin Warriors miss out on healing. Speaking of which, I think Priest based Paladin's use Toughness for their Power so end up super-tanks who can heal themselves."

[System propaganda to a minor has resulted in a 24 hour minimum 75% EXP penalty]

"Really?" Sarah was curious.

"Huh? Oh, I wasn't recommending. Our party already has a tank and DPS, remember."

Sarah must have really liked the thought of being a front-liner because she pushed the idea. "But how about a versatile member who can move between roles? Tanking, DPS and healing?"

With all the stares he was getting Lauri felt like he couldn't disagree. Surely Sarah couldn't be ignorant of this… "That sounds great. Many parties have failed because they lacked the versatility to adapt to different situations."

She smiled, pleased with herself, "then I'll ask Frank all about being a Paladin Priest."

Frank shook his head, "please no, I'll be penalised to death." After saying this his look suggested he'd just gotten a whopper of a penalty for that very line.

Sarah was naturally confused at Franks comment, kids certainly had a tough time gathering information for what was only considered the most important decision of someone's life. Even to the point that many people never even make their decision. Not that living a mundane life wasn't sort of a decision of its own. The priests and nuns gave friendly, satisfied, looks and returned to taking their cleaning seriously.

Lauri met back up with Ken outside. "How did it go in there?"

"Very well. I told Sarah she didn't need to be a Priest if she didn't want to and now she's more interested in being a Priest than ever."

"Funny how sometimes we don't want something just because too many people try and force it upon us."

"That's an interesting thought."

"Where to, boss?"

"Please don't call me boss."

"Where to, Laz."

"Tutorial Dungeon. I can farm attribute potions thanks to that quest I completed."

"OH MY GODDESS! System, did I tell you I love you?"

Arriving at Tutorial he Drain Leveled Ladybug they formed a party with Ken. Lauri waved, "Hello Peter."

"Hello. You know you can't enter as a party, right?"

Lauri dissolved the party and hand 2 gold coins over. "Huh, right."

Lauri looked over at Ken. "I don't have any gold."

"Oh?"

"Guild pays entry and it's only natural they take all the loot."

Lauri gauged how badly he should try and exploit this guy or not... but that decision can wait. "Except for the first skill-book drop, right? That one's special I hear."

"Ahh. Honestly, I didn't even tell them I got the skill-book for Use Magic Device. No way I was handing my dream skill over."

"Phew. You're no sucker. Anyway, everyone does some adventuring on the side for their own pocket money. Buy a few gold with SP if you need."

"I don't have SP."

"Is your RNG that bad?"

"What do you mean?"

"Coin drops vary, so when you get lucky runs you pocket a few, right?" Lauri made this up as he went but it seemed too obvious to him to not be common practice.

"Crying out loud, am I the most honest Thief to ever have lived?"

He passed over 2 gold. "This isn't a loan, it's a gamble. I'd like a skill-book of Use Magic Device so if one drops give it to me. You can keep the rest of the drops."

"That's too generous. What's the catch?"

"The catch is, if I set it up this way, I'm betting my Destiny will make it happen. Rather cheap skill-book if you ask me. Oh, and if an ankheg attacks you the moment you enter then don't even try and complete the last room. In fact I'll pay for another try."

Ken walked in. Ken jumped out. "Frickin heck!"

"Instant ankheg?"

"I'd be dead if you hadn't warned me."

Lauri passed Ken a couple healing potions and Peter two more gold. "I hope that's an overexaggerating. Be ready for it this time. You haven't finished learning the tutorial until you've figured out ambushes and how to deal with the paralysis."

"The what now?"

"A ghast stuns you and then you're frozen as skeletons and zombies fail to kill you because you maxed your HP and your protection bubble to boot."

"That's not me you're describing."

"It was my experience." He shrugs. "Right, you're a Rogue, just don't let the ghast touch you."

"Do I have to?"

"This is only the tutorial. You want to be an adventurer right?"

*Whimper*

"That's the spirit."

Ken headed back in.

Peter looked at Lauri, "is he going to be alright?"

"How many people usually die in the level 4 to 5 floor range?"

"People usually only do one run at level 1."

"Huh. No wonder the dungeon core chose not to take my suggestion."

"It has a core?"

"All dungeons have a core."

"Not Tutorial Dungeon."

"From what I've figured out so far, there's only 5 floors for those who enter while level 4 or 5. There's a 1 in 5 chance you end up on the floor that the core is on."

"I've stood here every work day for the last 8 years and nobody ever told me."

"Maybe nobody ever knew. Well, I'll do a run myself."

Lauri entered the dungeon and raised his shield to the left just in case, [Lost 24SP] but the ankheg could apparently ambush from either side and he was attacked on his right and knocked to the ground. He tried to roll but the shield got in his way and he took another hit [Lost 48SP]. Raising to his feet he dodged the ankheg a few times, getting into the grove, he dodged a few more times and got his hammer out. Dropping his shield first, with one hit he killed the big bug. 5 silver coins and a Potion of Agility dropped. "System completely skipped copper pieces," he mused to himself, only just noticing. He checked his stats out of habit, some day he's going to forget to drink restoration potions and think that he had. In fact, he didn't even have mana potions so the 3 MP he used up earlier showed its face.

{

Class: Ritualist

Profession: Level 1

Effective Level: 4

HP: 2,000, SP: 2,408/2,480, PP: 1,350/1,600, MP: 10/11

Strength:120, Toughness: 200, Agility: 120, Memory: 56/120, Reasoning: 32/120, Charisma: 124/120, Luck: -4/0, Destiny: 4/16

Skills: 7

}

Only 1 skeletons dropped 2 coins so the XP penalty wasn't completely ignored and he wondered if the earlier ankheg might have dropped 8 without a penalty. While he thought about that he realised he'd killed the ghast, skeletons and zombies. "Oh well, I don't need the Drain Level." He danced with the ankheg in the next room, taking no hits, until he got bored and used Hold Monster. Crushing it in one hit, it dropped a potion. Final room he had planned to put them all the sleep but for fun went in spinning with his hammer. He just kept spinning until he'd killed half of them and then got grappled. Using Sleep he freed himself from the grapple and killed the rest with impunity. He didn't count the coins as he collected them but he did count the potions, at 42 of them. "Wow, every single one dropped a potion. I'd honestly expected poor drop rates but this is too fantastic." He then popped into the dungeon core room and spotted the gem where it always is. "Hello." The gem quivered in response. "I'm not here for revenge. Actually, I'm getting Potion's of Agility like crazy, there's no way I'd kill you. We're best friends now."

Lauri was enjoying talking to himself when he unexpectedly got a response. A meek voice almost whispered "friends..."

"Yeah. We're good friends. I can see why you like the higher levels now, nobody comes here. Not often at least. Except me."

"Could you... put back... Woe?... Friend."

"Put him back?"

"Please..."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Please?..."

"I'm sorry but I killed Woe. There's no taking that back."

"Won't... take him... back?"

"Ummm... do you not understand that your friend Woe is dead?"

"No..."

"Huh. I see. Woe says hello. I don't suppose he'll be saying anything else any time soon."

"Maybe... later than... soon?"

"Um. Okay." Lauri made his exit, not wanting to let 'whatever that was' continue. Maybe he'd stop popping by the core so often.

Several minutes passed outside and Lauri got bored so went for another run. Only 2 ankhegs that time, to his disappointment, but 2 more potions brings the count to 46. They're all for Agility but Toughness is what he really wants. He looks at Peter and asks "where can I farm minitours?"

"Woe. There's 4 when you enter, 4 more on that floor, 5 on each floor until level 5 and then 10 on each floor until 10, which has 16 and a boss minitour."

"Right but if that dungeon has stopped respawning monsters?"

"Then it's being farmed too often. Give it more time. That or the core was destroyed."

"So where else?"

"Main dungeon has a splattering."

Lauri dropped his Drain Level in case his following exercise idea for Agility worked. He got into a crouching-forward start position before sprinting as fast as he could for 6 seconds, pushing his legs as hard as he could. He was trying to activate his fast-twitch muscles, so to aid in pushing himself to his limits he even imagined the Nemesis Minitour charging after him and pictured that he'd die if he didn't run all-out for all 6 seconds. Far more exhausted afterwards than he'd expected, there were still no System notifications.

Ken arrived back, exhausted, bleeding from many small cuts, bites all over his arms, skill-book in hand. "I'm actually alive."

"Good work. I had no problem with my ghast but it had 5 skeletons and 5 zombies. You?"

"Only one zombie with my ghast but it almost killed me."

"Hey, you got the book for me?"

He handed it over to Lauri, "yeah, like you said, it actually dropped."

Lauri grinned, "good work. I didn't have any doubt. This here is all part of my destiny." [+1 Potential Luck] { Luck: -1/1 }. "Oooorrr maybe something similar?"