Chương 95: B2 Chapter 3 - Soulshard Merchant

[Player Veyra has requested to teleport to your location. Accept? y/n] I accepted, of course. Veyra teleported to me, having already swapped robes for her usual quick-casting robe. She immediately sent a trade offer to return Emerald Aurora.

"Please go stash the robe," Veyra said.

"Wearing it is serious anxiety fuel, I swear." I laughed but definitely agreed with her. I teleported Mycelara and returned all of my non-monster avoidance items to the stash before teleporting back to Veyra. She was already examining the new area. I joined her.

"One of the prettier caverns yet for sure," I said. The purple mist and the high ceiling gave the area a comfortable ambiance. The occasional trees had more branches than leaves, but the lack of greenery gave us better visibility of the air for potential threats. The cobblestone path was worn down, but not abandoned. A guard patrol, also a demon, walked back and forth perhaps a hundred feet from us.

"The path probably leads to a castle or a fortress," Veyra said.

"Is that an educated guess?" I asked.

"Yeah, cobblestone paths and armored guards almost always mean one of those," Veyra said.

"And that guy looks like he'll talk to us." I panned my head in the direction and spotted an NPC I'd glossed over. He sat underneath one of the trees, next to a small sack, coughing quietly. He was a disheveled man wearing a wizard's hat. The brim hid most of his face. His grey, rough skin had crater-like barnacles. He seemed to be of the same species as the miner monsters, though this man clearly wasn't hostile. His name tag read, Sickly Traveler (NPC, Level 376).

"The NPCs have been more fun this time around," Veyra said as she approached the traveler. She asked, "Are you okay, sir?" He looked up at her through more frail coughs. He blinked and gaped at the bridge.

"Lords bless me, Shaltar's bridge has been breached?"

"Breached might be a strong word," Veyra said with a quick smirk in my direction.

"Who are you?" The man, whoever this NPC was, pushed himself to his feet. His back stayed hunched, but he managed to stand.

"Ah, a merchant! I'm a merchant. No, I'm not related to Shaltar. Do not tell Shaltar of my existence. You must promise me that, or revealing my… wares will be a risk."

"That's an easy promise," Veyra said.

"Shaltar is our enemy as well, kind sir." I felt like I'd skipped some major lore again, since I had no idea who this Shaltar was, but I stayed silent and let Veyra handle the NPC.

"Yes, perfect," he said.

"You may call me… Dainv. I used to be a miner, like most of our kind. We're enslaved, for her damned minerals. My future was destroyed too. Until… I discovered the real reason Shaltar values these lands."

"She's not just mining for minerals?" Veyra asked.

"No," Dainv said.

"The minerals merely fund her true goal in these caverns." I found myself thoroughly lost. As was typical, anything lore-related was out of my expertise. If Veyra wasn't here, I would probably just consider stealing the merchant's wares. That was always possible, though in the game, merchants' bags were usually significantly smaller than the actual amount of items they sold to dissuade players from blindly killing merchants.

"Is Shaltar collecting soulshards?" Veyra asked.

"That's the other resource down here, right?" A mischievous grin lit Dainv's rough lips.

"Yes. Soulshards. The final remaining lifeblood of the creators. The most valuable resource of the universe. Anything is possible with the spirits of the soulshards. Anything." A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"I see, very interesting," Veyra said.

"Are you selling them, or are you buying them?"

"I need to get rid of them, of course!" Dainv said like a hungry fiend. Veyra inched back a little. Dainv realized his behavior, cleared his throat, and acted normal again.

"I have two soulshards to sell. I seek gold, young mage. Minerals, jewels, riches. Do I look like I'm fit to be a monarch?"

"You look fantastic, sir, but I don't believe I understand what becoming a monarch has to do with this," Veyra said. Dainv stared at her.

"Naive. You're both too naive. I can't entrust this power to you. It seems you do not understand the true value of soulshards after all."

"We lack knowledge," Veyra said.

"But we have gold. Indulge me, wise merchant. Why should I provide you with the resources you need?" She's so good with NPCs, I thought. No, it wasn't even that. Veyra was just good at talking to people. She treated NPCs like real humans.

"Ancient spirits are spread across these lands," Dainv explained.

"Spirits that, if tamed, contain the power to rule worlds. A spiritualist who bonds with the ancient powers is bound to rule castles, control armies, to collect all the minerals their mouths can order to be mined. This is why Shaltar collects soulshards—because each shard contains a part of the creators' powers. Without soulshards to match, nobody can contest Shaltar's rule." Veyra and I looked at each other.

These soulshards were clearly a valuable resource in one way or another, but that description was still too vague to figure out what they actually were in practicality. In these situations, I found it was best to just ask NPCs for answers directly. I took my turn to speak.

"So if we were to obtain a soulshard, what can we do with one?"

"You would immediately turn into a criminal in most underground empires for possession alone," Dainv said.

"Your aura will grow, and the monsters of these lands will hunt you like you're the only good flower in a field. That is, of course, if you find a soul collector, or bondsmith, to unleash the powers of your spirits. Then you, too, will have the ability to wield the power of the gods."

"What does the power grant?" I asked.

"A stats boost? Is obtaining a spirit going to give a few percent more to Attack Force or resistances or something, or are we looking at more unique powers for every spirit?" Dainv blinked at me, his inner workings processing what I'd said. Slowly, he responded, "Each spirit has unique powers, of course…"

"And what does your specific soulshard or spirit grant us if we buy it?" I asked.

"What stats and numbers? Be as precise as possible, please. I need to know exactly what stats I'm getting before you're getting any gold." Veyra was shaking her head, smiling. Quietly, she said, "You're no fun, Aiden."

"It's going to be pretty important to know what we're investing our money to," I said.

"Also, are the spirits temporary, or are they permanent buffs? If they're single-use, you can forget it, we're not buying." Dainv stared at me.

"Shaltar uses spirits, and has reigned over these lands for decades. The spirits certainly aren't temporary." I nodded. That was a surprisingly intelligent answer for an NPC. It also told me what I wanted to hear.

"And your spirit? What does it grant?"

"I'm afraid… that I'm not a bondsmith," Dainv said.

"I cannot be certain of the effects. The spirits provide what the gods have chosen. I can confirm, however, that Shaltar would kill me to have my shards for herself."

"We're gambling then," I said.

"What's the price? How much gold?" Dainv thought about it.

"I seek a simple life. I'm not a warrior. I'm not a mage. Certainly not powerful enough to make use of these shards. I will sell them for cheap. But stealing… I mean obtaining these was not easy. I cannot offer them for free. I need enough gold to escape from these lands. Fifty gold for all two of my soulshards."

"Fifty?" I asked. I'd been expecting some absolute bomb of a number after that speech, but fifty gold was essentially nothing. It was real money, of course—around forty dollars—but I'd earned hundreds in the last week just by collecting a few random loot spots around the map. Fifty was a tiny investment. Even if Dainv was a complete scammer, in my opinion, this was worth it. I sent Veyra a message. Assassin:" I'm going for it. Maybe it's valuable. If it's trash, we can probably kill him to get the gold back."

Veyra:" Ye, sounds good."

"I accept the trade. Fifty gold for two soulshards." A system notification followed. [NPC Dainv has requested fifty gold for a mysterious trade. Accept? y/n]"Mysterious trade, huh?" I said out loud to let Veyra know that it was one of these trades, but I accepted it nonetheless. Dainv looked satisfied. I glared at him to let him know he'd not get out of here alive if he did anything with our money.

Nothing in our lives would change if we lost a mere fifty gold, but I certainly didn't want to get scammed by this shady dude. He reached into his sack and handed me two transparent pieces of crystal. Shades of purple glowed inside, dark and bright. The bright part shifted around, but the patterns were too vague to distinguish. [You have obtained Tiny Soulshard (???), Small Soulshard (???)] [You have broken Shaltar's Law. Don't get caught]