“Step right up! Create Magic Potions that can disintegrate the biggest, baddest, bad asses within the entire kingdom of Avalon. Forge swords that can cut light and rip a hole in the very fabric of reality. And guess what my friends, it all starts right here; as a Merchant!” [ANTONIO] the merchant NPC hollered.

“Honourable Master, there is indeed no nobler profession than the Merchant. You are the backbone of any country’s economy; the masterminds arming, empowering our realm’s greatest warriors with the finest potions, weapons and amour available,” I said ingratiatingly.

[MASTER MANIPULATOR SKILL SUCCESS]

LEVEL 1/10 [25% EXP]

Intimacy with Antonio has increased.

“You, good sir, speak the truth! Oh, if only all saw things as you do, my friend. Alas, this is not the case,” [ANTONIO] sighed theatrically.

This was the first time this NPC had reacted like this; sensing an opportunity I asked, “What troubles you, gentle merchant?”

“A friend of mine, [BASSANIO] is paying court to a lady and… Never mind, good friend. It is too awkward for me to delve into the details. Let us forget I mentioned it,” [ANTONIO] sighed and looked away.

Wait, what! He didn’t want to talk about it anymore? Why do the names [ANTONIO] and [BASSANIO] sound so familiar? Then, it struck me, “Alas, a merchant’s merchandise can be both a boon and a curse. Is your entire fortune invested and tied down in your wares, master merchant? Is that why you can’t assist your blood-brother [BASSANIO]?”

“… how did you know?”

“Your distress is written plain as day on your gentle heart, good merchant,” I said smoothly. That and a passing read-through on the abridged version of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.

“So, please, tell me. How can I be of assistance?”

“Very well, friend. But this is a rather… delicate situation for me. I appreciate your discretion,” [ANTONIO] implored.

“Of course brother [ANTONIO], I understand,” I nodded.

YOU’VE ACCEPTED “A MERCHANT’S MERCHANDISE”

RANK C HIDDEN QUEST

“Indeed, my fortune is tied up in wares that I can’t sell in time to be of assistance to [BASSANIO]. And if I cannot lend it to him, he’s desperate enough to borrow it from [SHYLOCK], and that tight-fisted, penny-pinching bastard will rob [BASSANIO] blind.”

“Well, it just so happens I need to buy some items from you, [ANTONIO]. I’m planning to follow in your noble footsteps and try my hand at Alchemy. I’ll need to purchase the starting proficiencies from you, my friend.”

To become a full-fledged [BLACKSMITH] or [ALCHEMIST]; first you had to purchase, then master at least one of the three core merchant proficiencies: [HAGGLE] [REFINE] or [STORE]. Only after that, would you be allowed to access the higher levelled proficiencies like [FORGE] for Blacksmiths, or [PHARMACY] for Alchemists.

“Alchemy? Tis’ indeed a noble profession and a great starting point. The skill books will set you back a mere 12 Silver,” [ANTONIO] said, sounding a little disappointed.

“Ouch, 12 Silver? That may be a tad heavy on my finances, friend. Perhaps you could help a brother merchant out with a slight discount?” I asked hopefully. Truth be told, the price for the skill books was standard and I was just trying my luck.

[ANTONIO]’s face darkened visibly at this request, “Friend, while I am happy to make your acquaintance, you’re no brother to me. I need all the money I can raise to help my real brother. Besides, if 12 Silver breaks your wallet, this might not be the profession for you after all.”

“My sincerest apologies, friend merchant. In my excitement to create a Merchant Guild as a banner to empower all Alchemist, Blacksmiths and Merchants, I became tight-fisted and unwittingly insulted you with my caution with finances. Please, here is 15 Silver. 12 Silver for the skill books, 3 Silver as my personal contribution towards saving [BASSANIO].”

3 Silver wasn’t a sum to be scoffed at this early in the server. Made my heart ache trying to literally buy back [ANTONIO]’s favour, but I had placed a little trap in my “apology” that I hoped would help me make the most of the situation.

“A Guild?” [ANTONIO] took the bait.

“Indeed friend. I’m looking for a large amount of resources to help kickstart the Merchant professions within Avalon. With more high levelled merchants, blacksmiths and alchemist, naturally business would boom for you too, my friend. The demand for resources would rocket!”

[ANTONIO] looked a little apprehensive but you could tell I had piqued his interest. I let the temptation sink in before following up with, “Alas, with the world so fresh, I need to be careful with what I invest in to make the most of the meagre 5 gold I’ve gathered so far.”

“FIVE gold? Already? It’s barely been half a day.” [ANTONIO]’s eyes lit up and he unconsciously licked his lips.

“Yes. A few of us pooled together our earnings. But unfortunately, my partners aren’t convinced the Merchant Guild would be the best investment. For now, anyway.”

[ANTONIO] saw his cash cow appear and disappear in the manner of seconds and started to panic a little, “BUT…”

“But! I have a proposal for you, friend merchant. I have complete faith in my investment for the Guild. Perhaps if you were to show some good faith in return, I could persuade my friends?” I hinted.

[MASTER MANIPULATOR SKILL SUCCESS]

LEVEL 1/10 [50% EXP]

Intimacy with Antonio has increased.

[ANTONIO] nodded semi-frantically.

“How about you sell me all your [FIREHEART ORES] that you have at the moment and hold any future stock for me for three days? When I prove to my friends I can make a great return on the investment, they’ll definitely come back for more!”

“Wait, how does this help with the Merchant Guild?”

“Naturally if my friends and I were to profit, we’d have more to invest in the Guild. More resources to help those taking the professions level up faster. More people buying high level ingredients from you! Think long term and big picture, my friend.”

“I have 50 x [FIREHEART ORES] right now. They all yours for a mere 1 Gold and 50 Silver.” [ANTONIO] offered.

“Ah, friend. I thought we agreed to show good faith. We both know that [FIREHEART ORES] are worth no more than one Silver,” I sighed theatrically and began to walk away.

And so, the haggling game began. After mercilessly bargaining and my [MASTER MANIPULATOR] skill triggering multiple times, I finally managed to obtain the [FIREEHEART ORES] for 75 Silver. To seal the deal, I bought an additional 1500 x [Silver Ores] for 20 Silver and promised to purchase his next batch of 50 that would arrive in 2 days.

The quest I received from [ANTONIO] still hadn’t been completed, apparently – but I would be visiting him a lot the next few days and was in no rush. It took me close to bloody forever to transfer all those freaking ores to my storage.

Learning Proficiencies from books was relatively simple. All you had to do was hold the book and call out the Proficiency name. In a blink of an eye, I learned [HAGGLE] [REFINE] and [STORE].

Next, before I could approach GoldFarm, came the tedious part. I had 1115 x [CRYSTAL SPLINTER], 233 x [CRYSTAL SHARD] and 760 x [SILVER ORES] to [REFINE]. I filled up my inventory to 89% of my maximum weight, then looked for a quiet corner to perform the process.

I started with the [CRYSTAL SPLINTER] then moved on to the [CRYSTAL SHARD]. It takes 10 splinters to refine one shard and 5 shards to make one pure crystal.

An hour and a half of screaming [REFINE] later, the skill finally maxed at level 10. I was left with [60 PURE CRYSTAL] and [145 PURE SILVER].

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED

MASTER MERCHANT - FIRST TO MAX A MERCHANT SKILL

REWARDS +75 SILVER +250 FAME

Just as I planned, the pop up and rewards came. I rejected the option to announce my Achievement on the server. You know, staying hidden as the Hidden Blade and all that.

I purchased the proficiency upgrade to [BLACKSMITH] and bought [FORGE]. It was time to farm GoldFarm.

I sent him a Direct Message to find out where he was, “Hi GoldFarm, where are you at?”

“How did you get my Avalon handle?” he growled suspiciously.

“I know all about you, GoldFarm. Top Blacksmith in the LEGEND MMO. Top FORGER for Mystic Isles MMO. You’re basically a one man MMO farming workshop. For the past 5 years, you’ve been making a living purely from creating and selling equipment in the hottest MMO games. Turning ingame currency into real life profit.”

“Who is this and what do you want?”

“I’m someone with one GOLD and a business proposition for you. Meet me at the Storage NPC, now.”

“O really? One GOLD? The server just launched, if you’re going to lie, at least be realistic. Points for the stalking and research on me, though,” he chuckled.

“Come find out. What do you have to lose? Turn up and get one Gold. Don’t turn up – wonder the rest of your life. I’m blocking you on DM now, by the way. See you soon, or not.”

Well, technically I didn’t have one Gold for him, just 87 Silver. Cutting him completely off DM prevented him from asking more questions, leaving him completely curious and becoming an irresistible ultimatum. The greedy bastard would definitely turn up; he just loved money too much to resist.

“You better not be lying to me, Mordred,” GoldFarm scowled at me, appearing a few minutes later. “Just coming here is costing me time, and time is money.”

“I want to make a deal with you. You’ll [Forge] items exclusively for me and I’ll give you all the Ores and gold you need.”

He laughed, “I can get the ores myself and the gold will come with that. Why would I need you?”

“Because you’ve got it backwards. I don’t need you. But I could use you so I can concentrate on more important matters. And you can get ores? Take a look at what I’ve already prepared.”

I initiated a [TRADE] with him to show him what I had collected so far:

80 [SILVER]

60 x [PURE CRYSTAL]

145 x [PURE SILVER]

1000 x [SILVER ORE]

50 x [FIREHEART ORES]

I let the greed sink in for a few seconds and watched GoldFarm’s eyes light up. Then, I cancelled the [TRADE]. Now that I had his attention, it was time for the finishing blow to seal the deal.

“[FORGE] x [BOW].” I called out and selected the ingredients I wanted to use.

FORGE SUCCESS

LEVEL 1/10 [25% EXP]

You’ve used 1 FIREHEART ORE, 1 PURE CRYSTAL

You’ve gained 1 FIRE CRYSTAL BOW

FIRE CRYSTAL BOW

LVL 15 UNCOMMON IV GOLD TIER WEAPON

DAMAGE: 145 + 25 FIRE ELEMENT DAMAGE

ATTACK SPEED: NORMAL

+15 DEX +5 STR

“Yo-you’ve already become a [BLACKSMITH]! Ho-howww did you manage that?” GoldFarm stuttered. He was probably not even half way through to mastering [REFINE] at this point in time.

“I can collect resources faster than you. I can [FORGE] what I need myself. Like I said, I don’t need you. But I could use you.”

If it was just ORES and GOLD, I don’t think recruiting him would have worked. But to be a step ahead in the profession and skill he prided himself on as well? That made an impact.

“This is what’s going to happen. I’ll provide you all the materials to craft weapons and armour, but you’ll only forge what I ask you to from the resources I provide you. You’ll have total control over the prices you sell them for. We’ll split the profit 80 – 20.”

“80-20? That’s…” GoldFarm started to protest.

“That’s more than fair. Your staple income was from being the highest ranked [BLACKSMITH] and charging [FORGE] fees to the elite. You used part of that income to buy more resources to craft normal equipment; levelling up your skills while waiting for elite levelled armour and weapon orders.”

“With me, you won’t have to wait for orders. You’ll always have resources to forge. And everything I ask you to FORGE will be in hot demand, with us being the first and main source for the best weapons and armour.”

“You can’t be 100% sure of that,” he countered.

“I am. Just like I am 100% sure that you can either have a limitless supply of resources to [FORGE] and become Avalon’s top [BLACKSMITH], becoming filthily rich with me in the process. Or I will out-FARM, out-FORGE and undercut you ruthlessly. You’ll always be being second best, desperately scavenging resources to make ends meet. The elite will come the me, not you, for their equipment. No orders. No profit. No money.”

I traded him again, “Oh, if you’re even remotely considering scamming me by taking my items and running, let me assure you I was very thorough with my research on you GoldFarm. Or should I say, Mr Chong of the Asian persuasion?”

“Are you threatening me, Mordred?”

“Not at all, my friend. I’m playing all my cards because I really want to work with you. I’m an ill-mannered, blunt and impatient man. But I’m a man who will make you very rich. You have 3 seconds to accept the TRADE, or I disappear. Along with any chance of you making money in Avalon.”

“3… 2…”

He accepted the trade. I smiled to myself, farming GoldFarm – complete. After telling GoldFarm my plans and what I needed him to do, I went to wake Lancelot up.