Chapter 39. Shops introduction

[It wasn't easy at all. The hordes of demonlings were enough of a pain in the ass, but the Elites commanding them were even more so. 25 Elites, all Level 60 or higher. The mages took care of the small fries with large-scale attacks, and the rest of us jumped on the big ones.](Gonk)

Imagining the situation, Michael could feel cold sweat on his back. The task force had to deal not only with huge numbers but with higher-quality enemies as well.

An Elite that was ten levels over them, and Gonk had to deal with one in a 1-v-1 situation.

[Don't look at me like that. I got lucky! The Elite I fought was a summoner. Unfortunately for it, there were only three corpses he could use around himself as offerings, and I dispatched them first. From there on, it was a battle of endurance. And even at lower levels, Barbarians have higher Life and Armor than mage classes.](Gonk)

"Luck had nothing to do with it. I've seen for myself what it means to fight Elites and Bosses. Luck doesn't play a part in those situations. Only battle instincts and spatial awareness are important."

[You fought Elites and a Boss already? Where?](Gonk)

"*Sigh* Nevesk. The villagers used others as offerings and opened a portal to the Burning Hells. The ruins became a Dungeon. I fought three Elites. One was a Skeleton, and the others were Fallen - one Shaman and one melee."

[Ugh... luckily, you are a Necromancer. If you had been alone jumping in a Dungeon at Level 5 or below but with a different Class... I don't think you would've made it. What about the Boss?](Gonk)

"A Baron. X'Fal, if I remember correctly. Mele and summoner, I think. Weird Class to have."

[Not a Class, but a privilege. It was probably a melee fighter, but all nobility in Hell can summon their servants in other planes if they have sufficient offerings.](Gonk)

Hearing that, Michael grimaced. It seemed that their enemies held more advantages than he previously thought.

"Fortunately, I killed the bastard. One less to worry about, I guess..."

[Ugh... sorry to burst your bubble, but you didn't kill him. You can't kill demon nobility in the Sanctuary unless they move their actual physical bodies from the Burning Hells here. Instead, they use the offerings to create a temporary vessel. A Baron is at least a Level 65 demon with his Paragon Page open if we were to compare. The vessels they create are subjected to lots of restrictions; therefore, only a fraction of their power enters our world.](Gonk)

"That... *sigh* sounds problematic. Even if they come over in our world and are restricted and weakened if they keep doing that repeatedly, aren't we in deep shit?"

[Not really. First of all, you need to understand how the Sanctuary classification of these demons works. The ones named 'minions' are invaders that entered our plane with their real bodies. So, every time we kill one of the small fries, they are gone forever.](Gonk)

"That's pretty great then, isn't it?"

[Yes and no. Leaving aside the endless numbers of these shitlings in the Burning Hells, the nobility can create more of them by using their power. Fallen are souls of the dead morphed by hatred and the energy of Hell... or something like that. A mage once explained it to me, but I don't remember the actual details. Elites are in a similar situation of entering with their real bodies into our world, but they also gain a demonic blessing from their masters. Therefore, the increase in power.](Gonk)

Pondering the situation, he realized where the flaw lay.

"What do the nobility use to 'bless' the minions? Also, are Bosses in a similar situation?"

[Smart! To answer both questions, the answer is... the soul.](Gonk)

"???"

[Hahaha! I also had the same exact face when the Shaman of our village explained it to me. Let's start with the Bosses. Yes, they can create a vessel they can use as they please, but at the end of the day, it is just that—an empty puppet. We wouldn't be in this much trouble if it were just puppets controlled remotely from a different plane. Instead, the nobility and other powerful demons that cross over into our Sanctuary split a portion of their soul and add it to this vessel. That way, they won't really die in case the vessel dies.](Gonk)

"I see. But there should still be damage done, right? Do they recover the portion of the soul when the vessel is killed?"

[No. It becomes the spoils of war for our world. Every enemy that genuinely dies in the Sanctuary becomes a prisoner of our world. According to the Horadrim, the souls are a unique type of currency between the bigshots like the High Heavens and the Burning Hells. Upon leveling up, all these powerups we gain from the Sanctuary have to come from somewhere.](Gonk)

Michael tried asking more, but the Barbarian stood loyal to his Class and didn't remember anything useful. Instead, Michael was amazed at the eloquence with which the man spoke of these complicated matters.

As it turns out, the Shaman of his village explained these things so many times that it was impossible for him not to remember them. Most of what he told Michael was simply a speech regurgitated from his memory of the Shaman speaking about it.

The two left the inn and wandered about the inner city sometime later.

[This is one of the most essential parts of the city. This beautiful lady here will ensure you stay alive while fighting demons.](Gonk)

[Brat! Your sweet tongue won't earn you any discounts. I told you many times before that only once per week is free to get a refill. From there on, it's 25 gold coins per potion.](?)

Seeing a middle-aged lady jump up to jokingly scold Gonk, Michael raised an eyebrow. He noticed the large cauldron filled with red liquid, so he had a general idea of what this place was.

"This looks like the Healing Well I found in the Dungeon before the Boss room."

[That's because they come from the same source, kid. The Father blessed us with his infinite mercy, allowing us to heal the wounds of our Wanderers even in the most fierce of battles. That's why you'll see Healing Wells in the cities, Dungeons, and even the wilderness.](?)

"I see. Thank you for the information, madam. However, isn't leaving them out in the open like that dangerous? What if demons, wild animals, or even worse, other humans mess with the Healing Wells?"

[The name is Lidka. They cannot. Do you have any empty vials on you? Try to approach the Healing Well.](Lidka)

Michael obediently did as he was told and approached the Healing Well. On his way to the city with Lorath, he wasted some more Weak Healing Potions, leaving him only one full vial.

Surprisingly, unlike in the Dungeon, where he dipped his fingers in the well to try out the effects, the empty vials in his pouch were 'wirelessly' filled this time.

He looked curiously at the strange phenomenon, as the pouch now had four red vials instead of just one.

[Nifty little trick, isn't it? Father Inarius made it such that you can both interact with the Healing Well if your intentions are pure, but it also allowed it to directly interact with you if you are in close proximity. So, in theory, even wild animals and demons could get healed, though the latter is impossible.](Lidka)

[Because of the divinity scent. Since the Healing Well is imbued with Father Inarius's powers, demons can sense it. Heaven and Hell are enemies. It's impossible not to have them hate each other. So, if they do try to get close, the Healing Well would vanish from their sight. It won't relocate somewhere else. The ones with bad intentions simply won't be able to see it anymore.](Gonk)

Thinking about how there was a 'Romeo and Juliet' that didn't hate each other, but rather the opposite, Michael decided to keep his mouth shut wisely since discussing politics and religion was never a good idea.

It's best to stay away from such murky waters. The Healing Well's protection system was impressive still.

"Truly amazing. A good place to visit before adventuring out in the wilderness, for sure."

[Hmpf! Don't become like this brat here and try to haggle the prices every time. Remember, you can only refill for free once per week. After that, it's 25 gold coins per vial. Also, you just used your free refill.](Lidka)

Smiling wrily at the woman whose face was pretty much screaming, 'I dare you to argue,' Michael nodded and saw the Healing Well position on his MAP being updated.

Gonk dragged him away and brought him to the Alchemist's shop. He had seen it before with Helen, but Gonk insisted on showing him the ropes, so he agreed.

The plan was to relax today, so doing so while getting some intel was good enough.

[The Alchemist shop is just as crucial as the Healing Well, if not even more so. And that's because of several reasons. Hello, Aunty Veroka!](Gonk)

[Oh? Gonk, you're back already? Did everything go well in the raid?](Veroka)

[Fortunately, it did. In quite a spectacular way as well.](Gonk)

[That's good to hear. Why are you here, though? You shouldn't have reached Level 60 just from that raid, and I already upgraded your potion vials to the 'Moderate' level. Did you somehow use up all your Elixirs?](Veroka)

Seeing the two going back and forth and Ms. Veroka's genuine concern, Michael was quite speechless.

Looking at the bashful Gonk, that was getting exhorted about managing his 'Elixirs' properly, Michael remembered the extra 5% experience increase after using it.

[Aunty, I came here to bring a newbie around. It's his first time in the city, and I thought he should get familiar with the most important places to visit. So I brought him here.](Gonk)

[Hehe. I remember seeing this lad with Helen the other day. Desla and Gamila came over right after to gossip about it. A good lad, it seems.](Veroka)

"A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Veroka. My name is Michael. I've heard only good things about you and this shop."

[A sweet mouth as well. No wonder you managed to trick that silly girl Helen. Judging by your level, you shouldn't have reached 10 yet, right?](Veroka)

"That's correct, Miss."

[Well, I can't help you get better vials just yet. Since you don't know about it, I'll explain it. Under Level 10, you can only use 'Weak' Healing Potions. That means the vials are smaller; therefore, the amount of healing liquid inside is also lesser. After you reach Level 10, you can exchange your vials for 'Tiny' Healing Potions. Their capacity is increased by about 1/10. At Level 20, it's the Minor Healing Potion. At Level 30 is the Light Healing Potion, and what Gonk has right now is the Moderate Healing Potion. You could say that what Gonk uses right now is at least ten times more effective than what you currently use, lad.](Veroka)

[And after that is the Strong Healing Potion at Level 60. That's my current goal. Though, I'm pretty far from it.](Gonk)

[That's because you keep forgetting to craft better Elixirs! How often must I remind you to gather herbs and ingredients in the wilderness? You are still using some Weak Elixirs that barely give you any attributes. How do you expect to take on better Quests with that scatterbrain of yours!?](Veroka)

The lecture continued for another five or ten minutes, after which Gonk provided Michael with some herbs he lacked and had him pay 50 gold coins to create an Elixir of Thorns. It was a very weak potion that only gave him +25 Thorns for three hours, but he couldn't look down at it since he only had +1 Thorns at the moment through his shield.

After bidding farewell to 'Aunty' Veroka, the duo moved through the streets and descended to a less circulated area. The buildings also seemed poorly maintained, giving a sense of separation from the rest of the city.

"Where are we going next?"

[To the Purveyor of Curiosities. It's quite an interesting shop, though; saying that it's a shop is stretching it. It's only one person walking the streets, or you can even find him eating and drinking at the inn. Ah, there he is! Mr. Lizveth!](Gonk)

[Hmm. Gonk, it seems you managed to keep yourself safe out there. You even brought a new customer. He does seem a bit young, though.](Lizveth)

[Mr. Lizveth, this is Michael. A newbie Wanderer. I thought I should introduce him to your shop since your items saved my life many times in the past.](Gonk)

[Haha! Michael... I see. A Necromancer, huh? Unfortunately, you don't seem to have lots of Obols, and it's not recommended you visit my shop before you get access to at least rare items. Gonk, you should know that as well.](Lizveth)

The conversation continued with Gonk explaining that he just brought him here to be introduced, and that's all. Lizveth acquiesced and explained his 'shop' to Michael.

To his utmost surprise, this place was something similar to a gatcha or a case opening shop. Using Obols, you could pick a certain item category, and the Sanctuary will bestow you with an item ranging from Common to Legendary or higher.

According to Lizveth, though, the higher level you were, the higher the chances to gain something better.

'It doesn't seem to be a good idea to spend my few Obols now and get some common or magic items. It's better to wait until the higher levels.'

They soon parted with the mysterious 'shop' owner, and Gonk dragged him back to the plaza.