I looked at myself in a large freestanding mirror as I equipped my new armour. I grinned from ear to ear. It was definitely worth the money, even if I did look a bit like an edge lord assassin.

It had been a while since I’d checked my stats. I knew they’d grown a lot since the last time and with the addition of the new percentage boosts I’d gained from my armour I was excited to see what they looked like.

Status Sheet:

Name: Kaleb Akabane

Race: Outworlder

Class: Apex Predator (unique)

Adventurer Rank: Temp

Level: 33

Map Pieces 2/10,000

HP: 381/331 (381)

Stamina: 388/325 (388)

Strength: 282 (310)

Agility: 121 (139)

Perception: 117

Vitality: 251 (301)

Intelligence: 50

Personal Skills: Speak English Damnit!, Eat Anything, Minor Poison Resistance, Usurper (unique), Health Sense (common)

Class Skills (Passive) Skills: Newly Qualified Bowman (0.2%), Dagger (lvl 10), Novice Apex Skirmisher, Acid Dhampir Dagger, Acid Arrows, Environmental Hazzard

Active Skills: Perception of the Apex Predator (rare), Soul Shot (ancient)

Blessing: Blessing of Wealth

Familiars: Panda (Daemon)

Titles: Audacious Soul Expander

Admission: Pentagram [Right hand (Morningstar Hotel and Spa)]

I blinked a few times as I read through it all. My stat sheet was getting long. Most noticeably, my stamina had overtaken my health.

My intelligence was pathetically low though compared to my other stats. I’d need to work on that if I wanted to use the Shadow Armour’s full set bonus. It was a skill that let me turn invisible once a day.

As I admired my new armour, the bell above the door to the shop rang violently.

“Andy! Get out here right fucking now.” A muscular lycanid shouted.

As he spoke, spittle and froth flew from his mouth. He sounded angry, but more noticeably he had to duck to get through the door.

He must have been 8 foot tall. What a giant.

I turned towards the commotion and looked on as Andy came trotting out from behind the counter. He looked like an entirely different man as he bowed and ringed his hands together.

“What can I do for you?” He asked feebly, not looking the lycanid in the eyes.

“It’s pay day.” He replied with a growl.

“Of course. Please send my regards to your master.” He said, offering out a large coin purse.

The lycanid snatched it from his hands and left in a huff, slamming the door behind him.

Andy sighed and lifted his head. He turned to me, casting out his usual presence of strength and mercantile cunning as if nothing had happened.

It was as if the feeble man who stood before the lycanid was a completely different person.

“I’m sorry you had to see that Kaleb. How’s the armour?” He asked, striding towards me with the confidence of a powerful man.

“It’s great.” I replied, slightly distracted. “What was that?”

“He works for the Morningstar Collective; I owed them protection money.” He sighed, scratching the back of his head awkwardly with his hand.

Morningstar… where have I heard that name before?

“Who are they?” I asked flatly.

“They’re a crime syndicate. They do all the crimes. In this case it was racketeering but honestly that barely even scratches the surface.” He said, moving towards the counter and leaning against it. He looked exhausted.

Then it hit me; I had an active quest that mentioned Morningstar though it was a bit different from what Andy seemed to be talking about.

A Good Time, Not A Long Time

You’ve been marked as a guest of The Morningstar Hotel and Spa. I wonder what mayhem and fun awaits behind its doors.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Updates:

You have discovered that The Morningstar Collective are a syndicate who run a racketeering operation in Havar.

Objectives:

Enter The Morningstar Hotel and Spa 0/1

Uncover the secrets of The Morningstar Hotel and Spa 0/1

Reward:

X1 Skill Upgrade Potion

X1 Weapon Upgrade Potion

It was the quest that had appeared after I’d opened the loot box I got for accidentally killing Brad, the other outworlder, in the cultist hideaway.

I’d completely forgotten about it. Though maybe I should consider trying to complete it sooner rather than later. The reward was awesome.

“Is this collective related to the Morningstar Hotel and Spa?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s one of their many business ventures. There’s one here in Havar, though they have them all over Celestia.” Andy replied.

“Do you know where it is?”

“No. Rumour has it you can only see it if you’ve been invited. I wouldn’t go poking into their affairs though. Yaldabaoth is unhinged and crazy strong, it’s better to stay off their radar if you can.”

“What’s a Yala-bread loaf?” I asked.

“He’s known as the malevolent god of debauchery and he’s scary as shit. He’s the current chairman of the Collective. Just… don’t go poking around there.” He said, sounding exasperated towards the end.

“Sure.” I replied slowly. “Well, thanks for the armour mate. I’m sure I’ll see you around.” I said, raising my hand as I left the store.

Maybe I should level up a bit before entering this hotel place. I thought. That was my original plan anyway and Andy seemed to be terrified of them.

Besides, I still needed to complete my third quest so I could take the adventurer exam. For now though, I needed to hand the sewer quest in and replace my weapons.

First though, I needed to collect Panda. He was probably worried about me.

I headed back to the Sleeping Giant Inn. No one muttered about me as I walked past this time. The street was still busy, as usual, but I seemed to blend in much easier this time.

I entered the inn and headed upstairs as the lycanid landlady smiled lecherously at me and waved with her fingers.

A shiver went down my spine as I half smiled, half grimaced back at her. I opened the door to my room to find Panda laid on the bed with a book in hand.

He was on his front, kicking his feet behind him. The room was full of dirty plates and bottles and there was a stack of books covering over half of the room.

“Ay up ma-” I began but Panda lifted his paw in the air to shush me. A little taken aback, I obliged.

A few moments later he turned his page and then put the book down. He sat up, stretched, and turned towards me.

He hasn’t seen me in a month and he shushed me to finish his page?

“Hey kid.” He said, yawning as he spoke. “Back so soon?”

“It’s been a month.” I replied incredulously.

“Has it really?” He replied, “I lost track of time reading. It happens sometimes. So, I see you got that armour you wanted.”

“I did yeah… have you really been reading this entire time?” I asked, though from the stack of dishes and the smell of unwashed panda I already knew the answer.

“I’m a sage, it’s what we do.” He shrugged. “These books are great by the way; I’ve learned so much. I’m gonna need some more though.” He looked up at me with big eyes, it would have been adorable if he wasn’t surrounded by squalor.

“Sure, we’ll get to it. First though, I need new weapons and hoped you might know a guy.”

“There’s a quaint little store not too far from here. I’ll take you; I could do with some fresh air anyway.”

“You’re telling me.” I replied, shaking my head lightly as he unstuck himself from the bed.

We left the room as he groggily rubbed his eyes and yawned again. As we passed the landlady I tossed her a gold coin and asked her to clean the room and extend our stay.

“Gods it’s bright out here!” Panda exclaimed as we exited the inn. It was around midday and the sun was high.

“I guess your eyes go a bit funny when you spend a month locked in a room.” I chuckled.

“You spent a month locked in a sewer.” He grumbled.

“Yet somehow the room smelled worse.” I sighed.

He led me back in the direction of the armourer and I was beginning to get the impression that the only shops he knew were the ones on this street.

Still, he hadn’t steered me wrong so far so I followed him. I really needed to get my bow repaired and I needed new daggers.

Currently I was a weapon-less adventurer and that couldn’t mean anything but trouble. I felt naked without them. It’s funny how quickly you get used to a new situation.

Not too long ago I went about my daily life without fighting or carrying weapons at all, yet now the idea of not having any felt alien to me.

Human adaptability at its finest.

As we walked I took the opportunity to grill Panda on some of the questions I had from my time in the sewers. One of which was potentially more life threatening than the rest.

I told him about the Eternal Torch of Communist Supremacy and how it came into my possession. He listened quietly as I explained and then I asked him what powerful economic groups were.

“Well shit kid, you broke the first rule: never piss off the system.” He responded after patiently listening to my explanation. “When the system creates weird items like this it’s hard to know exactly what the effect means.

“I haven’t heard of this particular one before. Though I know what the economic groups are. They’re powerful organisations who rule the various countries around the world.

“Like shadow rulers really. No one knows who actually controls them, but they’re steeped in ideology and you can tell which country supports which group by how that country is run.

“For example, Havar is obviously part of the socialist group. Though I wouldn’t exactly call them powerful, they’re one of the smaller ones from what I’ve heard.”

“Havar is a socialist state?” I asked. I hadn’t really considered how countries were run so far; I’d been a little busy trying to survive.

“Well yeah.” He said poignantly. “Basic necessities like food, shelter and water are practically free. However, luxury item costs are insane. Just look at that armour you’re wearing. 50,000 gold coins for some glorified clothing when a bed and food cost you a single gold a week.

“You do the math kid, but I’m pretty sure that armour is worth multiple lifetimes of food and board at the inn. That’s not normal.”

I guessed he was right. The local economy was out of whack here, though I wasn’t sure that alone constituted as socialism as I understood it. I’d figured it was just a quirk of this world that adventurer gear was expensive but apparently not.

“Speaking of gold coins, are they the only currency in this world?” I asked. It had struck me as odd that I hadn’t seen any other denominations of coins yet.

“Why would we need other coins?” Panda asked, scratching his chin.

“Because giving someone 50,000 gold coins at once is a bit extreme?” I replied, furrowing my brow, and thinking back to how I’d flooded Andy’s store with coins.

“But we all have access to an inventory space and transfers.”

He clearly didn’t understand what I was getting at. I guess it wasn’t seen as an issue so I dropped it, mostly.

“Speaking of transfers, how do I find out what my pin code is?” I asked.

“You can set it up at one of the societies. We can do it later.” He replied.

I’d have to make a mental note to do that. Though I’d probably have to wait a week since I’d been locked out. Stupid system. I thought.

My mind wandered back to the economic factions and my weird new torch. If Havar constituted as poor in this world, then I wondered what the richer nations looked like.

“If this item makes everyone who’s not a communist hate me, then does that mean the Havar government are going to end up as my enemy?” I asked suddenly, the last thing I wanted was to be labelled an enemy of the state or something just because of some stupid item the system wouldn’t let me throw away.

“I doubt it.” He shrugged, offering no further explanation. “Anyway, we’re here. Let’s shelf this for another time.”

We stood in front of a large, multistorey store with polished red wood on the frame and a hand painted sign above the door.

It said: Wendy’s Wonderful Weapons.

These store owners sure love their alliteration. This was the third store I’d been to that had a name straight out of a fucked-up Dr Seus book.

Through the large windows I could already see racks upon racks of weapons. I wondered what kind of person Wendy was, and more importantly, how she knew Panda.

For a familiar he seemed to know everyone in these parts. The little guy definitely got around in his last life.

“I thought you said this place was quaint?” I said to panda monotonously.