AN: So, here begins the next volume. I will put out about 3-4 chapters of this volume before we go on hiatus so that you can get just a little more out of it. :)

Chapter 22: Retail Details

The end of the beginning came with both a bang and a whimper. The bang occurred previously when thunder raced down to upgrade Scott into a new form of life. The whimper came from the lips of a small robo-loli.

“Are you alright, Harley?” asked Scott curiously after he noticed her. The world and everything in it was so vibrantly colorful now, despite the waning of the light, that it was hard to concentrate on any one thing.

“Master… Harley is confused,” said the little transforming robot girl.

“Yeah, I guess a lot just happened…” said Scott.

“Master is naked and his hair is blue,” said Harley without blinking. A slight hint of rosy pink color appeared on her cheeks, but she did not look away. “Blue everywhere.”

Scott’s eyes widened and he looked down. “Damn, you’re right…”

Most of his stuff was simply gone. He wore only his ring and a confused smile. At his feet there was a pile of coins and loose items, his non-equipped collected loot from previous battles.

The shopping arcade was now open. They gathered up all of the loose coins and items as best they could then went inside. Multiple trips were made due to the fact coins fell loosely from their arms on occasion.

Before he started his shopping spree, Scott decided to check his skills and abilities. He now possessed blade weapon expertise, polearm expertise, greatweapon expertise, and draconic combat expertise in his weapons list. All of his original elemental skills were gone, but in the place of them he now had a new skill that he could use.

“Manifest Power?” asked Scott. Just like his other skills, he felt a connection with this one. Somehow, he knew the basics of how it worked.

He raised his hand and focused for a moment. Soon tiny arcs of electrical current raced upward between his fingers. Weak at the moment, but with the promise that the skill would grow with time and training, Scott could not help but smile. Afterward he opted to check the actual skill information.

SKILL

Manifest Power

Utilizing your connection to the storm, you are reborn with the ability to manifest the awesome power of lightning. This specific ability generates celestial lightning. A celestial power allows the wielder to ignore innate resistance against the base element when attacking an opponent. Celestial powers also do double the typical increased elemental damage to opponents that are weak to the base element.

Current Abilities

Level 1

Touch of Wrath: (I) [At-Will] – Strike your opponent with your bare flesh to deliver divine judgment. The more focus and effort you place into the desire to inflict your wrath, the stronger the wrath delivered.

Next Level: 4 [Manifest Change]

“Sweet… Unless they are wearing some sort of anti-lightning gear, or use a special ability that negates electrical damage, nothing will have resistance against me…” The power might be weak at the moment, but an ability that can only be defeated by equipment, a high general magical resistance, or special training did sound good. The fact that it was considered at-will was even better. There was literally no cost for using it.

Scott walked over to the weapon booth and checked to see what was available. After the battle with the big boy outside, and the weird interaction afterward, the war fund of his group was increased to a little over forty thousand daemons. He tried his best not to faint when he saw that total!

A gold daemon was worth one hundred silver daemons, apparently, and he’d picked up two of them. It was expected that they would have a great deal of money now, but he was still surprised at the windfall.

The best weapon he could buy at his level that was somewhat similar to what he had been using was a swordstaff. It was basically a long pole with a sword attached at the end. If it was made with a shorter shaft he would have purchased it, but it seemed a bit unwieldy at the length shown. It might be good on horseback or something, but it would be a pain in the ass using it on a crowded street or in tight quarters.

“I guess I should move on from the bush axe style.” He had knowledge in how to use multiple types of blade weapons now, not just swords. Axes, knives, swords, spears, anything with a blade was now available to him. The polearm and greatweapon skills made it so that even two-handed swords or long pikes could be properly purchased and used.

Draconic combat expertise was interesting in that it gave innate ambidextrous nature. He would wield two blade weapons, or fight bare handed. In short, if anything with a blade came near him, he could now wield it with expert skill. If anyone asked him, he would say that he could actually feel the knowledge percolating in his brain. It continued to rise up to the surface of his thoughts on occasion.

Dual-wielding sounded cool, but he was used to using one weapon. He liked the reach of his steel kaiser, but he needed to upgrade. “Something shorter than a swordstaff, but as long as my kaiser, and at least a level eleven weapon…”

While he looked through the offerings, he received a message from the powers that be. “Wait, so there’s new shops in the VIP section for me?”

Scott chose to head to the VIP section, a place reserved for players who held titles of some sort. Originally, it only held one shop beyond a thin curtain of light. Now that shop was removed and three new shops were available up a flight of transparent floating stairs. There was a VIP Import Shop, a VIP Real Estate Agency, and a store called Regal Green.

“Those seem quite promising…” Scott decided to check out the Regal Green, first. Food stuffs would be an issue in the future, even if it was easy at the moment. Also, it was the only new store that did not have VIP in the name.

He checked through the options available then grinned. It was a strange combination of grocery store, farm supply store, and medical dispensary. The best part, they delivered. He tried to test it out by ordering a case of beef jerky to be delivered to his house. A little buzzing noise echoed through the air.

“I have to have stuff delivered to a place that I own?” Scott glanced over to the Real Estate Shop. He already had a house, but it didn’t count?

The Real Estate office provided the answer that he sought. All standing structures not explicitly owned by the system for the purposes of shops and similar features were now available for repurchase. Official occupation of a piece of land or a building lowered the price.

Scott checked the map of the area provided and noted a few things. One, his house and the manor where everyone was staying, they were both listed and circled as places of interest. The second thing he noticed was that the map only extended twenty miles in all directions from the center of the area. That was either coincidental, or highly important information. The third thing was the pricing.

He could repurchase his old house for one hundred daemons. The new manor was discounted down to fourteen thousand, only one percent of its price tag, due to proven continuous occupation. Apparently surviving battles while defending a location would lower the price if it remained occupied.

“Shit, someone could buy it right out from under us if they had a few million daemons…” Scott grumbled slightly then spent a massive amount of his funding to buy the place they were all squatting in at the moment. He also purchased his old home for one hundred daemons. It was a decent rest spot in that area, at least.

Congratulations on purchasing your new real estate!

Now that you own your own property, you can assign its function as part of your domain. You are also granted the following benefits based on structure and occupation level. Each benefit for level of structure and occupation will also include the benefits of previous levels.

Structures are level upgraded automatically when they meet requirements. They are downgraded when they do not meet the requirements. Any purchased benefit bought at a higher level will be lost until the previous level is regained.

The list provided after that entailed seven levels of fortified structures. Each level seemed easy to reach. The biggest difficulty would be in finding occupants. The lowest level required no occupants, but the highest required over one hundred.

The various levels provided an extra benefit that also included the previous benefits. Near the end of the list things like permanent salvation and sanctuary based on level was allowed. No individuals not under his command could enter without his permission, unless their level was beyond the level limit.

The highest level ability, though. That special benefit was well beyond the others.

“Cathedral of Rebirth?” Scott looked through the information provided and his eyes widened. “Holy shit!”

If he built up a place and gathered enough people, he could build a location where people under his rule would be resurrected for a standardized fee based on tier and level! Wounds would be healed, status cleansed, other miracles provided as well. Though it all hinged on money and the grooming of a powerful priest.

Combine the cathedral with the salvation fields, and a place could be built that was safe from anything less than tier-three that was not aligned with his faction. “Relatively safe places to live… We can do it!”

“Damn, but ten million daemons and over one hundred people living there… The manor isn’t big enough,” said Scott. There were expansion options. Perhaps they could buy the land around the manor and just expand outward like a miniature fortress town?

Scott purchased two immediate upgrades for the main house, mail boxes. They were not the ultra-expensive mobile mail boxes. One mailbox was for regular mail, and the other one was for parcels. A parcel post box would allow for deliveries. Food, ammunition, and other supplies could be purchased in bulk then sent to their manor.

After fiddling with the information screen, he noted that he could have his mail forwarded to a third box at the house as well, one only he could access. The cost to have that done was the same as renting one in the first place, but it was much more accessible that way.

“I’ll talk to the others before we try to raise funds to upgrade the house further,” said Scott. He did splurge another four thousand daemons to send a crate of rifle ammo, and a few small cases of food to the house.

Scott noted that his finances were roughly cut in half by this point. The house was about as good as it was going to get without a serious discussion and a lot more hunting. More dedicated people would help as well.

“How you doin Harley?” asked Scott. The money he was carrying around was largely exhausted. Harley was still standing guard over the rest.

“Harley is fine, Master,” she said without hesitation.

“Good. I’m glad,” he said softly. “You work hard. Thanks.”

The slight pink shade returned to her cheeks, but she made no other outward sign of acknowledgment save for another statement of appreciation. She stood resolute in her duty to guard the treasury while her naked master shopped for goods and services.

He chose to check out the import shop next. The first thing he noticed was that there was an entire section devoted specifically to his unique class! “Kick…ass!” said Scott as he looked through stuff designed specifically for his usage.

There were also sections for elite classes as well. Common items were not to be seen. “Heh, the peasants shop down-stairs I guess,” said Scott with a soft laugh.

Scott set aside five thousand of the remaining daemons for purchasing items for the people back at the house. It was more than they provided him with, but he would feel like shit if he did not let them share in the windfall a little more. The house purchase was for everyone, but he still wanted his supposed people to be better prepared.

“So, sixteen thousand daemons are left for little old me…” said Scott. He thought better of what he said a moment later. “Well, until I go hunting later.”

Items for sale in his personal shopping list were interesting indeed. The raw damage potential of the weapons available were much higher than a level ten weapon. He checked the weapons lists for a few of the elite classes shown, and though he only saw the barehanded weapons and the blade weapons, he got the impression that these items were much stronger than common weaponry.

“Of course, nothing would keep me from buying this stuff and just giving it to someone else…” said Scott thoughtfully. In truth, he’d consider doing just that. Buy the best stuff he could for himself and then buy a bunch of decent higher level things for the people who had not unlocked the store purchase requirements, yet. However, there was a fly in the ointment when it came to elite class weapons.

“I see. They either need to have that class or have the minimum stat requirements…” Scott shook his head. No one back at the house had either, and there was no way to know how long it would take for them to reach that point. If everyone was an elite before the next shopping trip, it would be different. For now they would need common weapons.

It seemed like everything doubled once the weapon levels reached eleven, and Scott had a good idea why. Unless someone defeated a boss, they would be locked at buying level ten stuff.

Scott saw something that he liked and clicked on it. These higher grade items, were different, though. They were even stronger than the common items. He saw something in his personal list that made his eyebrows shoot up like it was Christmas, his birthday, and the loss of his virginity all rolled into one.

ARMS

Bright Steel Flambard

A wave, or flame-blade, sword designed to slow an opponent’s recovery time after parrying an attack. This weapon is rated as appropriate for those with [Blade Weapon Expertise] and [Greatsword Expertise] due to the need to properly utilize its design function.

Attack: 146

Defense: 66

Value: 7800

(1)Special: Due to your unique class, you may choose a special option to add to this weapon.

(2)Special: You are an expert in blade weapon usage, greatweapon usage, and are innately ambidextrous. You may wield this weapon in one hand, or wield two identical copies of this weapon simultaneously.

In order to wield this two-handed weapon in one hand, you must have: [Strength 12][Agility 14]

In order to wield two identical versions of this two-handed weapon simultaneously, you must have: [Strength 18][Agility 30]

[–]

Scott was intrigued by the weapon. It was a five foot long greatsword with wavy edges and a sizeable ricasso, a false-grip above the crossguard. The length was roughly similar to the length of his steel kaiser, but the stats of the weapon were almost obscene in comparison. More to the point, if his stats were high enough he could wield two of them! This truly was a fantasy world now.

“Though, those stat requirements to dual wield it are brutal… How heavy is that thing?” he asked rhetorically.

“Master. There are new people in the shopping arcade,” said Harley. “Highest level, ten.”

“Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate it,” said Scott with a smile.

Harley made a cute noise, but said nothing specific. She still had work to do.

He looked through the list of options that he could add to the blade. There were several attack boosting options that added elemental damage, but he was uncertain about adding permanent elemental effects. This weapon would have to serve him equally against all foes.

Each option cost a little money to add, but the most expensive one was one that he knew that he just had to have the moment that he saw it. It would nearly double the price of the weapon, but he would be insane not to acquire it since it had no elemental restrictions. It even worked on the undead.

Scott added the special option [Blood-Drinker] to his Bright Steel Flambard and purchased it for thirteen thousand daemons. The special option was hideously expensive, but it had a life-drain effect. He would be able to absorb some of the life energy of monsters as he killed them, and it would be transferred to him as a restorative effect. The [Bright Steel Flambard] that he purchased changed its name and became known as [Vampiric Bright Steel Flambard]. The stats of the weapon did not change, but it began to shine darkly with a blood-red light.

“The hell is that!” cried a masculine voice.

“My new best friend,” said another voice, this one female. Her eyes focused casually on a different sort of sword.

Scott looked to the surprising new arrivals and saw them decked out in various bits and pieces of oddly mismatched equipment. That much was normal. The fact that they were able to come upstairs was not.

“Just doing some shopping…” said Scott. “Interesting to see other people up here.”

“Uh, yeah. I meant the naked, and the sword, and the….uh… the little girl with the gun,” said the man. He was a slender fellow with sandy blond hair and a confused expression.

“I recently had one of a series of life altering experiences. Now, I’m making up for it,” said Scott casually.

“Well, that’s all of us… I guess,” said the man. “Uh… could you maybe put some clothes on?”

“I was just working on that sort of thing, actually,” said Scott. “Give me a moment.”

“Take all the time you need, handsome,” said the red haired woman.

“Thanks,” said Scott. He glanced at Harley then went back to shopping. It did not take long to find the thing he needed most. Armor would be great, but at the moment he needed carrying space and to cover his shame. One purchase offered both.

There was a set of level one traveler’s garb in the list that he intended to get for now. It came with shoes and gloves. It provided little additional defense, but it had one thing that he needed badly. It had three pockets. One he could put thousands of coins into, the others could fit a handful of loose items like bloodstones, or a bottle of healing tonic. It was reasonably priced for one thousand daemons. The pocket alone was worth that. It would hold fifty thousand daemons worth of coins. No more money in backpacks or carrying around loose change by hand!

His put on his new gear, starting with a set of comfortable blue silk underwear that sported a cute little dragon on the back. The pants were loose fitting trousers, cream in color. He also had a blue shirt, a red sash for a belt, and a cream colored traveler’s cloak. The socks and shoes went on last. All told, the outfit only increased his defense by eight and magic defense by ten points, but he could always wear actual armor over it.

“Better?” asked Scott.

“Yes, much,” said the man with a laugh.

“No, not at all,” said his fiery maned companion, but with an equivalent laugh.

He grinned at her, and then swung the weapon experimentally. It was heavy, but not hard to wield. His stats were already at the point where he could wield it one-handed. It felt about as heavy as the steel kaiser, which meant that it was much heavier overall. His strength and agility were a great deal higher now. The weight felt good in his hands.

“They sell things like that?” asked man. Glowing swords of power seemed like a good idea. “I’ve never seen anything that good.”

“Yeah, if your level, and skills, are high enough,” said Scott.

“Let me see,” said the red head excitedly. She moved toward Scott in a bid to see the weapon shop. He already did a good bit of shopping previously, so he was willing to step aside for the moment.

“Wow, this stuff is definitely better!” she cried out excitedly. She then glanced over to the other guy. “You should tell Jim. He might want to know.”

“Yeah, maybe. I need to see what’s there first,” said the blond man.

“Give a girl a minute to shop, damn…” she muttered.

“Fine, whatever,” said the man to the red head, before looking to Scott. “Not to be rude, but we haven’t introduced ourselves.”

The blond man patted his chest. “I’m Crash Connors, though most people just call me Pete.”

Pete pointed to the red haired woman while she nodded her head repeatedly. “That absent-minded thing over there is my much older sister Fire Crotch. I just call her Sally.”

“Can’t talk! Sho-pping,” she called out. But she did stop shopping long enough to clarify that her name was actually The Burning Passion.

“Big Jim’s our grandpa. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him since I haven’t seen you around here,” said Pete.

“Got monster killing down to a family business?” asked Scott curiously.

Pete laughed in a good natured way. “Yeah, we have a group going. Mostly we spend out nights in here now since it helps cut down on the people trying to claim the place.”

“Really? So how long has that been going on? I don’t recall seeing you on opening night,” said Scott.

“Yeah, we missed out on the day one sale. Showed up the next night, though,” said Pete.

“Didn’t miss much, other than a douchebag trying to run the show,” said Scott.

“No, we got one of those when we showed up.” Pete snorted and shook his head.

“Wouldn’t have been a douche named Daniel, would it?” asked Scott curiously.

Sally looked over to Scott then smirked. “Guess you met him too? God that asshole was annoying.”

“Yeah, we don’t get along,” said Scott. “Rescued his family for him, and the asshole still shot me in the head.”

“Wha—t? That’s messed up!” said Sally. She looked to the shopping kiosk then back to Scott. Her head moved back and forth briefly. She was clearly torn between the sound of gossip and the possibility to shop.

“That really happened?” asked Pete. “He was bad news around here, but to think he’d go that far…”

“Not like it’s the first time he tried something like that,” said Scott with a shrug. “The day we met he tried to order me around despite the fact that most of what he knew about anything came from me five minutes prior.”

“Yeah, that does sound like him,” said Pete. “The guy tried to claim that he had jurisdiction in the area and everyone purchasing items had to go through him first.”

Scott nodded thoughtfully. Now he knew the probable reason why Daniel actually went to the manor. He was run out of town for trying to take over the arcade.

“Good riddance,” said Scott. “Though I do feel a little bad for his family.”

“Yeah, this stuff is all super expensive,” said Sally as she left the kiosk. She had a shiny new set of earrings for her trouble, though.

“Definitely higher quality than the stuff down stairs,” said Scott.

“Oh no doubt! I’ve wanted to upgrade my guitar forever, but there aren’t any guitars at my level, and the thing in there costs thousands,” she said.

“Guitar?”

“Yeah, I got the Entertainer class, early on,” she said with a grin. “Guess I could just sing and dance, but I prefer playing the guitar.”

“Neat,” said Scott with a smile. “First entertainer I’ve met.”

Brittani was a Superstar. She was no mere entertainer.

“What about you?” she asked. “What class did you get?”

“I… got arcane slayer early on,” said Scott. “A magical warrior sort of deal.”

“Lucky! Magic is still pretty rare unless you want to pay a fortune in skills, or got it early on,” said Sally. She crossed her arms over her chest then tapped her chin. “It’s really unfair, too. A lot of monsters are tough to beat with physical attacks alone.”

Scott noticed Harley waiting patiently by their pile of money. It was time to pocket it all, since there was no polite way to tell his new associates that he needed to collect his cash before one of them decides to steal it.

“Let me take care of something for a moment,” said Scott.

“Sure,” replied Sally.

Harley helped Scott put the money into his money pocket. When they were done, Scott patted her on the head and praised her efforts. He did that now and then for reasons he did not quite understand. When Harley was extra helpful or attentive, he would pat her on the head. She always responded favorably, so he assumed she liked it.

“Harley has been praised. Thank you, master,” she said with another hint of a blush.

“Master, huh?” asked Sally with a side-long glance. “Should I ask?”

“Not a pedophile,” said Scott flatly. “I won her in a raffle.”

“What? Really?” asked Sally in surprise.

“No, not really,” said Scott lightly.

“Harley, is master’s pet,” said Harley.

Sally blinked slowly then stared at Scott. “Oh? What do you do with a little girl for a pet?”

“Master praises Harley, and rides her frequently,” said the robo-loli.

“That!” Sally gasped loudly. Her face started to turn as red as her hair.

“Harley, transform right now,” said Scott with a tired sigh.

“Yes, Master,” she said. Harley rapidly transformed into her cute little mini-bike form, and then beeped her horn for effect.

“What? That… and then she…” Sally shook her head slowly. “What the hell did I just see?”

Pete leaned back out of the kiosk and asked what was going on. He then asked about the sweet mini-bike.

“The little girl turned into a bike!” said Sally.

“You can change back now Harley,” said Scott.

She beeped once more then shifted forms back into first her robot form, and then into her fleshed out human form. “Is this good, Master?”

He patted her on the head and smiled. “You did great.”

Harley’s cheeks darkened slightly, but she said nothing. Though, she did close her eyes slightly while Scott patted her head.

“So weird…” said Sally.

“Harley is an adult. Her body looks like this due to how her people grow and advance,” said Scott.

“What like that Webster disease or something?” asked Pete.

“Webster disease?” asked Sally.

“You know, the one those child actors in the 80s had that let them look little kids even when they’re thirty?” said Pete.

“Sure. Let’s go with that,” said Scott.

The conversation continued on from there. Scott answered a few questions about Harley, or had Harley answer them if she wished to do so. He avoided answering too many about his personal affairs, and did not mention his group. He needed to feel these people out, so to speak.

They seemed reasonable enough, and did not like people like Daniel. The possibility that they were decent was fairly high. Still, he needed to be careful regarding who he spoke to and what they discussed now.