The Info Broker

For the first time since Levi began journeying with the old man, he couldn't get him to shut up. He was so excited about how he would go and tell his children that he was able to save the hero of the Lowlands.

Levi, lightly brushed off the praises "There's no need for all that, but don't you think save is a bit of a strong word?" Levi chuckled.

"No no, warrior, there's no reason to be so modest, I'll make sure to tell them just how I saved your life multiple times" The old man laughed.

"be so modest? All you did was overcharge me" Levi cursed under his breath, but still, he was pleased that his title as the Hero of the Lowlands was at least good for something.

'I wonder just how far my fame has reached, maybe I can use this as an opportunity to attract customers to the Branwen craft shop' he reasoned.

"If you don't mind sir, how did you find out about my title". Levi inquired.

"Oh, it's everywhere now, all the local newspapers had a picture of your face and it's probably going to remain like that for up to a week" the man exclaimed with a very happy tone

"Who could have guessed that my favourite customer would turn out to be the hero of the Lowlands" he laughed

"I'm sure there's a way I can turn this into profit," Levi heard him murmur, as his expression changed to one of deep thought.

'It seems like he is even happier than I getting the free ride,'

'But if I really am as famous as the old man says then maybe my fate is just about to change for the better. If everyone knew my title as the hero of the Lowlands they'd definitely trust me easily' he theorized.

He was excited as they arrived at Ladiel, but it was very anticlimactic. Levi noticed that only a few residents were astonished to see him, they whispered and murmured amongst each other. 

[Don't worry this is as far as they can go, they have been programmed not to disturb your gaming experience so they can't approach you as long as you haven't communicated with them before]

'that's very convenient, even if I needed the publicity it would have been way harder to get around if I had a mob of villagers following me'

"but, the warriors aren't acknowledging my presence," Levi couldn't help but notice, other than the few curious villagers, everything else was business as usual, with warriors going about their normal activities.

"Didn't you say my picture was everywhere? How come none of the warriors recognize who I am?"

"I said there was a picture of you in the newspapers, and you know warriors, they never read the newspapers," the old man shrugged.

'That's true, the newspapers are only about the daily activities of NPCs in Aetheria, there's no reason a player would ever read that'

"That means I'm back where I started," Levi sighed. 

It was almost nightfall here in Aetheria, most of the warriors had left Ladiel and there were only a few left. 

From the back of the wagon, Levi scanned the crowd for Mr Lucky. He was so engrossed in his search that he didn't notice the female warrior approach him.

"Are you Levi?" A light voice asked nonchalantly.

Levi's gaze shifted to the red-haired female warrior, wearing a black armor jumpsuit and a pair of glasses. She had an indifferent expression plastered on her face.

'Who is this person and why does she know my name?' Levi wondered, subconsciously gawking at her body.

'Wait! Could she be…'

"Mr Lucky?!" he gasped

"Of course not" she commented indifferently before opening her system interface and showing Levi a video of Mr Lucky.

"Hey Levi, I wasn't able to make it, so I sent my Vice Clan Leader, Aria, she is the brains of my clan and always makes the best decision, so I trust her… and also be careful because she is a cold-hearted bi-"

She quickly retreated the system window

'Why did that video look like Mr Lucky was threatened into making it? I'm guessing she is the real boss of the clan' "That's all you need to see.... now Boss Luck tells me you have something to show me?" she said in a cold, clipped tone.

"Not something, somewhere actually… come on I'll take you there right now," Levi said, offering her a hand to help into the wagon.

As the journey to Lowdan began, Aria awkwardly stared at Levi, causing him to feel uneasy. Her emotionless eyes staring deep into his soul. Levi couldn't take it anymore

"Is there any issue?" he nervously chuckled.

"No, none at all, it's just that… your face looks so familiar like I have seen you before," she replied before placing her hand on her jaw pondering even further.

"Maybe I just have one of those faces," Levi teasingly replied, but was met with a cold gaze from Aria. 

"What's your relationship with boss Luck," Aria inquired

"he's my landlord," Levi replied.

"Oh, a real-world relationship… no wonder he trusts you so much," Aria said with a frigid tone.

"Trust me? Mr Lucky and I aren't that close,"

"He does, he wouldn't send me if he didn't expect something big… he said you mentioned something about being a craftsman apprentice?"

"Yes that's my class, it's not much of a big deal… in fact, it's pretty useless because I can't even craft any item," 

"Oh…" her eyes brows raised slightly, and her eyes shone curiously, 

"An apprentice Class is still a special class nevertheless," she said as she leaned closer to Levi.

"And how did a newbie like you get such a class?" she whispered coldly, sending a slight chill down Levi's spine.

'She's digging for info, I'm probably the only player that has the apprentice class, so information about the existence of such a class in Aetheria might be very valuable… that could be why she decided to come here herself.' Levi reasoned.

'I might need the publicity, but letting everyone know about all my hidden cards could make people start asking questions, and I'll risk exposing Blue's existence… maybe attracting this kind of fame is not worth the risk'

"Let's say I was lucky, I guess," Levi replied.

The atmosphere became tense as Levi couldn't tell how she would take his reply to her question, up until now she had retained an indifferent expression making it difficult for Levi to read her true intentions.

"Fair enough," she sighed 

"I can respect a man that likes to keep his secrets, but too bad now I can't recruit you to join the XXX Machina clan," 

"That's all? Well thank goodness I had no intention of joining a clan anytime soon" Levi chuckled 

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I have something I need to accomplish first,"

"So he hadn't already told you, Boss Luck was going to offer you a spot in our clan out of charity, then I heard you were a newbie, so I came to check if you showed any promise,"

"our clan has been together for two years, even if it's not one of the top clans yet, as the esteemed Vice Clan Leader of XXX Machina, I couldn't just allow a freeloader to join our clan, and hearing you had a special class also spiked my interest, since I'm an information broker,"

"Information broker?"

"You see I'm part of an online trading community where we exchange valuable information and something of this sort usually sells for big bills, so if you ever feel interested in selling just let me know," she said, sending Levi a friend request using her system interface.

'An information broker, maybe that could be useful in the future.'

Levi accepted the request on his system window, causing it to disappear before replying, "Of course,"

Only the sound of the wooden tires grinding against the rugged terrain could be heard for a few seconds.

"Wait, if you didn't plan on joining our clan in the first place, what exactly did I come here to do?" Aria wondered.