*b.u.mh *b.u.mh *b.u.mhYet another drum being pound.
The party was exhausted. With only a few coppers, they can get themselves enough food and water for the rest of the day.
Sitting under a shaft, their body dripping their own water.
"This place sucks…" said Dola, "We need to go to the second layer if we really want to live here. At least there, they have an Inn."
Kurira grunted, "h.e.l.l no, it"ll take us too much time questing for an ID."
"Haa... dammit, it"s so hot."
Bursoli Kingdom has three layers of area. The third one being the outside, which is the one they currently on. There is no gate, it"s basically just people building a village outside the real kingdom. The second layer, which is the real capital of the kingdom, and then the third layer which is the castle where people in power lives.
For Players to be able to enter the second layer, they need an Identification Card of that kingdom. Which unfortunately, can take a sweet amount of real-time days to make and it is hard to be done. Unknown force or barrier is keeping them from entering, and only guilds and people with high-level characters are living inside there.
"Come on, we need some gear. Then we"ll head out."
They two nodded at Kurira"s command. They soon left the shaft and went around to the central marketplace, a player beacon is sitting at the center with an icon of Market lighting up in the sky.
With real money can no longer able to be exchanged for coins, the trio has no choice but to sell their items. Most of what they have from the Shared Inventory are junks and useless weapon, they managed to sell them all to several different traders.
All of them are players, and they too… are not looking so good.
People usually trade while traveling, but they have set up shop here. Mostly stalls and some of them even sitting on the heated stone floor so hot that they have to put multiple layers of cloth to sit on.
People like to roleplay, but it isn"t because of that why those people are doing this. Some of them too, are dirt poor in real life. Dola does not know this, but there are free consoles for these people to use from so they can earn real-life money through this game. Those are available only in Normal Sect, however, just like a netcafé but completely free... except that they are charged with an additional fee of 10% to whatever they earn, and that is after the cut from the tax of living in their sector.
"2 Cerberus Cores" Kurira said as she lay them down on a stall"s table, "3 gold."
"They"re petty though?" said the trader.
"The thing can fill up a blue, ain"t too high, hon."
"Hrrmmph… how about 2?"
"Meh"
"Wait, can I ask something? Like, are you a streamer?"
"What made you think I am?"
"Well, I mean. You seem to know a lot about these things, so I just thought you"re a pro or something. How about this, I"ll throw in an extra silver, but if you find anything in your whatever it is you"re doing. Please come back here and sell the items you found with me. I"ll pay a bit extra from the rest of the guys here."
"Hmm… can"t promise you anything though."
"That"s all right…" putting 3 gold coins and a silver coin on the table, "I"ll just slip it in here, thank you for selling them to me."
"…" After a paused, Kurira only took the gold coins and then left without saying a word. The man gazed at her for a moment before letting out a sigh.
With the rusted iron sword, old iron mace, and Petty Cerberus Core have been sold. With what they have on hand, in total, they have acc.u.mulated the amount of 3 Gold Coins, 26 Silver Coins, and 15 Copper Coins. Which can be translated into less than 5$... if it"s in the Desolate Sector.
It might not mean much in a populated city where players roam around buying an ice cream worth 50$ but here it means something, to say the least.
Among the humid and exhaustion, Kurira tried to sneak a bit of a chance to soothe her spirit. She tried to grab Dola"s wrist, wanting to walk hand in hand with her, but Rakuri quickly noticed it and slap her hand away. She then takes Dola with her and then shoves Kurira to the front again. Sighing, she already regretted her decision to stay as the leader.
They arrived at a blacksmith store. Unlike before, this time, they go to an NPC store. The general tip that people seem to ignore is that when it comes to buying things, NPC store is the best place to shop if the player is at a low level. NPC store will always charge a higher price point than what people sell, but in Ekolia, it"s the opposite.
The players think that the price of the NPC sold is low, and with many varieties of items from them, are still lacking. The players took advantage of the marketplace the Devs have setup, and then populated the market, thus making the NPC stores less popular.
Though, almost no one is against it since what they have in store is always far limited than what the player can give.
The blacksmith store has no name, only a sign of an anvil slap at the top of the front door.
"I didn"t know this place existed or did I just forget about it?" said Kurira.
"Not just you."
Dola then responded, "Yeah, this place was never here before. Either the devs have added this, or the people breed and make set up their own shop here."
Kurira chuckled to her response, "All new things keep popping up, I like this already."
As they walked into it. They saw a short plump woman and a short young man, their race is none other thanthe dwarves themselves. Kurira thought to herself, "Must they really be a dwarf though? Guess it"s to be expected, huh. But, this is the Stone Kingdom, where most humans live in poverty, and it feels weird seeing them around here."
Despite being a city where the strongest weapons were built, not many dwarves lived in the area.
The woman greeted them, "Welcome, how may I help you?"
"So polite." Kurira went and took out a pouch full of money, "Equipment for three and a small round shield."
Frowning at the sight of the gold coins, the lady bites into it, trying to check if the coin is real, and without a doubt it is. She bowed to her and then left to fetch the items. All of them are there on the walls and tables, but she doesn"t want them to burden them.
Judging from their weapons and how they look, the lady quickly knows what to give. One is light armor, one heavy armor, and the other is light armor with some padding of leather in them for Rakuri. Indeed, it is not padding to increase her visible a.s.set, but to protect her body.
Talking about padding, the gear that the lady prepared for Dola insulted her puny heart, but she doesn"t mind it. Times like this is the one that made Dola really wants to change her avatar"s appearance to that of a busty woman. She had tried it before, and it hurts her even more.
Not much in terms of quality was bought, but it can be said that those are a lot better than them walking in rags. The lady tried to explain that it cost a lot to make, and that is the cheapest she can give. Of course, Kurira understands it. "You don"t have to explain those things with me. Just give me what I want." Is what she said to her.
Unlike Dola who is always careful about things, but ended up still on the losing end. Kurira decides things within seconds and came out with a truckload of profits.
When it comes to financials, Rakuri is usually the one that negotiates things, but she"s not exactly the nicest person to talk to. Making the trades failed in the process is a lot worse than paying a few extra coppers.
Dola got herself an armor from the skin of animals, lightly st.i.tched in brown colors. Long sleeves one-piece and pants, strapped together with a belt.
Rakuri has pretty much the same, except it"s thicker and a sleeveless shirt that is slightly exposing the side of her breast and armpits area, it is due to her a.s.set being too large for the armor, and unfortunately, there is a no larger size available. Dola is eyeing her bosom full of jealousy and contempt to herself.
Kurira on the other hand got herself a hard leather armor. Completely covering her lewd body. On top of that, she pulls out… ANOTHER armor out of her inventory.
It"s the armor that crusader was using.
"Wait, when did you…" Dola was confused, but then Kurira cut her question and said, "My reward, duh. No way I would fight without getting something."
"Ahhh…"
There are still a few silvers left to spend, and so Rakuri got herself a new weapon. A twin dagger. Something she was very familiar with.
[Iron Twin Dagger] Attack Rating: 8 + 8 / Physical Damage: Very Low / Magic Damage: None / Type: Dagger / Rarity: Crafted / Requirement: None
Kurira finally done gearing up, she went to inspect her status then. The numbers showing the Physical Defense that she has are insanely high.
Armor: Physical Defense: 100%, Magical Defense: 56%
- Hard Leather Armor (+12, +5)
- Hard Leather Gloves (+6, 0)
- Hard Leather Leggings (+12, +5)
- Hard Leather Boots (+6, 0)
- Crusader Armor (+20, +15)
- Crusader Gauntlets (+12, +8)
- Crusader Leggings (+20, +15)
- Crusader Boots (+12, +8)
"Ohoh, great. Enough to get 100%, huh. But these Crusader set, these are not imbued yet." All of the crusader armor is showing [Slot Available] at the right side of its name. Meaning it can be enchanted. Though, it"s doubtful whether she"ll keep the armor or not.
Having 100% Physical Defense does not mean having Physical Damage Immunity. There are other types of damage that could ignore or even damage more than 100% Physical Defense, things such as Piercing Damage that can bypa.s.s armor, or even Slash Damage that can bleed the target from inside, and more.
However, "It"s nice to have it at least."
[Silver Jagged Greatsword] Attack Rating: 88-114 / Physical Damage: Medium / Magic Damage: Low ~ Light Damage / Rarity: Rare / Requirement: 60 Strength, 28 Dexterity, 60 Faith / Bonus: Silver Armament, Extra Damage against Undead
Because Kurira is lacking in some of its requirements, she cannot use the Greatsword from the crusader. She has to settle with her wooden club for the time being.
After taking the iron shield with her, the party moves out.
…