Yvlena, Sprite, and Rabbit Knight step into a massive but bare hall that was once either a ballroom or the training room for the previous Harvest Knights. The suit of armor stood meekly in the corner, Its sickle was held to its chest like a trophy.
Yvlena stepped closer to it, observing the intricate climbing vines etched into the surface of the armor plates. Whoever designed this in-game must have been a very loving craftsman.
She ran her fingertips along the armor's breastplate, feeling the bumps and grooves.
[Initiate Practice Battle?]
[Yes/No]
Yvlena hit no and stepped away from the armor to observe the room's broken bay windows.
"So not just a carpenter, some sort of stone worker and glass worker would need to be found. This is going to cost a ton of Moon Points." Yvlena said to herself.
----------
Yvlena and her summons stand in front of the staircase, she places one foot on top of the first stair and is immediately greeted with a message.
[Unstable Infrastructure, Your Character Risks Possible Injury]
[Repair Staircase To Proceed To The Upper Level?
Wood x200]
[Yes/No]
The information forced her off the stairway to the upper level.
"Looks like I'll have to start with the lower levels and good thing too, I really want to start using the kitchen," Yvlena said.
She and her summons turn to head back outside. The secret room must have been on the next level of the house from Yvlena's understanding there should be at least three.
"Which means the higher levels will have even more damage." she walked out of the house, nearly tripping over a piece of wood sticking out of the ground.
She looked back at the steps with a sigh, then leaned down to inspect them.
[Repair porch Steps?
Wood x20]
[Yes/No]
"Well that's doable, isn't it? But I don't have any carpentry skills, or does this count as a Harvest Guardian thing?"
Yvlena hit yes and immediately a hammer appeared in her hands, the game guided her moving her hands with magical nails and skills until she was finished.
She stepped back and took a look at her handy work in surprise. The once patchwork porch steps were replaced with a basic but sturdy piece of woodwork making up the new steps.
"Ah!" Yvlena gasped, recalling the Adiri specs she had gotten from Risel. Now would be an excellent time to see how far she had gotten skill-wise.
She equipped it, which only meant sliding them onto her nose. Despite the gold frames they were so light she could barely feel them.
[Stats [INT] and [WIS] Temporarily Boosted]
"Smart game," Yvlena said. It probably knew she didn't want to wear the specs all the time, but just when she needed to identify something. The Temporary stat boost was what gave the Adiri specs their ability to identify.
[Basic Steps
***
Type: Crafted Item
Grade: F
A basic set of wooden steps that can be crafted by just about anyone, useful in a pinch but will wear away over time.]
"An F!" Yvlena whined, "I haven't gotten one of those since...well high school I guess,"
"You just need to craft more to improve your skills," Sprite said to her.
"Risel said pretty much the same." Yvlena agreed.
She rested her foot on the newly crafted steps and to her delight, no more creaking.
She was about to go back into the house to see if there was something else she could do when her attention was caught by a huge commotion coming from the gates of the manor.
"What's that about?" she asked, walking through the bare, grassy path she had craved out with her scythe.
Outside the gates of the Manor, a crowd of people chattered amongst themselves about something excitedly, Yvlena stopped to listen and caught the words, ‘Miasma’ and ‘merchant’.
Did a merchant from another area of the map make it into Bloom Haven? Was the town's economy going to be jump started?
The elven girl retired her summons then exited the gates and walked with the crowd of people from the floral district to the market square. Yvlena stopped once she was out of the Floral district and within the main Market area.
The once sparse area was now a bustling square of trade and business for the people of Bloom Haven, she sighted Bernard and soon after Tom whom she had first met when she came to Bloom Haven.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
But the person that drew the biggest crowd was a colorful and large caravan, Yvlena came closer, having to move some NPCs aside to get a closer look at the new merchant.
The caravan was massive and could be described as a house on wheels, it was drawn by two magnificent sandy brown camels who busied themselves feeding from a basket of greens.
The house on wheels was a deep burgundy with two floors and an emerald colored roof, Yvlena guessed one must have been the shop while the other was the sleeping quarters when the merchant went on the road.
Her attention turned to the man, who had let go of the reigns on the camel to stand on the flat surface of the caravan and make his presentation. He bowed to his adoring crowd, making the inhabitants of Bloom Haven cheer all the more.
She heard his voice, loud and jovial before she even got to the front. The murmuring crowd silenced as the man began to speak.
The merchant was a tall rotund man, with a bald head and a long black beard. His olive skin complemented his green attire which was unlike anything Yvlena had seen in Bloom Haven so far.
His gut jiggled as he moved dramatically, waving to the crowd who was eager to buy his new and exotic wares.
"Wow." she gasped.
"Hello and Hello my friends, It's so nice to be in Bloom Haven for the first time in years, I can't remember the last time a member of the Aruergo Merchant family has been here!"
The merchant suddenly leaped behind his caravan and opened a little shop window.
"The Aruergo Caravan is Open for Business!"
[Special Event: The Aruergo Merchant
***
With the removal of the Miasma on the Eastern Path, one of many Foreign Merchants can have a chance to appear in Bloom Haven.
Be sure to catch these special merchants for a chance to get information, rare quests, or even new Items to add to your inventory.]
Once things had settled down and some of the initial excitement died down, Yvlena went to the front of the caravan to bargain.
[NAME: Ricardo
RACE: Human
OCC: Merchant]
"Hello!" Yvlena greeted shlyly. The merchant gave a wide grin, welcoming her with great enthusiasm. He leaned forward.
"Ricardo Aruergo at your service!" the man squinted as he looked Yvlena up and down, noticing her gear.
He gave a loud raucous laughter, betraying his excitement at his customer.
"Oh my dear, you simply must have a look at my wares!" He said, in a flash the folding table opened up to Yvlena showcasing a myriad of items both big and small.
The girl jumped in excitement. She nodded and began inspecting
A menu pops up with a chime.
[Buy/Sell]
She clicked buy and began browsing. The first thing she noticed was the Merchant had selections in Moon Points and Moon Gems. Neither Bernard nor Risel had offered her selections in Moon Gems.
"Could it be because it was out of the region, he does seem like he offers exotic wares," Yvlena said to herself.
After a glance, Yvlena found something of interest, a summon stone. Much like the ones she'd gotten Sprite and Rabbit Knight from.
Upon closer inspection, she noticed the stone's chipped form.
"Wait this seems like a summon stone shard, that's mostly complete." She said. She recalled the Forest Elemental Shard she had gotten from Bernard and wondered if the Aruergo Merchant would have more of them.
"Could you tell me about this?" Yvlena said pointing to the summon stone shard. Learning she could do that from the forums, took a weight off her shoulders.
"This is a relic from a mysterious fallen kingdom, the war of the gods left many a country in ruins especially here in our beloved realm Moon Valley," Ricardo said.
"To utilize the shard you will need four shards and a matching summon stone. Lucky you this right here is four already and I will happily part with it for 500 Moon Gems."
Yvlena's eyes widened, she'd gathered all her Moon Gems from exceedingly tough quests and now she would have to give them away.
"But it's for Rabbit Knight, he can get stronger with this." She said to herself. Yvlena nodded.
"I'll take it!" she said, her voice cracking slightly as she did.
The merchant's grin grew wider. "As my first customer in Bloom Haven, I'll throw in a little something for you."
[Yvlena Acquired
***
Gliresea Kingdom Shard (4/5)
Health Potion x5]
[There Once was a Kingdom 5% completion]
Yvlena gasped. Finally, the name of Rabbit Knight's fallen kingdom was revealed to her.
"Gliresea. I wonder if the library has any books on it, but I kinda don't want to bother Laurent." Yvlena muttered.
"Is there anything else you would like to buy?"
'With these cutthroat prices?' Yvlena thought, she gazed at the rack and inspected some of the items that cost regular Moon Points hoping for some weapon upgrades for herself.
"I've accumulated quite a bunch of Moon Points so let's see if I can get a better cloak or sword."
"Are you looking for something in particular my fair lady?"
Yvlena took her sword from its sheath and showed it to the merchant.
"I'm looking for something similar."
"I see, I see," the merchant brings the blade up to his nose to study it carefully. "It's from the same Kingdom as the Summon Stone Shards, only one as skilled as you could hope to wield it,"
Yvlena blushed at the flattery.
"This sword is a relic from a once powerful Kingdom, you have two choices here, Miss. Either upgrade this sword with special ores from the kingdom. Luckily, I happen to have one or two in stock," Ricardo winked making Yvlena giggle a bit.
If nothing else he was charismatic.
"What's my other option?" Yvlena asked curiously.
Ricardo shrugged.
"You would have to track down another relic of its kind. The pieces are scattered all over Moon Valley,"
He returned the sword to Yvlena who smiled up at him.
"Thank you so much for the information! I'd like to buy the ores I would need to upgrade the sword."
[Affinity with Ricardo Increased +2]
[Yvlena Acquired
***
Plain Ores of Gliresea x2]
"Now, all you need is a blacksmith to upgrade that sword of yours," He said.
"Much appreciated." Yvlena said, "how long are you in town?"
"One week." Ricardo grinned.
Yvlena nodded, wondering how she would be able to make the most of his stay here in Bloom Haven and if he would give her a quest. For now, she was just happy she was able to get some upgrades to make herself and her summons stronger.
"I'm so happy you stopped by Bloom Haven, if there's something you need let me know," she said. she turned around to leave when Ricardo called her.
"Miss if you wouldn't mind I have a tale to spin," He said.