I appear in my personal quarters and everything is as it was before. I sit down on one of the chairs in the kitchen and ask the System to convert the following items: my novice musket, the two medium-sized crystals; the twenty pieces of metal of different shapes; the pile of assorted corpses; the pile of bones, and the mountain of skins. The cold voice informs me that the total comes to 8000 gold pieces for the exchange. I gladly accept this exchange.
"Ding! Secondary mission completed! Would you like to accept the reward?" asks the System.
I ask the System which mission I have completed and what the reward is.
"The host has completed the following secondary mission: accumulate 10,000 gold pieces, and the reward is the ability to have assistants," the System replies.
Oh, that's interesting. I've acquired a decent fortune in a short time, I think to myself, pleased with my progress. I ask the System how to get assistants, and it tells me that I just need to choose one of the acquired beings and assign them one of the vacant rooms in my private quarters.
There are several empty rooms, so that's not a problem. I arrive at one of them and ask the System to assign an assistant to it.
"Currently, the host has two choices of assistants: Ralfonce the Bandit and Barbos the Artificer. Please choose which one you would like to have," the System informs me.
I confirm Ralfonce, and a wave of darkness appears. After it dissipates, a man with a black cloak and hood stands before me…
"My lord, what are your orders?" he asks in a deep, dark voice, and my hair stands on end.
"Who are you?" I ask him.
"I am whoever you want me to be, my lord."
While waiting for his answer, I ask how the System managed to do this, but upon reflection, compared to everything else, it's nothing.
"Are you at my command, and do you have any special skills? Are you a reincarnation of the man I killed?" I inquire.
"Ask and you shall receive, my Lord. I exist only to serve you. I am not a reincarnation, but rather born from nothingness, with only a touch of resemblance to the one whose life you took."
Since he appears humanoid, I ask him if he has a profession and levels like regular people. He explains that yes and no. His profession is that of Shadow, but he does not have levels. Instead, he has a rank like creatures. He is of rank C, and his only skill is Shadowmeld, which allows him to merge with shadows and become one with them.
Curious to see what will happen, I ask him to activate his skill and his body bursts into black flames. The flames are so dark that I can't see through them. They converge and transform into a dancing shadow, leaving only his red eyes visible. Once it's done, he tells me that he has finished merging with the shadows.
I ask him what it allows him to do, and he replies that it allows him to become invisible in shadows and intangible.
His appearance and voice make him intimidating. He would make an excellent assassin and spy, but for now, he will be my assistant, I think to myself, shivering.
I tell him to follow me, and I walk to the next room to assign Barbos there.
This time, a gray vortex emitting metallic clicks appears, and a man wearing an iron mask with a metal arm emerges from it. I ask him for his information, and he tells me that he is a C-rank Mech-Technician with two skills: Mechanical Golem Fabrication and Advanced Artificer Know-How. Their effects are straightforward, the first skill allows him to fabricate mechanical golems, and the second is a passive that grants him the expertise to create them.
Despite being based on Ralfonce and Barbos, they don't resemble them in any way. So I decided to call them Zero and MT respectively. I check with the System if they have access to all the benefits that I do, but unfortunately, the System informs me that the assistants have only limited rights.
I tell them to familiarize themselves with the shop and take care of customers if there are any in my absence. In the meantime, I take the opportunity to return to the office in the shop and check my status window:
Name: Heolstor Xel'Mourndor
Level: 10
Profession: Void Merchant (Ordinary)
Talent: Void acquisition
STATS: ● Strength: 10+3
● Agility: 11+5
● Intelligence: 10+1
● Mana: 10+3
● Dexterity: 11+1
● Luck: 10
● Constitution: 10+3
STATS TO DISTRIBUTE: 30
Skills:
● Previous Skills ●
● Novice Close Combat (Passive) ●
● Bite (Passive) ● Object Animation ●
● Night Vision (Passive) ●
Acquisitions :
Acquired (3str/5agi/1int/3mana/1dex/3con)
● Barbos the Artificer (1int/1dex) ●
● Cliquatus 60% ● Arforix 70% ●
● Grimloc (1str) ● Umbritusk 40% ●
● Giant Spider (1con) ● Kobold (1str) ●
● Iron Servant 15% ● Scrap Dogs 40% ●
Object Animation (10 mana):
Objects come to life at your command. Choose up to four objects within the range of the spell. Medium-sized targets count as two objects, and large-sized targets count as four. Each target animates and becomes a creature under your control until you wish for it to end or until it dies.
Bite (Passive):
Melee attacks with your teeth deal more damage.
Night Vision (Passive):
Allows for night vision.
Novice Close Combat (Passive):
Grants a few years of experience in melee combat.
"These new skills are going to be useful, except for Bite, I'm not sure how often I'll use that," I think to myself, chuckling. Suddenly, the space fluctuates at the entrance, and two young women emerge. Surprised, I quickly compose myself and warmly greet them:
"Hello to both of you," I say with a smile.
They seem frozen, as if they are lost. Wondering if they are okay, I decide to approach them...