Art leaves his room with his coins in his pocket and heads down, the people are having a good time in the dining hall and everyone seems to enjoy each other company. A few more people asked Art to join them, but Art once again declined their offer as he was about to leave the tavern he saw something on the menu that piqued his interest.
'That looks appetizing.'
A heavy sandwich filled with meat, vegetables, and cheese was being served. He went to the counter and asked for it.
"How much is this?"
"You don't have to pay, you already paid using your golden coin."
"I see."
"So you want that meal?"
"Yes."
"How straightforward." The person went to the kitchen and waited for his order to arrive, he saw a bunch of people talking to each other and saw an available chair, he went towards them and asked if the chair was taken.
"Hello there, is this chair taken?"
"No, it's not."
"May I take this chair? I just need to eat here in a minute then leave."
"Sure, not like anyone is pressuring you to not seat y'know?'
"Thanks."
"No problemo."
Art grabs the chair and sat on it, it felt quite rough since it was a wooden chair but nevertheless he just sat there. While waiting for his order he overhears the people next to him with information regarding the situation of the city, judging from the reactions it was not going too great.
"The kingdom is quite chaotic today isn't it, Mage?"
While Art was listening to the conversation, a person in a black cloak and black mantle appeared next to Art, the person's voice was that of a woman, and had a prosthetic hand. She was just drinking beer from a large wooden mug, she chugs it down like it was water. Her face was covered by a mask so Art could not see her face or hair directly
"Well technically I am not a Mage, I am a Cleric. But yes the kingdom is indeed chaotic this time around." Art observed the woman she kept drinking from the mug.
"A Cleric? In that appearance? I guess I should not judge a book by its cover huh."
"I often get that remarks, so don't feel too bad about it."
"I will not be, I was just curious."
A Waitress arrives at the table and gives Art his order. Art inspected the sandwich to see if there was anything suspicious like poison or something similar, he found nothing and admired the sandwich's beautifully handcrafted design and toppings. It was essentially a burger that even had the buns and everything.
"You like that type of meal?" The woman asked Art while staring at his eyes directly.
"I used to, but guess I do now."
"Used to? So you hated this sandwich before?"
"Not really 'hated', more of having alternative choices that were somewhat better."
Art took the burger and munched on the sandwich and ate it slowly, enjoying the flavor of each bite before swallowing it. Art gave the woman a lateral glace as he was chewing the pieces of the burger.
"Why are you attempting to extract information from me?"
The woman, who was chugging the beer widened her eyes and stopped drinking, she slammed her mug onto the table and chuckled a little.
"Was I that obvious?" The woman asked in amusement.
"You were too obvious, you are asking random questions that would probably lead up to the main topic. No?"
The woman stopped moving and scratched her head, she was irritated.
"Ahahaha... I need to get better huh?" The woman laughs and continues drinking from the mug.
"Not your fault, it was simply because you met someone who knows how to do that."
Before Art was transferred into Terra, prior to him becoming the chairman of 'Last Resort' he had learned how to gather information regarding how a game should work, and how should it operates. He used to go to game conferences and asked the developers harmless questions about the successful game.
He also used this to see if anyone would attempt to steal the code of the game itself by placing traps in the company, purposefully misreading information on how the game operators, who was it managed and how was it managed, and where it was managed were all kept under false information.
"You have a skill that allows you to detect truths and lies, right?" Art rested his chin on his hand as he talks to the woman.
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
"I see. keep your secrets then."
Art finished eating the sandwich and was full, as he was about to get up from the table the woman talked to him.
"Do you see the 'Radiant Light' above the high towers of the kingdom?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
"How cunning of you to use my own words against me." The woman raised her eyebrow slightly.
"So you know something about it?" The woman was confirming her doubts about Art.
"Like I said, I have no idea what you are talking about." Art took the leftover plate and gave it to a waitress.
"You are interesting, what level are you?" The woman asked as she just sits on the chair.
"Level 1."
"You can't be serious are you-" The woman was stunned, before a few seconds later her face looked like she accepted the fact due to her skill.
"You have a skill that bypasses my skill...?" The woman could not accept the truth, so she came to the conclusion about Art had some sort of skill that can bypass her ability. Art had nothing to say since he already answered her questions.
'How do I tell her that I am saying the truth?' Art wanted to clear up the misunderstanding but was in a rush to leave.
"That was just the truth."
"Bullshit."
"Well if that's what you want to believe, feel free to do so."
"Are you even a cleric in the first place?"
"Yes, I am a cleric."
"Show me proof." The woman got up and left her chair while bringing her mug with her.
"What do I even get from doing this?"
The woman reached from her belt around her waist which contained multiple types of knives, she reached for a small dagger and made a small scratch on her index finger, and reached it out to Art.
"Heal this, and I'll give you something worthwhile of your time."
"Information, I want information."
"Information? As long as it's not some highly confidential information then I accept."
"I accept this offer of yours."
Art reached out his hand in front of the wound the woman made, then snapped his fingers.
"Heal."
[Heal has been used.]
A green light envelops her wound and returned its state back to what it was, almost as if the wound never happened. Art felt dizzy again and was unable to balance himself but kept pretending to be unaffected by its usage to avoid the eyes of the people and being judged.
"I healed your wound. that's proof right?"
"Yes... that is indeed proof that you are a Cleric."
"I can ask for any information that you might have correct?"
"Yes, as long as it's not any confidential information, then I can give it."
"Perfect, do you have a piece of paper and a pen?"
"I do... but why do you need it?"
"I need to give you a visual illustration."
"Alright then, here." The woman hands her a piece of paper and a black pen, it seemed to be created with another form of ink, and the plastic of a normal pen was replaced with a similar material but not quite the same.
Art draws a 4 pointed star that is in the middle of the drawing, an infinity symbol in the shape of a heart that surrounds the star, and an eye that surrounds everything in it.
"Do you know this symbol?"
"No... this is the first time I have seen this symbol." The woman stared at the symbol as she was processing what it was and what it meant, and who was it meant to be.
"It seems you don't know anything about this symbol." Art crumples the paper and kept it in his pocket, he gave back the pen to the woman.
"What was that symbol?"
The symbol Art drew is a major organization that was crucial to the story and the progression of the game, he wanted to know if their presence was already known or not.
"You'll find out about it in 7 to 9 years."
Art gets up and leaves the tavern, like usual the area around the tavern was full of abandoned buildings. Old stores and shops were closed down and barricaded with wooden planks, only 4-5 people can be seen walking outside the area.
'I need to get a catalyst as soon as possible for my skills."
In the game, in order to use skills that are more focused on magic rather than enhancement. A 'Catalyst' is needed to cast skills efficiently, if a person uses a skill without a 'catalyst' it will absorb more mana than necessary.
Some rarer ones often boost the efficiency of the skill that was used or some boost a specific skill, these items are usually things like Staves, Books, or Rings. There are unique ones that have unique forms and give unique abilities, though they need specific conditions for them to appear.
'But first I need to get a proper outfit, 11 golden coins are all that I have...'
Art wandered around the kingdom for an hour in hopes of finding a high-quality tailor, after walking around the main street of the kingdom he found a tailor store and went toward it. The store had displays of clothing and robes that seemed to be high quality, and the glass windows were carved with a magic spell which was probably an enhancement for the glass to avoid it being broken by thieves.
Art opens the door and enters the store, it was filled with bright lights and displays of clothing on a mannequin.
"Welcome to the store, customer. What type of service do you want?" A man in formal attire greeted Art, Art took off his suit and placed it on the counter.
"Can you fix this?"
"Why yes! I can."
"That's good, how much is it?"
"You just need to pay 2 golden coins, I'll make sure to fix it and even make it better!"
"Alright, I trust you." Art pays the man 2 golden coins, so he only has a total of 9 golden coins remaining. The man took the coins and took the suit with him and sat on a nearby table, he opened a box which had materials like leather, silk, and wool fabrics.
"Do you also do enchantments?"
"Enchantments? I do, what type of enchantments do you want on your suit?"
"Can you do 'Enhanced Durability'?"
"Sure, that would cost an extra 4 golden coins."
Enhanced Durability is an enchantment on clothing that makes it more durable and last longer, it's a pretty straightforward enhancement.
'Though the enchantment is mediocre, it's good enough since items of clothing like this in this world are a luxury.'
"Alright, please add 'Enhanced Durability' in the suit as well."
"Understood."
"In the meantime you can watch, or go outside if you wish to."
"I'll just wait."
"It will only take 10 minutes at max!"
The man took the materials and placed them on top of the suit, he molded the materials like it was clay and pasted them on the damaged part of the suit which merged with the suit, effectively covering the burnt part. He took the needle from the box and attached the materials by sewing it into the suit.
After fixing the suit he took out a metallic pen and carved the suit with the enchantment, when the pen touched the surface of the suit it radiates a blue light every time the man makes a pen stroke and carved some runes into the suit.
After he finished carving the suit with an enchantment, the runes on the suit faded away as if nothing had happened, the suit had returned to its original form and looked completely brand new.
"I am done sir, feel free to wear it and see if anything feels wrong."
The man handed out the suit to Art, Art immediately wore the suit and felt if anything was wrong.
"It feels brand new, thank you for fixing it."
"No problem!"
Art rubbed his hand on the suit, it felt the same yet it was completely different.
"By the way how strong was the enchantment you engraved?"
"I don't know the strength of the durability accurately, since my 'Enchantment' skill is only B- class."
"If I were to damage the suit right now for testing, would you fix it for free?"
"I guess I would since it's my fault if it broke easily."
"Do you have a knife or a dagger I could use to test it out?"
"No, but I do have a skill where it turns my hand sharp as a sword."
"Perfect, please slash my suit." Art removes his suit and throws it to the ground.
"Alright, then." The man extended his arm and opened his hand into a flat posture, his entire arm acted as a sword and the hand as the tip and blade of the sword.
"Imitation of a Sword."
The man slashed his arm on the suit, a powerful wind was felt throughout the room as the clothing was moving from the wind. There were no visible damages on the suit, effectively the enchantment protected the suit.
"Is this good enough?"
"Yes, I have seen enough. I'm satisfied."
Art picked up the suit from the ground and wore it again.
"Oh right, your payment."
Art gave the man 4 golden coins for the enchantment and bids farewell to the man as he leaves the store.
"Please do come back again!"
"I will, goodbye."