After handing me the bronze card, she turned to me to give a further explanation "Now as a bronze-rank merchant, you really only have the option to be a traveling merchant, but once you reach silver you can choose to buy a tree stand to sell your wares easier, and once you reach gold you can even buy a tree hollow to sell whatever you'd like from inside a tree, the same is true if you go out to say, a human settlement, you can buy what they call 'buildings' and make your shop there, of course, I recommend you stay away from humans or any of the other races for the obvious reasons." she explained. I nod my head, honestly, I don't know why we are hiding from humans, but it seems like it's supposed to be common knowledge so I'll just play along for now. "Oh right, I almost forgot, the town hall should have given you a map correct? To make it easier we recommend new merchants sell the map to us for 30 copper, then use the copper to buy your first equipment, whether that be two minor health potions for 15 copper each, or 6 arrows for 5 copper each. You'll need to earn as much as you can If you want to buy the equipment for your specialization, the cheapest thing to start with is actually thatch paper and chalk to make things like maps. and even that will cost a whole 50 copper."
I thought about it for a while, but eventually, I decided to keep the map. While selling it so I can earn a profit is probably the better idea, I really want to gain my first skill through the ring, and I have no idea what else will give me a skill. Once I had left, I flew to a nearby tree limb and pulled out the map, raising my ring up to the white dot
"Would you like to learn the skill,
Yes/No
I clicked yes almost immediately. to my surprise, the white dot grew, before what kinda looked like it wrapped itself around the map, and shrinking one again. the light floated in the air just above my ring, before slowly descending down into the prongs, manifesting into a purple, almost amethyst gem.
.
.
.
what now? I think I learned the mapping skill, but I have no idea how to activate it... wait a minute, what's this thing in my peripheral? this game doesn't have a HUD so It's kinda easy to spot the difference between nothing and a red box that's floating around... oh, focusing on it opened it up!
Active skill 1 of 1:
Allows user to create maps by using materials. the higher quality the materials the higher quality the map.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
so it's a production-type skill? I was hoping for a mini-map, ah well, guess I just need to sell the map so I can start making... oh right, the ring consumed it... haaa, day one as a merchant and I'm already bankrupt... welp, I gotta claim my title as the world's best merchant in this game, and that probably means taking a few losses... right? If I remember correctly, the one lady in town hall said that herb-gathering was a job anyone can do, so I might as well head out into the surrounding forest and start collecting, I mean, you can only go up in cash once you're broke right? unless you count being in debt, but I was always the one putting others in debt before. haaa, I have so many memories of back then, everything from when I started with only selling potions on a roadside, to sitting on my throne made of gold... That's enough reminiscing, I need to focus on the now, obviously, this isn't the same game as EfroDoro Quest, but any good MMORPG has things just outside of town that can be foraged, and since everyone is as new to the game as me, I'm sure I can just claim that some random stuff lying around is actually extremely rare, so I'll head there for now...
Once I was outside of town, which I only realized was outside because of the lack of trees with 2-foot holes cut into them, I started searching for collectibles, and since I'm in a forest I started looking especially for plants... thinking back to the character creator, couldn't players choose to be different plants? For a solid second or two I kinda wanted to pick one just for the memes, but wouldn't that get boring quick? "Hey, look at me! I'm a flower! I level up by sitting in the sun all day photosynthesizing!" I mean, people who are into afk-ing would probably enjoy it, but definitely not me.... wait, I got lost in thought again, I'm supposed to be looking for things to sell, maybe if I find enough I'll get some herbologist skill making it easier, actually, I might be able to get it with the ring if I find a plant
I jokingly picked up a blade of grass to test it, but surprisingly, the glowing dot that was on the map was there too. I kinda thought that I could learn skills from all sorts of things, but is it actually everything?
"Would you like to learn the skill,
Yes/No
You know... I was joking when I was talking about photosynthesizing... right? you know what? I kinda want to see what would happen if I get the skill cuz as far as I know, most things with flesh and bones aren't able to photosynthesize, so I'll click yes.
Just like last time with the map, the blade of grass got surrounded by light and hovered above my hand, before descending into my ring, but unlike last time, instead of the prongs, it went into the rim of the ring, a tiny green dot left behind where it got seemingly sucked into. After a second, the red box, which from now on I'm gonna call the skill announcement box, showed up again.
Active skill 1 of 1:
Inactive skills 1 of 5:
When in direct sunlight, the User will be fed, replacing the need for food. Additional bonuses arise at higher levels.
That's... interesting, to say the least, now that I think about it, I actually am a little hungry, plus I can only have one skill active at a time? that's really gonna suck if I'm in a situation where I need multiple skills at the ready. Oh! I can interact with this screen, for now, let's use photosynthesis while I look around for other plants since I uh, don't have the money to buy food, but for now, I'm gonna try going for as many skills as I can get my hands on!