Chapter 2
Tarkon power leveling…
Mark Collier
“Level 1.” I stated to the clerk.
The short elf with a pinched nose, long ears, and irritating look on his face, was giving me a formal interview. Apparently, it wasn’t enough to have the class, to join the guild. You also had to have experience, wealth, reputation, blah, blah, blah.
“I see.” He frowned. “Do you have any connections?”
It was my turn to frown. “What do you mean?”
“Do you know anyone famous, rich, elite, something boy?” The elf snapped his fingers. “There must be a reason that you would be dumb enough to apply with a measly level one Merchant class. Whatever that is. I would assume that to be a trader and not some sort of sailor or mercenary class, right?”
“Uh, my parents were a part of Black Dawn.” I explained.
“Black Dawn?” The elf frowned deeper. “Where have I heard that name before…”
I shrugged, how the hell was I supposed to know where he had heard it.
“Now I remember.” His frown broke into a scowl. “No, boy. A three-decade old, retired adventurer party does not count. Go work on your levels, once you get your specialization, come see me. Then we can get you registered. Once registered, we will help you establish supply contracts, for a small fee of course. But you won’t need to worry about that until you can afford a shop.” He paused for a breath but held up a finger to signal that he wasn’t done yet. “Depending on your specialization, we will have job contracts that become available on a regular basis. These contracts will allow you to develop your own connections as well as gain experience. If you are looking to set up a shop in town, I would recommend that you begin saving immediately. As shops are expensive and will cost a lot to maintain.”
“Thank you.” I smiled. I did it just to irritate him further. It did not have the desired effect.
“You are most welcome.” The elf smiled back. “Keep working that charm, boy. It will indeed help you in the future.”
I turned on my heels and headed for the exit. Rica stood there waiting for me outside the guild hall. She was dressed in her usual mage robes. At her insistence, she wanted me to do the trading for her. That way I could gain experience. Tyler was on the other side and had been of the same opinion. Neither of them seemed to care all that much about the experience or cost of it. They were probably the only level thirty or nearly level thirty people who had to make a journey the way that they had. Basic gear had not bothered them. They just wanted me to start leveling as soon as we got to town. All of us had thought I would need to go to the Merchant’s guild first.
“Well, that sounded exhausting.” Rica commented.
“Yeah.” I agreed. “Where to next?”
“Mage’s guild.” Rica stated. “I need to get a message to mother. Maybe, she’ll finally forgive me.”
The way that she said that, not the words, but the tone. Spoke volumes. It sounded as if she were the one expecting the apology.
“Fat chance.” Tyler chuckled. “After that, it’s the Adventurers guild. Then we need to get the wagon back to the outskirts and set up camp.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll seek out a realtor and find a place to stay.” Rica picked up where he left off. “Once that’s done, we can worry about getting gear.”
“Wait.” I halted the group. “Can we afford to rent a place?”
Rica chuckled. “We’re not renting love. We’re buying.”
I glanced at Tyler. “You’re okay with that?”
Tyler nodded. “I’m getting my own place. Like we said, we plan to stay a while.”
“Can you guys afford that?” I asked, more than a little stunned.
Rika chuckled. “After we took down that fucking Angel and sold off some of the gear that his minions had, yeah. We can afford it.”
“And the quest for that douchebag.” Tyler chuckled. “The rewards for taking down a fallen angel are nuts.”
“Then why haven’t you updated your equipment yet?” I asked. “Surely there were some drops that you could use, or you could have bought some along the way.”
“Yeah…” Rica spoke sarcastically. “A demon using holy weapons is a great idea. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“As for me.” Tyler shrugged and hefted his massive axe. “That crap was way too flimsy and its hard-to-find stuff in my size in the places we’ve been.”
More of that nagging sense that I wasn't being told everything.
“Eventually.” Rica continued. “We out leveled anything that was worth replacing. This is a 0-20 zone Mark. I’m okay with you outfitting us because you need the levels. But honestly, we could walk naked down the street and slaughter the entire town without getting barely a scratch on us.”
“Oh, I can imagine your base skills are pretty deadly too.” I agreed.
“Yeah.” Tyler smiled. “It would probably take a ballista to break my defensive shield right now. And if I use cleave? Forget about it. Did you know that when you hit level twenty it becomes an area of effect?”
“Ha!” Rica barked with laughter. “My Fireball is now a multi-fireball. Instead of Meteor strike I call it rain of fire. As for my magic shield…” She shrugged as if what she was about to say was no big deal. “It’s just a magic bubble the gives the target immunity for thirty seconds. With most fights being short, it rarely loses the effect before the fight is over.”
“So, did you use skill points?” I asked, to see if they had taken my advice or not.
“Nah, you were right.” Tyler grinned. “There aren’t many adventurers that have base skills as high as ours. I’ve got about fifteen points stocked up.” I must have looked confused at that statement, because he continued. “Six from leveling and nine from achievements. Because I’m a fighter, I have just about as many ability points. Can’t gain those through achievements.”
Rica nodded. “It was actually, the opposite for me. But I have a similar number of points.”
“Why didn’t you unlock stuff with them?” I asked.
“It takes time to train those.” Rica explained. “Time that we didn’t have. Now, we do.”
Seriously? Is that my charisma picking up falsehoods or something?
I nodded. I would have time to process that later. “Let’s get to the Mage’s Guild then.”
***
“As I said.” Rica warned in a dangerous tone. “This is my guest, and unless you want to find out what it feels like to be hit with a max-level fireball…” She let the words hang in the air. “You will get the fuck out of my way.”
“I’m sorry, mam.” The elf mage backpedaled in fear.
Is this an elf town? How did I miss that in my research?
“You can’t invite civilians in.” The elf continued, almost pleading. “It’s against the rules.”
“It’s fine Rica.” I placed a hand on her shoulder. “I can wait outside.”
“I just got you back, Mark.” Rica said aggressively. “I am not letting you out of my sight so soon.”
“I’ll be with Tyler.” I reassured her. “It’ll be fine.”
“Not until you claim me.” Rica threatened. “Besides, mother will be happy to see you.”
I rolled my eyes and turned to the elf. “Why am I not allowed?”
“Due to the mana stone located in the building, the over saturation of mana can kill you.” The elf stated. “I’m sorry, but it’s very dangerous.”
I sighed and turned to Rica. “Is that true?”
“Mm, maybe?” Rica stated.
“How about I just go with Tyler to the Adventurers Guild, and we meet over there?” I suggested. “They might even have some decent stuff to trade.”
“Fine.” Rica pouted. “I’ll tell mother that you have recovered. I just hope that she believes me this time.”
“This time?” I asked.
“I… may have thought you had recovered a few times.” Rica admitted. “I mean we almost umm, never mind.”
“Okay…” I backed away awkwardly. “So, I’m going to go now and pretend that you didn’t just admit to trying to take advantage of an invalid.”
“It’s not what you think.” Rica protested. “An adventurer had told me of a rare quest to wake a sleeping Commoner class. It had to do with a kiss to break the trance. When that wasn’t enough… I thought maybe I should put in some extra effort.”
“Wow, just wow.” I couldn’t believe my ears. “And did this guy tell you he was a prince looking for his true love, too?”
“Now that you mention it.” Rica nodded.
“I’m not sure whether you are gullible or on the same level of pervert that he is.” I chuckled while backing away slowly. “Should I start having Tyler check my drinks and food? Tell me, will it be in an apple or something? Should I be on the lookout for several very emotional dwarves or something?”
Rica stepped forward to snatch my arm and I barely evaded. “Hey!” She protested. “It wasn’t like that!”
“Sure, it was.” I teased. “Next thing you know you’ll be selling off our first-born child to a goblin for threads of gold.” She blushed at the statement of a kid and used her much higher speed and dexterity to move.
“Hey.” Rica whispered as she caught me and pulled me tight. I could feel her ample breasts press into my upper abdomen. “It’s not fair when you do the teasing.”
I rolled my eyes and held her a little tighter. “Yeah, my five seconds of it was totally worse than the torture you put me through for years. I mean, I had to watch you run around with Tyler for how long?”
Rica giggled. “Were you jealous?”
“What do you think?” I deadpanned and kissed her forehead. “I know you are killing time to avoid the call, but don’t. I’ll be fine. We’re in the city and I’ll be with Tyler.”
“But I just got you back.” Rica pouted.
“Which will make it all the sweeter when we meet again.” I consoled her.
“Okay.” Rica said, reluctantly. “Just… be careful. I really don’t want to have to burn half the city to the ground looking for you.”
“Its fine.” I assured her. “I doubt there will be any problems. In fact, as far as I recall. I haven’t had a moment of danger since we started out on this journey together.”
“Funny.” It was now her turn to deadpan. Then she kissed me. “Now, get out of here before I change my mind.”
I accidentally gripped her tail as my hands traversed her bottom.
“Mm.” Rica let out a little moan. “Not here you jerk.”
Chuckling, I returned to Tyler.
The problem was, Tyler was nowhere to be found when I exited the building. Apparently, he already went to the Adventurers Guild. I shrugged. How bad would it be if I did some trading? I wasn’t a little kid anymore. I could handle a little trading without the need of a babysitter. After making the quick decision to start with the general trade goods store caddy corner from where I stood. I marched in that direction.
Victor's General Emporium, the sign above the door stated in bold letters. The store looked like a good place to get rid of basic items. I currently had a pack filled with random junk from the back of the wagon. We had decided that it would be best to save any of the higher quality goods that the had collected from the Angelic forces for a time that my skill was high enough to make a profit. That meant having a shop to boost maxed out trader skills. They had also recommended that we might do that somewhere like the royal capital. It was mostly my idea. For some reason Rica and Tyler treated it as if they were my items to begin with.
"Welcome to Victor's General Emporium!" The clerk called out as I entered. "We buy, sell, and trade quality items for the quality customer! Let me know if you need any help."
"Actually." I stated as I approached the counter. "I have some items I would like to sell. After that I would like to take a look around."
"Great!" Victor I assumed. "Place them on the counter and we'll see what we're dealing with."
I began pulling the items from my bag and placing them on the counter as instructed. Keeping track of each kind and how many of them that I had. Not that I didn't trust him, but I just met the guy. All in all, there were 4 wolf skins, 2 stamina potions, 3 goblin ears, a Torper fang (whatever that was), and 16 daggers that were dropped by bandits in the last leg of the journey.
"These are some good quality pelts." Victor stated as he ran a hand over them. "Are you sure that you don't want to have a tailor or leather worker do something with them?"
"Nah." I shook my head. "I'm just trying to earn some XP mainly."
Victor grinned like a used wagon dealer. "That's great! We'll get you leveled up quick as can be."
I winced, knowing that I had screwed up. "By my count, this should be 3 gold, 27 silver, and 14 coppers worth."
It was Victor's turn to wince. "I wish, lad. Base price is 4 gold, 45 silver, and 2 coppers. I would hate to cheat another Trader like that. An adventurer, maybe. They can always go through side channels, but us Worker Classes need to stick together. Since you are new. Make me an offer. I'll try to haggle with you. We'll see if we can't get you half a level."
"Why do you think I'll get half a level?" I asked.
"With those prices?" Victor stated. "I would only assume that this is your first time. Besides those sound like quotes from a few decades ago."
I shrugged. I wasn't really sure how old my books were before I started the journey. Hell, the title read This Year's Current Pricing In The Capitol. It didn't actually state the year.
"Uh, 5 gold, 30 silver, 10 copper." I said.
Victor shook his head saidly. "That's a bit too much. Remember, you cannot bargain for more than your barter skill will allow. So, we will say that your first offer was max at 4 gold, 89 silver, and 52 copper. You should be at level one in barter and this is the max allowed. Understand."
I nodded eagerly, I was learning a lot. "Makes, sense."
"Good." Victor nodded. "Now, sense I have a much higher skill I can just haggle that down to base. But, that wouldn't be very sporting would it."
"No." I shook my head solemnly. "It would not."
Victor's greasy smile came back. "Which is why I will offer 4 gold, 45 silver, and 3 coppers."
I grumbled immediately. I knew that my skill being what it was, I couldn't raise the bar. He would just slap that price back down. "Fine." Never coming here again.
As I took my coin and left the building a thought hit me. I should have just taken my goods elsewhere. I walked toward a shop labeled The Finest Tailor.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"What have we got here boys?" A raspy voice asked from behind me.
A hand touched my arm and the world began to spin. I caught sight of a man missing more than a few teeth as I lost control of my own body...
***
“Mark, baby.” Rica teared up shaking me. “Are you back now? Please, be better.”
Congratulations! You have earned 500 xp!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
I blinked away at the notifications. “Yeah, Rica. I’m fine.”
“How many times did I tell you not to wander off like that?!” Rica sounded angry with me.
“How long?” I asked. I really needed to get this whole memory loss bs under control. If I lost another year without realizing it… I was going to go insane.
“Just a few hours.” Rica admitted, somewhat less angrily. “Luckily, you led us back to the place you had been taken.”
Glancing around, I saw that I was in front of a tailor shop. What was I doing, here? Oh, that’s right, I was going to surprise Rica with a new dress. I had stowed away some of the coins from that chest that Shealla had mentioned for this very reason.
“Come on.” I said, frowning and drug Rica indoors. “I’m not done yet.”
Rica frowned but nodded and followed. “What were you doing out here, anyway?”
“Well, I suppose that I’ll have to tell you…” I began and continued with a growl in my throat. “Since I can’t simply walk around town for no reason.”
I had gained the general skill, barter, earlier. It was part of the reason I had been shopping. General skills that aligned with your class were much easier to learn without a trainer. I had the brilliant idea to surprise Rica and Tyler with a level increase by the time they had gotten back. I was going to prove to them that I wasn’t useless. Hell, I had been waiting years for this.
“Welcome to The Finest Tailor.” An exceptionally large orc called out as we entered. “How can I help you?”
“What are we doing here?” Rica asked.
“I’m getting you a new outfit.” I stated. “And one for Tyler.” I nodded at the big man right behind her. “Two a piece actually. It was supposed to be a surprise thank you for all that you have done.”
With a quick glance at my stats, I decided that now would be a good time to invest some points. Even though I realized that they would not take effect immediately, I was tired of being too weak to help.
I dumped my ten free stat points into Intelligence and Wisdom equally. My brain began to buzz like I was drunk, the world spun for a second as I got used to the sensation, and suddenly I just knew more details about everything that had happened during our journey. Most of it was still fuzzy, but I knew that I had made a correct decision when investing my points. I immediately made the decision that that was where I would invest heavily for the foreseeable future. Charisma was a great tool to get people to like you. But it did little for having control over your own faculties. I never wanted to lose it again.
If I had to guess, the reason the blackouts were mentioned so little in my research, was that it was such a common occurrence for the worker class that they felt it wasn’t necessary to bring up. That or no one was so stupid as to get caught at such a low-level.
“Yes, I would like to purchase two sets of men’s and two sets of finery for these talented adventurers.” I spoke to the clerk. “They have traveled a long journey to bring me to my destination and I would like to reward them.”
“You don’t have to do that Mark.” Rica gasped. “Where did you even get the coin?”
“It’s fine.” I waved off her protest.
“Do you have a particular color or fabric that you want?” The orc asked.
“Yes.” I remarked and looked at Tyler. “For the gentleman I would suggest a dark blue and white ensemble for one of them. Dark green and a light grey for the other. I want at least mid-grade Vokin’s wool or better for the quality of it. And…” I looked Rica over. “For the lady, I would like to go with a purple evening gown and a white with yellow flowers summer dress. For material, make it mid-grade cotton or silk at worst.”
“Certainly.” The orc smiled. “While we don’t carry Vokin wool, we do have a very nice quality of Hanick velvet. Would that suffice?”
“Hanick velvet?” I asked a bit stunned. That was high-tier goods from Clavia, a country to the north. Annnnd…. It was rather expensive. “How much?”
“Oh, is the cost of saving your life really worth so little as to ask?” The orc began the negotiations.
Congratulations! Barter skill is now level 2!
Congratulations! You have earned 100xp!
Congratulations! You have leveled up!
Several minutes and measurements later, we left the store. The price was a little high, but that was to be expected. I needed to level my skills and gain experience. Saving the points for the time being. I left the shop.
“Where did you even get 32 gold?” Rica asked as soon as we were outside. She knew that I had no time to earn money upon arrival. And 32 gold was about a thousand times what any starting out adventurer or worker class should have.
I shrugged non-committal. Not sure why, but I was still hesitant to let her know about the stash location. Probably, because I had those letters stashed in there. In preparation, I had withdrawn about fifty gold, silver, and copper. The two hundred gold coins were still stashed in there were for my first shop or wagon.
Considering Rica’s opinion, that I was starting to agree with, I was leaning towards the shop options. I just wanted to raise my negotiating skills first. Right now, I just needed to focus on the task at hand. That was to max out my tier one classes and gain skills. All while saving for the system discounts.
“Come on.” I tugged hat her hand. “That stuff won’t be ready for a few days, let’s get back to the wagon. We’ll find a place to stay tomorrow.”
***
The next day I marched into the central square, in search of work. I hated the idea of spending money to gain experience. There had to be another way. I could sell goods, but that felt just as wasteful. My stats and skills were nowhere near high enough to make a decent profit. Honestly, my purchases the other day should have been much closer to 10-13 gold. But I really wanted to do… something for my comrades.
I was already feeling pretty horrible about the whole situation. As I looked around for work, I took note of the damage done to the town. Rica had not been lying when she said that she would burn the town to the ground if something happened to me. Well, mostly. There were several buildings that had been nearly destroyed. Burned out husks of businesses, houses that were missing portions of their roofs, and the streets filled with scorched holes burned into the ground. There were also cleanly blown out portions of the buildings that looked to be the size of a very large minotaur.
I snorted as I looked over my shoulder. “Should be easier getting work tomorrow.”
Rica smiled. “I warned them.”
“Can they charge you with a crime?” I asked.
“Who would enforce that?” Tyler asked. “This is why you should always purchase the Adventurer damage insurance.”
“Besides.” Rica stated. “As your beloved, I received a quest for it. We even hit level thirty in the process.”
I nodded. Not because I understood, more because she had a crazed look in her eyes as she surveyed the aftermath of yesterday’s damage. “Why don’t we find the townhall? Someone should be available to sell us something.”
Tyler turned and led the way. The one building that didn’t appear to have received any damage at all. Turned out to be the place that we were heading to. It was a sturdy stone structure that was placed inside a stone wall, with steel gates and a pair of guards that stood on each side. Unfortunately, this led to me not being able to find work today.
“Halt!” Demanded the guard on the left as we approached. “State your business.”
I smiled. “We seek to purchase a residence. Is the mayor available?”
“To seek the purchase of property with in Tarkon, you are required to visit a realtor.” The guard on the right stated blandly. “They will take care of the required permits, paperwork, and sale prices. The council does not bother with such trivial matters. Unless you are here to purchase an estate within the noble district.”
Rica snorted. “What noble district?”
“Currently.” He continued. “The noble district is located about a mile north of town. Once the city has reached its former glory once more, it will be connected once again. Please be aware that if you seek you purchase a noble estate, you must have gained a title and proven your value to the city.”
“Prove your value?” I asked slowly.
“Yeah.” The guard on the left stated. “Whether through deed or taxes you must ensure that you are here to help improve Tarkon before claiming a noble plot of land.” He spat at our feet. “Which means don’t go pulling shit like yesterday.” He pointed behind us. “Again.”
“What’s your problem?” Tyler asked using his natural intimidation.
“You fucking adventurers, I swear.” The guard on the left growled and disappeared.
“Uh, what just happened?” I asked.
“Youthful indiscretions.” The remaining guard answered dully. “He is still somewhat new and rash in his decisions and the goddess has confined him to maintain order. You have done nothing outside of the law and will not be punished unduly.”
“Thanks?” I questioned.
“Not a problem, citizen.” The guard tilted his head in the direction of a mostly intact building. “That building right there is the only business open today. I assure you that by the end of the week, all buildings found within the walls of the town will be in order. Please tell Tracy that I have sent you and she will see to your needs.”
“Thank you.” I said, with a bit more confidence this time. “What’s you name so I can give you the referral.”
“Not necessary, citizen.” He explained. “Just tell her the Town guard sent you by.”
“Yes, sir.” I spoke. This guy was respectable. Compared to the other guard at least. “Much appreciated.”
The guard nodded and we headed toward the building he had indicated.
***
“Welcome to Tracy’s Realty!” A dwarven woman announced as we entered. “Looking for a new place of residence?” She asked hopefully. “The properties may be damaged as of the moment, but I promise that within two days of the purchase, it will be restored.”
“Hello, Tracy, I take it?” I replied.
“That’s the name my mother gave me.” Tracy smiled. “What can I help you with today? Sir…”
“Mark.” I stated. “This is Rica, and that big fella is Tyler. We are in need of two residences today. Preferably next to each other. Both with enough room for a wagon and a stable for horses. There must be a kitchen in at least one of them and a spare room for both.”
Rica and Tyler both nodded along as I explained. This is what we had spoken about last night as I tried to figure out their plans.
"Going to brute force negotiator I take it?" Tracy chuckled. “Never mind. One story or two?” I could practically see the coin dancing in her eyes.
“Both.” I answered. “Preferably. Oh, and that guard at the townhall suggested that we come here today.”
“Yes, yes.” She waved away my last statement as she began to dig through a stack of papers. “That was probably my husband. He might get lucky tonight if you can afford to purchase a property in the heights today.”
“The Heights?” I asked.
“Upper echelons housing district.” Tracy explained. “Unless you live in a rural community, you are not likely to find a place like that without spending a good amount of coin. Are you merchants or Adventurers? Ah, who am I kidding? Adventurers.” She shook her head as she dug through the papers. Mumbling the whole time. “Are you wanting a fenced in yard as well?”
“Sure.” I spoke for them. Rica and Tyler didn’t particularly care about that other than the added security. Apparently, their merchant friend had a knack for getting kidnapped. I honestly did not know who? I chuckled to myself.
“Room for a garden?” Tracy asked as she narrowed down the stack.
“Yes.” I answered. That was at my request. I suspected that I might need to sale some wares in a stall before being able to afford a store.
“Do you plan to have pets?” Tracy questioned. “If so, indoor or outdoor?”
“Maybe?” I frowned. We hadn’t really talked about it.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Tracy shuffled even more out. “Okay, we have a few options. They are all within a block of one another. Shall we?”
Without pause, Tracy walked out the door all business like and led us down the street. It looked as if we were in a middle-class district right now. The streets and shops were in disrepair due to Rica and Tyler’s actions. But the solid wood siding and tiled rooftops were a steeple of the middle class. The bonus of living in this area would be how close to the traders you were. The downside was that adventurers tended to roll through and destroy half the neighborhood trying to finish a quest. Granted most of the time, it was nothing like what Rica and Tyler had done. Unless a similar situation came about. It wasn’t that uncommon for some high-leveled parent to destroy some kidnappers or other sorts of scum that had harmed their child in one way or another.
“Okay.” Tracy began speaking after we passed through the gate to The Heights. “So, we don’t have any houses available right next to each other. But what we do have is a bunch of houses within a few blocks of each other. They all have kitchens, fences, stables, pet housing, and a garden. With these houses located in the heights, you will not have to wait for repairs. The damage caused yesterday was mainly focused on the Border district. Um, that’s the district that we just left. The first one that we have available is a single-story bungalow valued at 45,000 gold…”
We spent the next two hours inspecting each of the houses. What can I say? They all looked nice. Hardwood floors, elegant stairs and windows, stone walls, and slate rooftops. Each home had a chimney and a balcony on either the roof or a room on the second floor. They all had large yards, stables, the aforementioned pet houses, and the fences varied. Each fence was more durable and expensive than the last.
She seemed to understand Rica’s biggest concern. So, it was no surprise that Rica chose the most expensive property. It was a two-story Victorian style house with the largest well… everything. It had three bedrooms, two magical bathrooms, a magical kitchen and pantry, and something called a Magical Codex. Whatever that was. All I know is that the building cost 153,462 gold. That was the lowest that I could negotiate it down to. Rica just shrugged as she handed over the coins. Which made me wonder exactly how much she had earned on her way to level 30.
Tyler on the other hand chose a single-story cottage about two blocks away. It was a moderately sized lot with the essentials and two bedrooms. He spent 83,243 gold. From the balcony he could see Rica’s new house and was satisfied with it. When he mentioned setting up a smithy in the backyard, Tracy immediately shut the idea down. The district did not allow crafts to be practiced in it. He would have to work in the Adventurer Hall.
The rest of the day was spent on paperwork, moving in, and a relaxing night in the tavern. With our newfound status in town, the citizens seemed to take a more considerate approach to us. All-in-all, I was rather proud of what we had accomplished. The only thing that irritated me was how much money was left on the table due to my low level. Rica and Tyler reassured me that the coin did not matter. They were more excited to hear how many levels I had gained, my achievements earned, and new class skills.
Achievement unlocked! Big spender!
Achievement unlocked! The force is with you! (You cheating prick!)
Achievement unlocked! Money Bags!
Achievement unlocked! Negotiator!
Achievement unlocked! Hoarder!
Barter has leveled up!
Barter is now max!
Negotiator gained!
Negotiator has leveled up!
Coin purse earned!
Coin purse has leveled up!
Congratulations! You have earned 23,671 XP!
Due to hitting the level cap 18,771 XP has been stored!
Please choose a specialization!
Congratulations! You have leveled up!
Congratulations! You have leveled up!
Congratulations! You have leveled up!
Congratulations! You have leveled up!
Congratulations! You have leveled up!
Congratulations! You have leveled up!
The bombardment of messages hit me at the tavern, and I nearly fell from my chair. So many achievements, skills, and levels. I opened the descriptions.
Big spender: Spend over 10,000 gold in a single transaction! (+1 Charisma)
The force is with you: You have forcefully earned a class skill beyond your level. (+3 Wisdom)
Money bags: Spend over 100,000 gold in a single transaction! (+10 Charisma)
Negotiator: Class skill – The upgraded version of barter. Negotiate better for yourself or a client. Stacks with similar skills. Achievement (+2 Intelligence)
Hoarder: General ability – due to spending in excess of 10,000 total. You have earned a coin pouch. Stores up to 10,000 gold coins.
Then I moved on to checking my Character Sheet.
Character sheet
Name: Mark Collier
Age: 18
Class: Merchant
Level: 10
XP: 0/10,000
Stored XP: 18,771
Health: 60/60
Mana: 190/190
Stats:
Strength: 8
Agility: 9
Dexterity: 7
Constitution: 6
Intelligence: 19
Wisdom: 18
Charisma: 27
Currency:
Gold: 18
Silver: 50
Copper: 50
Free Stat Points: 35
Skills:
Barter: Level 20 Maxed – (24%) allows you to haggle for goods in your favor. Level 1 value adjustments 5%. (Each level adds 1%) this is a general use skill and can be stacked with skills of an appropriate class.
Negotiator: Level 2 – (1.5%) allows you to haggle for goods in your favor. Level 1 value adjustments 1%. (Each level adds .5%) This is a class skill and can be stacked with similar skills. (Allows user to negotiate terms in hostile situations.)
Free Skill Points: 8
Abilities:
Coin purse: Level 2 – Allows users to store up to 100,000 coins of each type.
Free Ability Points: 4
Perks:
Plus Player – Player is granted a free skill with each specialization and a free ability upon completion. It takes half the effort to gain experience.
“Dude!” Tyler slammed his cup on the table. “Did we just power level you?”
“Yeah, buddy!” I chugged the rest of my cup down. “Maybe I can catch up to you sooner than we thought!”
“Nah.” Rica frowned. “Once you hit level 10, the difficulties increase.”
Tyler nodded along. “And… For traders such as yourself, you have specific types of XP. You got lucky this time. Because that is considered general XP. But everything else will be class specific. You can’t level cattleman with store owner XP.”
I nodded. “You’re right. You mentioned that before.” I looked at each of them, a grin spreading across my face. “Who else is finally ready to sleep in their own bed?”
Rica chuckled. “You better choose a class tonight and spend the rest of your stats points.”
I ordered another round and glanced at Rica. “What class should I pick, babe? I’m pretty drunk.”
“What are your options?” Rica smiled. She was drinking the strongest stuff in town and barely buzzed.
“Uh, Security, Stock boy class, Sweeper class, Errand runner, Clerk, Mascot, Server.” I rattled them off as I read them.
“That depends on the bonuses.” Rica explained. “You’re real squishy right now. But that’s my personal opinion. Something that boosts your Strength or Constitution.”
“Ha!” Tyler barked with laughter. “Says the mage!” He pounded the table several times laughing the whole time. “The real question is which one interests you the most. You aim to be Emperor, then choose the one you like the most. Eventually, you’ll have to do them all.”
I drank deeply. “Yeah! Let’s do both! Security!”
Tyler and Rica glanced at each other frowning as I made my selection, slid from my chair as the world spun around me, and passed out…
***
Please place your stats before gaining specialization.
I awoke to the message blaring in my vision. I rubbed my eyes and tried to blink it away. What happened? The last thing I remember was getting a message about leveling and gaining a bunch of achievements. Specialization? What did I pick?
Please place your stats before gaining specialization.
Well, that’s no help.
Let’s see. I had previously decided that I would choose either Clerk, Sweeper, or Stockboy. It was the safest way to gain free stat points to some of my weaker stats. I definitely wanted to avoid Errand boy, Mascot, and Security until I ran through the other three first. So, as long as I played it safe with my points, I should be good with what I choose. My Intelligence and Wisdom were the main options that I definitely wanted at thirty. Maybe that would be enough to make sure I didn’t blackout when someone tried some bs.
I sank 11 points into Intelligence and 12 points into Wisdom. Charisma was just three points away from 30 so I gave it the bump. Staring at Constitution I glared at the low number. That stat had always bugged me. No matter how hard I had worked at it, it was the hardest stat for me to improve. I jabbed the last nine points into it.
Congratulations! You are now specialized!
(One-time tool tip. As a merchant you have two classes to level. From now on, Experience will be stored. Main class may accept any experience. Specialization must gain either general experience or specialized experience. Plus Player tip, it is recommended that you select one specialization at a time. You may gain a new specialization every ten levels of your main class. To gain more tier 1 specializations you must sacrifice half of your earned free stats and ten levels. If you do not have half of your free stats available upon level up, they will be taken from your investments.)
Great. I rolled my eyes; Tyler had already explained as much. Well, except the leveling thing. As I examined my character sheet again, I groaned. Security? What the fuck was I thinking? Two beers and I was hammered. That’s why I pounded 9 points into Constitution. This is F’ing ridiculous. Judging by the stats that Security leveled, I had definitely chosen the wrong places to put my points.
Well, mostly. +1 Agility, +1 Dexterity, +1 Charisma per level. The one good thing was that I gained a perception skill from the specialization. As a plus player I got the skill at cost but did not need to purchase it or have to buy a scroll, no long training montage for me. I glanced at my stored XP and dumped a level’s worth into security. I sighed as I realized that I would not be getting any free stat points. Dumping 10,000 into the main class before continuing. I stuck those into strength. I may not be a combatant, but strength was important to everyone. Raising Security to level 4 I closed my stats, realized it was the middle of the night, hugged Rica a bit tighter, and went back to sleep…