Chapter 9: Day 31 – Merchant’s Patience

The remaining days leading up to recruitment went by fast for Trint. He grew familiar with the basics of his skills and went to many of the closest instances. His stats were allocated after level 6, and he was 37% to level 7. Pneuma explained recruiters could see levels but not stats. So although they could see he’d made progress in the tutorial, they wouldn’t be aware of anything that made him unique.

Trint had also picked up the standard [Cleanse] spell. It used Mana from his pool and wasn’t a skill. After hand washing his gear after his first instance to remove the mud and blood, he asked Pneuma for a suggestion. He additionally had purchased multiple mana, stamina, and health potions. Those kept his pools of Mana, Stamina, and Health up after heavy use or damage. He was dead set on not getting too low, and Pneuma quickly noted when he was at risk. One time Pneuma applied a health regen increase without Trint even being aware. Avoiding a Restart was a bare minimum requirement in Trint’s mind. It wouldn’t keep him from pushing to the limit to get to his family as fast as possible. The next step in that process was getting through the recruitment period and leaving through the Town Center.

Trint walked through town toward the Town Center. The first thing he noticed was the gear and level of the people passing by had increased. He saw several level 7’s and one level 10 on his walk from his house to the tower. So he wasn’t making the most progress but wasn’t too far below the crowd he saw in town. The sight of the crowd was a reminder of his former life. It looked more like a renaissance fair had come to the suburbs. The main difference is that some of them carried deadly weapons that recently brought death, and some were still stained with dried blood.

‘Pneuma, you sure this is a good idea?’ Trint thought.

‘You will be fine. You are still stronger than you look, and I will assist if necessary. Worst case scenario, I see as likely, would be you running away and hiding in your safe house or living out in the wild in an instance.’ Pneuma casually suggested.

‘That is hardly reassuring. But Pneuma hasn’t given me bad advice yet.’ Trent thought to himself and kept his doubts private. At least Pneuma couldn’t hear every thought he had, he hoped.

Reaching the Town Center tower on day 31 was like going to a professional sports stadium. The place was packed, and people were massed together, waiting to get inside. While waiting in line, Trint asked some people how things were going. He found out not everyone was willing to talk, but he did have some luck with a college-aged guy named Luke and his group.

“Yeah, a few of us knew each other from our university. Not sure how we ended up in an Iowa Suburb. We were at our school, CU. It was in Boulder, Colorado. Were you in the Denver area too?” Luke asked.

“No, I was at my home in a small town in Iowa. But not the Greater Des Moines area. So, this looks closer to home but not where I lived. I was in a wheelchair after a car accident, and when I woke up here, I was healed and stronger than at any time in my life. I also had some old injuries that were magically healed.” Trint shared as he stretched and rolled his wrist.

“Wow, I don’t think I knew anyone from Iowa. At least I know where it was. Used to think it was the place the potatoes come from. You know, Idaho. But then I learned you guys were known for corn. You also have some decent college sports teams.” Luke’s statements about Iowa’s absolute lack of fame or popularity were nothing new to the resident of the Hawkeye state. Midwest life could be looked down on, but Trint knew his community had good, hard-working, quality people. Not knowing where people ended up and how they were spread out in i11 still puzzled him, but it didn’t matter since he was on his own.

“Yeah, we don’t have a name for our group, but the five of us are learning to fight as a team. It has taken some time, and sharing Exp has been a drag, but we clear instances quickly from what I understand. How high of instance have you done? I can’t see your level.” Luke questioned.

“Oh, I’ve mostly stuck to lower level and easy instances so far.” Trint blurred the truth to not outright lie but also didn’t reveal that level 6 instances were easy to solo himself. “Since I’m a solo fighter, I take things as slowly as I can not risk my life unnecessarily. This is still the tutorial and all. Your group planning to try getting recruited?” Trint attempted to redirect the conversation away from himself and back to Luke and his friends.

“Yeah, we are hoping to get some better skills and training. Not to mention gear and weapons. Having to share drops is worse than sharing Exp. I’m still wearing such basic stuff. I’m sure that will change sooner than later.”

Trint jumped in with another question before Luke could reciprocate the question.

“Since I can’t see your weapon and few here walk around without one, I assume you have a storage device. But what fighting style have you chosen? Got a handle on a weapon yet?” Trint fired off a few questions.

“Yeah, I am going for a damage-dealing or DPS build. You ever play D&D or online RPG stuff?” Luke asked.

“Actually, yes. I am almost 40, but I played games like those. I also read some LitRPG books, so this has been exciting when I realize I’m living one of my fantasies. Unfortunately, the stakes are higher than when I was sitting on my butt reading books or playing games. The pain has taken some getting used to, but I am having some fun so far. So, what weapon do you prefer?” Trint asked again.

“Oh, I started with a big hammer, but after a broad sword dropped, I asked to get that and switched. I still have the hammer for blunt damage, but currently, the sword is my weapon of choice.” Luke said.

“Hmm, you make a good point about blunt damage being better for certain enemies. I also used a sword, and when that wouldn’t cut it, I just punched and kicked or tried to bypass the enemies. Not really elegant, but it got the job done.” Trint admitted.

“Yeah, you better pick up something for blunt damage soon. This is still like the kiddie pool, and when we hit i10, things will start to pick up. You should find a group. Hate to say it, but you could fall behind, and with the time limits in place, you need to at least progress to i9 to get some breathing room for hitting the levels to ascend higher.” Luke suggested.

“Good strategy Luke. I’ll think about it. I hope you get recruited by a good organization from higher up. How about you give me your system contact. That way, we can message if it ever makes sense to meet up or share information.” Trint suggested. “Also, Luke, be careful of the contracts you and your team might be asked to sign. Please read them carefully. I’ve heard some organizations will exploit their recruits. Don’t end up being an indentured servant to some group.” Trint warned.

“Oh, good thinking. I never heard about recruitment contracts. I’ll warn our party. Here’s my contact. Feel free to look me up later.” Luke said. After exchanging contact info with a simple system command, they separated. Luke and his party went to the recruiters’ areas. Trint wanted to grab some more food and maybe a spare, blunt damage weapon and a backup sword.

Trint was first headed to the vending machines but saw that the shops were open and staffed with people. He made his way to a store with a sign that had a sword tilted to the right, overlapping a longbow to approximate an x shape.

‘Looks like they have metal and wooden weapons at least,’ Trint guessed.

“Welcome, young man, to Winton’s Weapons. What would you be interested in? I have plenty of starter weapons for the aspiring adventurer. Currently, all are discounted to half price. To help the recruits, you know.” Winton’s sales pitch was dripping with false sincerity. It was obvious to Trint that the prices were not discounted but likely inflated to take advantage of the newly integrated system’s citizens. At least, that was Trint’s guess when seeing the sleazy salesman in front of him. Also, the first price tag he saw was more than five times what he started with.

“I appreciate the help and discount” Trint decided not to challenge the merchant’s likely attempt at padding his prices. “I am looking for a sword and maybe a hammer or ax. What do you have under a couple of thousand Q11? I’m still getting started.” Trint fibbed.

“Well, well, for that amount, I can’t offer anything special. But you are welcome to check that barrel in the corner to your right. That section of the wall has the weapons that need some repair or are too cheap to be part of my finer weapons.” Winton’s excitement for a sale had turned to impatience with a poor customer.

“How much for the sword in the glass case behind you and the hammer on the wall on the right?” Trint asked, ignoring the salesman’s lack of patience.

“Oh, those are special indeed and set aside for the truly gifted and, honestly, the wealthy. I’m not sure if you spent all your funds and didn’t get any good armor or whether you started without any funds. But everyone enters the system with varying amounts of wealth. Some are deemed worthy of a jumpstart to their system integration. You seem to have not benefited from that. Maybe if you’re lucky, you can get some funds from a recruiter.” Winton’s false sympathy was not appreciated. Trint stood his ground and asked again.

“Would you please just tell me what they cost?” Trint’s frustration came through in his tone. No one enjoys being pitied or looked down upon.

“Young man…” The old merchant slowly replied.

“The sword is an i9 item. It has been engraved with runes for sharpness and durability increases. It is nearly priceless for an i11 or i10 fighter. But I am willing to sell it for $500 Q9. That is $50,000 Q11. Still want it?” Winton asked.

“No,” Trint exhaled, “how much for the hammer it doesn’t look as ornate?” Trint asked.

“I can see you have great taste, but the hammer is nearly as expensive, $350 Q9. Still, a lot for all starting out besides the rare talents and the system favored. If there is nothing else, please allow my assistant to help you if you want to buy from the barrels.”

“Claire, help that boy if he needs something,” the old man called to a younger girl sweeping in the corner of the shop.