Ruin-san taught me the basics along the way.
Just like in the game tutorial, players have to join a guild, such as the Adventurer's Guild, and complete quests to earn money.
The monsters don't drop money like in the old RPGs, but it seems you can get items from them when you use the Demolition Skill. It seems like this game works through a system where you attack a field while earning money, creating good weapons, and even selling items.
And so, these people who you buy items from or make weapons for you are called Manufacturers. These guys basically buy and sell items to earn money, but they can also fight — it's just not their strongest suit.
The items they sell include a wide range of items such as Recovery Items, Weapons, and, although odd, they use their hunger levels to sell food just as the tutorial said.
According to Ruin-san, it is directly connected to life, so they can steadily make money. I've also worked part-time at various fast-food restaurants, so if I can cook in this game too, then I would like to give it a try. I was told that there are also other ways to earn money such as accepting escort quests from other players and the like.
However, the game's Beta Test only ran for one week and the law prohibited non-stop play just like before, it seems that they haven't made much headway in terms of conquest. Therefore, it seems like it's fair to say that there isn't much detailed information to go around. Still, I was able to get some information that wasn't in the tutorial, which was very helpful.
For now, it seems the things we need to do first is to procure weapons and armor, secure lodging, and to register in the Adventurer's Guild. I was curious about the importance of securing an inn to stay at, so I asked her.
"That's a good question. The concept of this game, Elysion Online, is that we, the players, are transported to a different world. It's just as the tutorial says, right? To put it bluntly, it's been made unnecessarily realistic. For example, if the players rush into an inn, then the rooms will be full."
"Ah, then there will be people taking advantage of it, right?"
"Exactly. I don't have much information yet, but during the Beta, the inns are pretty much hit-and-miss. Of course, you would want a good inn right off the bat, no? As for bad inns, I've stayed in some who charge 3000G per night despite having really bad facilities. Usually, the prices run for 100 to 200G per night, though."
"That's a fucking rip-off."
"A rip-off~!"
Lily mimics my words. I guess I shouldn't swear too much.
"Hey Takuto, what's a 'rip-off'?"
"It's the act of cheating customers in transactions. Lily's a good girl, so you shouldn't do something like that."
"Okay, got it!"
Lily replies energetically. That's great.
"Fufu, you're like a father."
"I'd prefer it if I were an older brother instead."
I have two step sisters, so it unnecessarily feels like that.
"Surely she's the kind of sister even I would want."
"I'm not giving her to you."
"Oh my, what a shame."
Ruin-san said it with a mischievous smile. It seems she was pretty serious about it.
Our conversation carried on in the same vein, and we arrived at the Weapons shop before we knew it. However, it wasn't the type Weapons shop I expected, but a stall on the side of the road.
"Crow, I brought some customers for you."
"Yo. If it isn't the Annihilation Princess. You've gone off the grid since the official launch of the game and now you bring me customers."
This guy called Crow is apparently the Blacksmith in this Weapons shop. By the way, the Annihilation Princess is Ruin-san, right? Ruin is synonymous to annihilation after all.
"I brought you some customers with good intentions, but it seems like you want to be burned alive in a duel again, no?"
Her tone seems like she really meant it. By the way, she meant the Duel System when she said duel. It was also explained in the tutorial, but it's a solution set up to solve many of the problems encountered in the VR game. The tutorial also explained how to set it. There are various settings such as betting money and items, or just enjoying the battle without betting anything.
"W-wait, I was just kidding. But Ruin, I don't have any ore, so I can't make any weapons yet."
"You're so useless, aren't you."
"You, you really just went here to tell me that, didn't you!? You can't just buy ore and make weapons in the first fifteen minutes of the game! Don't underestimate us Blacksmiths!"
So he can't do it… That's unfortunate. I thought he could easily make some weapons, but I guess it's not that simple.
"Well, that too. But let me introduce you guys first. Takuto-kun, this is Crow. He's a Blacksmith who made weapons for the assault team and is a Beta-Tester like me. He has a difficult personality, but he's skilled and does proper business, so you can rest assured."
"I don't want to hear that coming from you of all people. Anyway, like she said, I'm Crow the Blacksmith. It's nice to meet you."
"I am Takuto, a Summoner. And this is my Summoned Beast, Lily. It's nice to meet you too."
"I'm Lily! It's nice to meet you!"
Yup, yup. You were able to greet them properly just as I taught you. You did great, Lily. Lily was surprised the first time I patted her on the head, but she seems to have taken a liking to it.
"Ehehe~~"
She smiles widely while giggling.
"But I was really surprised with his Summoned Beast. It's the first time I've seen a talking, humanoid type after all. She also seems to have lots of emotions; as usual, the management seems to have put in extra effort on this."
"I agree. I'm sure this will make the Summoner Job Class more popular and encourage an awful lot of people to start playing this game."
"Indeed. Speaking of which, you wanted to have a weapon made?"
"Yes, I would like a One-handed Sword for Lily."
Crow was surprised when he heard my request.
"That kid's your Vanguard? How much is her STR?"
"It's 20."
"Th-that's pretty high… If she has that much strength, then she's a Power-type Vanguard. If that's the case, then the weight of the weapon shouldn't matter."
"The weight of the weapon?"
According to Crow-san, weapons have a weight, and if that weight exceeds your STR, then it will be quite heavy and slow down movement. I guess we have to watch out for that too.
"If you have the materials for making the weapon, then it'll be a lot cheaper."
"Do those come from Monster Drops?"
"Monster Drops, Ores, and Stones, actually. Since you're a Summoner, you should have a mining skill, right?"
"… I don't have that skill yet."
There was a list of skills where you can choose from. It also included the corresponding points needed to acquire them.
According to Ruin-san, it's important to choose skills carefully. There was a story during the Beta-Testing phase where one Mage chose the One-handed Sword Skill to become a Magic Knight, but his magic was only compatible with his staff so he ended up wasting quite a lot of Skill Points.
In other words, there are compatible and incompatible skills for different Job Classes. In the case of Summoners, it seems that the Staff is standard equipment, so that means my skills should be magic-compatible.
Normally, I would have to pick skills with good compatibility using the starting 25 skill points. I didn't know what to pick, so I decided to keep it for the time being, but it looks like I made a mistake.
"That's not good. Mining and Alchemy Skills are essential for Summoners, after all. It's better to take them as soon as you can, you know? The earlier you acquire those skills, the faster you can level them up."
"Why are those two skills essential?"
"Because those are skills needed to craft Magic Stones which are used to summon Beasts. Ordinary magic stones can be made from normal stones using the Alchemy Skill, you see."
"As for Mining, you can normally buy ores and other stuff like that, but it would be cheaper to go out on the field to collect rocks and ores since Summoners are better suited for attacking. Even summoning costs a lot of money, so it's considered as an essential skill. Also, Magic Stones are non-purchasable and the only way to create them is through the Alchemy Skill."
I see. In other words, it would be bad if I didn't get those skills.
"Are there other skills that I should acquire?"
"Well, you might also need some magic-compatible skills."
"Summoners are rearguards, and since Takuto-kun is using a wand, I think it's better for you to get some magic-related skills instead."
I see. Indeed, the only way I can attack right now is by directly attacking with my wand. Since I'm expressly playing a game, I might as well learn magic. But the problem is which skill I should get. According to the tutorial, Magic Skills are divided into 6 types: Air, Fire, Earth, Water, Darkness, and Light. As explained in the tutorial, each magic type has special features, so you have to choose carefully.
I'll decide on those after I see Lily in combat. And so, they taught me other skills like the Appraisal Skill which is important in evaluating Items and Equipment, and the Demolition Skill which was mentioned in the Tutorial earlier.
I quickly learned Alchemy, Mining, Appraisal, and Demolition, and the notice flowed through my head.
[Alchemy Skill Acquired]
[Mining Skill Acquired]
[Appraisal Skill Acquired]
[Demolition Skill Acquired]
I spent a total of 5 Skill Points. Only Alchemy cost me 2 points. This left me with 20 points, so I checked and found out that each magic skill also costs 2 points. I guess I have to use those sooner or later too.
Name : Takuto, Summoner Level 1
Vitality 10
Magic 15
Strength 12
Defense 4
Agility 10
Dexterity 14
Skills
Bare-handed Lv1 | Staff Lv1 | Summoning Magic Lv1 | Alchemy Lv1 | Mining Lv1 | Demolition Lv1 | Appraisal Lv