William was chatting with a guy named Paul Mercier, one of the rare individuals openly sharing their class, which happened to be Merchant. William hadn't approached Paul randomly; he specifically chose him as a test subject to learn more about the skill Social Engineering.
When he activated it, his mana drained rapidly. Suddenly, his voice carried an undeniable charm, his once-ordinary appearance took on an air of mystery, and his presence became naturally comforting to those around him.
"I tend to ask. What sells the best?" William smiled, his charm overflowing, his presence familiar, his voice confident.
William wasn't particularly skilled in social engineering, but he believed that with his system-given abilities, he could gather information about who was buying what and the types of products most people were interested in. This could give him a chance to deduce the skills and classes others might have. He could also evaluate the combat capabilities of the population, which would be helpful in making decisions in the long run.
"Skill book, I would say. But I think there is something more important than a skill book—A Mark. Unlike skills, they can be transferred without the restriction of class," said Paul.
'Truly mercantile to the core. Is my ability working or not?' William frowned slightly, trying to extract something meaningful from the conversation, but Paul had already shifted back to his sales pitch. Now, William was curious and wanted to buy the Mark. Whatever brilliant plan he had in mind didn't work out; instead, he ended up being the one who got played.
"What's a Mark?" Curiosity finally got the better of William.
Paul responded eagerly, perhaps thinking he'd found a customer and a naive one at that.
"Mark is a tattoo crafted from the God's relic, the Divine Needle. It allows the creation of tattoos to enhance strength, mana capacity, and much more. However, its power is limited by one's class." said Paul.
He could tell the customer wasn't fully convinced, so he added, "And one tattoo only costs 5 creds."
William sighed. He couldn't understand it; he had no idea when the system had shifted from barter to a coin-based one.
Upon seeing William's expression, Paul asked, "Perhaps the customer doesn't know what creds are? Allow me to explain. When an adventurer or player, however you identify, completes a mission, they are assigned a cred by Lady Agatha. It's a coin-shaped emblem that, so far, nobody has been able to replicate, which makes it secure. Creds can now be used in shops or exchanged between people if they lack other items to trade. Its current value is equivalent to an iron sword, as determined by Jonathan, who is responsible for procuring most of the resources at the camp. The system is very rudimentary and relies heavily on Jonathan's ability to acquire supplies."
Pulling out a coin-shaped emblem with Agatha's face imprinted on it, Paul showed William, "They look like this. You might be wondering why its value is tied to an iron sword and not something else. The answer is simple—most people are striving to become stronger, which means more fighting and weapon wear. With no blacksmiths currently awakened, there's a constant demand that only Jonathan can meet by procuring iron swords from the enemies he's now able to defeat. Sure, when people grow more powerful and can obtain other resources, the coin's value will shift to what Jonathan desires. It's an economy based entirely on his presence. It may seem flawed, but one day, it will collapse. Every economy does."
William examined the coin closely. "I have none. How can I procure them?" he asked, lifting his head to meet Paul's gaze.
Paul responded, "Well, you could do a quest for Jonathan, or trade through the barter system. Maybe you have something of value?" He was certain William possessed something rare—after all, word had spread about how this guy survived alone in the dark forest at night and made it back. There had to be something valuable in his possession, and there was, although William had no intention of selling it now.
William sighed and said with a slightly distant look on his face, "I have none."
Whatever William might be aiming for seemed to be working, maybe? Paul offered him something, something he should probably be charging for: "I can give you a strength tattoo if you want, or any other tattoo. Just ask, it's on the house."
'Why does this guy want me to get a tattoo? Does he want to figure out what I need to guess my class? and sell my data? Maybe I'm overthinking it...'
William was on high alert, sensing there might be something hidden behind those seemingly kind words. "I'm a man who earns his way," he said. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll return only when I have the creds to spare."
"Sure, that's a great attitude," Paul said with a smile. He added, "I'll be here waiting for you, dear customer."
Although William couldn't evaluate his Social Engineering skill, he managed to learn more about the camp's operations and the special power known as Mark. His next objective was to secure a quest for himself—he needed to grow stronger now, or his enemies would.
---
The quest board was on the other side of the camp, and he had to walk there. He had one more task he wanted to check, and now that he had recovered some of his mana, he would confirm it.
When he saw Jonathan's status, he realized Jonathan had more than three skills—five in total, two more than himself. He wondered if leveling up would help him gain more skills or if he needed to reach a specific number of kills. He didn't know, but he was determined to find out. The description of Reconnaissance stated it could gather more information about a target, and it didn't specifically mention that the target had to be a person. He planned to use it to access more information about the system. Maybe it was a foolish plan, but if it worked, William would have more knowledge about the system than most, except for Jonathan himself. The man was a regressor, and who knew which cycle he was on.
William muttered the word "Status" and activated his skill.