HC:Pacifist | Ch. 15 - Broker (Patreon)

Become a broker? Roth stopped. He wasn't expecting to be offered a profession out of the blue. Oscar regarded him patiently.

"Can you give me a few moments to decide?" he tried.

"Of course! Deciding to become a broker is no small matter. I will let you gather your thoughts."

While the offer to become a broker hung in front of him, he decided to quickly search about professions on the forums.

He first searched for 'broker' and got no hits. He then looked for 'Oscar' and found nothing either. That meant that few people knew of this NPC's existence. It also meant that the broker profession was not a common one. Those who had information about it preferred to keep it to themselves. Roth knew that as the game progressed, he would have less useful information in the forums for free. He would have to go through this the hard way. He had to use his brain. He thought back to what Oscar had said. He'd been led here by working with several merchants, delivering goods from one to the next. Had he not been on good terms with Ratans, the typical outcome of the quest would have been to gain the merchant profession. Perhaps merchants and brokers were similar professions, then. He recalled that Prima had mentioned that merchants were one of the most common trades in AstroTerra. Hoping for the best, he searched the forums for 'merchant.' This time, he got several hits.

As the name implied, merchants made a living off buying and selling. Although each city had its auction house, the system did not connect them. That meant there might be an excess of supply in a town and a shortage in the next. The law of supply and demand greatly affected the price. Merchants tried to explore this difference. They turned a profit by buying cheap and selling at a higher cost. The profession involved a lot of haggling and bargaining but also transportation. The quicker you could travel and the more you could carry, the better. Speed significantly impacted profit. He checked out two posts describing the profession's joys and frustrations.

One of the posts was from a guy who had tried to make a living out of the merchant profession and regretted his choice:

"So, I am about to delete my merchant profession. I want to thank the community for all the hints and suggestions, but this isn't for me. I bought as many cedar logs as possible from Lumberville because they were being sold at twice the price in the next town over. I rushed there as fast as possible, only to find that other merchants had beaten me to the punch. My merchandise was now all being sold for less than the price at which I bought it. This has happened to me too many times before. I give up. Good luck to all those out there who choose this difficult path."

Although the post was dramatic and gloomy, Roth got something valuable. It was possible to delete a profession. Whatever choice he'd make here didn't mean it was irreversible. He could always delete the profession and get a new one. He looked for 'delete profession' and found many posts explaining how it was done. Essentially, if you were offered a profession and were out of slots, the system allowed you to delete one of the professions you had. The downside was that once someone gave up on a profession, they would lose all the progress they had made in it. If they were to regret their choice and try to get into the profession again, they would have to start from scratch. He returned to the posts about merchants and found a few that sounded more positive.

"I can't recommend the merchant profession enough. Listen, guys, I am not good with business or anything, but if you like questing and adventuring and want to make a quick buck on the side, go for this profession. Number one, you get buffs that help you travel faster and carry more weight. I don't need to tell you what a nightmare it is to always be on top of how much you have in your inventory. Secondly, you're going to travel anyway. Might as well go packed with goods. You have to use your heads, people! If you're in a town close to mines, and going to one where there aren't any mines, buy the ore, and it will sell for more where you're going. I recommend this profession to anyone who's not into crafting and likes to travel around the game often."

This sounded like something that Roth wouldn’t mind doing. He didn't have a lousy time delivering goods from one place to another when doing the quests that had led him here. He also liked the idea of being able to travel faster. If it didn't work out, he had nothing to lose. Above all, it seemed to be a peaceful profession.

It was such a widespread profession, so how someone could unlock it wasn't a big secret. All it took was to see a merchant association in any of the towns, buy a membership card, and do a few simple quests. The profession granted players buffs and skills related to the trade. The first one seemed a passive skill that made it worth having this profession even if you never leveled it up.

Discount (Common)

Skill description: Your business sense and bargaining skills allow you to get better deals.

Skill effects: Passive skill. You can buy items from NPCs at a discount of 1% (WIS.INT.???.???.Reputation.)

Restrictions: Merchant Lvl. 1

Just for this skill, it was worth it. In this game, every copper counted, and getting things at a discount was extremely attractive. Moreover, the discount increased as stats improved. This was for the merchant profession, however. He wondered if the broker's profession had something even remotely similar. There was only one way to find out.

"I want to take you up on your offer, Oscar."

"Good. Good. I think you will do alright with this job. It’s one that I have enjoyed doing for many years."

Congratulations: You are now a broker.

+5 Intelligence

+5 Wisdom

You have received [Broker Ledger]

"Is it OK if I ask you a few questions?"

"I'm getting a bit tired." The dog yawned. "I will answer you if they aren't too troublesome." Roth guessed that he was only being allowed to clear some fundamental doubts because of his friendly relationship with Greenleaf Inc.

"What’s the difference between a merchant and a broker?"

"Yawn. Oh oh. Good question. A merchant trades things between cities or parts ruled by the same faction. Brokers specialize in establishing trade between different races or factions. For example, I assist Greenleaf Inc. in trading with other factions in the woods."

"Really? I thought you were a part of Greenleaf, Inc."

"In a way, I am. I liaise between them and these woods. A word of advice: don't tell too many people where your merchandise comes from. Most wouldn’t take well to seeing humans getting along with beasts, you see." The word beast had been said with some distaste. There seemed to be a lot of bad blood between animals and humans. "Since the fire rain, things haven’t been good between humans and animals. When animals mutated and gained more intelligence, they began actively avoiding humans."

"What about dogs?"

"We’ve always been good friends with humans. We're also good... yawn... friends with other animals. That's why most brokers are dogs. We mediate."

"Thank you, Oscar. We’ll be on our way," interjected Brownie. Roth took that as a sign that his time had expired. Anyway, he knew what he wanted to know. A broker was a specialized bracket within the merchant profession. He would check the ledger he'd received. There might be some more information in there.

"Bye-bye, little mouse." Roth noticed how Oscar had addressed Brownie in flawless Ratan. It seemed that speaking languages was a good skill for a broker. He took note of that.

"Bye, Oscar." Before Roth left, he saw Oscar's wrinkled face dig itself into a cushion, facing the warmth of the fire.

As Roth made it outside of Oscar's house, he asked Brownie to wait for just a few seconds while he examined the ledger he'd received. It wasn't what he was expecting. It seemed to be much more important than he imagined.

Pax's Broker Ledger (Unique)

Item description: It is made of fine, thick leather, and the pages seem very resistant. It possesses knowledge and insights into the art of being a broker.

Item effects:

- Can not be dropped or sold;

- Has knowledge about skills. As your proficiency increases, you will be able to understand how to use them;

- Records and logs your trades and sales.

Roth took it out of his inventory and opened the book to see if it could be read. It could. It started with a small presentation of the profession and how to progress in it.

Commerce is like the blood that brings nutrients and oxygen to the body. Without commerce, society would collapse. It is like the stitches that hold a garment together. Every sale or purchase can make the fabric of this world stronger. It's up to you to strengthen this fabric.

As a broker, you only advance your profession by mediating trades between different factions. This means that being a broker is more demanding than being a merchant. Merchants don't have to start new trade routes or mediate between cultures. On the other hand, what is garbage to one race, can be gold to another; therefore, there is profit to be found if one is willing to risk it.

We write you this manual in the hopes that you will achieve success in this noble trade.

Sincerely,"

And then it was signed with a paw mark. Roth realized that a dog had written this. He wondered if it had been Oscar. For moments, Roth worried if this profession was a dead end. He remembered all the posts he had found about players giving up on hidden classes or even regular professions because they were too hard. What about this one? No. He couldn't think like that. He had to push through and persevere. That was the only way that he'd be able to reach the top. He had to take his chances. Even though Roth wasn't entirely sure which path would lead him to success, the broker's path seemed helpful in amassing wealth. He would need a lot of gold if he were ever to reach the top 10. For a few moments, Roth thought of his mother and his situation as a prisoner. How was she doing? Did she even know he was here? He tried to shake it off and went back to the book. He saw what skills he could learn at level 0. It was [Discount], after all.

Discount (Common)

Skill description: Your business sense and bargaining skills allow you to get better deals.

Skill effects: Passive skill. You can buy items from NPCs at a discount of 1% (WIS.INT.???.???.Reputation.)

Restrictions: Merchant Level 0.

The fact that the text was the same as what he'd seen in the forums meant that, in principle, if any items would give a bonus to the merchant profession, he would also benefit from them. He tried to see if the next skill he'd unlocked was available for him to see. He flipped the pages, but they all appeared as if they were blurred. He just had to keep leveling up in the profession and wait to see what was in it. Who knew? Perhaps the Ratan faction could become his first customer. Time would tell, however. It was time to see the Rat King.

"Brownie, let's go. I'm ready."

The human and mouse marched on toward the Rat Cave.

Ch. 14 - Oscar

INDEX

Ch. 16 - Rat Cave