HC:Pacifist | Ch. 158 - Increased Discount (Patreon)

Congratulations on completing the quest [Supercolony’s Survival] unconventionally. Check the NPC who issued the quest for your rewards.

Roth collapsed to his knees as the treeant soldiers terminated the caterpillar. That was hard to watch. What a horrible death. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he wiped them away and pulled himself back up. He had tried his best to save the caterpillar, but it was out of his hands. It had just done too much damage to the colony. Even though he didn’t agree with this level of violence, if it were his children being starved by someone evil, he wouldn’t sit still either.

In the meantime, even though the collective consciousness of the Lord of the Woods hadn't returned, the treeants had stopped attacking him. The soldiers still formed a perimeter around him, showing they hadn't fully regained their trust in him.

Roth closed his eyes again. The organized flow of energy had been thrown into disarray by the babies' fear and the black egg's presence. As the babies and the other ants calmed down, the electrical impulses became more organized and coalesced into synapses again.

The air around Roth rustled, picked up until it was a breeze, and gained even more strength until it became a steady wind. Roth felt it caress him as if a mother nurturing a baby. The Lord had never shown this much tenderness to him.

The treeants realize you were falsely accused.

+1000 reputation with the treeants.

Congratulations! You are respected by treeants.

“You were speaking the truth.” The Lord's voice carried more strength and vitality now. “The nerve of this blue caterpillar. There were tales in our records of when they used to do this to our ancestors, but we thought our super colony was impenetrable. Thank you, martyr. You found out what has been putting our babies in danger. Thanks to you, we can now rebuild our numbers and strength. Here. We can recognize when we've made a mistake. Accept this as a token of our apologies and our appreciation.”

[Supercolony’s Survival] completed.

Completion rate: S.

Quest rewards:

10,000,000 XP(+5,000,000XP); +300 reputation points with the treeants; 3 vault tickets; [Myrmecologists Handbook].

Bonus rewards:

10,000,000 XP(+5,000,000XP); +300 reputation points with the treeants; 5 vault tickets.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

Congratulations! Treeants now revere you.

You’ve unlocked a new title: [Friend of the Treeants].

Friend of the Treeants (Uncommon)

Description: After braving through challenges together, you come to appreciate the industriousness of the ants, and they, in turn, your hardworking spirit.

Title effects:

+20 kg carry capacity;

Conditions to unlock [Friend of the Treeants]:

Achieve 1000 reputation with treeants without ever hurting one;

Or achieve 3000 reputation with treeants.

“It’s alright, Lord. You were just trying to protect your family. I understand that.”

The purity of your thoughts and your eloquence touch the heart of the millions of treeants in Antioch.

+3 charisma.

+37 reputation with the treeants.

Roth stared at the notification. His charisma sure was sky high now for a simple sentence to have such a powerful effect on the treeants!

“You’ll always be our friend, martyr. That reminds me. It’s only appropriate that you receive one more token of our appreciation.”

Secret Conditions Fulfilled:

[Friend of Treeants];

Good.

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

Roth accepted it without hesitation. Although the increase in weight carry capacity made it a useful title, Roth had already ground for the stat when taking out the trash. So far, he hadn’t been disappointed by what he got in return for trading these titles for a reward from the Lord of the Woods.

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

Ant Form (Racial)

Skill description: From the treeants, you have learned the importance of hard work and how to increase your industriousness.

Skill effects:

Active. You can activate this form and convert up to half of your stats into weight-carry capacity.

Roth laughed at the effects of his new form. It looked like even the [Ant Form] was all about being able to carry more weight. He wasn’t sure what the ratio was, but being able to carry so much weight was the dream of any merchant!

“Thank you, Lord!”

A soft, warm breeze, comfortable as a cozy blanket, enveloped him.

Sensing that the dialogue was over, Roth could now take the time to study all the notifications and rewards for finishing the quest. He started by checking the title he had received when he triggered [Fox Form].

Stat Prodigy (Legendary)

Description: Your magnificent skills are without equal in all the land. By practicing your skills to perfection, you become even more skilled.

Skill effects:

Gain an extra 10% to your highest stat.

Conditions to unlock [Stat Prodigy]:

To be the player with the highest of one stat in all the game;

Minimum of 500 on that stat;

Stat has to be at least ten points higher than the second-highest stat-holder.

Was it another legendary title? He read through the conditions to unlock it again and again. Was he the player with the highest charisma in the game right now? He shouted in triumph! What a fantastic title!

On the one hand, his real charisma stat was 108. But with all the bonuses and his [Fox Form], it had multiplied by a factor of seven! How he loved his race right now. He already had +5% charisma thanks to his [First of a Kind] title. With this title, the bonus went up to +15%. That meant that for each seven charisma points he got, he was given an extra point free.

When he first got [Well Read], which offered +1% to intelligence, he dismissed the title as nothing special. But he stood corrected. These percentage bonuses only got better as the game progressed.

He had gotten a really good completion rate in this quest. The last time he was congratulated for finishing a quest unconventionally was when he threw that grenade in the sewers. If Roth was correct, this quest was originally meant for a team of players who were supposed to fight the caterpillar while holding the other treeants off. It would be a massive, difficult battle. Since he had solved the problem by himself, without hurting anyone, the system rewards were very generous. He wondered why he wasn’t given a legendary rate, though. Since he received the same compliment, he should have received a similar grade, no?

He shrugged. An ‘S’ was already a fantastic grade for an epic quest. Roth turned to the other rewards next. He looked at the millions of XP points he received. It was enough to help him jump four levels in one single leap. Maybe the experience rewards were this massive because the quest was originally designed for much higher-level players.

It was also great that he could gain so many reputation points! Thanks to this, he had unlocked yet another title. Roth grabbed the book that was a reward for this quest.

Myrmecologists Handbook (Unique)

Item description: A book of stone that emanates mental waves. By opening your mind to it, you can access its information.

Item effects:

Contains information on how to nurture a treeant colony.

Roth turned it over in his hand. What was this about? He opened his mind to it, and images formed in his mind. There were flashes describing species of ants, their characteristics once they were crossed, and how to start one colony from one fertilized queen. What was the point of this book? He didn’t get it. And what were these references to the vault and vault tickets?

“Lord?”

“Yes, martyr?”

“Thank you again for your kind rewards. I beg your pardon, but what is this vault?”

“The vault is the greatest treasure of the treeants. It’s where we keep the eggs of the queens.”

Roth’s heart thumped furiously. Could the book he was given be related to the vault? He had to go visit it. “Can I see it?”

“Of course! All of Antioch is opened up to you, martyr. But before we let you go, we must discuss this black object you have hidden in your bag.”

Roth gulped.

“You pulled a very dangerous stunt, martyr.”

Roth sighed as the dots connected in his mind. Maybe using the black egg had been the reason for not gaining a legendary completion rate. “Well, you left me no choice. You were swarming me with soldiers, remember?”

“For now, let's agree to disagree. That's a foul lifeform you have there. It is not of this world.”

“That is why I need to get to the Table, lord. Oli told me that only there can it be decided what to do about this.”

“Agreed.”

“Has the lockdown on the area been lifted?”

“No, martyr. The woods are experiencing an unseen battle up above. We can’t afford to endanger the colony.”

“Would you then reconsider letting me use the teleportation device?”

“Of course. I told you: you have full access to the colony. Just don’t take that vile egg out again, OK?”

“Yes, I won’t. Could you direct me to the vault and the teleportation gate?”

A series of flashes showed him the two locations. One was a tree situated somewhere in the Boar Zone. He was also shown a deep underground chamber situated beneath the queen chamber.

“By the way, my lord, I can only imagine how empty your larders are due to that cursed caterpillar’s voracious appetite.”

The wind blowing around Roth gained a sharp edge to it. The Lord was still furious at the invasion of the creature.

“If you like, I can bring you more food next time I come. To stock up the larder. And in exchange, we could come to some sort of agreement on items that I can take away with me. What do you say?”

When you speak it’s as if the whole world were singing. The treeants are moved by your business proposition.

+1 charisma.

+14 reputation with the treeants.

“Oscar would be proud of you, martyr. That was very smooth.”

Roth flushed in embarrassment at being called out on his sales pitch.

“So be it! We need food, and the resources we can forage in these woods are scarce. We need more food if we want to expand.”

You've been offered a trade agreement with Antioch.

Antioch {Exclusive}

You have earned the right to represent the treeants' supercolony in the Green Woods.

Specialty products:

[Weaver Ant Silk] - 1000 per day.

[Formic Acid] - 1000 per day.

[Chitin Scale] - 1000 per day.

Procured goods:

Food.

Rate:

You keep 2% of all profits generated.

Run a trade every three days or lose exclusivity.

Visit in person every month or lose exclusivity.

Congratulations on securing exclusivity with a whole city!

+100,000 broker XP.

[Broker Level Up!]

[Broker Level Up!]

[Broker Level Up!]

[Discount] has been upgraded to [Increased Discount].

[Broker Level Up!]

Increased 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 2%. Affected by wisdom, intelligence, charisma, and reputation.

Restrictions: Broker, lvl. 15.

Roth felt a bubbling elation in his chest. Another exclusive trade agreement. This one was with a whole city! Even though he wasn’t awarded a title, the spontaneous XP reward spoke for how big of a deal this was. It felt good to see his broker profession climb up. His profession had been stuck at a lower level for a while.

Going through the agreement, he couldn’t help but notice that none of the edible items that the colony produced were being offered for trade. The honeydew cooked in the honeypot ants or the fungi grown in the leafcutter farms were kept exclusively for the colony’s use. They were willing to trade materials but wouldn’t part with any of their food. It seemed like they needed all the food that they could get!

Like Soros, the treeants’ trade agreement was of a superior level, requiring a trade run to be done every three days. So be it. He would also leave it up to Bucky. He had to find a way to contact the husky soon and ask him to include Antioch in his trade route.

“I’ll have someone bring you lots of food soon.”

“We’ll hold you to that, martyr.”

Roth dismissed the conversation with the Lord. It was time to see what kind of loot the caterpillar had dropped. The frenzy of soldiers tearing the caterpillar to shreds had faded; now, there was a shiny pile of loot on the floor.

Roth sorted through the items. Most were crafting materials.

Blue Caterpillar Silk (Rare)

Description: An elusive material that can be fashioned into several different items.

It was a rare crafting material for tailors. Since it was obtained by slaughtering a boss creature, he wasn’t sure if he could even craft with it, but he would check on that later. Besides the stacks of silk, there was a card.

Blue Caterpillar (Boss Card)

Card Description: A trading card for the Terramon CCG game. ??????????????????????

Card stats: ??????????

This was the first time he got a boss grade card. Athos was of an elite grade. He guessed that the boss cards were better than the elites. That reminded him that he wanted to become a cardmaster. He made a mental note to visit a gaming parlor once he had moved to a new city. 

Finally, there were two pieces of equipment.

Ch. 157 - Stat Prodigy

INDEX

Ch. 159 - The Vault