MMA: Chapter #26 (Patreon)

Human - Primordial

The dominant race in Northern Angoril, humans are considered to be the most adaptable race in Nova Terra. They have no minimum height and can be as tall as seven and a half feet. Humans are skilled with whatever they put their hands to and learn with a speed that can seem strange to other, longer lived races.

Cleansed by the sap of the World Tree, your body and spirit have moved closer to what the original members of your species was like. You will enjoy increased physical, mental, and spiritual attributes. Additionally, due to the powerful detoxification quality of the sap of the World Tree, your body has become immune to most toxins and curses.

Racial Traits

Adaptability: Humans adapt to hostile environments faster than other races.

Fast Learner: Humans have increased learning speed.

Perfect Balance: Your physique has been perfectly balanced, giving you an optimal spread between your attributes.

Golden Immunity: The sap of the World Tree courses through you, eliminating any curse or poison that would affect you.

“That’s pretty cool,” Alph said, speaking to himself.

He was standing in his lab, waiting for the last few minutes of the death penalty to tick down so he could log back in, and as he waited, he couldn’t help but marvel at the changes to his body. Never had his thoughts felt so clear, and his body felt so smooth. The awkwardness of his movements was gone, and he instinctively knew that if he picked up a sword to swing it, he would have no trouble. There was an ease to the coordination of his movements that had been absent from him before.

Even his physique had changed, and while he was still slim, it was the slimness of a leopard, not weakness. The only downside was that it was getting increasingly difficult to test potions on himself. His new immunity to toxins meant that most potions just didn’t affect him, which meant that he couldn’t test their effects as easily. Hearing the alarm he had set go off, Alph ran through his inventory once more, making sure that he had everything he needed, and then logged in.

The world shifted around him, and he found himself standing in a small room in the temple at Barrow Town. There were no other people in the room, but as he stepped outside, he saw the rest of the team emerging from the spawn rooms. Despite the calm looks on everyone’s faces, Alph could sense the anger that burned underneath them.

Half expecting them to call out to him, Alph was relieved when Baor’s eyes swept over him and passed on. Before logging back in, he had created and consumed a [Disguise] potion, transforming himself into a simple merchant in worn clothing that looked no different from the hundreds of other merchants who came to Barrow Town to try to make some quick silver. Giving Seris his best greasy smile, he saw her face frost over and turn away, which only confirmed that his disguise was working perfectly.

“Where is Alph?” Orogath said, looking around.

“I’m not sure,” Baor said, shrugging.

Leaving the temple calmly, Alph wandered in the direction of the market. He had sent Baor a message earlier, letting him know that he would be moving separately from the group. Given the way things had gone down, Alph had a suspicion that there was someone in the group feeding information to the Red Dragon guild, and just in case that was actually what was going on, he thought it best if he moved alone.

The town’s market was bustling as people tried to sell the goods they had gotten from the Barrow Hills. Monster parts, ancient treasures, precious stones, there were a lot of different things to look at, but Alph didn’t bother with any shopping. Instead, he got out a little square of cloth and set up a stall of his own, using three boxes to hold down its edges. Sitting behind his improvised desk, he took out a potion from each box and placed it on the top of the box to display it. It didn’t take long before the first customer arrived, and soon Alph was doing a thriving business.

That also meant that it didn’t take long for Alph to get noticed by the self-proclaimed rulers of Barrow Town and the surrounding area. Catching sight of a red cape at the edge of the market, Alph hid his grin and pretended that he hadn’t noticed. Pointing a finger at the customer trying to bargain with him, he raised his voice.

“What do you mean!? I can sell these potions all day. If you don’t want one at the price I gave, then go somewhere else. I’ve already sold dozens of these potions today, and there is a line of people who will buy them at full price after you’re gone. Get out of here if you don’t want to buy any potions.”

Growling at him, the big warrior he was talking to dropped his hand to his sword, but Alph just sneered at him, daring him to draw his weapon. There were a few guards around, but the bigger threat was the Red Dragon players. A swath of red cut through the crowd as a group of players in red capes pushed their way toward Alph’s impromptu stall. Seeing them coming, the warrior deflated and quickly handed over twenty silver, getting his health potion and slipping away into the crowd.

“Is there a problem here?”

The speaker was a sharp looking woman dressed in dark leather armor. Two short swords rested at her hips, and a slim contraption with a bolt in it was mounted to the inside of her wrist. Alph could smell the faint scent of poison on her, identifying her as a Rogue class. In addition to the red cape that all the members of the Red Dragon guild wore, she also had a pendant with the number three on it. Behind her, following so close they were practically tripping over her heels were four other players, all clearly warriors. Heavier armor, with sections of chain mail or metal plates, and the large swords they carried told everything Alph needed to know about them.

“No, no problem,” Alph said, smiling happily as he put his coins away.

The sharp faced rogue didn’t respond, though whether that was due to her pride or something else, Alph wasn’t quite sure. Looking over his three potions, she tapped the box that held the health potions with her foot, listening to the jangle of the glass bottles it held. Most rogues were adept at casing, and simply by listening to the sound, she could roughly estimate how many potions were inside. Some quick math ran through her head and a flame of greed lit up in her gaze. Alph was more than aware that he was sitting on a gold mine, and now she knew it as well. Putting on a nervous smile when he heard the tinkling of the vials, Alph picked up a few potions and held them out to the Red Dragon rogue.

“I’ve heard a lot about the Red Dragon guild since coming to town, but this is my first time meeting anyone from your guild. Please take this small token of my appreciation.”

Taken aback by the fawning way Alph was acting, the rogue stared at him suspiciously for a moment before taking the potions. Seeing them vanish into his inventory, Alph let out a tiny sigh of relief. This was the most tenuous part of his plan, and if he couldn’t clear it, he’d be stuck. Thankfully, the sharp faced woman was happy to get expensive potions for free, and she had taken the bait.

“My name is Wren,” the rogue said, introducing herself. “Third captain of the Red Dragon guild. You said you are new to this town, right? That’s probably why you didn’t know that there is a restriction on selling in this market.”

“Restriction?” Alph said, his eyebrows rising. “What restriction is that?”

“Without the mark of the Red Dragon, you won’t be able to sell anything,” Wren said, pointing at a nearby stall that had a piece of paper tacked to it, showing a dragon. “There is a small fee, depending on what you are selling, and you have to renew it every day.”

Frowning, Alph took a small step back.

“There is a daily license issued by your guild? Doesn’t the city issue market licenses?”

“In other cities, maybe, but this is Barrow Town,” Wren said, smirking. “This is our town.”

“How much does something like that cost for selling potions?” Alph asked, looking nervously at the four warriors that had surrounded him.

“Oh, it’s not that expensive. Two gold and you should be good.”

“Two gold! That’s a rip… that’s… how am I supposed to make profit?” Alph protested, his voice getting quieter as the warriors leaned forward.

“Just sell more potions,” Wren said with a nasty smile. “It’s non-negotiable. Two gold, or we escort you out of town.”

Grumbling, Alph hesitated for a moment before getting two gold coins out of his pouch and slapping them into Wren’s outstretched palm. Testing them with her teeth, Wren seemed satisfied and slipped them into her inventory. Handing Alph a slip of paper from her inventory, she nodded at him.

“Happy doing business with you. Either come to the guild tomorrow to get a new one or don’t set up. If we catch you without a tag, we’ll break your legs and throw you out. Understood?”

Bobbing his head, Alph said he understood and watched as the red caped players swaggered off. Judging by the mix of sympathetic and gloating looks he was getting from the people around him, Alph could tell that what had just happened wasn’t uncommon. Going back to selling his potions, he only quit when the sun was starting to go down and the market emptied out. Packing up his stuff, he found a nearby inn and paid for a room for the night. Ordering a meal at the bar in the great room, he was just digging into the paste they were advertising as mashed potatoes when he heard the door open and excited footsteps.

A lanky young elf with the beginnings of wispy goatee rushed up to the bar and gestured for the bartender to come close. Looking around conspiratorially, he lowered his voice and whispered to the bartender, not realizing that Alph’s senses, including his hearing, had improved drastically with his recent racial evolution.

“There was a big fight across town. Some team got killed by the Red Dragons and they came back for revenge!”

“So?” the bartender said, wiping his hands on the bar towel on his shoulder. “That sort of thing happens all the time.”

“The Red Dragon ambushed them! One of the members of the team was a traitor, and led them into an ambush, but these guys were crazy. They killed the traitor and fourteen Red Dragon guild members before they took their first casualties. That half-orc raged for almost ten minutes! It was insane. By the end of it he looked like a walking porcupine because of all of the arrows stuck in him but he was still killing people.”

“Ten minutes? How is that possible? Shouldn’t it only be a minute or two at the most?”

“He kept drinking stamina potions,” the young elf said, excited. “He drank five in a row. Plus a bunch of haste potions, and some other that made him tougher. And he wasn’t the only one. The mages were drinking mana potions like their lives depended on it, and there was this rogue that kept decapitating people!”

Taking the towel off his shoulder, the bartender wiped at the bar top, peeking at the young man from the corner of his eyes.

“What was the casualty count?”

“The Red Dragons lost forty-eight people.”

Letting out a low whistle, the bartender shook his head. Fights between players were rarely so one sided, and for a team of eight to have averaged six kills each was incredible. Down the bar, Alph was still eating his food calmly when a message from Baor arrived.

You were right. Thebs was a traitor. I killed him, and we cut down forty-eight of the Red Dragons right after, so if you’re going to make a move, now might be the time. They have about seventy members in all, so for the next twenty-four hours they’ll be down to twenty-two people. Sorry we couldn’t get more.

Reading over the message a second time, Alph nodded to himself. He had suspected that there was a traitor after the Red Dragon guild kept showing up, and that it turned out to be the spear-wielding warrior didn’t surprise him at all. Doing a quick calculation in his head, Alph sent Baor a simple reply, asking to meet up a few days later, back in Thilvena, and then paid for his food.

Instead of going to his room, he double checked the time on his disguise potion and headed out into the streets. The moon had risen and the night was bright, but as he made his way to the Red Dragon guild, Alph couldn’t help but imagine that the shadows contained all sorts of cutthroats and pickpockets. Keeping to the better lit streets, he managed to make it all the way to the Red Dragon’s base without being mugged, and after taking a moment to review his plan, he knocked on the door to the large warehouse that served as the guild’s headquarters.

The door opened quickly, and Alph found himself face to face with a tiger that loomed over him. Jumping in surprise, he quickly calmed down when he realized that he was looking at a tigerkin, one of the many beastkin races that lived in Angoril.  Swallowing, he nodded at the tigerkin with what he hoped was a friendly smile.

“What?”

“Ah, I am here to buy a merchant license for tomorrow,” Alph said, twisting his fingers nervously in front of his stomach.

“We don’t do presales,” the tigerkin growled, starting to shut the door, “so come back tomorrow.”

Blocking the door with his foot, Alph shook his head.

“In that case, please let Third Captain Wren know that I have a business proposal for her.”

“She’s not around. Won’t be until tomorrow evening.”

“Then whoever is above her in rank,” Alph said, exasperated. “This is a matter of a significant amount of gold, but it is also time sensitive.”

Perking up at the mention of gold, the tigerkin stared at Alph for a moment before nodding.

“Fine. Wait inside here, and I’ll get someone for you.”

Nodding his thanks, Alph stepped into the warehouse, his eyes scanning over it. Along the back wall were two rooms, one stacked on top of the other, with a set of stairs leading to the upper room. The rest of the warehouse was wide open, and filled with boxes of various kinds as well as empty cages. Across from where Alph was standing, there were stairs heading down under the earth, and the stench of unwashed bodies rose from it, causing Alph to wrinkle his nose.