Alex stares at the parchment in his hand and sees multiple names listed on it, each one with a short description of the person in question's behaviour, rough level, appearance, equipment, and skills. Some even have pictures printed alongside their names. At the very end, Alex notices different numbers listed as bounties, ranging from 10,000 FC up into the millions for higher-level players. He flips through the pages, scanning them quickly.
"These are enemies of the Union. Father created it," Glimmerwhisk explains. "The Realm has multiple organisations, most of them hidden or in areas you don't yet have access to… that's all I can say. Those players listed are all enemies of the Union. Taking care of them would help us—and thus me. It's optional, but it also gives me a reason to reward you, something I normally wouldn't be allowed to do without justification."
Thankfully, I'm not on that list… after what happened with that Merchant, there's a real chance I could have ended up there, with people hunting me left and right.
"I'll take it… I plan to visit the world of One Piece next, using my [Baroque Works Invitation]. It specifically mentions other players," Alex says. "There is a decent chance that someone who joins with me could also be on this list. It contains quite a few lower-level players as well."
"You can look through it whenever you like, take on bounties only if you feel up for them. If you don't want to kill for FC, don't. Still, most of the people on that list are nasty, vile individuals. I'd recommend avoiding them or disposing of them as soon as you encounter them. Trust me—you don't want to get stabbed in the back," Glimmerwhisk advises.
She might be right… on the other hand some goblins are just as vile and nasty as she describes these players. I could have ended up on the fucking list as well!
"Thank you… I guess I've got a new goal then," Alex replies. "One last thing… Benezia has three empty skill slots. She could use a few new skills. Surely there are skills for Supporters? More importantly, she has the Teaching skill. She successfully taught Menchi Trading. Menchi even skipped the Basic rank."
"Interesting… you're smart to try turning that into a business, I know that's your intention. However, there's risk involved. I'll see what I can find for you. I might even refer you to a few of my contacts."
Alex stands up, Benezia and Menchi rising to follow him, while Jewel jumps onto his shoulder and then climbs back onto his head.
"I'll talk to you soon," Glimmerwhisk says. "If I find something that might interest you, I'll send you a message. For a generous donation, I might also be willing to send you a few aesthetically pleasing pictures of myself. I can even alter your system so they'll be displayed every time you open a system window—wouldn't that be a welcome encouragement? Surely you would enjo—"
"No, thank you! That would distract me! It's my life on the line, after all—I can't risk it," Alex mumbles, quickly fleeing the room.
What even was that? Is she trying to copy OnlyFans? I learned about Findom, and I don't like it. Fuck off with that nonsense. Women sure have it easy… as long as they're hot, countless simps will pay them for essentially doing nothing, while men have to work hard all day! I hope all those thots get replaced by AI controlled by men—that would be hilarious.
The group returns to the lobby, where Alex approaches Softspark with a smile. "Hello there tho—no, Softspark. Sorry, I was kinda lost in thought. Confused your name…. Could you kindly sell me a few items to turn into shards? I need exactly 74!"
Softspark sighs. "…pleasure doing business with you, sir. That will cost you 2,300 FC per item."
"Wait a minute," Alex says, staring at Benezia. "You told me the market price was 2,120 FC, right? Softspark, I'm a VIP here. Do I need to report to Glimmerwhisk that you're overcharging me? You're supposed to be giving me a good deal! She even said she would contact you."
"…" Softspark's expression shifts, looking slightly guilty, before she whispers, "2,000 FC per item… and only for the exact amount you need."
Alex smiles and initiates a trade, paying 148,000 FC for the 74 shards he requires.
"Pleasure doing business with you," Alex says, extending his hand.
Softspark's hand twitches as she reluctantly accepts his handshake—only to squeeze down hard, attempting to crush his hand. But thanks to Alex's increased STR, her effort doesn't even register with him. Her face flushes red as she realizes she can't even remotely hurt him.
"Thank you for your help," Alex says calmly. "See you soon. My hand hurts…"
Choosing to be the bigger person for once, Alex ignores her failure and doesn't rub it in her face. Instead, he offers her a comforting lie and quietly leaves the building with his group.
"Well, we learned a couple of interesting things, right?" Alex says to the others.
Soulmate's decision was correct. This meeting was enlightening.
"Certainly a worthwhile use of our time," Benezia agrees.
"It looks like it," Menchi adds. "We'll accompany you to the Ranking-up facility!"
"Let's go then!" Alex says, pressing forward towards the familiar route through the mysterious Realm, which begins to look more and more familiar every day.
Alex and his Supporters quickly make their way through it, heading once again to the Ranking-up facility. With a little bit of annoyance he notices a few people staring at him, their system screens open.
I noticed these fuckers a few times already… taking notes, huh? Thankfully they will probably just assume I am upgrading weak and garbage Green or Blue items… maybe Purple items at most.
As they enter, Alex calls out, "1337, please ask the system to tell me the cost of ranking up my [Uzin's Rage]."
A number flashes across the system screen in front of him:
600 Fantasy Shards, 1 piece of Equipment of at least Light-Gold quality.
"Fuck me, is this for real?!" Alex curses.
"That's quite a steep price. 1.2 million FC in shards and a Light-Gold item? That's nearly 2 million FC just to rank it up!" Menchi comments, shaking her head.
"Fairly reasonable," Benezia says calmly.
Princess Jewel agrees with Matriarch Benezia! Black Quality items are so precious and rare. You will most-likely never replace them. Their effects are almost cheat-like, even Glimmerwhisk said as much. To improve such an item is worth almost any cost!
Benezia smiles and extends her hand, softly stroking Jewel's small body.
"What a smart pet," she says with genuine astonishment. "I couldn't have said it better myself. Those are exactly my thoughts."
"… she sure likes to praise herself even while complimenting others," Alex mutters.
"It's kind of hot, I like it," Menchi says with a teasing grin.
"Did I hear something?" Benezia asks, narrowing her eyes at Alex.
"No… let's proceed then," Alex says quickly, changing the topic. "Upgrading [Uzin's Rage] is completely out of the question—for now at least."
Benezia nods. "Agreed. It's not a smart investment, especially since you don't even have the required Light-Gold item on hand, meaning you'd have to buy one or sacrifice one of your best items. You also lack the FC required, even if we pooled all our resources. We'll need to wait a little longer. Sooner or later, I will acquire the resources we need. I just need time and also LUK."
She speaks with such confidence that it feels oddly reassuring.
"Okay 1337, you know the drill. Spend my 200 shards to rank up [Shepard's Promise]," Alex commands.
You have lost 200 shards
[Shepard's Promise] >>> [Shepard's Promise R2]
[Shepard's Promise R2]
World: Mass Effect
Quality:Light Gold
Type: Trinket (dog tags)
Required Stats: CHA - 18, SPR - 18, LUK - 6
Effect:Increases CHA, SPR, and LUK by 2 (Flat boost, not increased by other skills)
Effect: Paragon or Renegade – Increases the chance to pass difficult speech checks and enables the character to influence events more easily.
Effect: Unbreakable Will – Reduces all incoming damage by 6% and reduces the chance of receiving crippling injuries by 30% (This effect is applied before any other damage-reducing effect)
Note: A Promise Made, A Promise Kept!
"Not bad! One more CHA, SPR, and LUK, which also means my BP increase by 1. On top of that, the chance of injuries dropping is now reduced by another 5%, making it a total of 30%. But the best effect—hands down—is the 1% increase in reducing all incoming damage. That's an incredibly overpowered effect!" Alex exclaims, clearly satisfied.
"1 percent more or less… doesn't make a huge difference," Menchi smirks. "Sometimes you get excited over nothing, Alex!"
"She is right, objectively speaking," Benezia adds. "You're getting a little carried away just because it says 'all damage.' In practice, this item now reduces 100 damage down to 94, instead of 95. It isn't much."
Princess Jewel also agrees!
"See, this is why you people have no clue." Alex grins smugly. "You have to think about the future and about synergies! This is just a single trinket. If one trinket alone allows me to reduce all damage by 6%, that's ridiculously busted. And there will definitely be other items with similar effects. Imagine stacking them. If I had five such items, that's already 30% less incoming damage. Add the [Armor of Pluto], which reduces all physical damage by 10%, and suddenly, with [Shepard's Promise R2] I'm already sitting at 16% less physical damage. These things build up fast! That's exactly why I've kept the [Armor of Pluto] along with the other set pieces and more importantly, the [Sabatons of Pluto] and the [Gauntlets of Pluto], which also increase movement speed and attack speed, respectively. These types of effects tend to be the most valuable in the long run—far better than a handful of flat stat increases. Trust me, even a single percent less damage, added through something as common as a mere Rank Upgrade, is an incredible achievement!"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Okay… don't comment then. Idiots. I hate explaining these things to noobs.
"Let's just leave…" he says, sounding tired, motioning for the group to move on.
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