18 Buyer
Bill Tanner enjoyed searching for amateur works of art anywhere he could, he didn't actually appreciate any of it but felt a sense of pride in showing them off to the circle of people who came by for the occasional party. Bill was very rich, his grandfather had made a fortune and his father was a lucky investor, so Bill's life had always been smooth financially. Purchasing a few expensive cars was no problem, so a few hundred on paintings could only be considered spare change.
Bill was surfing the web for any new pieces, making offers on them, a small grainy photo was displayed for one with no price listed, he gave a quote of $200 and quickly received a reply. A courier was sent to bring the wrapped back, it got stored in a side room along with dozens of other works of art without being checked.
Jim was very happy that someone had valued his art enough to pay in the hundreds for it, he'd have let it go for under $50, he headed out to get more wood for carving and plenty of canvas to continue his practice.
Two days passed, Jim was very satisfied with his progress.
[Cooking Level Up]
[Cooking Level Max]
[Cooking Derivation Skill Failed, Requirements Not Met]
[Cook Job Obtained]
[Congratulations Host, Host Has Achieved Maximum Level In A Skill, Skill Max Gift Pack x 1 Awarded]
[Handicrafts Level Up]
[Handicrafts Level Max]
[Handicrafts Derivation Skill - Infusion Crafting Obtained]
[Congratulations Host, Host Has Achieved Maximum Level In A Skill, Skill Max Gift Pack x 1 Awarded]
[Art Level Up]
[Art Has Reached Level 8]
[Sculpting Level Up]
[Sculpting Level Max]
[Sculpting Derivation Skill - Puppeteer Obtained]
[Congratulations Host, Host Has Achieved Maximum Level In A Skill, Skill Max Gift Pack x 1 Awarded]
[Ornament Crafting Level Up]
[Ornament Crafting Level Max]
[Ornament Crafting Derivation Skill Failed, Requirements Not Met]
[Congratulations Host, Host Has Achieved Maximum Level In A Skill, Skill Max Gift Pack x 1 Awarded]
[Accessory Crafting Level Up]
[Accessory Crafting Level Max]
[Accessory Crafting Derivation Skill Failed, Requirements Not Met]
[Congratulations Host, Host Has Achieved Maximum Level In A Skill, Skill Max Gift Pack x 1 Awarded]
[Jeweler Job Obtained]
[Tool Handling Level Up]
[Tool Handling Has Reached Level 9]
[Mystic Portrait Level Up]
[Mystic Portrait Has Reached Level 4]
Appraisal just wouldn't seem to level up, he kept using it on anything he could see but it refused to advance, he couldn't figure out why. Two new skills were earned, Jim switched his job to Cook as he ended up cooking several times per day.
The rest of the bracelets and necklaces had been sold by now, he wasn't very optimistic of selling more as they hadn't been very profitable nor popular. Jim decided to test Puppeteer, he carved a tiny figure of a cat and tried to activate the skill, a pleasant sense of something escaping his body and flowing towards the figure was felt, suddenly the figure came to life and began moving about, stretching, curling up and napping, imitating the normal actions of a cat, he used appraisal.
[Tiny Cat Sculpture]
[Level: 0]
[HP: 5/5]
[MP: 1/1]
[Attack: 2]
[Dexterity: 2]
[Vitality: 1]
[Agility: 3]
[Magic: 1]
[Subordinate To Jim Garrett]
'Huh...' He tried telling the tiny cat what to do and it immediately complied, it seemed to read his mind as he just had to think of where he wanted it to walk and it did so.
Noticing it had a level listed, a grin spread on Jim's mouth 'This could be very useful'. He didn't dwell on it long and went to testing Infusion Crafting. Stringing a new bracelet, he activated Infusion Crafting halfway through, another sense of something being sent over was felt. The bracelet was finished, but Jim couldn't find anything different than a normal one. "Appraise"
[Simple Bead Bracelet - Quality: Good]
[Infused +2 Strength]
[Crafted By Jim Garrett]
'Huh...', It was a small bonus, but Jim figured it could become useful eventually. He felt this was enough crafting for now and decided to test out an idea, purchasing another stack of paper he started drawing again, this time attempting to map out his room.
[Cartography Skill Obtained]
'Yes!' Jim started moving through the building, eventually drawing out a faithful floor plan of the entire condo.
[Cartography Level Up]
[Cartography Has Reached Level 3]
[Spatial Reasoning Skill Obtained]
'Not enough...' Jim headed outside and started mapping the entire street, after that he moved to the next, then the next.
[Cartography Level Up]
[Cartography Level Max]
[Cartography Derivation Skill - Mental Map Obtained]
[Congratulations Host, Host Has Achieved Maximum Level In A Skill, Skill Max Gift Pack x 1 Awarded]
[Spatial Reasoning Level Up]
[Spatial Reasoning Level Max]
[Spatial Reasoning Derivation Skill Failed, Requirements Not Met]
[Congratulations Host, Host Has Achieved Maximum Level In A Skill, Skill Max Gift Pack x 1 Awarded]
Suddenly, he didn't need the paper anymore, everywhere he looked was recorded within his mind, a simple thought brought up a window displaying a eagle-eye similar to a game's map, this was what he was aiming for, the extra skill added was nice too.
Now, Jim headed home, he took a deep breath to calm his nervousness and decided to begin what he had planned, "Detection", a flood of information came at him, it was overwhelming, his mind slowed down, but he did his best to keep it going.
[Detection Level Up]
[Detection Has Reached Level 6]
[Mental Endurance Level Up]
[Mental Endurance Has Reached Level 5]
[Mental Acuity Level Up]
[Mental Acuity Has Reached Level 4]
The pain began subsiding, it was bearable now, he could feel everything around with complete detail, stretching out as far as his senses would go allowed him to envelop the entire city. He spent some time checking things over until his head started throbbing again. After deactivating Detection he laid down to rest and began to drift off.
April Maxwell was heading to the weekly party on Saturdays, some rich guy named Bud or something invited people over regularly, he always had lots of snacks refreshments and there were many people there. The only drawback was an unwritten rule that you had to look at his stupid artwork and praise it. She could handle it though, it was a small price to pay for lounging around in luxury.
After arriving, she felt something was off, the usual chatter between dozens of people and clanking of plates was missing. Thinking she may have come at the wrong time somehow she slowed down, looking for anyone nearby, she spotted someone, Dave, he was in the living room staring at something. Approaching to ask why the party was so dull today she noticed that the living room was extremely crowded, everyone had a face of amazement painted on their faces as they stared at the same point across the room. She felt something was very wrong, but a sense of morbid curiosity caused her to look over, "Oh my god..."
A beautiful vista spread before her, she was clad in full plate armor holding a long pike, thousands of men and women were nearby, they were unfamiliar but a sense of comradery could be felt with them, hundreds of miles away stood a peak, atop it was a ferocious beast eyeing them with a blind rage, it roared and flapped it's wings, beginning to take off. She knew what had to be done, she cast off her fear and took a heavy step forward.
