HC: Pacifist | Ch. 251 - Beloved (Patreon)

Roth checked all his relationships and how his steroid-boosted charisma was helping him improve them further.

Positive relationships:

Badgers (2043/8000); Boars (1942/2000); Corvids (1981/2000); Cyborg Union (1329/2000); Dogs (273/300); Dwarf Exiles (281/300); Flock (289/300); Foxes (1958/2000); Golden Mountain Inc. (1612/2000); Greenleaf Inc. (1001/2000); Hilsford Garrison Soldiers (113/300); Moles (581/1000); Moon Garrison of Sapphira (100/300); Moonlight Herd (151/300); Oli, the Cat Burglar (127/300); Peace Corps (110/300); Ratans (4244/8000); Rock Lizards (7723/8000); Silkworms (13/100); Snakes (3251/8000); The Table (61/100); Treeants (1710/2000); White Onyx Inc. (351/1000)

Negative Relationships:

Blue Caterpillars (-60/-100); Grassland Wolves (-25/-100); Timberwolves (-40/-100)

This was good news. Thanks to the spontaneous charisma increases, he had unlocked adored status with the badgers, esteemed status with Greenleaf Inc., and friendly status with the Moon Garrison. Other relationships, such as the boars, corvids, dogs, dwarf exiles, the Flock, and foxes, were about to hit a landmark. 

On the negative relationships front, his negative points with the bears and Thadeus had been canceled, and the grassland and timberwolves were on their way to becoming a neutral faction to him.

However, something puzzled him. The Gazpachos were gone from his relationship sheet. He didn’t notice it until he studied the list of factions intently. What had happened to them? Could Drake have succeeded in his quest and turned the crime family over to the authorities? Next time they touched base, he should ask him about it.

Seeing his energy bar almost empty, Roth gulped yet another energy potion to keep [Solar Warmth] on. As the seconds ticked by, Roth's effectiveness as a human light bulb to gain reputation points slowly waned. Still, he never got anything less than triple digits. 

By the time the [Discoverer of Species] bonus to his charisma wore off, Roth had reached an unprecedented relationship status with the rock lizards.

The lizards appreciate the sun bath. So warm. So nice.

+312 reputation with the rock lizards.

You are now beloved by rock lizards.

[Adored] has upgraded into [Beloved].

Beloved (Legendary)

Title description: Your virtues and unwavering loyalty have earned you the eternal love of your friends. 

Title effect:

Grants +30 charisma;

You can use the reputation store everywhere;

You can write introduction letters to factions you have an esteemed status with or higher;

Reputation coins aren’t faction-specific anymore.

Conditions to unlock [Beloved]:

Achieve beloved relationship status with any faction inside the game {complete}.

Yet another legendary title. No wonder there was such a massive gap between the top players in the game and the amateurs. After Roth crossed the 1000 charisma threshold, gaining legendary titles became much easier. It was his second one today. He knew he wouldn’t keep gaining legendary titles like this, but he was grateful for the windfall. 

The charisma bonus from [Beloved] tripled compared to [Adored]. Additionally, a new icon appeared at the corner of his window. He could now use the reputation store wherever he was!

He knew this was the norm in most games, but it wasn’t the case in AstroTerra. Being able to open a store anywhere when others couldn’t was something. If he was ever in a pinch, he had one more collection of tools within his reach. He could purchase a new skill or consumable that suited the situation and break himself free.

[Emperor’s Gravitas] has been downgraded to [Godsent] and [Tongue of the King].

The precious 30 minutes of the [Discoverer of Species] title passed. Even so, thanks to [Fox Form] and all his bonuses, he could still maintain two incredible stat bonuses active. Their spontaneous boosts to charisma weren’t as frequent as [Emperor’s Gravitas], but they were still incredible.

Seeing how his reputation with the rock lizards had maxed out, he turned off [Solar Warmth], and all the lizards started retreating into their lairs, full of the abundant warmth they had received from their new beloved friend. Only the lizard leader remained by his side, patiently hissing. 

The foreign language becomes increasingly clear to you.

Progress in learning Lizardspeak: 83%

“Thanks. I’m almost there. Please, keep speaking,” Roth encouraged.

“Psst have time. No problem, psss,” the lizard leader responded.

While the language learning progress bar filled automatically, Roth checked the reputation store. It looked similar to when he’d accessed it near the Lord of the Woods with a small difference: Instead of multiple currencies, there was only one universal currency. 

This was perhaps the greatest boon of this new title. Previously, he could only buy items from the ratans using ratan reputation coins. Thanks to [Beloved], he could now use the reputation coins granted by befriending any faction to buy whatever he wanted. Altogether, he had over 19k reputation coins! 

Other than this significant difference, much remained the same. The store listed skill cards, creature cards for the Terramon game, pieces of equipment, and consumables. He skipped the sections for ratans and foxes. There was nothing new there. However, he found a new listing when he browsed the section devoted to badgers. After reaching [Adored] status with his poet friends, a new flag became available.

Flag of the Badger Poets (Guild)

Item description: The flagpole is made of simple pine, and the flag itself has some wear and tear, but it still clearly depicts the symbol identifying the badger poets who work hard to make the world a more beautiful place.

Item effects: If hoisted by a guild, it gives all their players [Psionic Push].

He could buy the flag for 3000 reputation coins. The ratans and the badgers seemed to be neck-and-neck as far as racial tiers went, and he wasn’t sure if it would be worth it to buy it. This was probably a flag similar to the one he already had. At the same time, what was the point in leaving all these reputation coins gathering dust? He decided to finish going through all his listings before making a decision. 

As he skimmed over the section devoted to boars, his eyes landed on [Power Truffle]. He had seen it for sale at 500 reputation coins before but had stopped himself from buying it. He hadn’t known then if he would need the boar reputation coins to buy their flag or another better item.

But now that all reputation coins were universal, he saw no problem getting one.

Congratulations. You now have [Power Truffle] in your inventory. You’ve spent 500 reputation coins.

As he chewed the game's spongy mushroom, Roth wondered how many players could say they had eaten the precious consumable. Well… he had eaten two of them! Feeling the savory, earthy flavors, Roth closed his eyes and thoroughly enjoyed the treat.

Thanks to his [Vegetarian Gourmand] title, he again received the full benefits of the powerful stat booster. 

The vitality of the rare truffle flows into your blood and strengthens your vessels and organs.

+10 strength.

Even after purchasing the item, more [Power Truffles] were still for sale. He had enough reputation coins to buy more than 30 of them. A devilish grin formed on his lips. If he wanted to, he could become rich. There was a potential half a million gold in here.

Before, Roth could only use the reputation store to buy things related to the factions in the woods. But the title overrode that. He operated the menu so that only items related to the snakes appeared. Sure enough, he found what he was looking for. He purchased a [Snake Fruit] for 400 reputation coins and ate it immediately. He savored the exotic flavors of mango and passionfruit of the little orange fruit. 

The vitality of the rare snake fruit flows into your organs and muscles.

+5 subterfuge.

In the blink of an eye, he had gained yet another three levels of stats!

As he kept perusing the reputation store, he also had access to items associated with whom he had the lowest relationship tier. For example, an item was available due to his relationship with Oli.

Lucky Lockpick (Rare)

Skill description: There’s a small chance you can open locks beyond your skill. 

Skill effects:

Active. There’s a small chance you can open locks beyond your skill.

Restrictions: Rogue, lvl. 24. 

Given how much easier it was to gain reputation points with some factions than others, he could just befriend a low-tiered race, such as the lizards, gain 100 reputation points, and buy items from Oli’s section of the reputation store.

As he kept going, Roth found items related to the treeants for the first time. There were several types of honeydew, keratin armor, skills, passive skills that boosted weight capacity, and an interesting listing.

Vault Ticket (Consumable)

Description: These can be traded for treeant colony eggs at a colony’s genetic vault.

Each ticket was priced at 300 reputation coins. He wondered whether he could still add to the genome of his colony. He would find out later. He also found listings for Greenleaf Inc. and the dwarf exiles. The only thing that caught his eye in these two was an item for sale at Greenleaf Inc.’s reputation store.

Greenleaf Pin (Uncommon)

Description: A valuable insignia that is only handed to reputable members of Greenleaf Inc. All merchants will respect it.

Effects:

+5 charisma;

+1% to all discount bonuses (+10% when buying from Greenleaf Inc.)

Restrictions: none.

It was a piece of jewelry that was used in the necklace slot. The bonuses to discount were attractive, but given how he knew Soros and Ruth, he guessed that their insignias would be better. Sure enough, after scrolling down, he found a better option.

Golden Mountain Honorary Badge (Rare)

Description: A valuable insignia that is only handed to reputable partners of Golden Mountain Inc. All merchants will respect it.

Effects:

+10 charisma;

+3% to all discount bonuses (+10% when buying from Golden Mountain Inc.)

Restrictions: Broker, lvl. 10.

The items for sale were fascinating. Being esteemed by Golden Mountain had also given him access to merchant outfits with similar bonuses to the badge. There were beautiful silken garments similar to those that Soros used. If he wanted, he could dress like a sultan now, too! He could finally fulfill his dream of having an outfit for each occasion. He could have a set of gear for when adventuring and another when doing business.

Roth finally arrived at the section of the store related to his newest friends. There were already some listings available for moles. There were skills related to digging and mining, but he found that wasn’t the only thing for sale.

Mole Form (Racial)

Description: From the moles, you’ve learned how to dig.

Skill effects:

Active. You can activate this form and convert half of your running speed into digging speed.

Finally! He didn’t have to run back and forth between the Palatial Clearing and wherever he was to retrieve new forms. They were accessible in the reputation store, too! 

This form was kind of weird. It didn’t give him stats but allowed him to sacrifice running speed for the ability to dig faster. When would he ever use that? To buy this form, he had to trade it for his [Friend of Moles] title. 

He was getting confused. He felt like a child in a candy store, wanting to buy everything and not knowing which way to turn. He finally arrived at the last tab in the reputation store: the rock lizards. This was the first faction with which he reached maximum relationship. To reflect that, it had the biggest number of items available for sale. There were several skills; one of them was even epic!

Limb Regeneration (Epic)

Description: The lizards are known for their incredible regeneration power. They can grow back tails and limbs. You now can, too.

Effects:

Passive: +100 hp regeneration per minute.

Active: Double your hp regeneration for one minute.

Restrictions: Warrior, lvl. 21.

It was a fantastic skill. There wasn’t a warrior in the game who wouldn’t want to have it. The passive regeneration was nuts and it came with an active effect. The Slayer of old wouldn’t blink twice and buy this on the spot. Even though he liked the skill, he didn’t need hp regeneration, so he scrolled down, and his eyes landed on three catchier items.

There was plenty of leather equipment, too. Although some of it was basic, there was a fancy suit of armor crafted from the better-quality leather of the she-lizard leader and the elite male. It all made part of a set. Roth skipped over it. Even though it offered great boosts to endurance, resilience, and hp regeneration, his current equipment suited him better.

Finally, at the very end of the listings, three items caught his attention.

Lizardmen Leather Armory Notes (Recipe)

Item description: An ancient manual written in Lizardspeak. It contains the secret recipe to craft the rock lizard armor set.

Restrictions: Tailor, lvl. 20.

Flag of the Rock Lizards (Guild)

Item description: The flagpole is made of acacia, and the flag has seen better days, but it still clearly depicts the symbol identifying the abode of the Rock Lizards in the Rock Canyon.

Item effects: If hoisted by a guild, it gives all their players [Reptilian Recovery].

Rock Lizard Form (Racial)

Description: From the rock lizards, you’ve learned how to become nearly immortal.

Skill effects:

Active. You can activate this form and convert up to half of your other stats into hp regeneration.

Each of these was incredible! Firstly, he didn’t know he could buy recipes in the reputation store. And it was a recipe for a full set! These in New Earth had been real moneymakers, and now, for 1000 reputation coins, he could have one if he wanted.

He could also buy a new flag! Even though rock lizards were a low-tiered race, they still could only be found around mid-grade cities, an upgrade compared to the more basic races represented in the beginner region.

Finally, he had the option to gain yet another form. Its effects were also oddly specific, and he could see it pairing up incredibly well with Ogre’s playstyle, for example. Sadly, it didn’t seem to be a good fit for him.

As he considered what to do with his reputation coins and whether to get the two new forms, a notification rang.

Ch. 250 - Gravitas

INDEX

Ch. 252 - Gifts