4 Tailoring My Next Steps...
Well I've finally finished the little distraction I had to do, so lets get started.
This shouldn't be considered chapter four but part two of chapter three of EUPHORIA. Either way, I sincerely hope that you enjoy, let us begin!
Warning - This chapter may have some eroticism.
Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
Seconds Later.... - The Town Of Sudan - Joyde's Point Of View...
"Good morning!" A woman in her mid twenties exclaims happily before her eyes fall upon my form, making her scowl before my new fame kicks in.
"Ah, you must be sir Joyde, correct? I'm sorry for my scowl, it was rude of me to show such a face to one quite so cursed." I blink at her.
"What makes you think I am cursed?" I calmly reply as I approach her.
"Y..you do not think of Chaos as a curse?" My eyes grow wide as she says those words.
Within an instant, I reply barely withholding myself from tearing her wind pipe out."Woman, what do you know about chaos?"
She gulps, realizing that she might not have wanted to say that."I... I am a former magister of the Capital city and I have read about an old legend describing one of the Destined Ones from The Age Of Supremacy going through incredible pains in order to master the infection of chaos... He, who was once known as Lord Rhean, The Archon Of Chaos, is the only one to have done so without going fully insane in the process."
So my old character has become a legend... wait, if that's true then why was he still playable when I logged in? Hmmm... I had a lot of followers beforehand and even though I distinctly remember saying a great many times how Chaos is not a religion but a way of life... well, sheep will be sheep, I guess."Could there actually be a form of religious order concerning Chaos?"
Another gulp."Y-yes, there is. In the continents capital city of Lun'Adorey, there is a church dedicated to those willing to serve the will of chaos. They hunt the infected like you and use them in grotesque rituals... nobody knows what they're doing but, many rumors speak of the infected being sacrificed in an attempt to resurrect Lord Rhean from the clutches of death."
Oh dear. I mean, I figured this might happen when the devs stated how the best of the beta testers will be used to shape the history of EUPHORIA, but seriously now? This is like, super awkward for me.
Shaking my head out of my stupor, I let out a massive sigh and turn to face the woman once more."Never mind. I don't want to know anymore... argh, sleeping for two hundred years sure does make the world move, does it not?"
She blinks at my words as realization dawns upon her face."Y..you haven't shown any fear when I told you that you would be hunted... you didn't assault me when I called Chaos a curse... you had a slight reaction when I mentioned Rhean... could you b-MMPH!?"
Grinning at her, I quickly place my hand over the back of her head and pull her in for a deep, passionate kiss. Several pleasurable shivers drape across her spine as I nearly laugh, spinning my tongue around hers before separating us, a thin line of saliva following me. Her face flushes a deep crimson as she tries to compose herself, my glowing yellow eyes gazing deep into her soul as my grin returns in full."W-w-wha?!"
"Now, now. There's no need to panic. Listen to me, girlie, you better not go around saying rumors about my true identity and in return, I'll make sure your shop prospers, alright? Oh and, its not Rhean anymore, I'm Joyde now." She gulps as she distances herself from me, shaking hands grasping at the wooden wall behind.
"A-a-and if I do?" My grin goes even wider as I leap over the counter and pull her closer to myself, eliciting another adorable yelp of surprise as her heated breaths hit against my bare chest."Well if you do go around and spread unwanted rumors..."
I push my hand under her shirt, drawing a line across her pale skin as I do."I might just start torturing you like this and yet...."
And then I go below... making her intake a sharp breath as one of my fingers slides across her wetting slit."... Never advance to the next phase."
She exhales harshly as I distance myself from her, an obvious scent of sheer arousal seeping into the air around us. Another gulp as her breathing slows down and she looks to the side, embarrassed."Oh gods... that was.."
"Exciting? Terrifying?" Showing her my stark white smile, I finally decide to look around the shop."In any case, we can talk more about that particular subject later... I did not come to your shop to sexually torture you, I need clothing. Also, I have an interesting proposition in mind if you are willing to hear it."
EVENT COMPLETED
Because of your perverse actions, relationship with Mara has been set to "Uncertain Intimacy".
Uncertain Intimacy?... Whomever designed those relationship names really needs to get laid, as quickly as possible.
A slow nod is my reply as she pulls out a chair to sit down and calm herself, her long, purple hair waving freely as she does."Alright... how much are you willing to spend? And what is this proposition you mentioned?"
System Message
Your recent actions have granted you a new skill, Seduction, which has been consumed by the main skill, Speech.
You now gain a passive boost of 10% when dealing with women of any kind.
Your Speech skill has been increased by 5%.
Was about damn time. I nearly though the skill no longer existed since I didn't get it from my interaction with Luciana.
"Honey, I'm rich. You don't need to act with me as you do with the rest of The Destined One's... show me your best clothes, the adventuring royalty stuff. As for the proposition, would you happen to know of a girl named Luciana?" She nods at my words as she leaves the counter and opens a display case where a full set of a King's Garment lied previously hidden.
"This is a set which I had previously made for the king of Azarest. The guy paid me in full and provided the materials but his wife decided that the outfit wasn't good enough for her tastes so he had to leave it. Nobody else has had the money to pay for it ever since. Its 25 gold in total if you are interested. As for Luciana yes, I do know her, but why do you ask?" She says softly, watching my every move.
Beaming at her with another smile, I say."Sold. And I'm asking because I plan to teach the girl a valuable life lesson as a merchant in general."
Another nod as she takes the garment and stores it into a box which I place into my inventory as I give her a pouch containing 25 gold coins."And what would that lesson be?"
"It goes like this; The girl approached me today with a quest saying how she gathered some information detailing a juicy business opportunity. She said that if I brought her twelve boar skins, she would share the resulting profits with me. Sound familiar?" I say and grin as her eyes grow wide.
"She told you about my request! Foolish girl... to divulge such valuable information is a bad thing to do but... question is, what do you plan on doing with it?" She asks me with a raised eyebrow as its now her turn to stare at me right in the eye.
I let out a sigh."What I want to do here is simple. I'm going to gather the skins, you will pay me the same amount which you would have given to her and then I'm going to give her the money as a gift alongside with an explanation as to what she did right and what she did wrong."
She blinks and smiles at me."You know... maybe I'm wrong about you, maybe you are a good guy inside. A pervert, an old man and an asshole, but still a good guy."
I bark out a deep laugh as she admits her true feelings with another deep crimson blush etching itself upon her pale frame."Thanks. So does that mean you accept my proposition?"
She nods and yet anther system message pops up before me.
Quest Alert! (Update x2)
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.
Chaotic Path - ... your immense insight has revealed a secret option to this quest. As per your deal with Mora, you will gather the skins and sell them to her at whatever price she and Luciana have previously decided on and then you will give the money earned to Luciana as a gift, teaching her a valuable lesson as a merchant in the meantime.
Rewards: Luciana's relationship level will turn into "Adoration".
Mara will consider you to be an amazing, if perverted man.
"Well then... would you happen to have a place where I could change?" She gulps and nods as she points to a door behind the counter and watches me enter with a gleam in her eyes."Want to join me?"
Blinking again, she quickly shakes her head out of her stupor."N-no thanks... I can't, not right now..."
I let out a sigh, not letting her know that I'd caught on to what she truly meant by that. She mimics my behavior as she sighs as well, turning her head around to watch the entrance to her shop.
System Message
You've equipped Black King's Greaves.
These masterfully woven pants were made by the Weaver, Mara of Azarest herself out of dragonskin provided by her regent king.
Strength has increased by 15.
Agility has increased by 20.
Intelligence has increased by 5.
As this is a set item, wearing the full set will provide you with a 10% bonus to all of your available stats. (Draconic Infusion - May be temporarily dispelled in battle.)
System Message
You've equipped Black King's Gauntlets.
These masterfully woven gloves were made by the Weaver, Mara of Azarest herself out of dragonskin provided by her regent king.
Strength has increased by 5.
Agility has increased by 10.
Intelligence has increased by 20.
As this is a set item, wearing the full set will provide you with a 10% bonus to all of your available stats. (Draconic Infusion - May be temporarily dispelled in battle.)
System Message
You've equipped Black King's Combat Boots.
These masterfully woven boots were made by the Weaver, Mara of Azarest herself out of dragonskin provided by her regent king.
Strength has increased by 20.
Agility has increased by 20.
Intelligence has increased by 5.
As this is a set item, wearing the full set will provide you with a 10% bonus to all of your available stats. (Draconic Infusion - May be temporarily dispelled in battle.)
System Message
You've equipped Black King's Shirt.
This masterfully woven shirt was made by the Weaver, Mara of Azarest herself out of dragonskin provided by her regent king.
Strength has increased by 5.
Agility has increased by 10.
Intelligence has increased by 20.
As this is a set item, wearing the full set will provide you with a 10% bonus to all of your available stats. (Draconic Infusion - May be temporarily dispelled in battle.)
System Message
You've equipped a full set of matching items! Extra bonuses have been applied to your stats!
Well that's not overpowered at all. Then again, I'm fully guilty of denying the epic trainee gear at start just because I knew full well that there was a good chance something even more broken would be available with the five hundred gold they've given me.
I leave the closet and crack my neck, allowing Mara a good look of my form, eliciting another blush from the woman."Like what you see?"
She nods, still blushing as I walk towards the door and start to turn around but she grasps at my sleeve before I could say goodbye.".... would you lay with me tonight?"
Quest Alert!
You've received a personal invitation from Mara to lay with her later this day.
This quest will be considered a success so long as you arrive on time.
Rewards - Relationship with Mara will increase depending on your "skills".
Failure - If you are not on time, then Mara will think she has done something wrong, as you are basically still strangers. Relationship with Mara will become twice as hard to improve.
Denial - Should you reject her right now, she will be disappointed, but no real harm will be done.
Her soft, silent voice echoes within the small space of her shop as I let out a sigh and hug her close, pulling her in for another deep kiss."The things I will do to you tonight... you will remember them for years."
She grins at me, lust clear in her eyes."We'll see about that, my Archon."
Laughing at her response, I let her go and turn around, waving my right hand behind me and adjusting my pants and shirt to hide junior from the people outside."See you soon, babe."
And with that, I finally head out of the town and towards the forests around it, as I pull out the books and recipes I had bought from Luciana.
System Message
You have learned Cooking! (Beginner 0%)
System Message
You have learned Survivalist! (Beginner 0%)
System Message
You have learned a new recipe! Roasted Boar Meat may now be cooked.
System Message
You have learned a new recipe! Boar Bone Soup may now be cooked.
Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
One hour later... - The Chittering Forest - Joyde's Point Of View...
So that's where everybody was!
The second I left town, a number of players came into view as the fields around it were filled with low level mobs, mere walking mushrooms, allowing for a quick way to level up early... but I wouldn't do that if I were them, because in EUPHORIA, just leveling up isn't gonna keep you well off. You need to look out for mountains to climb, for fields to run across and books to read. Only after you've advanced all of your three primary stats to at least fifty should you gather the experience necessary for level two. The same goes for the next level and the one after that and so on.
Well, not that I'm saying how I made sure to raise every start by +50 every time I leveled up but.... well, you get my point.
And anyways, if you're gonna farm exp, everyone knows by now that killing higher leveled mobs gives much more experience than mobs your own level, which is why I'm heading towards the forest where the boars gather. While I am level one and the plant mobs are either one or two, the boars are ten to twelve. They have around 400 hp each and decent defenses against weapons and magic, for years of being hunted by Destined Ones and adventurers alike has made them stronger than your typical domesticated boar.
However... Chaos attacks... aren't exactly typical attacks and when used against things covered in anything less than steel plate... well, every single attack I do will critically strike. A normal blow from my scythes is already overpowered early as it deals 100dmg/hit on average, which is why I could easily overwhelm those level 15 guards at the start. I received the Chaos Soul at level 150... and neither Jim nor Harold has balanced it for low levels, which is perfectly fine by me.
Hey, that reminds me of something..."Show Status!"
Status Window
Name: Joyde Title: Archon Of Chaos (Reborn) Fame/Infamy: 100
Level: 1 Health: 350 Mana: 1500
Strength: 30 (80) Luck: 5 Health Regeneration: 0.5/s
Agility: 25 (90) Insight: MAXED Mana Regeneration: 10/s
Intelligence: 60 (115) Vitality: 50 Essence Generation: 30/s
Skills:
Devourment - Beginner 0%
Chaos Scythe (Blood Iron) - Beginner 2%
Chaos Rush - Beginner 2%
Twin Fang - Beginner 2%
Speech - Beginner 10%
Cooking - Beginner 0%
Survivalist - Beginner 0% Passives:
Chaos Soul - Maxed (Archon)
Hunger For Carnage - Beginner 1.5%
KI Aura - Intermediate 30.1% (Horrifying)
Battle Feast - Beginner 2%
Seduction - +10% to Speech (Women Only) Buffs/Debuffs:
White souls will find it easier to find you trustworthy. +100% extra reputation.
Black and void souls will think of you as a gnat. -20% reputation.
Draconian Infusion - +10% bonus to all stats. (May be dispelled temporarily).
Interesting.
Oh well, time to hunt some boars.
