3 Stocking Up With A Twist

Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

Moments afterwards.... - The Small Town Of Suden - Joyde's Point Of View...

Walking across the pale cobblestone towards the town's market, I manage to count a mere sixteen players inside of the city, alongside the four who watched me fight those guards... twenty people, that's all there is inside this city so far. There seems to be quite a few NPC's though.

"Harold, did this town exist when I played back in the beta?" Muttering out to seemingly myself, I sit down on a nearby bench in order to observe my surroundings from a clear view."Err, since you are asking me that... that means you haven't read the manual, have you?"

"Nope, I haven't. But considering your reply, I can easily guess that somethings changed and, since we are in a town which didn't exist before, I think the current world state is set in the future in comparison to the beta." Finally, I spot a small sign saying Luciana's general goods store.

"The current setting is two hundred years in the future when compared to the beta. Most things are alike however, many early towns and villages where players spawn have been adjusted to provide a better gaming experience in order to suit both new and beta players." Makes sense, although time-skips have never been my favorite thing in the universe, I can see why they used it here.

I enter the rather small building and watch as the woman on the counter reels back in fear and disgust, but manages to swallow it down."W-w-welcome t-to my shop, sir. How may I aid you?"

Beaming a full smile at her, I take out a pouch full of gold for her to see."Look, I know full well that I look like somebody who walked right out of a battlefield, but I'm also rich, so you might want to rethink what you're about to do."

"EEP!" She yelps out in surprise as all of her disgust and fear of me is instantaneously swiped away and the hidden dagger she was going to pull out of her counter is promptly shoved back inside.

Within moments, she fully composes herself, closing her eyes and reopening them to show a face full of determination, a knowing appearing smirk on her frame."Lets start over from the beginning. Hi, I'm Luciana. Welcome to my shop, weary Destined One. How may I serve you?"

I'm so going to love this chick in the future, aren't I?"First off, I'd like a magic map, then any cooking recipes you can find as well as a survivalist's diary. All of them as high quality as you can muster since I have no qualms about paying you a gold coin for each item."

System Message

Through your rather obvious ability at bartering, you've acquired a new skill.

Speech - Beginner 0%

Alright! This is what I've been hoping would happen. The sooner you unlock this skill, the greater its benefits!"A-ah! A-a-a-a g-g-g-old c-c-coin??!? I-I-I'll g-get t-t-them r-r-right a-away, s-sir!" She rushes off into the back of her shop without so much as a glance towards me as she hears those words.

I blink towards seemingly nobody as I remember something quite important."Show Inventory!"

A massive screen erupts into existence before me and I let out an equally massive sigh as I say."Fully unlocked... figures..."

"You are a top donator, a premium user and a beta tester all in one. What the hell did you expect?" Harold's questioning voice echoes throughout my mind and I laugh. Well, he has a good point.

Still, that means I have over one hundred and forty empty inventory slots. Point is, you can still gain even more inventory space by doing various tasks such as increasing your strength, carrying rocks on your shoulders, etc. Soon after, Luciana comes rushing back into the shop carrying a set of items, all overflowing with magical enchantments and of clearly high quality.

Then she rushes back inside and comes out with two cooking recipes."Sorry, I could only find two recipes and both concern the wild boars around town... but I found a cooking skill book of high quality!"

"You... found it?" I ask her with a curious glance and she rubs the back of her head shamefully."I.. tend to sometimes forget all the goods which I've gathered once I throw them backside." Meh, I guess that's just a part of her personality which makes her more interesting.

"Well, I suppose everyone has a quirk or two and besides', no harm was done." Placing an extra gold coin on her counter, I take my items and turn around whilst waving her goodbye."Um sir, there's an extra coin."

Blinking in surprise, I turn around and beam at her again, causing the poor girl to blush a crimson red this time."Oh my! Such honesty and from a merchant, no less! Here's another one for that. You can certainly expect me to come by again soon."

She catches the gold coin I threw behind me with relative ease as she places a finger on her chin, quietly pondering what the hell just happened. A bit of an airhead, ain't she? Oh well, I like it.

System Message

Your curious behavior towards Luciana has caused favorable rumors to spread around town!

+20 fame

The Resident's of Sudan now consider you friendly.

Oh wow, I get twenty fame for something so insignificant? Thankfully, my reputation with Sudan has now returned to friendly, which is the first and normal level all players get with a white faction at start. A white faction is basically one which is considered good. There are white, black, red and void factions in EUPHORIA, albeit high-level guilds are also considered factions, they can choose not to place themselves as any of the colors.

System Message

Luciana now considers you a rather strange, but good person.

Gain a +5% to speech whenever bartering with her.

Again, something so small is enough to receive a benefit? Wait, is this because Harold is watching me?"Harold, is this your doing?"

"Sadly no, I can't influence small events like these anymore. That's Jim's job now, he's my replacement basically." Hmmm... but if that's true then..."What do you do now?"

"Aurelius figured they can use my.. ahem, judging personality to work on stat gains, soul exchange and fame/infamy messages." What..."So this Jim says weather or not something I do gives me fame or infamy but you are the one who gives the aftereffects? That makes no fucking sense."

A set of imaginary shrugs forms in my mind as I let out a laugh. Soon after, a familiar voice is heard behind me."Um! Mister!"

I quirk an eyebrow as Luciana runs towards me with a curious smile on her face."Yes? What's up?"

"W-well, I wanted to know your name... and I was also wondering if you could do me a favor." A favor? Oh my, a wild quest has appeared!

"Sure thing, babe. The name's Joyde. Now then, what is it you wish of me?" Smooth, aren't I?

She blushes crimson once more at my comment and I chuckle silently as she manages to compose herself."Um.. well, since you bought those cooking recipes from me, I figured you were going to hunt boars, correct?"

An approving nod and she beams at me as she continues."Alright! I wanted to ask you if you could gather their skins for me since I have a distinct lack of them. The town's tailor has need of at least twelve skins and is willing to pay their weight in silver... if you give me the pelts, I'll split the profits with you 40/60. The forty being my share."

The towns tailor? As in there is only one tailor in town?... That person must be filthy rich... still...

Willingly setting herself up to get less money? Hmm, either my recent purchases have really set her up for the next few weeks or she's lying about the pay. Most likely both, oh well."No need for that, my dear. As you said, I was going to hunt boars later on today and I'll be glad to give their skins to you for free, albeit since my survivalist skills aren't exactly high, the skins may be of poor quality anyways." I say with a smile as she yelps again with a nod. Poor thing, she probably hasn't considered that fact.

Quest Alert!

Summary - Luciana of Sudan has offered you an opportunity to gather twelve boar skins in exchange for 40/60 profits... The forty apparently being her share. Trusting your instincts, you have denied your share and and are willing to give them for free.

Success - Intimacy boost with Luciana depending on skin quality + Next part of the quest will become available.

Failure - Luciana's trust in you will waver, increasing her prices whenever you barter with her by 5%

Betrayal - If you decide to sell the pelts directly to the tailor, Luciana will be immensely saddened by your actions, but will not hate you for it as she is a merchant. You will be unable to improve your relationship with her if you complete the quest this way.

Interesting... Aurelius has certainly improved on the Radiant Questing System in comparison to beta... However, I have a better idea. I'm going to gather the pelts, sell them to the tailor and then give the money to her as a gift.

Quest Alert! (Update)

Chaotic Path - ... your immense insight has revealed a secret option to this quest. Sell the skins to the tailor and then give the money gained to Luciana as a gift. Rewards ??

Heheheheh, I was wondering if this still existed. Waving my goodbyes to the unknowing girl, I turn around to walk towards the nearby Blacksmith."First quest and you've already managed to twist it to your liking. And those three dots are a clear indication that poor little Jim is going through exactly what I had to go through when we first met."

My grin unsettles those around me. You see, I've always been a rather edgy and, if I may say so myself, chaotic person. During the beta, I've always done my best to complete quests in the most interesting way possible, which resulted in Harold eventually making up the Chaos Soul system to fit my play style, even forming the new stat *Insight* in the process. You see, the original way to level up a Chaos Soul isn't just using your skills and abilities, its doing quests while following their Chaotic Path, which is normally invisible and must be found out by the player in order to become available.

But since my soul level is already maximized, I wonder what poor Jim is going to reward me with. Anyways, reaching the blacksmiths shop, easily recognizable by the furnace and smelter outside, I enter inside."Good morning!"

An old man's voice echoes from the counter as he sees my frame enter... he shows no reaction to my cracked flesh, meaning he is most likely nearsighted."Good morning, elder. I was hoping to purchase a trio-twin sheath and three high quality knives from you. I need a spey, trailing curved and a needle-point blade."

"Lookin' to do some huntin', lad?" The old man mutters out as he turns around to browse his collection.

"Yes, sir!" I happily let out with an energetic cheer.

He harrumphs and grins at my antics as he takes out a black leather twin sheath. A twin sheath, for those who do not know, is basically a belt which has blade sheaths on the same side, contrary to a bi-sheath, which has them on opposite sides. Like the name suggests, a trio-twin sheath has three instead of the normal two sheathes.

A spey blade, once used for speying animals, has a single mostly straight edge that curves strongly upwards at the end to meet a short, dull and straight clip from the equally dull backside of the blade. With the curved edge of the blade being closer to perpendicular to the blade's axis than other knives and lacking a sharp point, making penetration relatively unlikely, this blade is perfectly suited for skinning animals.

A needle-point blade is a symmetrical, highly-tapered, twin-edged blade often seen in fighting blades. Its long, narrow point offers good penetration but it is liable to break if overused. Although most needle-point blades are often referred to as knives, they also embody stilettos and daggers due to their wide usage as stabbing weapons. However, what I'm going to use it for is dislodging bones without damaging them, ensuring their quality stays as high as possible during retrieval.

A trailing-point curved blade is named as such because of its trailing back edge curving upwards. This lets a lightweight knife have a larger curve on its edge which makes it optimized for slicing or slashing. Trailing point blades provide a larger cutting area, commonly known as a blade's belly and are often used by skinners to make clean cuts when cutting animal meat, which is exactly why I need one.

Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, the old man gathers three knives and the sheath up on the counter."How much for them, sir?"

The old man hums in thought as he looks at each one of the items."Well, since yer doin' yer best to be respectful towards me, unlike most youngsters these days, I'll sell 'em all to ya for a gold coin. The spey and trailer are made out of my best steel and the needle is pure silver-steel... figured a lad like you could use a knife capable of separating undead bones."

My eyes grow wide as the old man laughs, noticing my pleasantly surprised expression."As fer the sheath, its made outta black bear skin and not exactly the best possible quality so I'll sell it to ya fer twenty silver. That alright with ya, boy?"

"YESSIR!" I exclaim with even more energy as the old man's laughter grows louder and I place the required money onto the counter before picking up my purchase.

"Hey boy... you one o' dose tribal types?" Ack, and here I thought he wouldn't notice.

"No, why?" I decidedly play stupid as I equip my new items with eagerness in my frame."Den whats up with all the red on ya, boy?"

"Goblins tried to kill me beforehand and I haven't had the time to clean myself up... don't worry sir, I haven't spilled any blood on your floor." I manage to think up near instantaneously and the old man nods, seemingly buying it.

System Notice

Your speech skill has increased by 5%.

Well, that's was a predictable outcome."Say, at what times is your shop open, sir?"

He immediately perks up at my question, knowing full well what it meant and I grin as I have successfully diverted him from any suspicious thoughts."Ah, yes. We are open from eight in the morning to three in the evening."

"Thanks! I'll be sure to come by again soon!" I wanted to add on *just need to remember to clean myself first this time*, but decided against it as that would make me seem even more suspicious.

Also, did he say *we* are open? That means he must have someone here alongside him. Of course! The old man is just the merchant, the actual smith is someone else, quite possibly a grandchild acting as his apprentice.

Continuing on, I approach a nearby guard who manages to withstand my presence and ask."Hello, my good man! Could you point me to the tailor's shop?"

He gulps and literally points behind me, allowing me to see a shop sign saying *Mara's Weaving Emporium*. Turning around, I throw the guard a silver coin in thanks... but also to see if -

System Notice

Your recent actions have earned you the respect and utter confusion of Sudan's Town Guard.

+30 fame

Okay, seriously now..."Harold, please make an appointment with Jim for me the next time I log in. He and I need to have a long and dreary talk about balancing rewards for insignificant actions. Thirty fame for beating up three guards half to death and then throwing a silver to one later? That's concrete bullshit."

System Notice

Due to your relatively high low fame (100) and zero infamy, white souls will find it easier to see you as trustworthy.

Effects: Relations with white souls will increase twice as quickly, but black and void souls will see you as a gnat.

SO that's why fame is so easily gained... if I get too much, I might become unable to interact with some of the darker aspects of the game. Never mind, good job Jim."I'll see what I can do... And by the way, did you seriously already forget that I'm the one doing the aftereffects of the fame/infamy system. Jim didn't think that one up."

Harold mutters out as I find myself at the front of the tailor's door."Oh, right. Sorry Harold, my bad and uhh, good job?" Shaking my head in disbelief as I clutch my forehead, I open the door and walk inside.

Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

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