HC:Pacifist | Ch. 115 - 'Weapon' (Patreon)

Secret Conditions Fulfilled:

[Friend of Snakes];

Good.

Would you like to trade [Friend of Snakes] for a reward from the Lord of the Woods? [Y/N]

“I accept.”

You gained a new racial skill: [Snake Form].

Snake Form (Racial)

Skill description: From the snakes, you have learned how to slow your heart rate and hide your presence. You’ve also learned how to produce powerful toxins.

Skill effects:

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

Roth looked at the new icon on the new form in his arsenal. If it weren’t for the effects of the [Hallucinogen Grenade] or the [Tranquilizing Syringe], he would never have been able to complete the [Green Pastures] quest. The fact that he could significantly increase his subterfuge stat and, with it, the potency of poisons he used was something he was looking forward to.

Additionally, ever since he’d unlocked insight and subterfuge, he’d realized how important both stats were. Subterfuge made his [Camouflage] more powerful. Being able to turn invisible was something that could be very useful. He thought of the sheep thief and how he’d been able to sneak past Roth without noticing.

Although Roth wasn’t sure of it yet, subterfuge might also make his [Witness Protection Mask] more effective. Funneling hundreds of points into this stat might help him strengthen his disguises and hide in a tricky situation.

“Thank you, my lord.”

“Godspeed, traveler.”

The connection was broken, and now he was sure the Lord had finished talking to him. How Roth wished that he could transform into his new form right now. Unfortunately, it was on cooldown. He’d try it out as soon as possible.

Since he was in the clearing, it was time to start another trade run. He looked for Prince Piglet. He found the young boar swinging his axe at the empty air at the edge of the clearing. With every swing, a powerful gust of wind made leaves in the distant trees rustle.

"My prince!”

"Haha. Martyr, I almost didn't recognize you in that fancy outfit." Swoosh! Roth gulped, imagining what it would be like to be hit by such a massive heavy axe.

"True. I’ve gotten some new equipment recently. Your health seems to have improved, prince!”

“It’s thanks to all the medicine you've been getting for me. I've been regaining my strength little by little. Did you bring anything else from the city?"

Even before Roth was able to respond, he was pickpocketed.

Prince Piglet has paid you 2165 gold and 15 silver.

20x[Prairie Balm] has been removed from your inventory.

30x[Acargomar Extract] has been removed from your inventory.

3681 gold has been removed from your inventory.

Congratulations on completing a trade between [Prince Piglet] and [Golden Mountain Inc].

2000 broker XP; 2%(x75%) of the profit (55 gold, 21 silver); +124 reputation with all boars.

Such eagerness! It was a terrible feeling to have so much gold in his inventory that he couldn’t use, and even knowing that, it didn’t make it any easier when it was taken from him like this.

On the other hand, Roth sighed in relief. Prince Piglet paid good money for this medicine and even after deducting Soros’ share and getting only a percentage of the profit it was still a considerable amount. It felt good to have some funds come into his pocket. This last quest had sucked him dry.

“These are good. Thank you.”

"I'll come and bring you some [Wild Garlic], [Fox Ginseng], and [Morelshrooms] in a couple of hours. In the meantime, I've brought you some new medicine from the capital. Do you want to try these free samples and see if it's to your liking?"

1x[Silverleaf Salve] has been removed from your inventory.

1x[Evergreen Elixir] has been removed from your inventory.

"This is the best medicine you’ve got so far. Please. Get me more of these."

[Silverleaf Salve] added to the boar's procurement list.

[Evergreen Elixir] added to the boar's procurement list.

Roth smirked at the addition of items to his catalog. Even after traveling light, these items weren't heavy, and he could profit well.

The prince kept swinging his heavy axe, and Roth turned to leave. He'd visit the corvids next. As he walked away from the tree in the general direction of the Raven Nests, Roth noticed an icon disappear in the corner of his vision. He circled back and took a few steps toward the treeant, and the icon reappeared.

He had never seen this icon before. As he focused on it, a menu sprung open, similar to the one he'd see in an auction house. Looking at the top of the window, he read 'reputation store.' Of course! He’d almost forgotten about this. He finally found the reputation store! Roth's eyes widened as he scrolled through the different items for sale. There were skill cards, recipes, consumables, and equipment!

Roth's heart was torn between the urge to celebrate and the desperate need to see every item for sale at the shop. He tried to situate himself and calm down. He looked at the upper right-hand corner. Instead of listing the gold he had, there were reputation points. He scrolled down the different options for sale. He looked at the first item on the list. There was a [Rat Poison] skill card similar to the one he had learned before. It was on sale for 100 reputation points with the ratans.

He kept scrolling down the list. Several drops from the Rat Cave were listed below. He found the coveted [Miniaturizing Potion] listed for 300 reputation points. Interestingly, a skill card that could be bought for 3 silver was listed for 100 reputation points, whereas a potion that could be sold for 300 gold was sold for 300 reputation points. There was such a big discrepancy between the conversion rate.

He kept scrolling down. There was a [Mouseketeer Cape] just like the one he wore for 500 reputation points. Then, he came across a [Athos] card like the one he received from the sewer monsters' quest. It was listed at a whopping 1,000 reputation points. Roth let out an appreciative whistle. That meant that the card was precious! He couldn't understand why, though. There were cards for the other Mouseketeers and one for the Mouse King, but there were no cards for Ratatouille.

After Roth looked through the different cards, his eyes landed on an item he wasn't expecting to see for sale here. Roth stared wide-eyed at the unexpected blessing gracing his view. There was a flag for sale!

Flag of the Rat Cave (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 abode of the ratans in the Green Woods.

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

Roth had read that flags could be gained from running dungeons. Wasn't it true that there were three dungeons in the Green Woods right here? How hadn't he thought of it before? If there were three dungeons here, logically, there would be three flags! How come no one talked about this, though?

Roth looked at the price listed for this item. It was for sale for 3000 reputation points with the ratans. Roth's hands trembled as he reached out for the menu. Should he go for it? This was the first dungeon that players in Green Country ran. How good could its effects be to Roth? He cursed the developers for making it so hard on this hidden class. He couldn't see the hidden effects of the flag until he bought it.

And what would happen if he did purchase it? Would his relationship with the ratans devolve back to 0? It had taken him a lot of work to get it this high. He sighed. In case that did happen, he had such high charisma and knew so much about ratans now that it would be easy to regain the relationship with them, right?

Roth resisted the urge to purchase the flag and tried to go through the rest of the items for sale. Scrolling down, he got to the items that could be bought for reputation points with the foxes. The Palatial Clearing seemed to be a central hub that sold items for all the factions in the woods. He reviewed skill cards, character cards, equipment, [Fox Ginseng] but found no flag.

He kept going. There was a corresponding section for badgers, corvids, and boars. Roth resisted the urge to buy out all the skills named after the races he could transform into. Those could be bought for money, and he still didn't know how spending reputation points worked. There were so many things he wanted to try out. Roth could still not find any flags under corvids, the race with the last dungeon in the woods.

His theory was that the closer he got to a faction, the more items were unlocked in the store. Since ratans and snakes were the only two factions he had [Adored] status with, they were the only factions whose flags he could purchase.

He kept scrolling down, past the section of items for sale for reputation points with the boars. He saw a [Power Truffle] for sale for 500 reputation points and drooled. This item went for 17k+ gold. If he bought it and sold the item in the auction house, his money problems would be gone.

At this point, Roth expected to find a section for snakes or treeants and was surprised to find something completely different. There was a section with mixed items being sold. He found the woodland set being sold for a combination of reputation points. A [Woodland Hood] was being sold for 100 reputation points of each of the factions of the woods.

He also found the [Blessing of the Green Woods] skill card he'd received as a reward, which sat in his inventory, waiting to be used. This was interesting, too. Some items could only be purchased if he became friends with more than one faction.

Now that Roth had finished looking at all the items for sale, it was time to run an experiment. He went to the badger section and looked for a skill card that he wouldn't mind learning in the future. He found [Psionic Push]. It was being sold for 100 reputation points with the badgers. He checked how many reputation points he had in his character sheet and purchased it.

Congratulations. You now have [Psionic Push] in your inventory. You've spent 100 reputation coins.

Roth checked his character sheet. His relationship with the Badgers hadn't dropped. He went to the reputation store menu and saw that a little symbol of a coin with a badger edged into it had gone down. He then rechecked the notification. So that's how it worked. He got one corresponding reputation coin for every reputation point he unlocked. Once he spent it, it was gone. This could be done to avoid letting players farm reputation points and buy things from the reputation store indefinitely.

This meant that there were no backsies. If there was an item down the road that required more reputation points, and he wanted to get it, there was no way to gain back what he'd purchased before. Roth took a deep breath and made his decision. He filtered the items and purchased the flag.

Congratulations. You now have [Flag of the Rat Cave] in your inventory.

Roth equipped it immediately, eager to see what equipment his class used.

Thanks to your [Flagbearer] skill, you can wear [Flag of the Rat Cave]. Hidden attributes of the flag unlocked.

Flag of the Rat Cave (Rare)

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 abode of the ratans in Green Woods.

Item effects:

One-hand equipment;

Can deal no damage;

+10 wisdom;

+6 dexterity;

+10% running speed;

You can use [Ratan Stride]; [Ratan Dash].

Restrictions: Pacifist.

Roth looked at the last benefit on the list. This flag gave him two skills! Since the flag could grant a bonus to everyone in the guild, it would do more for an individual player. In line with his class, the skills granted didn't deal damage.

There were also bonuses to his wisdom, which was an essential stat for his class, and other stats that were more in line with the characteristics of the ratans. He gained dexterity and some running speed. He was also glad to find it was a one-hand piece of equipment. That meant he could wear his flashlight in one hand and the flag in the other. Roth squeezed the pole, feeling the grain of the pinewood in his hands, and tried waving the flag. It was a good feeling.

The flag itself was gray with a golden ratan embroidered in it. It had a few tears and holes but looked cool, nonetheless. Finally, he had found his weapon, if he could call it that. Unlike swords that could be sheathed into a scabbard or axes that could be put in his back, he found that with the flag came a little addition to his belt that allowed him to fasten the pole to it. He hooked the flag to his back. The pole and the flag sticking from his back made him look like someone selling drinks at a concert. With his new flag on his back, it was time to resume his trade run.

Ch. 114 - Ratan Sprint

INDEX

Ch. 116 - Vanquish the Darkness