HC: Pacifist | Ch. 249 - Godsent (Patreon)

Roth left White Onyx Inc. with reddish hair and beard, a longer snout, a wagging tail, a puffed chest, and a confident, foxy grin. Just as he suspected, Ruth got him a much better price for his gear. His broker skill, [Supplier’s Loyalty], was a big reason for this.

Suppliers' Loyalty (Rare)

Skill description: NPCs treasure the business relationship you have cultivated with them.

Skill effects:

Passive. NPCs pay you 2% more when purchasing goods from you;

Percentage scales with reputation, charisma, and wisdom;

This bonus is doubled if you have an exclusive trade agreement.

Restrictions: Broker, lvl. 20.

Given how it scaled with charisma, Roth had pulled out his big guns and had changed to [Fox Form]. His stats had grown so much since he last used it that, even without the 50% bonus of the [Discoverer of Species] title, his charisma was over 800! The stat bonuses for such a high charisma were incredible.

Godsent (Stat Bonus)

Bonus description: Not even the sun and moon are indifferent to your overwhelming presence and charisma.

Bonus effects:

It’s dramatically easier to increase reputation;

There’s a great chance of reputation with factions spontaneously increasing;

You’ll receive spontaneous invitations from high-ranking NPCs for rare and above quests;

If you don’t antagonize a faction you have a negative reputation with, you’ll quickly recover your reputation with them over time.

Restrictions: 750+ charisma.

Tongue of the Leader (Bonus Stat)

Bonus description: Your listeners cannot help but accept everything you say.

Bonus effects:

Dramatically increases favor with NPCs. Even monarchs defer to you;

Enemies won’t attack unless provoked;

Vocal skills are dramatically enhanced;

Whenever you meet a faction for the first time, it’s easier to become friends with them.

Restrictions: 800+ charisma.

He had left Ruth’s office with a boost of 500 reputation with White Onyx Inc. and was almost on revered status with her. It wasn’t only that. Every ten minutes or so, he received a notification.

The Ratans miss you and rejoice in how happy they are to be your friends.

+10 reputation with the Ratans.

The Timberwolves regret how things went down the last time you fought. They wish they could make things better.

+10 reputation with the Timberwolves.

When one had such high charisma, it was possible to gain more reputation points just by breathing. Thanks to his previous encounter with the blue caterpillar and him having won the [Stat Prodigy] title, he was confident that he was the player with the highest charisma in the game.

Ruth just couldn’t resist his overwhelming charm. Keeping in mind how much longer the gardeners would spend in the Lindstors' greenhouse, Roth had purposefully pestered Ruth for as long as he could, activating another one of his broker skills.

Exasperate (Uncommon)

Skill description: Your relentlessness is like a mighty river that carves a canyon into the toughest of rocks.

Skill effects: Passive. The longer a negotiation is, the more chances you have of gaining better deals and getting more profession XP.

Restrictions: Merchant, lvl. 9.

Thanks to the stacked effects of both skills and the power of [Fox Form], by the time he had finished haggling with her, thanks to the bonuses granted him by his two broker skills, he got 25 gold for the whole batch of trapless leather equipment.

That wasn’t all. Even as the elevator brought him back up to the 83rd floor, where the greenhouses were, he saw how the helmet he had put for sale on the auction house had already reached the ten gold mark. 

H had done really well promoting the equipment to guilds. However, now that he thought about it, how had he been able to do so? He opened the forums and found that he still had no access to them. Weren’t they still down for maintenance? How had he done it then? Had he sent individual messages to the guilds? Or had he just talked to people in the Union tent?

Shrugging, Roth licked his lip as yet another bid came in, elevating the helmet’s purchasing price to 11 gold. It was a good thing that he hadn’t settled with the 15 gold suggested by the system. He would make much more money than that, thanks to his arrangements.

When he returned to the greenhouse, the gardeners and curious crowd had left. He glanced in all directions, and once he was sure that not even a patrolling soldier was near, he quested out with his mind, focusing on the acorn field.

“Leafies? Can you hear me?”

“Yes.”

Your visit pleases your pet treeant colony.

+2 affection with the Leafies.

+100 Leafies XP.

It was the first time that the Leafies had transmitted a word to him. Before, the most he managed to get out of them was thoughts and sensations. Even though it was a small word, it revealed the added intellect the bigger colony now had.

“Are you safe?”

The treeants sent back flashes of information. A giant, towering brown monster eating a struggling ant. Earthquakes caused by the footsteps of giants rocking their castle. At the same time, there was a feeling of safety in growing numbers and elation at the abundance of resources around them. Finally, there was the image of a stronger, bulkier ant with sharp, long mandibles.

“Ant soldiers?”

“Yes.”

Roth was unsure of what to make of this. His pets were breeding the first soldiers in an army. He was a pacifist. But would his ants be pacifists, too? Could he impose that on them? He was speechless for a while, facing this ethical dilemma. 

“Don’t fight. Peace.”

“No,” came the resounding answer.

The colony’s vigorous response took aback Roth. Not even his 800 charisma was enough to sway them. Maybe asking them not to have soldiers or fight was too much. After some consideration, he sent the image of treeants peacefully foraging, ignoring the monsters.

“Hide. Grow. Avoid monsters.”

The treeants didn’t say anything in response. Sighing, Roth added. “Stay safe.”

“Yes,” came the response.

Even though there were predators in the greenhouse, the ants seemed to be safe within their acorn. Hopefully, things would stay that way. He had no control over what all these tiny ants could do, but hopefully, they would be as peaceful as possible. Roth checked the map, and finding the gate closest to the rock lizard's dungeon, he headed back down. It was time to make new friends and secure crafting supplies.

*

JugularStrike rolled his dagger between his fingers. Ever since the Union had moved its base of operations to the inn in the crafting district, the number of easily accessible targets significantly decreased. 

That was bad news for him. The more people he killed, the more gold he would make. He had been lucky enough to be the only assassin in the guild to get two Union management members but now they were barricaded inside that cursed inn.

There was always at least one or two soldiers drinking ale at every inn in the city, and even though some of his colleagues had tried to infiltrate the inn to assassinate Union members, they were fulminated by the inn’s security system. 

JugularStrike had no choice but to focus more on craftsmen from top guilds. They were much harder to kill, but their bounties were incredible. From his perch atop a tree, he spotted one of the targets on his hit list, Leanne from the Gorgons. She was one of the best tailors in their guild, and she was probably making a run between the city and the Gorgon’s tent. She wasn't alone, though. Several other high-level players accompanied her. 

Performing an assassination with so many players together would be pretty tricky. However, it had been hours since he had killed anyone, and feeling impatient, he decided to risk it. JugularStrike decided to tail the group. 

Leanne walked through a busy avenue. Even though crowds could be an opportunity to administer poison or perform a blitz attack. Union members were now on guard against assassination attempts. Were he to try, they would probably react too fast for him to be able to kill Leanne. If they managed to pin him down, nearby soldiers would join the fray and kill him. 

He needed them to go down a smaller road, one with fewer patrols. If he were lucky enough, he would be able to get her. They turned right into a small road and then right again. Their destination was an empty lot of land, with several tents and hundreds of people walking back and forth. It looked similar to the guild tent camp, but it was inside the city.

He recognized several faces. Why were there so many Union members here? Was this their new base of operations? How had they gotten the city to lend them this piece of land? The best part was that this wasn't an inn. There was no security system guarding this site. Therefore, if he could find one isolated target, he could collect more bounties. 

[Camouflage] on, JugularStrike infiltrated the camp. Hundreds of Union members walked back and forth. Blacksmiths struck anvils, and tailors busily sewed new tents to harbor more workstations. Engineers huddled around pieces of machinery while tinkerers tweaked gadgets. He had never seen so many craftsmen working together at the same time. It made for quite a scene. Just what was the Union doing here? What kind of operation was this?

As he studied the crowd, he felt the hair on the back of his neck prick up and ducked. A broad sword swung viciously right where his head had been. 

He turned around, terrified by the identity of his attackers: two garrison soldiers. Trying to understand what was happening, he spotted two more soldiers leaving one of the nearby tents and running his way. Why were there soldiers stationed here? 

“You're traveling in stealth on the city’s private property. Deactivate camouflage right now and surrender, or we’ll keep using lethal force,” one of the soldiers commanded.

What in the world? A city’s private property? He had only heard of someone coming across such a notification if they walked around stealthed in the garrison, the citadel, the courthouse, or other places where law enforcement officers were based. JugularStrike turned tail and ran. He was level 50, ten levels below these guards. 

Despite the level disparity, these guards wore heavy plate armor. If he made a run for it, he would likely escape. Just as he was about to leave the worksite, a sharp whistle sounded to his right. He recognized the sound as that of an arrow. He had no choice but to block it with his dagger.

Parry!

[Parry] was a life-saving skill that could reflect any attack. It had a long cooldown and didn't cancel the impact of the attack, only its damage. As a result, he was sent flying. Locating the source of the attack, he found a soldier in intricately carved armor and a flowing red cape. It was a captain, a level 70 NPC. 

Scared out of his wits, he grabbed a life-saving treasure from his inventory and threw it to the ground. A thick cloud of dust spread, and he was teleported to a random location within 100 meters of where he’d used the bomb. Thankfully, he was teleported outside the worksite and far from the soldiers’ reach. 

Gasping heavy breaths and sweating, JugularStrike sent a message to Anak. “Boss, something has changed here in the Union. The city guards are protecting the targets.”

He didn’t receive a response. JugularStrike shook his head and decided to leave. Whatever the Union had cooked up, and whatever the rewards his guild promised, he wasn't willing to lose a level fighting NPC captains. He wouldn't risk it even if Loki offered ten times as much. 

He opened his guild's mission logs and found another easier task. The [Teleport Bomb] he’d just used cost 3k gold, so he had to make back the money he’d just lost.

*

Thanks to the map Roth had purchased earlier online, finding the Rock Lizard Lair was a simple task. The entrance to the dungeon was packed to the brim with players. He couldn’t help but notice that some of them used equipment made of rock lizard leather similar to the ones he’d been crafting.

“Looking for a tank to fill the party. Needs to have 200+ hp and taunt skill. 10% damage reduction is a plus!”

“We’re a healer short. Need to have [Cleanse] and [Antidote]. PM me!”

“I’m an incredible esper with several ice-based skills and +100 intelligence. I'm looking for a party, please!”

Several players around him shouted as they tried to complete hunting parties to tackle the dungeon. From what Roth had read online, this was a dungeon for up to 5 players between levels 13 and 17.

Roth felt he got fewer curious looks compared to the dungeons in the beginner regions. He was a level 39 player, at least 20 levels higher than them, and they still ignored him. These players were used to walking around Sapphira and had seen many players in high gear before.

Roth was happy about the result. He covered his head, trying to go by unnoticed. He had stayed in [Fox Form]. He would need it. Roth approached the dungeon entrance.

Are you sure you want to enter the Rock Lizard Lair? [Y/N]

Roth accepted and entered the dungeon.

Ch 248 - Union Quest

INDEX

Ch. 250 - Gravitas