MICH : LEVEL 11+2
DAY 260 : D-DAY, FIRSTWEEK, AGNI, YEAR 2
BOREAS 2 : BOREAS 2 : SELLOUT
[ NEW RARE C.R.A.F.T. AUGMENT: VIDEO GAME / HEAT SINK — EFFECT 1: HEAT SINK CAN BE LOCKED INTO A GUN EFFECT SLOT UPON CREATION. THIS GUN NO LONGER ACCEPTS BULLETS, CLIPS, OR MAGAZINES OF ANY KIND — EFFECT 2: AMMO RECHARGES GRADUALLY OVER TIME — RESTRICTION: CHARGE TIME DEPENDS ON AMMO TYPE AND RARITY ]
So here I am, still on the bear.
The lower east tower, to be exact. Or at least it is in the rare case where Boreas is facing directly north. Which is how local cardinal directions work. And as the location of the Market District, it’s the only place for me to get anything done.
I hadn’t originally planned on staying here this long. But it turns out, there’s really no point in leaving until I complete the first fourth of the Attunement Quest. It’s as lame as it is simple. I have to earn enough XP or money in the local currency.
Like most of the other Kingdoms, it’s not really feasible to gain XP anywhere else in the region because of how territorial Boreas is. Not like there are any dungeons or colossi anyway since he steps on anything living that shows up on his land. And apparently, the purple barriers around dungeons aren’t quite invincible because they disappear right quick when stepped on by a dozen-mile-wide paw pad. Or maybe it’s because all the land around the sphere is flattened? Hard to say since it’s all just a big footprint after that.
But unlike most other Kingdoms, the locals are less than friendly to the newly Attuned. A money changer would be nice, but you actually lose Quest points for every bit of dinero you spend, whether or not you replace it with an equal amount of BSD. And no local money changer would ever offer anything so generous as a 1-1 exchange.
The locals neither deal in, nor appreciate anything but BSD. Nor are they willing to help a brother out. Quite the opposite, in fact. It’s actually fairly rare for anyone to complete the first level of the Frost Attunement Quest. Not without some mix of sponsorship and nepotism.
Or at least that’s how it normally goes. But not for me. I have a different roadblock altogether. And it barely counts as one. After I started to feel sick from drinking an admittedly absurd number of MP potions, my passive regen has been all that stood between me and the next in a long line of customers.
Which is, of course, yet another noble getting flustered at the wait. “Really, now. Why not just sell me the one you’re holding?”
I eye the spray bottle I’m absentmindedly twirling while I watch the blue bar under my HP slowly refill from empty. “This is the original prototype.”
“I don’t care.”
“I’ve been drinking from it all week.”
“I don’t… Okay, I do kind of care about that.”
Nodding in feigned deference, I drop it. I learned basically right away that nepotism truly runs this whole place. If he makes a fuss, I could get kicked out of the city. And then what? Then this entire search for my friends goes to shit is what. I’ll have to… I don’t even know what I’ll do if that happens.
I also learned the folly of upselling my product. Especially with modern advertising tactics. That alone made my first day’s sales abysmal.
Someone did finally get through to me though. All it took was a single sentence. “Nobody talks in buzzwords about something they actually value.”
This attitude is apparently kingdomwide, if not worldwide. Not that I particularly mind the fact that everyone in heaven hates buzzwords. It explains why I haven’t really been frustrated with advertisements this whole past year. Even the propaganda all over Central was straight and to the point, if often riddled with underhanded tactics and straight-up lies.
So I don’t say anything. I just wait. I would normally try to strike up a conversation, but there’s a distinct speak-only-when-spoken-to expectation of the have-nots by the haves. That expectation is enforced. One false-enough move around a noble, and I’d be back at the train station before I can blink.
As to why such a one would dane to approach me in the first place? I happened upon a little glitch in the System. Or maybe a translation error. Or maybe I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. In fact, I’m perfectly happy with the System or the Attunement or Boreas or whatever decided that the act of smithing should count as an Action Skill.
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Among other things, it lets me do this…
[ POWER BLESSING: REFRIGERATION — CONVERSION: 100% ]
[ RARE AUGMENT: HEAT SINK ]
[ COMMON WEAPON C.R.A.F.T.ED: SPRAY BOTTLE — AUGMENT: HEAT SINK — FREEZE DAMAGE CONVERSION: 100% ]
With a smirk hidden as a genuinely adoring smile, I present the infinite ice cold water bottle to him exactly like what local society dictates is proper. I’ve made it a bit of a competition with myself to do it sarcastically perfect every time. The more perfect, the more sarcastic. And vice-versa. It’s a vicious cycle that really just helps me feel better about patronizing them.
Nor may I offer the noble a trade. One as high and mighty as him cannot have any of his possessions tainted by the nonexistent cooties of a peasant’s Inventory.
Which is why he directly hands a bag to me with the other hand.
[ BSD GAINED: 500 ]
I’m not sure whether the people here don’t have a good grasp of money, or if I’m just doing that gift horse thing again. Either way, my product is the ironically hot new item. And all thanks to a neat little synergy between my newest Attunement and Skill.
As to the percentage, it seems Blessings are a bit more fully featured than Skills as a rule. If I wanted, I could convert only 1% of a CRAFTed gun’s damage to freeze stacks. Or 10% like I imagine I’ll eventually do. Although the spray bottle only ever had the 1 Damage to work with, so the way rounding works, anything but 0% or 100% would just remove the damage for nothing.
Which would be fine on its own. The lack of damage is absolutely vital. But beyond that, the freezing bit is the whole gimmick. So 100% it is. Not that 1 damage amounts to much of a frost effect. All it really does is make the water cold. Ice cold, to be specific. No cooling needed. Or refilling. Ever. Sure, there’s a bit of Freeze buildup. But you’d have to absolutely guzzle gallons of the stuff in a matter of minutes to get the Debuff to proc.
It’s great for resort hot tubs. Apparently, reducing the damage takes away the water pressure as well. When you pull the trigger, it doesn’t ‘spray’ so much as dribble out of the nozzle. Just the right amount of ice-cold water for a comfortable mouthful. Or, as my earliest customers discovered, you could fire it right at your glass to instantly re-cool whatever liquid is inside.
I increased my prices after that.
It didn’t matter. In fact, I’d charge more if not for the other ‘peasants’ who want one for themselves. They can barely afford my prices as it is. And while the nobles would gladly pay far more for the useful little novelty only I can make, they wouldn’t take as kindly to me only upchargeing them.
So I’ve stubbornly pushed humanity into beating greed once more. It takes longer this way, but it helps me sleep. And I need all the help I can get.
Doug… Goddamn it, Doug. Why did you have to be the one I missed the most?
Oops, MP’s recovered.
[ POWER BLESSING: REFRIGERATION — CONVERSION: 100% ]
[ RARE AUGMENT: HEAT SINK ]
[ COMMON WEAPON C.R.A.F.T.ED: SPRAY BOTTLE — AUGMENT: HEAT SINK — FREEZE DAMAGE CONVERSION: 100% ]
Aaand handing it to the next in line…
[ BSD GAINED: 500 ]
Oh, and here’s something Jessie failed to mention. Crafting grants XP! At least to a point. I got 32 on my first water gun. Then 64 on my fourth. Only then could I use my new Augment. But I got 128 on my sixteenth. The pattern only continued from there. And sure, it’s not a lot of XP right here, right now, for my purposes. But if I knew about that, I would’ve bought all the cheapest blueprints the System Store sells, and made at least one of every type of bow I could.
Not like I did much else all those months of sitting on my ass… And damn it, I have more money and basic material drops than I know what to do with! Personal inventory doesn’t seem to have an upper limit, so all the basic stuff piles up by living life. Point is, I had nothing to lose and everything to gain by scraping a bit off the top and farming the cheapest archery recipes for all they were worth.
Honestly, it’s only frustrating because I know I can never respec my CRAFT again. This one is perfect. And not only because of Heat Sink. Although that is necessary. But I have an actual plan to make my dream come true. A clear path. It requires an Epic CRAFT Skill though. At that point, all I’ll need is the right CLASS. But it’ll take at least seven Skill Points to get there. And I don’t have that. Nor will I on my next level-up. After that though..? We’ll see.
[ POWER BLESSING: REFRIGERATION — CONVERSION: 100% ]
[ RARE AUGMENT: HEAT SINK ]
[ COMMON WEAPON C.R.A.F.T.ED: SPRAY BOTTLE — AUGMENT: HEAT SINK — FREEZE DAMAGE CONVERSION: 100% ]
[ BSD GAINED: 500 ]
Now what should I buy with the four points I do have..?