Chương 50: Chapter Fifty: Price Adjustments

FIFTY Roan stepped out of the showers a brand new man, having left a layer of mud and blood in the shower. Another fifty credits had spilt out of his account to pay for a new set of clothes. He sighed in relief as he laid out in the bed, feeling some type of way. ACCOUNT BALANCE: 28, 016 The horde lieutenant, nine inferior goblinoids, and Lester had netted him a heavy amount of money in the first few hours of the new level.

The money burned a hole in his pocket, but Roan needed to see what this quest board could net him and what services were offered. Spending any type of extra money on something he could get for cheap or free would piss him off." Need to get a headstart on those manuals as well. Should focus on maximising those before I buy any more. At least finish the basic requirements." He currently had to work on Skill Shaping, Body Tempering, and the two manuals that Taoya was allowing him to borrow.

With a grunt he grabbed his pack and opened it up, grabbing the two manuals and started to stare at them. He hadn't looked at either of these skills to buy as they weren't compounding, but they made sense for Taoya to have. The big man's bloodline was his compounding skill to build upon, he needed skills to maximize them to their fullest extent. Roan didn't know the full breadth of Taoya's bloodline ability, but he thought he had a good idea of the drawbacks as he looked over the two skills.

PASSIVE RECOVERY MANA TYPE-NEUTRAL A NON-COMBAT HEALING SKILL USING A CONTROLLED MANA FLOW TO HEAL MINOR INJURIES. POTENTIAL TIER: 5 FOCUS ON MOVING INTERNAL MANA TO INJURED AREAS: 0/25 The book was filled with human shaped diagrams and thick blocks of text that Roan skimmed before he put it to the side. He'd seen how exhausted Taoya was after using his abilities, a way to speed up his recovery afterward made sense. Roan would have to check to see how much the manual had cost."

Wonder if it'll compound with my body tempering? I don't have a mana core, wonder if I can still access the skill?" Roan actually read the opening paragraphs and sighed in relief as he saw that you didn't need a core as everyone had a minute amount of passive mana in them. Learning to move it without a mana core was just hard apparently, like trying to move water from a pool without a pump. Roan put it to the side as he opened up the second manual.

MENTAL RESISTANCE MANA TYPE-NEUTRAL LOW-GRADE COMBAT DEFENSIVE ABILITY. MEDIUM-GRADE PASSIVE TRAINING ABILITY. ABILITY REDUCES MENTAL STRAIN AND DEFENDS AGAINST MENTAL ATTACKS POTENTIAL TIER: 5 ENTER PROPER WAKING MEDITATIVE STATE: 0/1 This manual was short but had mostly text in it. Detailing the proper breathing methods and how to achieve a waking meditative state.

It didn't look as difficult as any of his other skills so far, but the fact he only had to achieve it once made him nervous about how hard it actually would be.

"Good skills, Taoya. Helps shore up weaknesses, though I thought you'd have a defensive one for sure. Maybe he just bought the skill outright?" Roan asked himself as he walked into Village 3. The sharp contrast of what he'd experienced through the tower so far and the idyllic nature of the village was hard to wrap his head around. If Hana had really influenced this place as much as she had said, programming the mobs at the least, then she had built a small, cozy sanctuary.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. It was designed to be easily navigable with a grid system that made finding everything simple. Roan walked about seeing what services were offered and their prices. All of the signs were written in English with what services and their prices. WEAPONS ENCHANTEMENT 5, 000 CREDITS PER ENCHANTEMENT FROST EDGE LOW-BURN PERMANENTLY SHARP REINFORCED There were more options offered but Roan kept walking.

As much as he liked the warhammer he wasn't going to spend that type of money on a weapon he was going to upgrade as soon as possible. It was good to know that the ability was there, enchantments was something that Old Bao had taught him the basics of. Without mana though it was impossible to practice as the enchantment symbols were indecipherable. Roan still knew the theory of them and that would be a good leg up.

"Should see if there's an enchantment manual. Need to get Moira to let me borrow the alchemy one too," Roan muttered as he passed another shop. Clothes were draped over mannequins with hanging tags with their prices on them along with what the clothes did. Self cleaning, cooling, camouflage, and other small passives. Roan wondered what the price difference would be between this and the ones he could buy in the market. The armorer shop interested him but the prices made him wince.

A common-grade suit of leather armor would cost at least 10, 000 credits. With extra enchantments it would be even more expensive. Roan's current bank account was starting to feel rather small in comparison to everything around him. He found the quest board near the edge of the village close to the gate. It was a literally board, nearly twenty feet long and seven feet tall, it was covered in papers with a pin pushed through them.

A mob stood next to it, one of the small elfish creatures with a black tricorn on its head. It looked at Roan as he came to the board.

"Welcome traveller. Would you consider a quest?" Its voice was mechanical as was its movements, jerking as its hand pointed toward the parchments covering the board.

"Yes. How does it work?" Roan asked.

"You claim the quest by pulling the parchment. Start the quest and bring it back to me and if it's fulfilled, I will pay you." The creature's head tilted to the side and it smiled at Roan with sparkling white teeth. Roan looked away from the strange creature and at the board, trying to find out the costs. Most of the quests looked like fetch quests. Retrieving specific types of flowers, rocks, or things like that.

There were a few extermination type quests to hunt specific monsters, what Roan figured were elite mobs rather than the inferior-grade goblinoids. Nothing stood out to him until he reached the center of the board and smiled. HORDE OFFICER'S SIGILS LIEUTENANT- 2, 000 CREDITS CAPTAIN- 5, 000 CREDITS MAJOR- 10, 000 CREDITS GENERAL-15, 000 CREDITS HORDEMASTER-20, 000 CREDITS"This horde, what's it about?" Roan asked.

The mob's smile faded and the cheery tone darkened as it looked back and forth around the area as if looking for someone who could be eavesdropping on them.

"Goblinoids are savage beasts of the caves to the east. They and other monsters have begun to act strange as of late. Gathering in great numbers under the banner of the hordemaster. We have heard of war in the east as the greater kingdoms and Forest Guardians face the horde, but more and more of them creep by and infiltrate our woods. It is why we have built walls around our once peaceful settlement. Craftsmen have emigrated to our village to avoid the tides of war."" Definitely a storyline going on then."

Roan didn't have any more time to think before the mob continued.

"The horde brings with them a sickness. A cruel corruption that they bring to every area they conquer!" the mob's voice rose to a shrill crescendo as it finished its tale. Then it went right back to how Roan had originally seen it, limp and waiting by the board for the next person to arrive for it to impart its knowledge.

"It's a bit over-dramatic, I'll admit. Gets the point across though," Hana said as she tread out from the building next to the board. A cup of steaming liquid was in her wide hand as she glanced around before nodding back the way she'd just come.

"Come into my office," Hana said as she walked back into the building. Roan froze, wondering for a moment if following her was wise. Her next words broke his momentary indecision.

"I can tell you about your family."