Chapter 64 – Infamy
Odin bursts out laughing. “Cheeky kid! You’re finally acting like you have a sack. I knew you had to have something down there somewhere.”
Lucille lets out a small smile of her own, and I can swear even Joe’s lips twitches slightly. I could be wrong though. I can figuratively smell the opportunity here, and I want to get as many benefits from them as I can possibly get.
“So, little Thief Lord. What are your terms?” Lucille eventually asks, still smiling.
“It depends on what you can offer, really. I’m fairly new to the city, so I can’t say that I know much about your organisation. How about you tell me what you can offer and we’ll negotiate on what I need?”
“Hah! Give this one the finger and he’ll take your whole hand.” Odin chuckles. “Better be careful with this one, Lucille. He might be greedier than even you.”
“We’ll see about that.” She says, leaning forward in her chair. “Let’s do it your way, little Thief Lord. As I mentioned earlier, our influence stretches pretty far within the bounds of the city. With our blessing, we can assist in building up your Infamy and grant legitimacy to you if you decide to establish your crew into a full-blown gang.”
“A gang? What do you mean?” What the hell?
“You don’t know? How odd.” She scratches her chin. “A gang is a formal recognition of you and your crew’s accomplishments. What good is being the leader of a gang if no one knows who you are, and thus won’t show you the proper amount of respect you deserve? If you wish to have our assistance in forming a gang, we will help with increasing your Infamy. A greater level of Infamy opens doors that would otherwise be shut and you will gain access to a much larger market that is not open to the general public.”
“Like what?”
“Ah, ah, ah!” She says coyly, wagging her finger back and forth. “That’s information only available for our most esteemed clientele.”
Huh. Now this sounds interesting. It’s all pretty vague, but it seems like if they help me formalize my gang, or whatever, they will open up the possibility of purchasing rare items. Since she didn’t specify exactly what I can buy, then I wonder if I can get access to things like skill books, hidden skills, or class-unique items? If I can get access to something that has only half the utility of what my Thief Lord’s Signet Ring offers, I’ll buy it in a heartbeat.
“That does sound interesting. What else can you offer?”
“Oh? Oh, my. You are greedy. Careful, little Thief Lord. The last person who stuck his fingers too deeply into my coffers were never heard from again.” Her eyes harden.
I meet her gaze, trying my best not to flinch under her scrutiny. What is my play here? Something tells me it isn’t a good idea to press her too far. One wrong move and I’m certain she won’t hesitate to kill me. I don’t like my chances of making a clean escape here either; even if I had access to all my underlings and an opening to use Doppelganger. I’m about to accept her proposition when she speaks again.
“I like your determination, little Thief Lord. Reminds me of my youth. We won’t offer anything else other than the standard ten percent discount for all of our members on our regular services. This includes the purchase of contraband, crafting reagents, and rent at one of our inns.” She says, crossing her arms.
“Throw in a discount on Odin’s services as a teacher, and you have yourself a deal.” I say, letting out a grin of my own.
Odin snorts. “Go choke on an apple.”
… I guess that’s a no.
“In that case, I’ll accept. Pleasure doing business with you.” I say, extending my hand.
“Splendid!” She smiles, grasping my hand. “I knew we could come to an arrangement.”
I sit back into my chair, trying my best not to burst out laughing at my success. Because this is a success. A big one. I can feel it. Whatever this gang thing they offer to help me with, I just know this is the late-game content I have been looking for. The cherry on top of the proverbial thiefcake. The Bonnie to my Clyde.
Locking eyes with Lucille, I ask. “So, now that we have that out of the way, how about we get started on starting my gang. What do you need me to do?”
“Quite the impatient one, aren’t you, young Thief Lord? All I need from you is a name and a symbol. We’ll take care of the rest.”
As soon as she stops talking, a window appears in my vision.
Form a Gang.
Since the dawn of civilization, the outcasts have flocked together; unwilling to bow to the conformity of society. It is never easy to go against the majority, and many have fallen on this lonesome path. As one who has risen above the others, you will gather your fellow miscreants on your less than righteous path. As one, you will all reap the benefits.
What is the name of your gang, Thief Lord?
Warning! All choices are final.
Ooh! That sounds just as ominous as I would expect. Still not very informative, but I really can’t picture this being a bad thing. It’s a good thing I spent so much time thinking up a theme to name my Lieutenants, or else I’d probably be stuck here for hours trying to come up with a name that doesn’t sound too retarded. Luckily for me, my imagination also came up with several names to call our little group of snakes.
“Shadow Serpents.” I say with confidence.
Odin snorts loudly. “Are you kidding me!? Shadow Serpents!? What are you, five years old?” He roars in laughter. “Oh no! Here comes the big scawwy shaduw serpeeents! Mommy! I’m so scaaared!”
“Hey, fuck you too gramps. I got your serpent riiight here.” I snap while grabbing my crotch. This happens faster than my brain manages to process what the hell I just said, and my eyes widen as Odin’s smirk is wiped off his face.
“What did you just say to me?” He says through clenched teeth.
My words are caught in my throat as I do my utmost not to flinch. Curse my big fat mouth. I’ve spent way too long with only Cobra as a conversation partner. The crude Thug has really rubbed off on me the wrong way. We end up staring at one another, the only change in our demeanor is the throbbing vein in Odin’s forehead that seems to intensify for every second that passes.
Our standoff is broken when a chuckle erupts from the most unlikely person around the table. Odin’s jaw drops as he watches the smile that has crept onto Joe’s face. “What the hell is that on your face!?” The old trapmaker shouts in surprise.
“I believe that is what you would call a smile.” Lucille chimes in from the side.
“No shit. But what the hell is it doing in his face?!”
“Cheeky little bastard. What do you mean on my face? I’m perfectly capable of smiling.” Joe grunts, his customary scowl returned with a vengeance.
“I’ve known you for forty-three years. Forty-fucking-three years. Not once have I seen you smile.”
Joe growls at the trap maker. “That’s because I’ve had to look at your ugly mug all this time.”
Odin seems lost for words as he just stares at the grumpy old innkeeper. I must admit, I’m pretty surprised myself, but mostly because I somehow find myself in these absurd situations that I’m not equipped to handle. What the fuck is wrong with these people?
The silence reverberates through the room until Lucille finally coughs. “Shadow Serpents it is then, young Thief Lord. Do you have any preferences for a gang symbol?”
Choose a Gang Symbol.
Every group of people shares a unique bond with one another. Kings and Nobles have their banners, Merchants have their signs, and Mages have their sigils. A symbol can mean many things, but it usually tells a story of their past and future, their goals and their desires.
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What represents your gang, Thief Lord?
Warning! All choices are final.
This message is followed by a second window, a blank canvas with several toolbars along the edges. It appears the game lets me design a symbol by hand from scratch if I so wish. Being the artistically impotent person that I am, I quickly opt to discard creating one myself. I know my weaknesses, and designing things is definitely one of them. I instead look through the options, finding a feature that allows for the A.I. to generate a symbol for me if I add a few keywords of what I want the symbol to include. Typing in the words ‘snake’, ‘gold’ and ‘shroud’, I wait a few seconds for a long list of potential symbols to appear.
I quickly scroll through the list, discarding almost every suggestion the A.I. makes. It’s not that I’m picky, it’s just that I don’t really want to rush this one. Who knows what the game decides to do with the symbol? What if it adds the symbol to every piece of gear they reward me with for all eternity? I certainly don’t want to be the idiot who’s stuck being branded with a pink unicorn farting rainbows for the rest of my ingame career.
I eventually find a symbol I’m quite fond of; a snake coiled around a gold coin. I like it. It’s simple, stylish, speaks to my dream, and it’s ominous-looking enough for me to be satisfied to have it as my official symbol. Confirming my choice, the window disappears.
“Wonderful. That symbol will do nicely. Allow me to be the first to congratulate you, Rynorn Stabberton; gang leader of the Shadow Serpents. May your future be fortunate for the both of us.” Lucille smiles.
Congratulations! You have formed a gang: Shadow Serpents.
As the leader of a Gang, several new features have become available:
-Your underlings will now have the appropriate gang name as part of their status.
-Your underlings will now wear pendants with the Gang Symbol embedded on it.
-Your Gang Symbol will form on any class-unique items you acquire.
-Infamy has now been unlocked on your status page.
May fortune favor you, Thief Lord.
I blink in surprise. Infamy? Does it mean… Oh hell yeah!
Status:
Name: Rynorn Stabberton - Class: Thief Lord (Trap Maker)
Race: Halfling - Level: 14
Health: 240 - Mana: 800
Experience: 450/2900 - Infamy: 0/140
Woah! Am I seeing this right? Infamy? There is an alternative to Renown that nobody knows about? How has this bombshell stayed hidden for so long!?
Renown is one of the most coveted attributes to increase. It can only be increased through your actions, and only the most valorous actions like defeating powerful bosses or Villains grant points in it while performing heinous acts like theft or murder lowers it. Renown is a stat that gives access to powerful gear and abilities on special markets, and it is required to unlock the best quests and other ingame features like the possibility to purchase land and hire NPCs. Renown is the sole reason players don’t go on a murder spree in any NPC settlement they visit, as losing Renown could set you back months. Possibly even destroy your potential to get any decent quests or join a guild.
I’ve never heard of Infamy, but may God smite me if I’m wrong if this isn’t the Villain equivalent to Renown. Can regular players also get this? Fuck. I don’t care. This is amazing!
“You seem pleased, young Thief Lord.” Lucille muses.
“Yeah, wipe that stupid smirk off your face. It’s creepy as hell.” Odin grunts, still scowling from earlier.
“Yeah, this is freaking amazing! I can’t believe I’m the first one to unlock infamy. It’s insane!” I chuckle, refusing to stop smiling.
“First one?” Lucille looks at me questioningly. “Do you mean the first Traveller? If so, then I’m sorry to disappoint you. You are currently the sixth Thief Lord we have offered this Alliance to in Drenerys alone.”
Wait, what?
“Sixth!? There are more who knows about you? Who are they? What are their names? Their levels!?” I blurt out, my stomach dropping.
“Ah, ah, ah.” She waggles her finger back and forth. “That information is confidential. You may only know in which order you formed your gang. You may also want to know that you are currently the one hundred and thirty-sixth Thief Lord to form a gang worldwide. You should be proud of this accomplishment.”
My jaw drops. One hundred and thirty-six… How the hell can so many people have unlocked the gang system without anything leaking online!? What dark sorcery is this? So much for my hopes of finding a hidden game-breaking feature months ahead of anyone else… I guess those sort of lucky events only happens in crappy books or anime. Worst of all, there are five Thief Lords in Drenerys alone who have unlocked the Gang System, all five of them most likely way more powerful than I am. Could they be my pursuers? It would make sense. A Villain hit squad to hunt other Villains. This is troubling news. If this many people know about the gang system, god knows how many people know about the sewers. How have I not run into more people down there yet?
Shit. Another problem for me to overcome. I need to take this into my calculations going forward.
I take a deep breath, trying to calm my mind. This isn’t too bad. Better than when I started actually. It’s scary as shit that I’m not the first person to unlock the Gang System, but I’m lucky enough to be one of the first; before it becomes common knowledge. When I started playing as a Thief Lord, I didn’t even expect there to be any Silver Saints organisation. I was content with grinding along in the city, only dependent on killing random NPCs in back alleys and perform jobs all day long. Not the most glamorous of ways to play the game, but I was determined to stick with it. Other people knowing about this really changes nothing. Hell, everyone would have figured it out eventually, and as soon as people do, I’m certain the game will be flooded by Villains. It’s only a matter of time. The most important thing I need to do is to grow my levels and become too powerful to stop.
Wait a moment. After the latest PvP patch... If more Villains know about the gang system, wouldn’t that mean there would be a ton of fresh Villains playing the game, meaning the amount of potential experience I can farm increases exponentially? Killing low-level Villains would be easy!
It almost makes me want to spread the information myself. Almost. The noob zone in Drenerys is still locked down, meaning fresh Villains have nowhere to go. Damn. There goes that opportunity. But maybe I should do it anyway? A flood of new Villains could serve as one hell of a big distraction.
So many opportunities… I need to think this through. But first of all, I need to focus on the here and now. Turning back towards the trio of Saints, I put my game face back on.
“Could you tell me a bit more about how I gain Infamy and what I can use it for?”
“Certainly. As you may have surmised, Infamy is the polar opposite of Renown. It is different, however, as the criminal underworld reacts differently to one of their kind, unlike how a citizen would react to a hero. Nobody respects you if you are weak, and your Infamy is limited by your personal power. Therefore, if you wish to increase your infamy, you must also grow in levels. A problem I’m certain you won’t have any trouble doing.” She smiles coyly, giving me a wink.
“Unlike Renown, which is gained by performing heroic acts, Infamy is gained by successfully completing jobs and killing powerful named enemies, as well as Travellers more powerful than yourself. Since weakness is unacceptable, you will lose half your Infamy points if you are to meet an unfortunate end. So I would advise you to stay very much alive.
As to your second question, Infamy is required to gain access to our inner market reserved for our most esteemed clientele. To sell you our most powerful artifacts and secrets, we require you to reach a certain level of Infamy, so I would advise you to increase it as quickly as you can.”
Hmm. I listen intently to her explanation. So if I understand this right, then Infamy is vastly different from Renown. Whereas Renown can be increased almost infinitely, Infamy seems to have a hard level cap related to my own level. Since I’m currently level fourteen, I can only gain a maximum of a hundred and forty Infamy points before I need to level up. That is incredibly interesting. It slightly worries me that with everything else related to being a Villain in this game, the demerits of dying suddenly increased by yet another margin. That shouldn’t be a problem for me though since I don’t plan to ever die. I wonder what it will get me though?
“Could I perhaps get a glimpse of what I can buy later?” I say, putting on my brightest smile.
“What part of ‘it’s confidential’ didn’t you understand?” Odin says, crossing his arms. “Bugger off!”
“Now, now, dear Odin. We can afford to give him a peek at some of the less powerful artifacts we have in store. An act of goodwill, we may say.” She winks at me. A window immediately appears before my eyes.
Silver Saint’s Inner Market.
Hire Servants - Hire an NPC servant to perform menial tasks like general maintenance, message delivery, or operate player-owned establishments. Requires: 100 Infamy per servant hired. Cost: 50 Gold. Upkeep: 5 Gold per week.
Black Market Auction Voucher - Gain access to the Black Market Auction System for one month. Requires: 100 Infamy. Cost: 10 Gold.
Hire Mercenary Team - Hire a team of mercenaries to assist you on a single Job or quest. Requires: 200 Infamy. Cost: 30 Gold.
Magic Academy Scholarship - Train an Agent to gain a Mage class. (Lesser School of Magic only.) Requires: 200 Infamy. Cost: 300 Gold.
Holy mother of Mexico’s finest chili cheese balls! Are these items for real? Holy crap! And these prices… Just wow. Several of these items look amazing, and I really want them. All of them. And these items are only supposed to be the bottom of the barrel? I want all of this. All of this and more. Especially the Scholarship. I wonder if I can gain access to teaching one of my underlings one of the major schools of magic at some later point? If I can get access to a healer, I’ll be unstoppable. The cost though. Three hundred gold. That’s no joke. I’ve heard people complain about DLC before, but this right here takes the cake. That’s an entire month worth of rent. Who the hell can afford that? I’d have to sell almost half of everything I have in my possession to be able to afford it. The potential benefits though. Oh, my. I need to start grinding. ASAP.
“These all look amazing.” I grin. “And you say there are more?”
Lucille just nods, a satisfied smile dancing across her lips. Oh, hell yes! I can feel the excitement bubbling beneath my skin.
“Then I would like to thank you for your hospitality. This partnership has already paid dividends tenfold of what I expected.” I give a deep bow. “Now if you would excuse me, I have some grinding to do.”
“About damn time.” Odin grunts. “Now, bugger off. And if I find you slacking off with training your profession, I’ll find you and slap that stupid smirk off your face.”
“Yes, teacher.” I give him a respectful nod. I’m glad he seems to have partly forgotten about our little altercation earlier.
As soon as I stand from my seat, so does the three Saints. Joe is the first to turn and leave through the main door, quickly followed by Odin. Lucille is about to leave after them when I remember something.
“Oh, Lucille! One last thing. Do you know what this is?”