[NR] The Worth Of A Book - Chapter 632 (Patreon)

Five days later, and a bunch of frustration on Courtney’s part, a deal was struck. The negotiator from Rosha’s family did a decent job and managed to get a number of concessions. Of course, since a lot of what was traded had been knowledge and not things like actual skill books, it made things easier on the kingdom.

Whether the manuals they secured for Jason would be directly useful or simply something to use as a reference was left to be seen. More important, though, is that this kingdom seems to have a weak tradition when it comes to Energy, which is saying something. After all, having a tradition at all is hard and so anything beyond the basics would be pretty good.

Of course, this led to the lack of manuals and some might say this was a loss for Jason. Courtney saw it a different way. Jason had just wanted beginner’s knowledge so he could build his own path. This trade had gotten that. On top of the knowledge though, since the kingdom didn’t have much of a tradition, they also didn’t have much use for many of the Energy based resources.

While many are used for kingdom to kingdom commerce, that still left them with a bunch of stuff. Stuff that Jason was going to be able to pick a decent bit of stuff from. Whether it was the oddball piece of equipment, a mystical Energy-based herb, or Energy infused rocks and such.

Maybe not instantly useful, but at least the herbs would be a boost to his farming skill, let alone just having those resources available. On top of that, Jason was looking into rituals which would work best when using Energy attuned materials in their construction. Overall, a win for a book none of them could use.

Oh, and a lot of gold. Not enough that it would tempt someone from Rosha’s family or anything. Just the fact it was in gold coins points to that fact. Still, each of them would be receiving enough that next time they look for gear, it would be covered and then some.

Which is saying something as they’re just one more bottleneck away from the very important wall of the sixth, going from 99 to 100. The System always makes sure to craft a custom quest aimed at a person’s weaknesses in a way that neither money nor connections can overcome. Though it doesn’t help that level-appropriate gear becomes harder to find.

After hitting fifty, a full set of gear is still going to cost thousands of gold. Once you hit one hundred, getting gear is all about favors and System quests. While money can buy gear that will work after the sixth break, Jason’s goggles have one such effect, but that doesn’t make them sixth break equipment.

Though it does mean that is the kind of gear most people in that stage are wearing. It is only a hundred levels later when people are halfway to the next bottleneck, that having mostly sixth break gear becomes something you see. Doesn’t help that the best stuff gets monopolized by those at the seventh bottleneck.

While it isn’t as bad of a bottleneck as the sixth, as with any of the bottlenecks, a lot of people end up stuck there. Though the locals cause the most trouble. With each bottleneck broken, their lifespan increases. So, while not many people break the sixth bottleneck, they sort of pile up over time.

Rosha interrupts Courtney’s worries about future gear, “So how do we get the stuff out to our place?”

“The money will be held for us”, Courtney puts the papers detailing the trade onto the table. “As for the goods? We’ll take what is here with us. And given the time it took to make the deal, there are a few manuals to take with us. Then the rest of the stuff will gather at the nearby settlement.”

Rosha raises an eyebrow, “They’re fine just having so much stuff gathered in a small settlement?”

Courtney shrugs, “It is a little risky having the rest of our stuff in one place. Not that it is any less risky than having it on us in the first place. Though most of the risk comes from them providing actual manuals. Gear and magic items might be tempting, but knowledge can be sold and traded again and again.”

Rosha, “Why did they trade manuals? Some training would do about the same thing for us.”

Courtney shakes her head, “That wouldn’t be a fair trade for us. Knowledge for knowledge. Since we are trading a proper tome to them, training alone wouldn’t cover it. At least, not in the amounts that would be needed.

“They’d need to either provide basically non-stop training until we bottleneck or get a seventh break to train us in a couple of skills custom picked for us. It might seem a little cheap that a backpack full of books can have the same value, but that’s life. We could honestly start a large organization off of the books we just gained.”

Rosha, “Maybe we should? Or rather, you now have a foundation to help extend what you’re doing to help me.”

Courtney, “Well, yes, but I don’t have anyone physically nearby to take advantage of it. When I said organization, I meant more NeoRealm based than irl. Tomes need physical presence as not only would the magical effects not go through any copies, but the System doesn’t let players screenshot them.

“It doesn’t even let you screenshot regular training manuals that you didn’t write yourself. When the game first launched, a bunch of people made bank working as scribes to copy all the basic books so they could digitize them. Now, of course, any large organization has a couple skilled player scribes for any books they find.”

“Eugh”, Ally sticks her tongue out, “My handwriting sucks on just the small samples they force you to write in school. I’d hate to have to write out an entire book!”

Courtney, “Even to this day, there are people who take things like calligraphy and the creation of illuminated books seriously irl. A proper hard copy will last a lot longer than you would expect and if you’re doing it right, might as well go all the way.”