"...And that is the story of the King in yellow and his terrifying siblings. Or at least what I remember about them." Dante said finishing his dozen-minute-long spiel about the Cthulhu mythos.
Oscar looked ready to burst, hardly able to contain himself any longer.
"These are the kinds of stories that can be found in your world?! They are dark beyond belief!" He blurted out before readjusting his pose and begging pardon for his outburst.
"This is some of the darker stuff that can be found on Earth, not nearly the darkest unfortunately but probably some of the most dangerous nowadays. I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear about cults cropping up, and eldritch abominations being summoned." Dante spoke stopping himself as he quickly realized he was going on a tangent.
"Such things will undoubtedly occur but we can do our best to keep them as isolated cases. Now then..." Parcival spoke, and for a time they sat back and discussed all that had happened to him since the beginning of the tutorial.
As time passed Dante was made aware of some interesting things.
Oscar explained to them collectively that he had been given some information by Hastur, as well as some advice for Dante.
"He says you might enjoy the library in town," Oscar said eyes narrowed in anticipation. Dante's reaction didn't disappoint.
"A library... Oh wait holy shit! There's a library in town?! With books on magic and stuff?! WHERE!" He exclaim having gotten a little wrapped up in the excitement he felt.
Then a blue box appeared.
Quest
Find the Library
Hastur has bid you to find the Library in the town of Beginnings. He also gives you a piece of advice.
"When you find the Library, let your curiosity be your guide."
Quest Reward: +2 Per, +500 exp, Exp in the Cartography skill, Ability to purchase Library card, access to the reading system, (Hidden), (Hidden), (Hidden)
Do you accept? Y/N
"FUCK YES!" Dante bellowed much to the amusement of Oscar and the headmaster. Even the guard's lips curved up just a little.
Dante now that things had calmed down remembered something he had been waiting to ask Oscar when he saw him again.
"Hey Oscar, I recall something about you wanting to be my Patron. What is a Patron?" He asked glancing at the guard who simply leaned back in his chair motioning for him to go on.
Oscar's eyes instantly widened as he too recalled that bit of information.
"Yes of course! I was so distracted by what was going on it slipped my mind. Here..." Oscar said waving his fingers in the air seemingly moving and interacting with what he assumed were unseen blue boxes.
"I'm surprised "Oscar". Why did you offer the boy your Patronage so soon? It's not like you." The Headmaster spoke with a wry smile on his face and a raised eyebrow.
Oscar hearing this slowed and then stopped the waving of his hands over screens unseen by Dante.
"From the moment I met him he has been different from most people that come to meet me. *Small chuckle* The first time that I met him and his father, they walked into one of my more...exotic shops..."
"Which one? The Brothel or the sex toy shop?" The Headmaster asked smile growing wider as his eyes moved back and forth between Oscar and Dante. "I bet it was the Brothel. A father taking his son to his first brothel, a classic story."
"Sex shop. We were just exploring because we saw the large sign that read, "Brothel Alley" and we thought why not see the sights?" Dante chimed in, explaining the short of what had happened.
"Really? Interesting...So what happened next?" The Headmaster asked addressing Oscar.
"I quickly grew to like him and...Oh, wipe that grin off your face ████. You make it sound as if I am some barmaid that took a fancy to the boy." Oscar said, his smile dropping from his face for a moment.
The Headmaster raised his hands in surrender, but still, he smiled.
Turning back to his work Oscar's hands began to move once more before finally a blue box appeared before Dante.
A Choice in Patronage
(Oscar Hemsworth) has offered to become your Patron. A Patron is one who guides newer players along their journey through the system. There are upsides and downsides to accepting the Patronage of someone and are as follows.
1: Upon acceptance of this agreement you will be granted a road with a length equalling the level of (Oscar Hemsworth) multiplied by his rank. The contents of this road will be determined upon acceptance.
2: By accepting this agreement you grant (Oscar Hemsworth) the ability to view your status. Including but not limited to your stats, classes, skills, available/completed roads, affinities, and achievements.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
(You should only accept this agreement if you can trust the person making it with this information)
3: (Oscar Hemsworth) will be permitted to teach, and train you in, certain skills they possess, so long as they are system-approved skills. This comes at no inherent monetary cost to you, though other costs may apply per your Patrons discretion or needs.
4: The rules on the spread of certain information will be loosened between you and (Oscar Hemsworth), making you better able to learn and teach each other.
5: (Oscar Hemsworth) can and will be held responsible for your actions, if deemed necessary. Additionally, if deemed necessary, (Oscar Hemsworth) will be given a quest to subdue and/or kill you.
Do you accept (Oscar Hemsworth) as your Patron and these conditions?
Y/N
Acceptance
Patronage of (Oscar Hemsworth)
A moderate increase in reputation with Patron
Benefits and downsides as previously stated
Decline
A moderate decrease in reputation with
(Oscar Hemsworth)
Dante having been so filled with excitement a moment earlier fell silent as did the room. Reading the blue box he considered his options for a long moment.
'If I decline his offer then what? He maybe gets sad and then dealing with him in the future just gets that much harder. Then again he would know my status which I don't like, but it would be nice to get advice on stuff...'
'I wonder how long that road would be? He said he ran a shop that buys monster parts and corpses so he could teach me dismantling, which could come in handy...'
'But he was ready to kill me once. He didn't look like he wanted to do it though...'
Then he decided.
"Accept."
Are you sure about this?...
The text surprised him but in the end he know that truly important choices such as this would likely have double verification.
"Confirm acceptance."
Congratulations! You have become a disciple to a Patron!...
You have obtained the title, Disciple of (Oscar Hemsworth)...
Calculating Road...
Patron, (Oscar Hemsworth), [Rank 5], Lvl. 256...
Road has been generated...
The Road, Disciple of (Oscar Hemsworth) (0/1280) has opened to you!...
"Holy shit...that's going to take a while..." Dante said sitting in stunned for a moment afterward.
Parcival looked to Oscar who nodded to him and received a nod in turn.
Parcival then pulled a bag from his inventory and placed it on the table before Dante, pulling his attention back to the present.
"What's this?" Dante asked as he inspected the brown burlap sack.
"The equipment we confiscated upon your apprehension. As you are now under the watchful eyes of Oscar you may have them back...And here are your several pounds of ground insects." He said placing a sizable container on the table.
"Oh yeah shit, forgot about that let me just..." Dante said reaching for the box when Oscar spoke up reaching out a hand of his own.
"May I?" Oscar inquired.
"...Go for it." Dante replied, pushing the box towards Oscar, who took not only the box but the sack as well. Opening the sealed box Oscar took a look inside and smelled the contents.
"...For what reason did you grind the insects down?" Oscar said while reaching in sifting through the dust with one of his hands.
"Well we were killing them to grind experience and I remembered that if you grind them down they make a decent fertilizer. So not wanting to let an opportunity slip away I used my Telekinesis to collect them all in my inventory. As I did so I also used the skill to crush them, grinding skill levels in the process. I didn't know if I could even sell it, or when or if I would ever personally use it. It was just a spur-of-the-moment idea." Dante spoke, a look of confusion crossing the faces of both the Headmaster and Parcival.
"I get that you thought to sell it but to actually use it? Did you intend to gain levels in the farmer class?" The Headmaster asked to which Oscar replied.
"He already has a level in farmer class." His words only added to their confusion.
"How do you have a level in the farmer class?" Parcival asked Dante folding his arms and raising an eyebrow.
"I would say that this seems to be an indirect byproduct of me teaching him Horticulture and by extension the farming skill. Also, he appears to have obtained a skill for seed creation likely from one of the Earth roads as I see he has completed some in that line. It's only level 9 and of the Uncommon rarity but I suppose all of it would be sufficient for a level given his overall low level." Oscar said as he replaced the lid of the container and did something surprising.
"May I buy this off you Dante? I will offer 1 small gold for it. I wish to experiment with it in the village."
Dante paused for a moment considering it before he said, "Sure thing, I can get more if need be."
"I will buy both the powder and ask that you leave the best specimens intact as I will buy them as well." Oscar said holding out a left and a right hand. In his left hand were the promised small gold coin and his right was empty. "Deal?"
"Deal. Not bad pay, and I can grind exp in the process." Dante said as he took the gold and shook Oscar's hand, a small smile of appreciation on his face.
Congratulations through your actions you have acquired the common passive skill, Negotiation Lvl. 1...
Negotiation- Slight increase to your chances of making a successful deal with one or more individuals. The results of all negotiations are ever so slightly improved per level of this skill. +2 Int, Wis, Cha, and +1 luck per level of the skill...
With a nod the box vanished and Oscar moved onto the contents of the bag.
"I see you bought yourself a pair of strength-enhancing gauntlets. A fine choice but I would recommend some modifications to get more out of them." He said placing the gauntlets on the table before him.
"Such as?"
"Well for starters, we could add retractable spiked knuckles and claws to the design. Perhaps even a stinger-like weapon in the forearm section of the gauntlet. I say this because some creatures are resistant or even "immune" to one type of damage or another, even multiple. Having a weapon, especially a magic weapon, that can inflict multiple types of damage increases the odds you will have the means to hurt a given creature." Oscar said placing the word immune in air quotes.
"Good advice but why the air quotes for immune?" he asked, already suspecting the answer.
"Simple, most creatures that posses immunity to one thing or another an only practically immune. Say you have a red dragon, it is immune to fire damage for the most part. But I have heard of and seen things that I believe could prove that their is seldom such thing as true immunity. A Fire elemental is truly immune to fire, a red dragon, only practically immune. I haven't seen it for myself but the universe is grand, so I cannot say it's impossible." Oscar replied his eyes seeming deeper for just a second as if to represent the weight of all his years, all that he had seen. Then it was gone, and he sat back in his chair.
"Good to know. Perhaps we should discuss the modifications to the gauntlets later. I assume you would be able to do the work?" Dante asked reaching to reclaim his gauntlets.
"I am a master craftsman. How do you think I can make all of those fun toys, with a file and wood? No, I am a master of several trades including tailoring of armor, and mild to moderate enchantments. I can do the work, and we can negotiate the price of the service later." Oscar said, stressing that singular word with a grin on his face. Dante knew why, he probably was looking at his status right now and saw him get the skill, cheeky. So, he smiled back and they continued a moment later he had his property reclaimed.