'7 coppers? That's pretty good for me!'
Bjorn immediately reached out his hand to shake with the NPC.
"Awesome, I'll take it. Hey, I'll have a lot more items soon, would you be willing to buy those, too?"
The NPC looked a bit confused as to why he wasn't trying to negotiate up to a more fair price, but he eventually just shrugged his shoulders and accepted it.
"Try to bring something better next time. Oh, and when you come back, ask for me, Leonard."
Bjorn smiled, patting the helpful NPC on the shoulder. He truly was lucky to meet these nice merchants. First SnowAven helped him out before he left the city the first time, and now he had a personal contact here!
Leonard was smiling too, albeit not in the same way.
'Hah, I found a pushover! I'll make a big commission from every item this guy sells me, I can resell it all for way higher!'
As Bjorn left, Leonard somehow felt a bit better as he picked up the trashy old buckler. Sure, it was dirty and old, but it would also potentially be somewhat of a cash cow for the fairly-new salesman.
'As long as he doesn't figure out that I'm scamming him, it'll all be good!'
-
Bjorn hummed happily as he reached the front of a line, passing two coppers over to the shopkeeper in front of him. On his way to the city gates, he encountered a few food stalls, but this one was a bit special.
Permanent stats could be gained from only a few top establishments, and temporary effects could also be acquired from a few as well.
This one happened to have both, though it was quite expensive for a new player to afford.
-
Ding!~
After eating excellent food, your health regen is increased by 50% for 20 minutes!
Experiencing a new taste, you have gained 1 WIS!
-
The stat bonus was small and could only be collected a single time, but Bjorn was more than happy to fork over some money for it.
Even if he only picked up one extra point every level, it would be like having an entire extra level every five levels.
He hadn't been doing too great at it so far, but he was confident he could improve in the future.
Speaking of extra stats, he still had 6 points to allocate, and he was torn on what to do with them.
Should he invest in his future, or in the present?
'The game just opened… and I have ten years of experience. If I lose to someone in a fight now, even if I'm down in useful stats, I'm hopeless. That said, it's useless to level INT right now, so I guess I'll just hold them for now.'
Just as he decided to hold them, he spotted a weapons shop to his side.
'Unless I can get a spell formula…'
Deciding to take a small detour, Bjorn made his way over to the shop. Completely unlike the one he entered last, this one was packed full of other players.
Pushing through the crowd, he eventually reached a counter manned by yet another player.
"Fireball spell."
The player extended a hand.
"1 silver coin."
Bjorn might not know much about the game, but he did know that the listed price was utterly ridiculous. It shouldn't cost more than a dagger or buckler, as it was one of the starting spells for the mage class.
"7 coppers or I'll go to one of the other counters."
The other player folded instantly, receiving the money from Bjorn and passing over a slip of paper.
He noticed a few eyes attracted by the transaction, and instead of instantly using the item to learn a new spell, he tucked it into his inventory.
"Haha, now I can be an awesome wizard! I've gotta find a waterfall or something to learn this under so I can become the best!"
Most players might think it a bit odd to see a man appearing to be in his mid-twenties speaking like that, but the increased interest in the other players' eyes was worth it.
"Hey, were you looking for a party?"
Someone walked over to Bjorn as he headed for the exit, tapping on his shoulder.
"Sorry, I'm just going to look for a place to train outside the city. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to learn magic. This full dive stuff is awesome, isn't it? I can finally achieve my dreams!"
The other player grinned widely.
"Well, I've got just the thing to tell you! My friends found a waterfall the other day, I can tell you where it is!"
The player leaned in, as if to whisper a secret in his ear.
"Don't tell anyone else, but he waited to start training until he was under the waterfall… and he got a better skill! It was a magical bolt skill, but it might work for you, too…"
"Really? Thanks, I'll definitely try that, then!"
A few other players joined up with the one chatting with Bjorn, and soon all of them headed for the city's exit together.
They were stopped by an NPC guard just as they were about to leave. The guard's eyes narrowed as he scanned over the group.
"Are the group of you a party? Make sure you invite everyone so that you can all work together properly!"
The NPC looked meaningfully at Bjorn, who was the only one who hadn't been invited to it.
He shook his head, reassuring the guard.
"It's fine, they're just showing me to a cool training spot. I'll leave them to hunt while I work on mastering magic!"
The guard sighed at his stupidity, but still stepped to the side and allowed them to pass. Once the group left eye-sight of the city, Bjorn turned to speak with his guides.
"So, this waterfall, is it pretty cool?"
One of them nodded but didn't say anything. Ahead of the group, the bushes shook, and everyone got into combat positions.
"Ah, I don't want to be useless! Even if I can't learn the improved skill, I'll use my spell formula now!"
Bjorn swiftly pulled out the paper slip, and the players started to panic. If this noob used the item here, they wouldn't have a chance of it dropping when they killed him!