It cost me a handful of gold coins, but that set up the guard and his friends with a lot of drinks and food. It earned me their gratitude and six point eight reputation points with the guards. Not really worth it, but it repaid a debt I had kept meaning to repay. I stayed for a single drink of what was probably a good ale, but I hated the taste of it. Never could find the joy in beer or ale, it all tasted awful to me.

Afterwards, I joined the five others of my guild in the main square, waiting for the deceased to resurrect. It was not hard to miss that Commander Brightsteel and his four guards were waiting for them as well. As were most of the spectators from earlier. The wait time was only a couple of minutes, seeing as I had wasted a good bit of time in the tavern.

Normally they would have respawned one after one, half an hour after they died. However, because they were participating in an Event Quest the rules were sometimes changed. It was this time, meaning they all respawned at the same time, in the poor man’s clothes everyone was supplied with. The same clothes I was still wearing.

As the crowd cheered my guildmates, I pondered for a moment if I should buy some new clothes to wear regularly now that I had money. It seemed a bit strange for the guild leader to run around in starter clothes, except when I was dressed in the finery for auction.

My musings got interrupted by the Commander starting to speak, in an amplified voice that silenced the crowd significantly, but not completely. “Members of Blue Lotus. The Empire would like to thank you for assisting with this expedition. The haul has been assessed on the way in, and as promised you get ten percent of the haul. Instead of giving you fish, we give you the equivalent in coin. This pouch contains fifty-nine platinum coins and two coppers.”

At hearing the last part, the crowd broke into even louder celebration. Especially those from the poor section of the town. Which was understandable, because that meant the fishing boat had earned almost three hundred platinum. Though most of the fish would probably be saved for themselves.

It was hard not to get pulled into the jubilation, especially when the Commander handed the pouch to Ed. He kept a stoic face, so did Hei, but the rest of the guild was hugging and high-fiving all the while laughing.

We had no problem making our way to the rest of our guildmates, not even with me dragging my cart around. People just made room for us, and even though we had not participated, they kept clapping our backs. The others even got a couple of hugs as we made our way there. I was thankfully spared that because I was dragging the cart.

“Nice work,” I shouted to be heard over the cheering.

“Thanks,” Robin called back.

I saw Hannah slip up to us. She was grinning madly. “That was an awesome performance, I’m going to play the clip of the last wave on my show later today!”

I had not seen her down there, but then I realised she might have used some of her avatar’s special power to get closer to the action. The joy of being a reporter was a number of special abilities no one else had access to. Though it came with a lot of restrictions.

“You saw that?” Kira was brimming with excitement. “I’ve not had this much fun in a long time.”

The jubilation around us was dying down, or more accurately moving away. I started pulling the sacks with the different members’ real equipment out. I handed the first to Hei. “Here you go.”

He nodded his thanks and started moving to the Inn. Beforehand, we had made a small deal with the innkeeper to borrow a room for our members to change in. Because it was for a quest that would help the entire town, we did not need to pay for it.

“That was pretty intense, and we got paid more than we had hoped,” Ed said, cracking a small smile as I gave him his items. “By the way, we agreed that we throw at least a fourth of whatever coin we got into the guild coffer, so we’ll be donating fifteen platinum to the guild.”

I gave him a big smile at that. “That’s good to hear.”

“Some of us hardly lost any equipment, if any at all, so there might be donated more than that,” he added before heading towards the inn.

I knew it was just a drop in the bucket compared to what I had added, but it was great news anyways, because it meant that they would be earning more contribution points. Hopefully, no one would be in the negative after the first monthly payment had been made. Even if they were, some of them joined pretty late and we would make allowances for that. If nothing else I had contribution points enough to cover ten members besides myself.

After handing back the last of the expedition groups’ item, I made my way toward our guild house. Even if the others wanted to celebrate, I had a lot of crafting and preparations to make before we left for the castle ruins. On the way back I dismissed the prompts informing me of the reputation increase I got because of the quest, as well as the reputation points the guild earned.

As I approached our home, I saw the big intimidating figure of the Butcher leaning against the wall next to our front door.

“Good morning,” I said as I came up to him. “What can I help you with?”

“We should speak. Inside,” he said in a serious tone. Sounded serious. Hopefully, it would not be anything bad.

I led him inside to the Great Hall. Seeing it reminded me that I had still not gotten around to assigning any function to it or some of the other rooms. Just another thing I needed to finish before heading to the castle ruins.

“So, what can I do for you?” I asked after offering him a seat.

“We got unfinished business,” he grumbled. “This latest windfall will ensure that the Poor can take care of themselves for a long time. The soldiers have also indicated this will be a regular thing, so that should help as well.”

“Are you sure, I would love to help more?” I asked, considering I might be able to get better rewards if the quest continued. The event had happened much sooner than in my first lifetime, and I suspected it was triggered shortly after the completion of the first guild house.

“While there are not a lot of new Travellers coming to Blackport, the meat it provides bring in a lot of coin or can feed a lot of people,” he said. “Also, you’re paying them two gold a day to keep watch. That’s enough to buy two hundred pieces of Below Average quality meat, which is sufficient to feed everyone. Since they’re better cooks than you.”

The last part was added with a short laugh. However, I paid it no mind, as I was distracted by a prompt that appeared in front of me.

Quest Completed

Hardship in Blackport

Reward

+3400 (2500) reputation points with the Poor in Blackport.

+6800 (5000) reputation with the Butcher.

25,000 Free Experience Points.

1 Upgrade Point.

1 Blank Essense Crystal.

1 Favour from the Poor in Blackport.

Personal Gift from the Butcher.

I was staring at the rewards. I had hoped that the event, even expected it, would help me to complete my quest for me. With all the coin the fishermen had earned, they should be able to take care of themselves for quite a while. What had me staring was in part the reputation points and experience points. However, what really threw me for a loop was the Favour and the Blank Essence Crystal.

The Blank Essence Crystal was huge. It could be substituted for any specific race essence, meaning it would be much easier for me to gather one Essence Crystal of each race. Of course, it only meant that I had three different races locked down, but it was a step in the right direction.

The favour was also huge. What I found incredulous was that Almighty Al had wasted it on a commemorative statue of himself. Sure, it was the Poor, a favour from the Rich, the Guards or the Lord would be even better, but a Favour from the Poor could still be a useful tool if you used it correctly.

“I also got this for you, as a personal thank you,” the Butcher said, snapping my attention back to him. On the table in front of him were three items. One was obviously a set of butcher knives which looked pretty old. The second I recognized easily enough, it was a large box, roughly half a meter on each side. It was a meat mixer, which was pretty damn valuable. Like the knives, it looked old and used.

The third item was a rolled-up piece of paper. It was larger than a normal scroll if anything I would say it was a blueprint.

“This set of knives was handed down to me from my mentor when I reached the Apprentice tier, you probably haven’t heard of him, but he is a pretty famous hunter, Araeth.”

“The Tidehunter,” I automatically said, still a bit dazed by everything in front of me.

“Oh, you have heard of him?” the Butcher asked surprised.

“Uhm yes. Some of the other Travellers have run into him, I think he’s the only Local still hunting in the Storm of Memories,” I said. The fact that the Butcher’s mentor was such a legendary figure was mind-blowing, and something that would have been revealed if someone knew. It hinted at only one thing. I had been more successful with the quest than Almighty Al had been in my previous life.

“Indeed. I never had much of a stomach for fighting, but he mentored me till I reached Journeyman nonetheless. These knives are not as good as the ones I use now, but still confers a boost of percent to Butchery,” he said and slid the knives towards me.

“I can’t accept this,” I protested a bit reluctantly. It was a major boost to my skill, nevertheless, it was a personal memento, not something I could accept.

“Nonsense, you must. You’ve done much for us here, and I have not found an apprentice worthy of these, but I feel you will be.”

“Bu—” I started to protest once more.

“Don’t insult me, and accept these gifts,” he said with a frown.

“Okay,” I said. Giddy on the inside. I had protested just enough, given him a chance to retract the gift without consequences. It took a bit of willpower to scoop them up. They were worth at least five platinum.

“This is a Meat Mixer,” the Butcher said and went on to explain that you received one from the Gods when you reached Journeyman, a bigger one when you reached Master and an even bigger one when reaching Grandmaster. I knew that you would get some truly big ones when you reached the Legendary and Mythical tier as well. The one at Mythical was actually a building.

“This one was given to me when I reached Journeyman. Don’t have a need for it anymore, since I’m a Master,” the Butcher said and pushed it towards me but to the side.

“This last one was found on my last hunt with my mentor. He gave it to me,” he said with affection as he stroked the tattered blueprint. “It’s the schematics to a special building. A schematic of one of the Ancients. Could sell this for a fortune, but it seems wrong.”

He seemed lost in thought for a minute, and I let him have it. He was not wrong. Any schematics to buildings of the ancient races could be sold for millions of platinum. He shook his head. “Anyway, I never could raise the funds to build it, even if the materials were available for purchase. However, I’ve no doubt that you can. I’ve seen you achieve incredible things. Started with just a handful of guild members. You’re now four times that size, and all of them seem like good people. Just like you.”

He took a deep breath and slid the blueprint towards me. “I give you this on the condition that you do not sell it, and you will do your utmost to see it built.”

Quest Offered

Type: Unique

Splendour of the Ancients

Blaine Hardstone has offered you a unique chance to own the blueprint of a building from before the First Rapture. You could sell it for an astronomical amount of coin.

However, should you do so, you will earn the wrath of Blaine Hardstone and his mentor Araeth the Tidehunter.

Reward

Unknown

Penalty for Failure

-100,000 Reputation with Blaine Hardstone and Araeth the Tidehunter.

Do you wish to accept this Quest?

Yes/No

It was a no-brainer, of course I accepted the quest. Outloud I said with a trembling voice, “I promise that I will not sell such a valuable gift.”

I meant that. Sure I could solve a lot of problems by selling it, though Blue Lotus would be obliterated when Araeth came knocking. However, it would be a short term gain to sell it, compared to what the possible benefits of the building could provide.

The few ancient buildings I knew that had been built in my previous lifetime were insane. Dawnguard had managed to build two of them, and one of them was just a mundane house. The house had provided benefits that were hard to imagine. Ten minutes inside the house and you would have recovered a hundred Wounds and Fatigue, and you did not even have to be asleep. The other had been a guard tower, which was able to kill hundreds of level hundred players in a matter of seconds.

“Good. I will take my leave, but know that I consider you an Ally,” he said and left without waiting for a reply.

I sat there staring at the gifts in front of me. Especially the blueprint. It was proof that either the game had changed, or I had been far more successful than Almighty Al.

‘It has to be the latter rather than the former, right?’ I thought to myself. I then turned my attention back to the items.

The blueprint would have to be stored in the Temple, and I would ensure that none of the others could see it. Not that I did not trust them, but just a single slip-up could spell doom for Blue Lotus. Not only would other guilds be envious of such a windfall, but so would many Locals. Some of them even scarier than Araeth.

I dismissed the reward prompt from earlier and was bombarded with reputation prompts, informing me of what I already knew. The Butcher considered me an Ally and the Poor considered me a Close Friend. Actually only a little less than a thousand points away from being considered an Ally.

The one prompt that floored me was the one that informed me that the Town of Blackport considered me a Close Friend as well. The town’s reputation was the average of my reputation with the five factions in the town. The reason why it floored me was that it meant I should be able to buy a Village Token.

I quickly made my way to first the Temple where I stored the blueprint and hid it from everyone in the guild, before making my way to the Lord’s manor. The seneschal was a bit taken aback by my request, but after checking my reputation levels he agreed reluctantly.

“Alright. We’ve only a limited number of tokens available to us, as granted by the King,” the seneschal explained and took out a large coin and a blueprint. “This is the Village Token, you need to construct the Pillar and place the token on it, to be recognized as an official Village.”

I nodded. I knew this already. The Pillar as they called it was just a pedestal to place the token on. If the token was stolen, you stopped being an official village.

“There’s a fee for these items, of course, only fifty platinum,” he said with a greedy smile.

Without hesitation, I handed over the platinum. Sure we might be far from being able to support a village on our own, but it was better to have the token now, than to risk some of the others getting their hands on it.

“Splendid,” he said as he counted the coins. “Oh, and you need to be at least six hours of travels away on foot before you’re allowed to build your village.”

“Don’t worry, I know the perfect place,” I said and left for the Temple once more. The token was of no use at the moment, so there was no reason to risk losing it. After storing it I stepped out and looked up into the sky. Things were starting to look bright for Blue Lotus. At least in the game. The real world was a whole other set of problems.