HC:Pacifist | Ch. 82 - Novice Broker (Patreon)

Hello everyone,

I hope you're doing well! I just wanted to let you know that from now on, instead of posting on Saturdays, I'll do so on Thursdays. Therefore, here is what my release schedule will be like in the next couple of months:

HCP - Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri

AMBYSSUS - Tues

Thank you all for your support. Enjoy!

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On the one hand, Roth hadn't missed the feeling of emerging from a toilet. Throughout his life, he had always flushed things down the toilet. He still hadn't gotten used to being the thing emerging from one.

On the other hand, traveling the sewers made him feel safe. It was pretty comforting not having to worry about being spotted by the Gazpachos or his former squad. It was as if he owned his secret road system. Roth didn't cancel the miniaturized buff so that he could use it to go back down. He was in a hurry and didn't plan to stay here for more than one hour anyway.

He hopped off the toilet. He sighed in relief that Soros had remembered to leave the door to the bathroom unlocked, and he headed toward the office where Soros would probably be working.

"Soros!"

"Coming!" He heard from the side office. Soros opened the door and looked around for Roth in vain. He had forgotten about Roth's [Miniaturize] skill.

"Down here, Soros."

"My broker friend! It's so good to see you again." He looked at Roth greedily, like a child who had just been shown candy. His eyes lit a bright yellow, and Roth felt as if he was being seen under a microscope.

"Very good! The business trip was quite productive. And I can see that the products you took were a huge success."

Congratulations on fulfilling a trade route between Golden Mountain Inc and the ratans.

+4000 broker XP.

1% of the profit (7 gold, 81 silver).

+74 reputation with Golden Mountain Inc.

Congratulations on fulfilling a trade route between Golden Mountain Inc and the foxes.

+3300 broker XP;

1% of the profit (5 gold, 14 silver).

+52 reputation with Golden Mountain Inc.

Congratulations on fulfilling a trade route between Golden Mountain Inc and the badgers.

+2000 broker XP.

1% of the profit. (3 gold, 94 silver).

+24 reputation with Golden Mountain Inc.

Congratulations on fulfilling a trade route between Golden Mountain Inc and the corvids.

+1300 broker XP.

1% of the profit. (7 gold, 56 silver).

+49 reputation with Golden Mountain Inc.

Congratulations on fulfilling a trade route between Golden Mountain Inc and the boars.

+1300 broker XP.

1% of the profit (6 gold, 91 silver).

+64 reputation with Golden Mountain Inc.

Broker Level Up!

Congratulations! You're now a novice broker.

+1 intelligence.

+1 wisdom.

You've unlocked a new profession-related skill: [Novice Hiring].

You've unlocked a new title: [Novice].

Congratulations on fulfilling a trade route between Golden Mountain Inc and the dwarven exiles.

+1300 broker XP.

1% of the profit. (50 silver, 98 copper).

+14 reputation with Golden Mountain Inc.

Roth could never get enough of the cascading celebratory rings of quest rewards. He'd made 32 extra gold. Nothing beats the joy that came from completing a quest and being rewarded for one's hard work. With this back and forth, Roth could unlock broker level 10!

Apparently, he had unlocked the first grade in his profession. He was now considered a novice broker. He was glad that he was awarded some more stats. When he had become a broker, the increase in wisdom and intelligence had been more generous, with him getting 5 of each. But the bonuses added up, and probably, they would become more meaningful as he climbed higher in his profession.

Other than the slight increase in stats, he didn't know what difference being a novice broker made, but he was sure that it had to count for something, and he was looking forward to finding out more about it. Roth went to check his new skill.

Novice Hiring (Uncommon)

Skill description: You've made a name for yourself and can now give out contracts that suit your reputation. As a broker, you can hire other races too.

Skill effects: Passive. You can write contracts and issue quests to NPCs novice level and below.

Restrictions: Broker, lvl. 10.

He could hire others? What did this mean?

He also went to check the title. Unlocking novice in a profession was something that most likely all players got, and it was nothing special, although it was still useful.

Novice (Common)

Title description: Your reputation as a talented and hardworking professional earns you more benefits and rewards.

Title effects: Whenever you level up a profession, you're awarded 1% of the professional level gained as free experience.

Conditions to unlock [Novice]:

Reach lvl. 10 in any profession {complete}.

It was a simple effect, but one that became increasingly more meaningful as the game progressed. Maybe, it was a way the developers had come up with to make a player's second profession easier to level up.

"Oh, I see that the last trade route has given you the experience to break through the threshold of a rookie to a novice broker. Congratulations, young broker."

"Thank you! By the way, I've got this new skill, [Novice Hiring]. What does it do?"

"I don't follow." Roth wanted to hit himself. You couldn't use gaming terms when talking to NPCs. He had to get back into character. He tried phrasing his question another way.

"Why would I want to hire others as a broker?" tried Roth.

"Well, there are many possibilities. You can hire guards to protect your caravans, for instance."

"Does that mean that I can hire caravans already?"

"Of course! You can already hire novice caravans to take your merchandise. All you have got to do is go to the transport guild and ask them." Roth felt like dancing. That meant that he didn't have to keep running back and forth to the Green Woods in the future. But Soros speaking of guards scared him.

"Soros, you mentioned guards... Can caravans get robbed?"

"Of course. Weren't you listening when you heard how I got into such a predicament?" Roth felt his mouth go dry as he recalled what the Gazpachos had done to Soros’ cargo deliveries. If others could rob his caravan, hiring one without the necessary precautions wasn't a decision to take lightly. He would have to look into what safeguards the transport guild could offer players.

"Thank you for explaining that. I'll have to visit the transport guild later. Soros, the new products you sent were a success. I've written down the orders on the trade agreements."

"Very well. We should sit down and review them to prepare for our next trade run. I want to hear your insights on the meetings with our customers. We need to come up with a strategy in finding out more about the next samples we'll send them."

"I want to do that, Soros. But I have to help a friend first. I also need to take care of the Gazpachos. Do you mind if I swing by in two or three days? By then, everything should be sorted out. And since I will only leave a week from now, you will still have 3 days to prepare all the merchandise."

"That's no problem, young broker. I'll start by studying the numbers that you've brought with you. But yes, the Gazpachos are a priority. Once you get them off my neck, getting better deals and increasing our catalog will be much easier. I will hold onto the merchandise you've left with me until we figure out where things stand."

"Thank you, Soros. I'll come back soon." Roth had been on top of Soros's desk so that they could look at each other at eye level. He jumped off the desk and ran towards the door.

"Soros, sorry... Do you mind opening the door for me? It's difficult when I'm in my miniaturized form."

*

"How can this be?!" screamed Josh into the blackness of the void inside his parasitoid egg. Everything had been going according to plan, and he'd even secured one nest beyond what Loki's secretary had asked him.

But now, something terrible has happened. The sentries he had posted at the boundaries of his infested area were getting shut down one by one. He needed to control 200 minions to hatch from the egg. He had been only 20 minions away from fulfilling the quota.

In half an hour, he was already down to 150 minions. They were all disappearing so fast! Could one of Loki's enemies have gotten a handle on what was going on? After all, if one of the top 10 guilds even suspected Loki's plans, they would all come running. Josh stopped for a moment to consider his next move. What should he do?

He had already lost one nest. That wasn't a loss he couldn't recover from. After all, Loki's assistant had commanded him to get one, and he had secured two. He was still within the parameters of his mission. If he made a comeback, he could take control of the situation.

Only the outskirts of his influence were being targeted. He would call the few remaining sentries back before figuring out his next move. The question was: would he tell his supervisor about it?

On the one hand, if he failed this mission, he would be in trouble with Loki. On the other hand, if he succeeded, he could finally break free from his debt. He still had nine hours until the next briefing with his supervisor. He would wait for another couple of hours.

If things went downhill from here, he'd have no choice but to contact Loki. Otherwise, they would probably accuse him of negligence and charge him an exorbitant repair fee, plunging him back into debt.

He sent a command to all his troops and ordered them back to the chamber where his egg was.

*

Roth was down in the sewers again. It was time to finish this quest once and for all. Athos had contained the threat, but the quest required him to find the source of these monsters. He also had to find the remaining gatorbots. Right now, speed was what he needed most.

Ratan Form!

Roth looked at his map. He was at 78% of exploring the sewers fully. He looked at the darkened area on his map and ran toward it. He thought back to both encounters he had with the monsters. They seemed very strong, but it was almost as if they were afraid of players. There was something fishy going on in here. And why hadn't the gatorbots terminated them yet? Wasn't that the whole reason for having them? To keep the sewers safe and 'unclogged'? It was all so bizarre.

Roth soon reached an area he hadn't been to yet. He pressed on, trying to find the map borders. He would first go to the very edge of the map and work his way inward in a spiral pattern. That was usually a good way of mapping an unknown area.

Compared to the slums, the sewage here had a more industrial smell than the slums' putrid one. It didn't make it any more bearable, but it was slightly less revolting.

Outside, the day was mostly spent, and the scant light pouring through the openings of the drains above was dimming. Roth had already gotten used to traveling in the dark under the pale light of glowshrooms. Now that he had a flashlight things were even more manageable.

Roth advanced with the flashlight in one hand and a glowshroom in the other. Using the flashlight required expending much of his energy bar. If he depleted it, he would have to stop and rest, and he didn't want anything to hinder his traveling speed.

He quickly found a sustainable strategy. He lit his torch briefly for a few seconds to give him a better grasp of what was ahead and then continued under the pale illumination of the glowshroom. It felt like driving on a dark night and alternating between dipped and full-beam headlights.

He finally reached the very edge of the map and started walking along the wall to map out the boundaries of the sewers. As he did, at quick intervals, he turned on the flashlight and turned it off.

He turned the flashlight on again and shone it on a dark corner. He thought he'd seen something there. Had it not been for the powerful light of the flashlight, Roth would have easily missed the ladder there. He climbed it and reached a similar door to the one he'd found earlier today. Excitedly, he burst through the door. It was another maintenance locker room.

*

Frankie had been waiting at the alley entrance leading to Golden Mountain Inc for a day and a half now. He yawned. Stake-outs were a boring part of the quests issued by the family, but they usually were generous in their rewards. This, however, was proving to be too long. The most he had to stake someone out before had been half a day. Did the player he was following logout or something?

He entertained the idea of storming into the building for the millionth time. It was a merchant association and a public place. There was no harm in checking it out, right?

He took a deep breath and went for it. The Gazpachos had sucked this old man dry. This building was on the verge of collapse. He made it through the door and scanned the reception. There was no one here. Two doors seemed to lead into side offices. He then saw a door ajar that led into what seemed to be the toilet and, finally, a last door. He went to it and checked the knob. Turning it, he saw that it was a cleaning supplies cabinet.

"Can I help you?" This was the first time for Frankie to see the man he was helping to intimidate.

"Uh? I was looking for a friend. Isn't this Mumford & Robots?" The old man smirked, making Frankie feel a piercing cold bite into his bones.

"That's on the main street, dear boy."

"I see. Sorry to bother you then."

Frankie hurriedly left.

You have lost 100 reputation with Golden Mountain Inc.

Golden Mountain Inc now dislikes you.

The old man had seen through his lie. He clicked his tongue and went to report to his captain. The man he was tailing had disappeared into thin air!

Ch. 81 - Mighty Athos

INDEX

Ch. 83 - Pacman Much?