HC: Pacifist | Ch. 254 - Muddy the Waters (Patreon)

“These are all interesting items you’ve got here,” commented Ruth. "I should have no problem selling them, especially this tail. It is rare for you to be lucky enough to get the tail of an elite rock lizard like that.”

“Thank you, Ruth. And I appreciate your recommendation letter.”

“Please tell old Gertrud that I miss her.”

“Will do,” answered Roth, winking.

He had just sold whatever he could to Ruth, who would use her supply channels to sell the items and fetch him the best possible price. His inventory was significantly lighter as a result.

As he left White Onyx Inc., he spared a look at the Cloth of the Wadi. He could see the clothes shop across the pit on the floor above. Roth had left all the items related to crafting there.

As the elevator began its painfully slow ascent to the auction house floor, Roth called H.

Compared to last time, H’s equipment seemed to have been upgraded. He now had sky-blue robes and a pair of glasses with an ornamented rim. It suited the old veteran and made him look like a professor or a school principal. “Hey, Roth! What’s up?”

“Just trying to stay busy. Is the city quest going well?”

“Oh, yes! The Union’s popularity has skyrocketed. We just reached 13k members, and more applications keep raining!”

Roth’s eyes widened. Not one hour ago, they had 12000 members; in such a short span, they had gotten a thousand more members. “Are you participating as well?”

“I am. It’s been a neat way to level up my scribe profession. Just reached level 17.”

“That’s great news! Listen, I was wondering, are there many merchants in the Union these days?”

“They’re growing to be an important part of the Union. We’ve been having many join in lately. They see its business potential and have been using it to network with craftsmen and establish contracts. Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if there was anything in our library about merchants.”

“Oh yes, big time. They can’t participate in crafting battles without a second profession, so insights are their only way to enter the union. It’s mostly data about prices and such. Can’t you see it?”

“No. Isn’t the website still down?”

“Oh, right! That. Just a second.” H mumbled a few technical terms and quickly got back to the conversation. “Try it now.”

Roth was now able to access the Union’s page. There were several older announcements regarding the feud with Pegasus. As Roth saw the body count and the many posts his friends had made to address the crisis, he gulped drily. The body count of Unionized workers who had fallen to Pegasus’ assassins was no joke.

However, these were mostly buried under the excitement over the Union’s quest. Multiple quests posting the rewards and the accelerated progress in a profession was what took most of the Union’s page.

“Wait a minute! The site was down for maintenance, was it?” Roth said, doing air quotes to underline the irony.

“Haha. We wanted to spare you a little, Roth. You already have a lot on your plate.”

Roth had a bittersweet smile. On the one hand, he wished he had helped them, but on the other hand, he was grateful for their intentions. “I know. I appreciate that.” Roth operated the library, and finding the section for merchants, he smiled. “This will help me a lot. Thank you, H.”

“No problem.”

“Gotta go. Say hi to the gang for me.”

“Will do.”

In the meantime, the elevator reached his floor, and he hopped off. He summoned Lua and as she did the walking for him, he studied the library. Just as there were many insights for tailors, there was a whole section devoted to merchants. It contained a list of interesting titles, guides on how to start a business and a trade route, and several hints Roth would have to investigate later.

Eventually, he found what he was looking for: a list of the cheapest regions to buy certain supplies and the best places to sell them. For example, herbs and fruit were everywhere in Green Country but were a scarce resource in Rock Canyon. Under Soros's advice, Roth himself had made a quick buck by flipping the items between regions on his trip here. He’d purchased 50 gold worth of fruits and sold them for 70 after arriving at Sapphira. It was time to up the ante.

He reached the teleportation gate and had Lua step onto the teleportation platform so that he could confirm the effects of [Thousand].

Thousand (Epic)

Title description: You’ve reached an incredible landmark. Your attributes have allowed you to transcend into something greater than a man, and your contributions are appreciated.

Title effects: 

Teleportation gates cost 1000 gold.

Conditions to unlock [Thousand]: 

Be the first player to reach 1000 of one given stat. {charisma}

A window appeared with a list of locations he could teleport to. All the villages of Green Woods were there, as well as the fishing village where he’d met with the Ogres. Then, there were the cities of Sapphira, Greensburg, and Hilsford. Previously, he wouldn’t have been able to teleport to these places for no less than 5000 gold; now, it only cost him 1k.

Happy with his findings, Roth rode Lua to Sapphira's auction house. Mounts weren’t allowed inside the building, so he dismounted the white mare before entering. He approached the first NPC he landed his eyes on. He wore fancy silk orange clothes and a large square hat. Roth guessed that it provided some shade. Given how this NPC spent most of his time indoors, he didn’t see the point in it. Was it just so that players could more easily spot him from afar? “Hello, sir.”

“Greetings, martyr. How can I assist you?” the man said in a pleasant, inviting voice.

“I was wondering if I could use one of your deposit boxes?” Roth tried.

“Of course. We charge a flat fee of 1 gold a month. Remember that the deposit box can only be accessed here, in Sapphira's auction house.”

“So be it.”

You’ve paid one gold to Sapphira’s Auction House.

A window appeared before him. Roth dumped all the rest of the stuff in his inventory: several character and skill cards, the cloning machine, hydrogen grenades, frying scramblers, and the plumber set. Every kilo would matter for what he had planned. The only things that he kept with him were his profession and class books, and the equipment he was wearing. 

The trading square was abuzz with excitement. Roth looked for a quiet place to conduct business. It was easier said than done. There were players everywhere. However, most preferred to stay close to the door so they could enter and leave quickly. Roth only had to walk until the farthest edge of the trading square to find the peace he needed.

As he checked the prices for the light-trapped equipment he’d auctioned, he let out an appreciative whistle. The last light-trapped leather helmet had sold for 15 gold—the overall price the auction house had originally suggested for the whole batch of leather equipment! The current auction for a light-trapped helmet was already at 11 gold. 

Big guilds often investigated new, promising items that appeared in the market. They want to get one of the helmets to find clues about light trapping. His little underhanded move had inflated the prices significantly. If all his light-trapped items sold for ten gold a piece, he would gain 140 gold just in these items. This was good news. He would need every penny to execute his plan.

Satisfied, he opened the auction house menu and located the item he sought.

Scroll of Nimbus City (Consumable)

Description: A scroll written by a seasoned traveler who has visited the famous golden city in the clouds. It contains some teleportation coordinates.

Effects: Adds the location of Nimbus City to your world map.

These scrolls were one of the easiest ways for players with the scribe profession to make a quick buck. They would travel around the world, adding coordinates to their world map and inscribing them in scrolls they sold to wealthy players who didn’t want to waste time traveling between cities and just wanted to teleport there immediately. He wondered if H made these.

Roth had only read about these items in passing in the forums but had discarded buying them to get to Sapphira. It was too expensive to teleport. 10k gold wasn’t a small sum, even if he asked for help from the Union. 

He purchased a [Scroll of Nimbus City] for 100 gold, draining all the gold he’d made from crafting recently. Once he purchased it, he tore it into two, and the scroll crumbled. The scent left in the air was that of wind and rain.

Coordinates to Nimbus City added to your world map.

The next step in his plan was simple. He put the hood over his shoulder and, looking left and right, confirmed no one was around. It was time to use a form he had never tried before.

Ant Form!

Roth headed to the nearby fountain and looked at his reflection. His eyes had become completely black, like an ant's, and two little antennae had popped up from his temple. His weight-carrying capacity had increased by several hundred kilos.

STATS

Hp: 431

Energy: 612

Damage Reduction: 35.9%

Status Resistance: 15.2%

Cooldown Reduction: 17%

Running Speed: 147.8%

Weight: [Light] - (16.2/826 Kg)

STATS

Strength: 51

Dexterity: 58

Intelligence: 120 (+11%)

Wisdom: 91

Endurance: 122 (+10%)

Charisma: 106 (+5%)

Resilience: 20

Insight: 20

Subterfuge: 34

Perception: 14

Whenever he used [Boar Form], his weight-carry capacity significantly increased. For each point of strength he gained, he could carry half a kilo more. But [Ant Form] directly channeled each stat into weight-carry capacity. He received one whole kilo of weight-carry capacity for each of the sacrificed stats.

This was why his zoomorph form was so powerful. There were no wasted stats. Whatever small increases he got to any stat could be funneled into his forms. This was also the first time he was experimenting with one of his highly specialized forms. Unlike his previous transformations, this one immediately impacted the result he sought instead of a stat.

Maybe [Mole Form] was more amazing than he suspected. He should buy it from the reputation store later.

Roth opened the auction house. Rocks and minerals were the cheapest things in Rock Canyon. He found the items with the highest profit margin and started stuffing his inventory with them.

You’ve purchased 100x[White Rubies].

You’ve purchased 50x[Eternal Stone].

You’ve purchased 100x[Blue Coal].

Roth kept going, purchasing whatever was at market price. Eventually, when he had spent 800 gold, he received a notification.

You’re carrying too much weight. 

You’ve received [Heavy] debuff. You move 50% slower.

Roth kept going, though. He still could move. He was even granted a new title as he kept stuffing his bag with gemstones and ore.

You’ve unlocked a new title: [Weighs a Ton].

Weighs a Ton (Common)

Description: You’re not afraid of hard work and have learned to carry heavy burdens.

Title effects:

+10% weight carry capacity.

Conditions to unlock [Weighs a Ton]:

Carry 1 ton of cargo on your inventory.

It was a whimsical title.  Had Roth known about it earlier, he would have stuffed himself with many items just to unlock it. In [Ant Form], this title translated into an extra 86 kg of cargo. Immediately, he felt the [Heavy] debuff alleviate, but soon, he burdened himself with even more items that rendered the bonus of [Weighs a Ton] mute.

You’re exceedingly heavy. You move 60% slower.

You’re exceedingly heavy. You move 70% slower.

He finally stopped after spending all his money in the auction house. His inventory was filled with valuable gemstones, minerals, and rocks. Nodding approvingly, he dragged himself out of the auction house. Due to the [Heavy] debuff, he moved at a sluggish rate of 30% movement speed. To worsen it, he had had the brilliant idea of seeking the quietest place in the auction house, which was the farthest from the door.

After five painful minutes of gruesome march, he finally reached the entrance and summoned his mount.

Summon!

Lua appeared from around the corner, and Roth activated his riding skill.

Mount!

Thanks to Lua's carrying bonus of 50kg, the slow debuff was severely alleviated. Moreover, since it was still daylight, his [Speed of Light] affinity bonus kicked in, and he could gallop as if he wasn’t carrying any items at all. He had his mare move toward the teleportation gate again and found a new location to teleport to. 

Are you sure you want to teleport to Nimbus City for 1000 gold? [Y/N]

Roth grinned. His [Thousand] title was proving its incredible worth. Any other player would have to pay ten times as much.

“Yes!”

Ch. 253 - Algae Coffee

INDEX

Ch. 255 - The Warriors