《The Hidden Blade》 Prologue: Not-so-new Beginnings This isn¡¯t a story about being reborn and becoming a hero amongst heroes. We¡¯ve all read those cookie-cutter plots before and they don¡¯t make it to the bestsellers list lately. Damn you discerning, cynical readers! The reincarnated hero. A figure of pure power, limitless potential but really, really shitty luck. Who by some unkind twist of fate, and prerequisite for any novel, suddenly falls before his time. Backstabbed. Betrayed. He¡¯s forced into an inescapable experience to suffer a premature death. With his last breath, dying but not quite dead enough; he stands towering over the traitors and swears revenge. That he would someday return to set right all the wrongs done to him, and his. Then, by some divine fate, and an extremely convenient plot device, his dying wish comes true. He turns back the hands of time. He returns. Reborn, for revenge. And of course ¨C is OPed as hell. Armed with foresight and knowledge of the future, he has a cheat sheet for life. He knows the exact perfect thing to do, at the exact perfect time. Our hero becomes even more than he was, more than he could ever be in his first life. He gains powers beyond his and your (but not the writer¡¯s because we¡¯re smart like that) imaginations. Just barely overcoming struggle after struggle, foe after foe, to truly become a hero amongst heroes. Mystory; is different. It¡¯s a story is about becoming a villain, so that a hero amongst heroes can stay a hero. Preferably a live hero too. ____________ Yes, granted, the betrayal, backstabbing and multiple premature deaths; that still happened. Hard to arguethat pointwhile I¡¯m lying on the ground with countless pointy swords stuck into me. But hey, it¡¯s just a game, right? Avalon, the game, to be specific. The mythical isle was the setting for my world¡¯s first totally immersive Virtual Reality Gaming World. People from all walks of life donned VR gear to conquer quests, monsters and battles alike, for the chance to earn a seat at the Round Table. And of course, to become filthily, fucking rich. Wait, what? See, what started off as a simple VR game took things to a whole new, darker level of morbid entertainment. Avalon became the modern gladiator coliseum. People paid money to watch players fight to the death. Yes, to the death. There were two game modes, Casual and Lifeline. Casual was, well, casual like any other game you can buy off the shelf. You paid your monthly subscription fees, killed stuff, earned stuff and levelled stuff up. Then, you logged out and went on with your life. Assuming you had one, that is. Lifeline mode, whereas, came with free upgrade; a tiny microchip installed at the base of your skull and a not so tiny indemnity form to sign. Everything you earn ingame, you can take with you to the real world. The catch? That microchip simulated 100% of all physical experiences you felt in Avalon. If you died in Avalon; you died in real life too. Crazy right? Who¡¯d the hell would to play and participate in this insanity?Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Fun fact: At the very core of human nature lies our insatiable greed for more and an immeasurable delight in violence. Dormant, just waiting to be awakened and pounce on you. Sorta like dad abruptly yelling mid-snore, ¡°I was watching that!¡± when you turn off the TV. And awaken it was exactly what Avalon did. The real world was in a shit state, battling overpopulation and a collapsing global economy. All it took was greasing some high levelled officials¡¯ palms to kickstart the virtual coliseum of death. It made total sense after all! Why spend good money keeping bad criminals alive, when you can make awesome money selling the viewership rights to watch them fight to death? It was population control and an efficient use of death row inmates. That was exactly how Avalon¡¯s creators pitched and sold the idea to the world¡¯s governments. No one will judge you, they were going to die anyway! Sending the criminals to Lifeline Mode was doing them a favour. This way they would at least be semi-useful to society and stand a chance to earn winnings for their family and loved ones. Everything just snowballed from there, and soon Lifeline mode was opened to volunteers. It became one final beacon of hope to society¡¯s most broken and desperate. People with nothing to lose rushed to take on the biggest gamble they could ever make. Win and walk away with everything. Lose - well you had nothing any way. But who would watch it? Everyone. The people of our world lived to indulge in scandals, debauchery and drama; from a safe distance, of course. Avalon was a whole new intoxicating cocktail of violence, betrayal and death that stimulated our baser instincts into an addictive high. People fucking died while we watched from the safety of our couches. How cool was that! It became the ultimate entertainment industry. Top Lifeline players became celebrities of their own right. Die-hard fans who didn¡¯t want to die, lived their cowardly lives and fantasies for glory through Avalon¡¯s elites¡¯ death battles and triumphs. It escalated so quickly, that even stardom-hungry younglings chose Avalon as a platform to get noticed. For fame and fortune; the chance to be a somebody. Even if they died trying, it would be still glorious while it lasted. ______________ Which bring me back to this very moment. Here and now, where I lie dying, rather ingloriously drawing my last breath in Avalon¡¯s Lifeline mode. Not too far from me lies a puddle of blood and gory gunk; formerly known as Lancelot before being minced into a burger patty. Lancelot. My master. My saviour. My Lancelot. King Arthur¡¯s perfect knight and most trusted aide. The Adulterer. The Betrayer. The Kingdom Killer. When Lancelot¡¯s deep, dark secret was ¡®discovered¡¯, it had torn the Kingdom apart. He was accused of screwing Queen Guinevere, leading to a civil war that, in turn, screwed the whole of Avalon as well. But it was all a set up and a horrible lie. Sure, Lancelot had her deep, dark secret. But only I knew it. I guess, now, you do too. Yes, Lancelot was a woman. And trust me, she was most definitely not into other women, let alone that stuck-up fat cow of a Queen. So, my cycle of death and rebirth began right there. And continued till now. I¡¯d try to do the right thing to save Lancelot. To make her brother knights understand her by planting the seeds of loyalty, honour and trust by appealing to the better side of human nature. To dispel the rumours and keep Lancelot alive. Then, I¡¯d fail miserably, no matter what or how hard I tried. They¡¯d still turned on and kill her, claiming she did not deserve to live for betraying Arthur and all of Avalon. This life, out of desperation, I had even told them that Lancelot was a woman. Excitement about girl-on-girl action aside, nothing changed and a few minutes later, burger patty. Then, everything would be reset again to the very first day Lancelot and I started playing Avalon. This time, I finally realised something. It wasn¡¯t that they believed Lancelot was dishonourable and deserved to die. They justwantedLancelot to die. The scandal with Guinevere was just a convenient excuse. This time, I¡¯ll return, not to become some great hero. Or to save Lancelot. It will be as a villain amongst villains, so my hero, stays a hero. It will be as the Hidden Blade; Mordred. Chapter 1 - Sometimes We Scream That all too familiar blazing bright light enveloped me again. Scorching heat, then surreal cold made every fibre of my being feel like it was being melted and frozen, all at once. Piece by piece of me shrank and shrivelled into nothingness, before imploding explosively. It hurt like hell of course. Almost as much as reading so many conjoined-adjectives randomly thrown together to scream ¡°THIS IS DRAMATIC¡±, I guess. So, I screamed. Then, for good measure, I screamed some more as the world around me disappeared and reappeared in a deafening swoossshhhh. ¡°Don¡¯t be so dramatic! It can¡¯t be that bad,¡± a familiar voice gently admonished, music to my ears. My eyes stung a little as I opened them the first time, for the umpteenth time. ¡°Master?¡± I whispered. ¡°Lancelot. You¡¯re supposed to call me Lancelot here, Mordred! Anyway, the sense-synchronisation to Avalon¡¯s virtual environment should only be causing you mild discomfort. So, stop making a scene,¡± she frowned and gently flicked my forehead. The surge of emotions that I felt seeing Lancelot alive flooded my eyes, then gushed out in the form of another scream, ¡°MASTER!¡± Tearing, I rushed forward to hug her, running directly into a rather solid, steel gauntlet held out like a metallic stop sign. The impact made me stagger and I landed unceremoniously on my ass. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I fellonto my back and stared at the Avalon sky.The loop had begun once again and I was alive. More importantly, so was Lancelot. Again, it was a complete reset to our very first day playing in Avalon. I''ve lost track of how many times I''ve returned to this exact moment, in this shitty VR world, to the point I struggled torecall ever being anywhere else. ¡°Geez, Mordred, stop being such a douche! People are staring at us, you idiot!¡± ¡°You¡¯re an eight-foot giantmetal suit that speaks, Lancelot. People are going to stare either way,¡± I slurred groggily. I wasn''t kidding either. From head to toe, she was covered in an ivory-white knight armour that practically glowed. The only design on the armour wasthree simple rose-red stripes emblazoned across the shoulder guards. A visor covered Lancelot''sface completely, giving her voice a thick, husky echo whenever she spoke. She really was a towering, imposing figure that was truly gawk-worthy. ¡°I trained you better than to be a smart-mouthed, wise ass. Besides, getting the Beta Avatar Mod starter pack was totally worth it. Check it out! With my customised Knight suit of awesomeness, no one will ever know the truth about me!¡± she quipped while doing a rather unknightly pirouette. The sad irony in her words choked me and I desperately wanted to tell her everything. But I had walked down that path before, in another reset. Telling her the truth had only made Lancelot think my brain had short-circuited ¨C resulting in a total shutdown and her leaving me. She didn¡¯t want anything to do with me at all ¨C let alone my protection. In the end, I had to kill myself.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°That the manly armour hides womanlyl¡¯amour? Or that you¡¯re a Full Metal Alchemist fan girl?¡± I replied. ¡°Ha...Ha..Ha. Aren¡¯t youjusthilarious? It¡¯s a Virtual world. Last thing I want is a bunch of pervs stalking me or chauvinist pigs looking down on me because I¡¯m a woman. I can be anyone I want to! Anyway, get your ass in gear, it¡¯s time to go through the class selection process!¡± ____________ She anxiously and excitedly half dragged me to the Class NPC named [BOSS]. Why? Because I was still stunned from my forehead¡¯s close encounter with her steel gauntlet. Plus, the whole reincarnation journey and return from the river of dead always made me slightly sea-sick and dizzy. Oh, why was the NPC named Boss, you meant? Getting to that, and to him as well. Brace yourselves, not even multiple reincarnations allowed me to escape what¡¯s about to come. God, I hate this fucking NPC. In a time and place where anyone who could afford armed themselves to the teeth, [BOSS] insisted on wearing nothing but a simple man-cloth. And by man-cloth, I exaggerate the size of the cloth, which was not very manly in stature; merely, very barely covering [BOSS]¡¯s man-bits. [BOSS] was designed to lookdevastatingly imposing and intimidating. He stood close to 7 feet tall with biceps that could feed a small village, abs that crush a 6-pack when flexed and a hugemouth I''ve spent lifetimes wishing I could staple gun shut. His hair had streaks of angry red highlighting straw-blonde locks that fell all the way to his waist. His voice thundered across the field, ¡°Hail and salutations, brave warriors of Avalon! Are you ready to embark on your epic adventure of steel and magic? To conquer and claim the finest weapons, armours and treasures that this world offers? To have your name resound across the realms by earning a seat at the sacred Round Table? Tell me, Big Boys, ARE YOU READY? Give me a HELL YEAH!¡± ¡°HELL YEAH!¡± came the obligatory shout from the warriors all around. ¡°I¡¯m [BOSS]. Around here, I¡¯meveryone¡¯sBOSS because I give everyone their jobs!¡± the NPC roared with laughter at his own joke. Even his conceited hair seemed to come to life and pat his back in praise. Pin drop silence ensued but unperturbed, [BOSS] continued talking like a true boss, explaininghow the JobSelection system worked. ¡°Listen up Big Boys, Avalon¡¯s job selection, isn¡¯t a selection at all! Got you there, didn¡¯t I! It¡¯s actually the first ever VR gaming experience toutilise your physical attributes and emotional state to assign you a class that best fits your personality and abilities.¡± ¡°When you¡¯re done being impressed, and I know you are, pull yourselves together and step into the Scanning Halos in front of you. Your fate and class allocations await you.¡± ____________ In my previous lives, my class had always been the same; The Knight. Apart from my dashing good looks and Adonis-like body, I had only one design for this life, and all my earlier lives too, I guess. My desire to protect and save Lancelot. So, the class allocation made sense, I guess. Plus, I''m super gallant, chivalrous and all that other boring knight bullshit. All around me, glowing circles appeared in front of Players. Excited chatter hummed across the field as players stepped into the circles andthe class allocationsstarted. ¡°What? [COURT JESTER]? What kind of sick joke is this?¡± someone screamed with dissatisfaction. I shrugged off the unnecessary (but still funny?) slapstick cameo and stepped into the Scanning Halo. I felt my body and mind tingle gently asa probing warmth filled me. Yes, I said it like that on purpose.
[CLASS UNLOCKED - KNIGHT]
[HIDDEN CLASS UNLOCKED - HIDDEN BLADE]
I gasped in surprise and shock. I''ve unlocked a hidden class? In all my lives, no one ever knew that this was even possible or that hidden classes existed. Except for you guys, the one who bothered to read the prologue that is. Eager for details, I called out the command, ¡°Status¡±. What I saw almost had me screaming in excitement but that''s a story for another day; and the obligatory cliff-hanger for the next chapter. Chapter 2 - Hey Big Boy ¡°STATUS!¡± I commanded, commandingly, making a semi-translucent character sheet appear.
[NAME: MORDRED] [CLASS: KNIGHT PROTECTOR LVL 1] [0% EXP] [FAME: PEASANT]
Like I needed you to tell me what my name is? Who designs these damn character sheets! Anyway, seen this crap way too many times, I¡¯ll come back to it later. This is what caught my eye:
[HIDDEN CLASS: HIDDEN BLADE LVL 1] LEVEL 1 INNITIATE [0% EXP]
Your overpowering hatred and thirst for revenge against the Knights of the Round has awakened a special skillset and class. You¡¯re ready to do whatever, to whoever that gets in your way to achieve your goals.
Yay for long-winded, unnecessary fluff text! In short, I unlocked this awesome class because I was ready to be an asshole to everyone in Avalon to get what I want, except Lancelot. Who says nice guys finish last? Sadly, there was only one active skill available at the moment, which disappointed me a little. Am pretty sure more will unlock as I level up though.
[MARKED FOR DEATH] LEVEL 1/10 [0% EXP]
You don¡¯t flinch when it comes to cold-blooded murder. Once you decide someone needs to die, you kill them. Mark one target for death to inflict +10% Damage until it dies. Casting Cost: 15 Mana Cast time: 3 Seconds Cooldown: 45 Seconds
All in all, a pretty damn cool skill! I¡¯d have to rethink how my levelling plans to fully utilise it but I already have something in mind! On to the first passive skill:
[MASTER MANIPULATOR] LEVEL 1/10 [0% EXP]
Constant experience with betrayal and subterfuge has given you great insights into the workings of the human mind. +5% Chance to receive favourable reactions from all NPC interactions. Your charm makes you appear more attractive than you really are. +5 Charisma per Skill Level
Makes me seem better looking than I really am? Oh, come on, that miserable +5% Chance doesn¡¯t do me justice. My chiselled profile alone should already be +50%, let alone with a passive skill buff boost! The extra Charisma and Perception stats will come in useful though.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. This skill, however, sent shivers down my spine. It was a blatantly simple reminder - to save Lancelot, there would be people that I needed to kill. That I wanted to kill, to be more precise.
[REAPER] LEVEL 1/10 [0% EXP]
You¡¯re ruthlessness for a reason. For every player you betray who is killed gain: 100% of their Death penalty (exp, gold and items lost) 5% Chance to earn 1 additional random reward Random rewards improve with levels Duration: Accumulates rewards up to 30 Minutes after first triggered Cool down: 24 Hours
While it would be a while until the game became divided into Casual and Lifeline modes, I needed to grow my character as fast as I could in preparation for that. Getting those bastards killed would not only slow down their growth, with this skill it would accelerate mine. I wonder what the random rewards are though. Items? Skills? Could it be free stats, perhaps? Only one way to find out, I guess. Looks like some one¡¯s going to have to die. ____________ Speaking of stats, I need to allocate my attributes points. Sigh. I was dreading this. ¡°ALLOCATE STATS!¡± I commanded, commandingly. ¡°Hey Big Boy! Can you give me a HELL YEAH!¡± a grating voice sounded in my mind. ¡°Just give me my stats, will you?¡± I groaned. Yes, it was him. ¡°Can you give me a HELL YEAH!¡± [BOSS] ignored me. ¡°Just give me my fucking stats!¡± I cursed. ¡°Can you give me a HELL YEAH!¡± the world¡¯s most irritating NPC persisted. Fuck! As if I didn¡¯t already have enough endless loops in my life. I sighed and caved in. ¡°¡­. Hell¡­ yeah¡­¡± I breathed. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit, Big Boy! For some strange reason, you don¡¯t seem surprised to hear me in your mind. Maybe I¡¯ve been on your mind since you saw me. ATTRACTIVE. LIKE. A. [BOSS]!¡± Fuck! I fucking hate this NPC! It literally kills me that every time I want to make a system request ¨C this irritating bastard will the AI I needed to use to process it. ¡°Let me explain how the stats work before you allocate them, Big Boy!¡± ¡°No. just let me allocate my sta¡­.¡± Totally ignoring me yet again, [BOSS] interrupted me and proceeded to give me a 15-minute detailed noob walkthrough on the statistics. Which I summarised below for your sanity and mine here: [Strength: 1 ] [Improves physical attack power] [Dexterity: 1 ] [Improves agility, control and speed of body] [Vitality: 1 ] [Improves physical defence and resistances] [Intelligence: 1 ] [Improves magic power and resistance] [Charisma: 1 +5 ] [Improves your luck, game rewards and attractiveness] [Unused Points: 24 ] [Stat points you have not used yet] ¡°ADD STATS +19 Dex +5 Charisma,¡± I said. ¡°Big Boy, a Knight without Strength or Vitality? HOHOHO! You Bad Boy! You weren¡¯t listening when [BOSS] was explaining the stat functions.¡± ¡°ADD STATS +19 Dex +5 Charisma,¡± I repeated; two can play the ignoring game. ¡°Your funeral, Big Boy,¡± [BOSS] replied. I immediately heard a tiny PING, indicating my stats had been updated. ¡°Now, it time to pick your two starting Knight Class Talents.
[CLASS: KNIGHT LVL 1] LEVEL 1 SQUIRE [0% EXP]
Your love for your Master makes you a stalwart protector who will sacrifice anything to keep Lancelot safe and out of harm¡¯s way.
¡°Take your time to carefully consider wha¡­¡± [BOSS] started, about to explain the different skills available to me for the Knight Class. ¡°WEAPON MASTER and OPPORTUNIST,¡± I smugly cut him off choosing two passive skills for now.
[WEAPON MASTER] LEVEL 1/5 [0% EXP]
If it deals damage, you know how to use it. Given enough time, anything in your hands becomes a lethal weapon of destruction. +15% Increased weapon proficiency exp + 10% Damage with Max level Proficiency weapons
[OPPORTUNIST] LEVEL 1/5 [0% EXP]
You¡¯ve an eye for chinks in the armour and know where to hit your enemies where it hurts. +10% Chance for critical strikes
¡°CLOSE STATUS SCREEN,¡± I hurriedly said after completing what I need to do, dismissing [BOSS] from inside my mind before he drove me out of my mind.¡°What on earth are you planning, Big Boy...¡± [BOSS] questioned. With my stats and skills selected, the first step of my plan was complete. Next thing I needed to acquire, was a good bow. As if reading my mind, [BOSS] suddenly looked at me from across the field, winked and bow-ed. Shuddering, I quickly looked for Lancelot so we could both leave this chapter in our lives behind as soon as possible. Chapter 3 - Eggs and Bacon ¡°What¡¯s the big rush? Did you get a bad starting class?¡± Lancelot laughed. ¡°I¡¯m a Knight. What class, did you get, Master?¡± I already knew the answer even before she replied, but I wanted to confirm that nothing else had changed this reset. The appearance of a new Hidden Class had thrown me off a little. ¡°I¡¯m a Paladin! Protector of the Light, Champion of the weak, the oppressed¡­¡± ¡°¡­ have you added your skills and stats yet?¡± I cut her off not interested in hearing the same old fluff text again. What is it with games and fluff text? ¡°Call me Lancelot here! And no, not just yet. I was thinking of adding¡­¡± ¡°Pump 9 into INT and 15 into STR. For your skills, select [GLORY] and [AGAINST ALL ODDS],¡± I instructed.
[GLORY] LEVEL 1/5 [0% EXP]
Your hunger for fame and recognition whips you and your party in a frenzy to conquer everything in your path. +10% Chance for critical strikes +15% Attack Speed Casting Cost: 3 Mana Duration: 3 Seconds Cooldown: 5 Seconds
[AGAINST ALL ODDS] LEVEL 1/5 [0% EXP]
Champions of Light shine the brightest when shrouded in darkness. Emit a burst of bright light that stun all unfriendly characters within a 2-meter radius for 2 seconds Deals 80% STR damage to all targets Casting Cost: 15 Mana Cast time: 1 Second: 2 Seconds Cooldown: 20 Seconds
¡°Why INT? I should get some VIT, otherwise if a mob so much as glares at me too hard, I¡¯ll end up dying! Plus, these two skills don¡¯t deal any damage at all. How am I supposed to power level?¡± Lancelot disagreed. ¡°Eggs and bacon,¡± I answered without answering. ¡°Bacon and eggs, you mean? Wait, what? What the hell do you mean, eggs and bacon?¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Lancelot, why make me come here?¡± ¡°To own the server, not serve bloody breakfast!¡± she grumbled. ¡°Then trust me, I know what I¡¯m doing. We won¡¯t be hunting with everyone else here, look at how many players there are. They¡¯re all rushing to the same damn zone to power level and will literally be fighting over monsters to kill. I have a plan, now allocate your stats and let¡¯s head to the Weapons shop,¡± I insisted. ¡°If this plan of yours screws up, I¡¯m going to beat you into tiny pieces,¡± she pointedly promised as she allocated her stats and skills. As we walked to the Weapons shop, the entire Newbie Town is abuzz with players exploring the area excitedly. Lancelot looked around her, longing to join the horde and discover the town too. ¡°No time to waste. Weapon shop. We can return and explore later, when we¡¯re the first in the server to change jobs,¡± I tell her. The mention of being the first, made her eyes light up. She nodded and walked on with new-found determination. A few minutes later, we found the weapon shop; which was rather ingeniously named, ¡°The Weapon Shop¡±. ¡°Unequip and sell all your starting armour and weapon,¡± I instructed, to which her eyes opened wide in shock. ¡°Trust me,¡± I reassured. I sold my [SHOES]. [JERKIN], [GLOVES] and [SQUIRE¡¯S SWORD], receiving 400 Copper. I bought a [RUSTY DAGGER] for 150 Copper. Along with my starting 500 Copper, I now had 750 Copper left. I passed 500 Copper to Lancelot. ¡°Now buy a [TWO-HANDED SWORD] for 1 Silver and 250 copper.¡± ¡°That¡¯s almost all the money we have! A two handed-sword might add more strength, but its attack speed is horrible. Not a practical weapon at all!¡± ¡°Just. Do. It.¡± I was starting to feel a little exasperated. ¡°Fine,¡± she pouted, ¡°Done.¡± Next, we dropped by the General Store¡­ to buy general stuff. Two [PICKAXES], two [RETURN SCROLLS] and two [ASP POTS] to be exact. ¡°That was the last of our money. We can¡¯t even buy any HP Potions! We¡¯re going to be grinding like snails at this rate.¡± ¡°It¡¯s time for eggs,¡± I smiled and motioned for her to follow me. As we left town, as I forecasted, the zone was packed with Players hunting monsters. After all, it made sense to hunt close to town, where you spam skills to kill monsters then return to quickly regenerate HP and Mana in the safe zones. Only problem was the monster respawn rates weren¡¯t designed for a cluster-fuck of players massacring the poor [SLIMY] and [FLUFF] monsters in the zone. They were killing the monsters too quickly. Already, several heated arguments over kill stealing had begun. I looked at Lancelot and smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t be so smug. I bet the place you¡¯re bringing us to will be the same,¡± she poked my forehead. ¡°We¡¯ll see, Master.¡± ¡°L-A-N-C-E-L-O-T.¡± We walked for a good 30 minutes without stopping, soon we reached the middle of a dessert. I could tell that Lancelot was starting to feel restless. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about hitting any of these monsters. They¡¯re not AGGRO, so they won¡¯t attack us but if you provoke them¡­ if they stare at you hard enough, you¡¯ll be respawning at town.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we just hit one? Just a tiny, itsy, bitsy, little monster? I didn¡¯t pay good money for a state of the art VR set to just walk! I bought it to kill stuff!¡± she eyed the [BOAR] nearby. ¡°Sure¡­¡± I replied, making Lancelot¡¯s eyes immediately light up. ¡°If you want to walk all the way back here by yourself from town.¡± Just as Lancelot contemplated making me her first kill in the server, I announced ¡°We¡¯ve arrived. Let¡¯s party up and go in.¡± One party and a few dozen steps later this pop up appeared, just like I expected.
[YOUR PARTY FOUND ¡°THE NEST DUNGEON¡±] DISCOVERY BONUS: +200 EXP +25% EXP AND +50% Drop Rate for 24 Hours
There was a massive gaping hole in the ground with giant sand stalagmites lining its entrance. The area directly next to the opening was extra barren with no remote signs of life. Even the sand surrounding it seemed to have been sucked dry and was a little darker than usual. As we entered the cavern, a strong wind howled from the underground. It was pitch black and we could barely see anything. It felt like we were walking blindly into some giant monster¡¯s mouth. The entire place stank, and seemed to vibrate with the chattering and humming of insects. ¡°¡­. Mordred?¡± she whispered. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°¡­ you¡­. y-yy-ou didn¡¯t mention bugs,¡± Lancelot stammered. ¡°If I did, you wouldn¡¯t have come,¡± I chuckled. ¡°Y-y-yyou asshole! YOU KNEW! Wait, how did you know how to find this dungeon in the first place?¡± her curiosity overcame fear for a moment. ¡°Didn¡¯t you read the newbie guide that came with your game set?¡± Of course it wasn¡¯t written in the damn Noob Guide. And of course Lancelot didn¡¯t read the guide either. In my past resets, this dungeon wasn¡¯t usually discovered until the third or fourth day after the server was opened. As the server matured, it would become a favorite grinding and farming spot for resources and new players alike. And I was about to show Lancelot exactly why. Suddenly, I felt a gauntlet reach out and tentatively grab my hand. ¡°H-h-old my hand. It¡¯s so dark and I have no clue where we are headed. B-bbetter to be safe and make sure we don¡¯t get separated.¡± Her 8-foot custom-made avatar¡¯s hands were obviously huge, too huge for me to wrap my fingers around. So, she held mine instead. Must have been a rather odd sight, a manly giant metallic suit of armor holding hands with another knight as they walked in the dark. Smiling sheepishly, I brought Lancelot to collect the first ingredient for ¡°breakfast¡±. Eggs. Chapter 4 – Sunny side up, please. The deeper we went into the cavern, the darker and, to Lancelot¡¯s horror, the louder the buzzing sounds became. Her giant hands¡¯ grip on mine tightened. I could feel sweat starting to drip from the sides of my ears as we continued walking. It was getting hotter and hotter. ¡°I can¡¯t see a damn thing and all I can hear is bugs all around us. It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s really¡­¡± Lancelot stuttered. ¡°¡­ bugging you?¡± I chuckled and finished for her, earning a smack on my head. ¡°Relax, it¡¯ll get brighter soon.¡± ¡°And the bugs will be gone too?¡± she asked hopefully. ¡°One for two isn¡¯t all that bad,¡± I grinned. Soon, we could see a faint luminous glow appear in front of us. Lancelot quickened her pace, dragging me along with her. ¡°Light! There¡¯s light ahead! I can finally see again,¡± she said excited. ¡°Can¡¯t believe you¡¯re actually excited about seeing¡­ bugs,¡± I teased and a stream of expletives directed at my supposedly ambiguous parentage followed shortly. Small translucent shards of crystals protruding from the ground began to appear. What was earlier a dry breeze, became a gushing heatwave with a sweet but mildly sickening scent of sulphur. The path slowly expanded, with more and more crystals appearing and led us into a huge chamber littered with giant, razor sharp crystal obelisks. The chattering echoed, resounding through the entire chamber. ¡°Must have been a volcano close by. The magma must have cooled the ground water, saturating calcium sulphate to form these giant crystals,¡± I mused offhandedly. ¡°Newbie Guide?¡± Lancelot raised an eyebrow at the unexpected bit of world lore. ¡°Discovery Channel,¡± I replied. Lancelot made a rather unladylike snort that quite suited her avatar. The chamber itself diverged into another two exits and smack in the middle was the source of the foul smell - two giant clusters of eggs. ¡°This place, it¡¯s gorgeous! Look at how the lights dance on the crystals. It¡¯s almost like the crystals are alive,¡± Lancelot whispered and reached out to touch the shiny bit of an obelisk. Then, it moved, making her scream in fright and jump backwards like a startled giant metallic cat. ¡°It fucking moved! It IS alive!¡± Lancelot squealed. ¡°The crystal¡¯s not alive but that is. [IDENTIFY]!¡± I commanded, looking directly at the moving ¡°light¡±.
CRYSTALROACH LVL 12 INSECT An ancient breed of roaches. Unlike their uglier cousins, millions of years feeding on The Nest crystals caused Crystal Cockroaches to evolve, resulting in a luminous and crystal-like appearance and exo-skeleton. WEAKNESS: ???? DROPS: ???? ???? [COMMON] ???? [UNCOMMON] ???? [RARE]
A look of pure horror appeared on Lancelot¡¯s face, ¡°Ancient. Freaking. Roaches.¡± ¡°Oh God, if millions of years of feeding on crystals made these bugs crystalroaches - those slutty cockroaches,¡± I said in mock disgust. Lancelot burst into a mini fit of giggles. ¡°Dolt! You¡¯re so ridiculous! Here I am, terrified to death and you¡¯re making penis jokes,¡± she smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t look so scared now. Come, it¡¯s time to deal with the eggs.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe I mentioned breakfast and roach eggs in the same sentence,¡± Lancelot grimaced.
CRYSTALROACH EGG LVL 5 INSECT Where it all begins for Crystalroaches. After a week of incubation, the eggs hatch into larvae. Unlike normal eggs, these have a tough, protective crystal exo-skeleton. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. WEAKNESS: ???? DROPS: ???? ???? [COMMON] ???? [UNCOMMON] ???? [RARE]
I explained the game plan to her, ¡°Stand in the middle of the eggs, cast [GLORY] to trigger the Critical Strike and Attack Speed Bonus. Then, use [AGAINST ALL ODDS] to deal Area damage.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s why you asked me to get the [TWO-HANDED SWORD]. Purely for the STR bonus.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t the Crystalroaches attack us? We¡¯re killing their eggs,¡± Lancelot asked. ¡°Their instincts don¡¯t work that way. All they do is feed and fuc- ¡­ lay eggs. When we¡¯re done with this cluster, we¡¯ll move to the other eggs and repeat the process. This way, a new batch of eggs will respawn for us to farm again shortly after we¡¯re done with the second cluster,¡± I explained. ¡°So, it¡¯s completely safe then! No wonder you told me to sell all my armour and ignore VIT.¡± Lancelot looked thoughtful. ¡°Just be careful not to hit any of the Crystalroaches with your AOE and we¡¯ll be fine. If you aggro them by mistake, we¡¯re pretty much screwed.¡± Lancelot nodded. ¡°With 10 INT, I have 170 mana and my regen rate is at 0.5 mana per second. So, for every 20 seconds I¡¯ll cast [GLORY] four times [AGAINST THE ODDS] once, which means I¡¯ll consume 17 mana. So, I can go for about 2 minutes and 40 seconds before I run dry.¡± I smiled, my Master always did have a way with numbers. ¡°You¡¯re forgetting something important, Lancelot. We¡¯re killing LVL 5 monsters with a 25% EXP boost, plus the full mana recharge every time we level up.¡± Lancelot grinned and motioned to start the grind, ¡°Breakfast is served!¡± She moved to the epi-center of the eggs cluster, ¡°[GLORY]!¡± As I soon as I felt the boosts kick in, I started hacking at a Crystalroach Egg. 1, 1, 3 [CRIT], 1, 4 [CRIT] Yes my damage was pretty pathetic, but that was because these eggs were bloody hardy. Thankfully the combination of my high Critical Strike rate, attack speed and [GLORIA]¡¯s boosts sped up the process tremendously. ¡°[AGAINST ALL ODDS]!¡± ¡­1, 1,1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 4 [CRIT] With her two metre range AOE damage, Lancelot could hit around 15 eggs simultaneously. I tried to keep all the HP levels of the eggs around the same. When one dropped a little too far below the other eggs, I¡¯d move on to a different one. Gaming is all about efficiency, after all. Just as Lancelot was about to run out of mana, the eggs exploded. [YOU HAVE GAINED A LEVEL!] [YOU HAVE GAINED A LEVEL!] [YOU HAVE GAINED A LEVEL!] ¡°Three levels under 3 minutes! This is ridiculous, Mordred. You¡¯re a genius!¡± ¡°We¡¯re lowbies, of course it¡¯ll be fast. And, yes, I am a genius,¡± I smiled. Truth is, it wasn¡¯t me who devised this newbie grinding strategy. It was a famous hunting ground to help friends who just joined the game to power level. The eggs were weak to FIRE, so Avalon veterans would arm their lowbie friends with FIRE element weapons, mana pots and party buffs to grind here. It was completely safe and dropped pretty beginner good equipment and resources. Of course, you¡¯d still have the occasional moron who¡¯d died trying to take a pot shot at a Crystalroach. Problem was that it became so popular, that it was overcrowded. It was a far cry from now, where we had monopoly of the entire chamber, plus 25% exp and 50% drop rate boosts as well. ¡°Time to grab the loot,¡± I told Lancelot and began to collect the drops. 11 x [CRYSTAL SPLINTER] 2 x [CRYSTAL SHARD] 75 COPPER Not bad, not bad at all! We even picked up something that would speed up our farming.
CRYSTAL DAGGER LVL 5 UNCOMMON III SILVER TIER WEAPON
DAMAGE: 45 ATTACK SPEED: FAST +2 DEX +2 STR
Weapons and armour in Avalon were categorised by three descriptions: [LEVEL] of the weapon indicated, you guessed it, the weapon¡¯s level. Good job figuring that one out. [RARITY] ranged from [COMMON] all the way to [UNIQUE], with a sub-level of I to IV, denoting how difficult it was to find the weapon. [TIER], for now, covered COPPER, BRONZE, SILVER and GOLD. So, yes, at this stage, this was a pretty awesome weapon! ¡°Splinter? Shard? What¡¯s up with all these crystals?¡± Lancelot asked, interruption my explanatory stream of conscience. ¡°They¡¯re crafting resources. We¡¯ll need them for bacon, later. One step at a time though. First, we need to hit level 10. Pump your stats into equally into STR and INT, Lancelot. I¡¯ll be going DEX ¨C CHR in a 1:3 ratio.¡± We moved on to the next cluster of eggs and continued grinding. Midway through killing of the second batch of eggs, the first clustered respawned. Level up. Allocate stats. Continue grinding. It was straight forward rinse and repeat process. A few levels later, we were killing the eggs too quickly, finishing off one batch before the previous batch could fully respawn. So far, between us we had collected quite a little harvest: 213 x [CRYSTAL SPLINTER] 43 x [CRYSTAL SHARD] 1 x [CRYSTAL DAGGER] 1 SILVER 67 COPPER ¡°Come, let¡¯s not sit and wait for the eggs to respawn. Bring out your pickaxe and follow me.¡± Right at the edge of the chamber were little ore deposits embedded in the walls. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not going to dig itself out. Put some back into it, Lancelot. [MINE]!¡± [YOU RECEIVED x2 SILVER ORE] [MINING REACHED LVL 1]
[MINE] LEVEL 1/5 [5% EXP]
You hit your foot more than the ores but usually manage to salvage something out of it. The mining. Not your foot. 50% chance to extract low grade minerals and metals. Duration: 10 Seconds
With that little addition to our grinding routine, we continued farming in The Nest until we hit level 10. Finally, the item I needed to bring home the bacon dropped.
CRYSTALHEART GEM RARE WEAPON ACCESSORY A beautiful heart-shaped crystal that emits a gentle buzzing sound. The one accessory that may more useful when dropped than worn.
SLOT FOR +10% CRITICAL HIT BONUS
Just in time too. Our weight hit 90%, cutting our movement, attack speed and mana regeneration by 75%. It was finally time to return to Newbie Town. Just as we were about to use our [RETURN SCROLL], that damned voice appeared in my head again, ¡°Hey Big Boy!¡± Chapter 5 - Farming GoldFarm Chapter 5 ¨C Farming GoldFarm ¡°Congratulations! You¡¯re the first to hit level 10 in Avalon. LIKE. A. BOSS! All that CHR must have made someone in a high place really like you. Talking about yours truly here, just in case you were wondering!¡± ¡°Get to the point. What do you want?¡± I half-growled. ¡°Would you like your name announced on the server, Big Boy?¡± [BOSS] asked. ¡°What happens if I say no?¡± ¡°Two options. I¡¯ll censor your name out with those fancy ******. So, it will look like a swear word was the first to hit level 10. Rather tacky, really. Or, I can omit you totally, and announce the second player to hit level 10 instead,¡± [BOSS] answered. ¡°Will I still get the rewards for being first?¡± I asked. ¡°Of course, Big Boy. For all server-wide achievements, the first 3 players will receive rewards. All that will happen is the second player will be announced as the first, but still receive the reward for being second placed.¡± I thought about it for a while. I¡¯m the shadow to Lancelot¡¯s light. The darker the shadow, the brighter the light. I wanted Lancelot to be a source of inspiration and awe; it would be easier for her to find allies that way. Plus, I wouldn¡¯t be much of a Hidden Blade if everyone knew about me. ¡°Omit my name.¡± ¡°Never took you for a shy Big Boy,¡± [BOSS] chuckled. ¡°I like you more and more. Call me soon, kay? I¡¯ll be waiting <3!¡± As I turned on my auto-filter mode, I received two notifications instantly after my decision:
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED GRIND MASTER - FIRST TO LVL 10 REWARDS +75 SILVER +250 FAME
***** CONGRATULATIONS PLAYER LANCELOT FOR ACHIEVING GRIND MASTER ¨C FIRST TO LVL 10. ***** YOU RECEIVED +50 SILVER +200 FAME
Server achievement rewards were indeed insanely awesome. 125 Silver was almost 20 times what we had earned from our entire grinding session in The Nest dungeon. Excluding the loot drops of course. ¡°That¡¯s weird. I could have sworn you hit level 10 before me, Mordred. How come they announced me as first?¡± ¡°Told them not to, you¡¯re the people person, not me. I don¡¯t want a flood of noobs private messaging me for help and tips. Their stupidity might infect me.¡± ¡°Serious, be nicer, Mordred. It won¡¯t do you any harm ju¡­¡± she paused mid-sentence. ¡°Oh my!¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Lancelot?¡± ¡°My Private Message Request is beeping like a time-bomb that¡¯s about to detonate,¡± she sighed, pressing her temples in a grimace. I chuckled, ¡°Seriously, be nicer, Lancelot!¡± mimicking her. ¡°Tell you what, go take a short break. If you¡¯re offline, they won¡¯t spam you so much. You can sort through the messages later.¡± ¡°But we shouldn¡¯t waste time! Otherwise, we might lose our top spot on the server,¡± Lancelot protested. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I have some things to prepare for us before we can continue power levelling. Go take a short nap for an hour or two. We still have 19 hours left for the bonus drop and exp at The Nest Dungeon. We¡¯re going all out, so you won¡¯t be getting much rest later.¡± Lancelot looked a little reluctant but nodded. ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll be back later, but don¡¯t you need some rest too?¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°I¡¯m fine. You know me, I don¡¯t need any down time. Let¡¯s go to the storage first to transfer the drops. I¡¯ll need access to them.¡± Nodding, Lancelot followed me to the [STORAGE NPC], then passed me everything except for 10 Silver. ¡°You be good, Mordred!¡± She poked my forehead with a finger, then logged off. I took a look at my [CHARACTER STATUS] screen:
[NAME: MORDRED] [FAME: 350 RESPECTED CITIZEN] HP: 200/200 ASPD: 30 (+2 PROFICIENCY +10 FAST) MANA: 50/50 CRIT RATE: 15% STATS [Strength: 1 +2 ] [Improves physical attack power] [Dexterity: 50 +2 ] [Improves agility, control and speed of body] [Vitality: 1 ] [Improves physical defence and resistances] [Intelligence: 1 ] [Improves magic power and resistance] [Charisma: 25 +5 ] [Improves your luck, game rewards and attractiveness] SKILLS [CLASS: KNIGHT] LVL 10 SQUIRE [5% EXP] [WEAPON MASTER - LEVEL 1/5 75% EXP] [OPPORTUNIST - LEVEL 1/5 75% EXP] [HIDDEN CLASS: HIDDEN BLADE] LEVEL 10 INNITIATE [5% EXP] [REAPER - LEVEL 1/10 0% EXP] [MARKED FOR DEATH - LEVEL 1/10 0% EXP] [MASTER MANIPULATOR - LEVEL 1/10 0% EXP] PROFICIENCIES [DAGGER MASTERY - LEVEL 2/10 6% EXP] [MINE ¨C LEVEL 2/10 17% EXP]
Thanks to discovering the dungeon and my server achievement, my [FAME] had hit the second level, moving from [PEASANT] to [RESPECTED CITIZEN]. This was good, the higher my [FAME], the more Avalon NPCs would like me; giving me better prices, rewards and access to special Quests. Throw in my high CHR and [MASTER MANIPULATOR] skill, things should get very lucrative indeed. I had also gained two Proficiencies [MINE] and [DAGGER MASTERY].
[DAGGER MASTERY] LEVEL 2/10 [6% EXP]
You can stab, cut and slice stuff with a dagger. Don¡¯t quit your day job just yet. +5 DAMAGE +2 ASPD WITH DAGGERS
Not that I planned on using daggers very much, except to unlock some skills, but who knows? Now, to clear my inventory for more gold. INVENTORY 1115 x [CRYSTAL SPLINTER] 233 x [CRYSTAL SHARD] 6 x [CRYSTAL DAGGER] 260 x [SILVER ORE] 1 GOLD 22 SILVER 56 COPPER I put all the Crystal Daggers straight into the server auction house but staggered the sales so that only one would be available every two hours. They were high grade weapons at this stage of the game, so I didn¡¯t want to flood the market and devalue them. I set the starting bid price at 5 silver, something a normal player probably couldn¡¯t afford ¨C but guilds and workshops would pay to give their top players an edge in levelling and PVP. Too bad they were daggers though, if they were swords ¨C I could charge a lot higher. Everyone and their grandma wanted to be a Knight of the Round Table, so there weren¡¯t many rogues. Next, was to take care of the Crystals and silver ores I found. In all my previous life resets, there had been only one player who became a Legendary Divine Smith, the highest Blackmith tier possible. His name was GoldFarm. Yes, rather unglamorous; I know, but trust me, it was an appropriate name. He was the one player that played Avalon from the very start to make real money. When I say played, I use the phrase ¡°play¡± very loosely. He didn¡¯t participate in any other aspect of the game. No levelling, boss hunting, PVP or anything else that resembled actual game play. All he did was collect crafting resources, smith the armour or weapon, sell it; then repeat the entire process over, and over again. His 100% focus and dedication to his craft meant that he was always at least one full tier ahead of all other blacksmiths. Who the hell would want to just collect resources and craft shit 24/7 in a VRMMO? No one else apart from GoldFarm; and it was all for the sake of farming as much gold to sell as he could. You see in the real world; he was in desperate need for money. Not because he had a mother dying of cancer. Or because he was abandoned by parents and needed to support and raise and adorable younger sister. Nope, he was just a plain, money-loving, greedy bastard. It was his obsession with earning more that made him so dedicated and driven. Sure, I could find the resources and forge my own weapons but I couldn¡¯t afford to waste time on such a time-consuming specialisation. A partnership with GoldFarmer would enable me to access the best forged weapons and armours available, while also turning my raw materials I found into profit. I had tried to recruit him every reset by bribing him, threatening him, flattering him; even begging him. It never worked. His fierce pride, arrogance and complete faith in his own ability was accompanied by an extreme reluctance to share any potential profits. He had turned me down every single time. This time, I was going to try something completely different, using the ores and crystal I had found. Chapter 6 - Ore-allllly? ¡°Step right up! Create Magic Potions that can disintegrate the biggest, baddest, bad asses within the entire kingdom of Avalon. Forge swords that can cut light and rip a hole in the very fabric of reality. And guess what my friends, it all starts right here; as a Merchant!¡± [ANTONIO] the merchant NPC hollered. ¡°Honourable Master, there is indeed no nobler profession than the Merchant. You are the backbone of any country¡¯s economy; the masterminds arming, empowering our realm¡¯s greatest warriors with the finest potions, weapons and amour available,¡± I said ingratiatingly.
[MASTER MANIPULATOR SKILL SUCCESS] LEVEL 1/10 [25% EXP] Intimacy with Antonio has increased.
¡°You, good sir, speak the truth! Oh, if only all saw things as you do, my friend. Alas, this is not the case,¡± [ANTONIO] sighed theatrically. This was the first time this NPC had reacted like this; sensing an opportunity I asked, ¡°What troubles you, gentle merchant?¡± ¡°A friend of mine, [BASSANIO] is paying court to a lady and¡­ Never mind, good friend. It is too awkward for me to delve into the details. Let us forget I mentioned it,¡± [ANTONIO] sighed and looked away. Wait, what! He didn¡¯t want to talk about it anymore? Why do the names [ANTONIO] and [BASSANIO] sound so familiar? Then, it struck me, ¡°Alas, a merchant¡¯s merchandise can be both a boon and a curse. Is your entire fortune invested and tied down in your wares, master merchant? Is that why you can¡¯t assist your blood-brother [BASSANIO]?¡± ¡°¡­ how did you know?¡± ¡°Your distress is written plain as day on your gentle heart, good merchant,¡± I said smoothly. That and a passing read-through on the abridged version of Shakespeare¡¯s The Merchant of Venice. ¡°So, please, tell me. How can I be of assistance?¡± ¡°Very well, friend. But this is a rather¡­ delicate situation for me. I appreciate your discretion,¡± [ANTONIO] implored. ¡°Of course brother [ANTONIO], I understand,¡± I nodded.
YOU¡¯VE ACCEPTED ¡°A MERCHANT¡¯S MERCHANDISE¡± RANK C HIDDEN QUEST
¡°Indeed, my fortune is tied up in wares that I can¡¯t sell in time to be of assistance to [BASSANIO]. And if I cannot lend it to him, he¡¯s desperate enough to borrow it from [SHYLOCK], and that tight-fisted, penny-pinching bastard will rob [BASSANIO] blind.¡± ¡°Well, it just so happens I need to buy some items from you, [ANTONIO]. I¡¯m planning to follow in your noble footsteps and try my hand at Alchemy. I¡¯ll need to purchase the starting proficiencies from you, my friend.¡± To become a full-fledged [BLACKSMITH] or [ALCHEMIST]; first you had to purchase, then master at least one of the three core merchant proficiencies: [HAGGLE] [REFINE] or [STORE]. Only after that, would you be allowed to access the higher levelled proficiencies like [FORGE] for Blacksmiths, or [PHARMACY] for Alchemists. ¡°Alchemy? Tis¡¯ indeed a noble profession and a great starting point. The skill books will set you back a mere 12 Silver,¡± [ANTONIO] said, sounding a little disappointed. ¡°Ouch, 12 Silver? That may be a tad heavy on my finances, friend. Perhaps you could help a brother merchant out with a slight discount?¡± I asked hopefully. Truth be told, the price for the skill books was standard and I was just trying my luck. [ANTONIO]¡¯s face darkened visibly at this request, ¡°Friend, while I am happy to make your acquaintance, you¡¯re no brother to me. I need all the money I can raise to help my real brother. Besides, if 12 Silver breaks your wallet, this might not be the profession for you after all.¡± ¡°My sincerest apologies, friend merchant. In my excitement to create a Merchant Guild as a banner to empower all Alchemist, Blacksmiths and Merchants, I became tight-fisted and unwittingly insulted you with my caution with finances. Please, here is 15 Silver. 12 Silver for the skill books, 3 Silver as my personal contribution towards saving [BASSANIO].¡± 3 Silver wasn¡¯t a sum to be scoffed at this early in the server. Made my heart ache trying to literally buy back [ANTONIO]¡¯s favour, but I had placed a little trap in my ¡°apology¡± that I hoped would help me make the most of the situation. ¡°A Guild?¡± [ANTONIO] took the bait. ¡°Indeed friend. I¡¯m looking for a large amount of resources to help kickstart the Merchant professions within Avalon. With more high levelled merchants, blacksmiths and alchemist, naturally business would boom for you too, my friend. The demand for resources would rocket!¡± [ANTONIO] looked a little apprehensive but you could tell I had piqued his interest. I let the temptation sink in before following up with, ¡°Alas, with the world so fresh, I need to be careful with what I invest in to make the most of the meagre 5 gold I¡¯ve gathered so far.¡± ¡°FIVE gold? Already? It¡¯s barely been half a day.¡± [ANTONIO]¡¯s eyes lit up and he unconsciously licked his lips. ¡°Yes. A few of us pooled together our earnings. But unfortunately, my partners aren¡¯t convinced the Merchant Guild would be the best investment. For now, anyway.¡± [ANTONIO] saw his cash cow appear and disappear in the manner of seconds and started to panic a little, ¡°BUT¡­¡± ¡°But! I have a proposal for you, friend merchant. I have complete faith in my investment for the Guild. Perhaps if you were to show some good faith in return, I could persuade my friends?¡± I hinted.
[MASTER MANIPULATOR SKILL SUCCESS]The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. LEVEL 1/10 [50% EXP] Intimacy with Antonio has increased.
[ANTONIO] nodded semi-frantically. ¡°How about you sell me all your [FIREHEART ORES] that you have at the moment and hold any future stock for me for three days? When I prove to my friends I can make a great return on the investment, they¡¯ll definitely come back for more!¡± ¡°Wait, how does this help with the Merchant Guild?¡± ¡°Naturally if my friends and I were to profit, we¡¯d have more to invest in the Guild. More resources to help those taking the professions level up faster. More people buying high level ingredients from you! Think long term and big picture, my friend.¡± ¡°I have 50 x [FIREHEART ORES] right now. They all yours for a mere 1 Gold and 50 Silver.¡± [ANTONIO] offered. ¡°Ah, friend. I thought we agreed to show good faith. We both know that [FIREHEART ORES] are worth no more than one Silver,¡± I sighed theatrically and began to walk away. And so, the haggling game began. After mercilessly bargaining and my [MASTER MANIPULATOR] skill triggering multiple times, I finally managed to obtain the [FIREEHEART ORES] for 75 Silver. To seal the deal, I bought an additional 1500 x [Silver Ores] for 20 Silver and promised to purchase his next batch of 50 that would arrive in 2 days. The quest I received from [ANTONIO] still hadn¡¯t been completed, apparently ¨C but I would be visiting him a lot the next few days and was in no rush. It took me close to bloody forever to transfer all those freaking ores to my storage. Learning Proficiencies from books was relatively simple. All you had to do was hold the book and call out the Proficiency name. In a blink of an eye, I learned [HAGGLE] [REFINE] and [STORE]. Next, before I could approach GoldFarm, came the tedious part. I had 1115 x [CRYSTAL SPLINTER], 233 x [CRYSTAL SHARD] and 760 x [SILVER ORES] to [REFINE]. I filled up my inventory to 89% of my maximum weight, then looked for a quiet corner to perform the process. I started with the [CRYSTAL SPLINTER] then moved on to the [CRYSTAL SHARD]. It takes 10 splinters to refine one shard and 5 shards to make one pure crystal. An hour and a half of screaming [REFINE] later, the skill finally maxed at level 10. I was left with [60 PURE CRYSTAL] and [145 PURE SILVER].
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED MASTER MERCHANT - FIRST TO MAX A MERCHANT SKILL REWARDS +75 SILVER +250 FAME
Just as I planned, the pop up and rewards came. I rejected the option to announce my Achievement on the server. You know, staying hidden as the Hidden Blade and all that. I purchased the proficiency upgrade to [BLACKSMITH] and bought [FORGE]. It was time to farm GoldFarm. I sent him a Direct Message to find out where he was, ¡°Hi GoldFarm, where are you at?¡± ¡°How did you get my Avalon handle?¡± he growled suspiciously. ¡°I know all about you, GoldFarm. Top Blacksmith in the LEGEND MMO. Top FORGER for Mystic Isles MMO. You¡¯re basically a one man MMO farming workshop. For the past 5 years, you¡¯ve been making a living purely from creating and selling equipment in the hottest MMO games. Turning ingame currency into real life profit.¡± ¡°Who is this and what do you want?¡± ¡°I¡¯m someone with one GOLD and a business proposition for you. Meet me at the Storage NPC, now.¡± ¡°O really? One GOLD? The server just launched, if you¡¯re going to lie, at least be realistic. Points for the stalking and research on me, though,¡± he chuckled. ¡°Come find out. What do you have to lose? Turn up and get one Gold. Don¡¯t turn up ¨C wonder the rest of your life. I¡¯m blocking you on DM now, by the way. See you soon, or not.¡± Well, technically I didn¡¯t have one Gold for him, just 87 Silver. Cutting him completely off DM prevented him from asking more questions, leaving him completely curious and becoming an irresistible ultimatum. The greedy bastard would definitely turn up; he just loved money too much to resist. ¡°You better not be lying to me, Mordred,¡± GoldFarm scowled at me, appearing a few minutes later. ¡°Just coming here is costing me time, and time is money.¡± ¡°I want to make a deal with you. You¡¯ll [Forge] items exclusively for me and I¡¯ll give you all the Ores and gold you need.¡± He laughed, ¡°I can get the ores myself and the gold will come with that. Why would I need you?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯ve got it backwards. I don¡¯t need you. But I could use you so I can concentrate on more important matters. And you can get ores? Take a look at what I¡¯ve already prepared.¡± I initiated a [TRADE] with him to show him what I had collected so far: 80 [SILVER] 60 x [PURE CRYSTAL] 145 x [PURE SILVER] 1000 x [SILVER ORE] 50 x [FIREHEART ORES] I let the greed sink in for a few seconds and watched GoldFarm¡¯s eyes light up. Then, I cancelled the [TRADE]. Now that I had his attention, it was time for the finishing blow to seal the deal. ¡°[FORGE] x [BOW].¡± I called out and selected the ingredients I wanted to use.
FORGE SUCCESS LEVEL 1/10 [25% EXP] You¡¯ve used 1 FIREHEART ORE, 1 PURE CRYSTAL You¡¯ve gained 1 FIRE CRYSTAL BOW
FIRE CRYSTAL BOW LVL 15 UNCOMMON IV GOLD TIER WEAPON
DAMAGE: 145 + 25 FIRE ELEMENT DAMAGE ATTACK SPEED: NORMAL +15 DEX +5 STR
¡°Yo-you¡¯ve already become a [BLACKSMITH]! Ho-howww did you manage that?¡± GoldFarm stuttered. He was probably not even half way through to mastering [REFINE] at this point in time. ¡°I can collect resources faster than you. I can [FORGE] what I need myself. Like I said, I don¡¯t need you. But I could use you.¡± If it was just ORES and GOLD, I don¡¯t think recruiting him would have worked. But to be a step ahead in the profession and skill he prided himself on as well? That made an impact. ¡°This is what¡¯s going to happen. I¡¯ll provide you all the materials to craft weapons and armour, but you¡¯ll only forge what I ask you to from the resources I provide you. You¡¯ll have total control over the prices you sell them for. We¡¯ll split the profit 80 ¨C 20.¡± ¡°80-20? That¡¯s¡­¡± GoldFarm started to protest. ¡°That¡¯s more than fair. Your staple income was from being the highest ranked [BLACKSMITH] and charging [FORGE] fees to the elite. You used part of that income to buy more resources to craft normal equipment; levelling up your skills while waiting for elite levelled armour and weapon orders.¡± ¡°With me, you won¡¯t have to wait for orders. You¡¯ll always have resources to forge. And everything I ask you to FORGE will be in hot demand, with us being the first and main source for the best weapons and armour.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be 100% sure of that,¡± he countered. ¡°I am. Just like I am 100% sure that you can either have a limitless supply of resources to [FORGE] and become Avalon¡¯s top [BLACKSMITH], becoming filthily rich with me in the process. Or I will out-FARM, out-FORGE and undercut you ruthlessly. You¡¯ll always be being second best, desperately scavenging resources to make ends meet. The elite will come the me, not you, for their equipment. No orders. No profit. No money.¡± I traded him again, ¡°Oh, if you¡¯re even remotely considering scamming me by taking my items and running, let me assure you I was very thorough with my research on you GoldFarm. Or should I say, Mr Chong of the Asian persuasion?¡± ¡°Are you threatening me, Mordred?¡± ¡°Not at all, my friend. I¡¯m playing all my cards because I really want to work with you. I¡¯m an ill-mannered, blunt and impatient man. But I¡¯m a man who will make you very rich. You have 3 seconds to accept the TRADE, or I disappear. Along with any chance of you makingmoney in Avalon.¡± ¡°3¡­ 2¡­¡± He accepted the trade. I smiled to myself, farming GoldFarm ¨C complete. After telling GoldFarm my plans and what I needed him to do, I went to wake Lancelot up.