Once Abel logged back into Realm Quest, he checked his Panel and saw he had an unread whisper.
"Red Sky, I've got the stuff you wanted. Let me know when you're online."
'Good, he got everything.'
After sending a message asking the merchant where to meet, he got a quick reply telling him to come to his new shop. It was in a bustling area of the capital city, although it wasn't in an area with the heaviest foot-traffic, it was surprisingly good for a player.
This was one of the advantages of starting off early and in a place without as much competition as other regions. There was bound to be a greater influx of players over time and though not all of them would choose Veridia as a starting location, they'd definitely want to go somewhere less crowded and unexplored, this kingdom was bound to see an increase of players. But before he could head out, old man Rye appeared before him like a ghost.
"Sir…"
"You're finally back child. Here, this is the letter for the commander." Abel respectfully took the letter and put it in his spacial bag. He then heard the old man ask, "When do you plan on leaving?"
"I need to get some supplies and some other goods, I'll also need to forge some things and repair my equipment before I head out but I should be ready within a day or two at the latest."
"Mm… very well then. Go and take care of your tasks. No need to come and see me before you head out, I just hope you'll be much stronger once you return."
"Uh… sir, I doubt killing a few kobolds would propel me to the fifth tier…"
Abel was getting more comfortable around old man Rye, he wouldn't have dared speak this way just a few days ago. But he had to honestly speak his mind, he didn't want the old man to get angry if he came back and he was still level 30 or something.
"Of course, I don't expect you to even reach the first tier after this expedition. But you should go out and adventure, temper yourself across the different regions of the world. Traveling did big brother a lot of good, you inherited his legacy so you should follow a similar enough path. Don't just lock yourself up in a forge all day long like an average blacksmith, you'll never advance that way, you're a Battlesmith. Never forget that. Now go out and adventure! Travel the world! Fight till you can fight no more!"
Even though he spoke calmly, Abel could tell from the fluctuations around them that the old man was getting worked up. He also understood that the old guardian expected him to travel around after finishing this quest instead of coming back and cooping himself up in the forge out back. His following words confirmed his speculations.
"I have been waiting decades for these clues, I can wait a few years more before going to the Sacrificial Peaks. I just hope you won't make me wait too long child, that is all."
"Understood sir. Do not worry, I assure you I will do my best to advance quickly and solidly."
The old guardians' heartfelt words were conveyed well enough, Abel replied with as much sincerity and conviction as he could muster. Although he knew the old man was just a bunch of very well written code, perhaps some low-grade AI, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of resonance.
The brotherly bond between Bryen and Branthor must have been very strong. He imagined he'd do the same if he and Frankie were in their shoes, so he didn't want to let the old man down regardless if he was some thought up character or a real-life person. It was a matter of principle for himself.
The old man finally smiled and nodded before he turned around to leave. It was the first time he'd seen the old guardian smile in such a genuine way, it was a smile of gratification.
*Ding*
Legendary Guardian Bryen's favorability has increased.
'What the… Is it because of the neuro-link, he can tell my sincerity…?'
The increase in favorability came as a surprise, regardless of whether it was because of his words or due to the neuro-link, it further reaffirmed his thought to be sincere when dealing with others, even if it was just an NPC.
He shrugged off the earlier interaction and sent Coinweaver a whisper, telling him he was on his way to his shop and headed to cinderfall district. This area was once a renowned neighborhood for the nobility but it had suffered from a freak fire many years ago. The nobles, no longer wanting to stay in such an unlucky place, chose to relocate and the late King decided to rebuild it into an area of trade.
It would give some competition to the central trade district, the neighborhood with Universal Bazaar. The former kings' thoughts were to entice merchants to spread the area of commerce beyond a single location within the capital and it seemed to have worked. While the majority of shoppers would go to the central trade square first, they would still pass by cinderfall and check out the shops there.
After a short 10-minute walk, Abel found Coinweaver's new shop. It was around half the size of Universal Bazaar but that was still impressive enough for a player who had been playing for a month.
'Loot 'n Stuff… Seriously, he couldn't think of a grander name.' He was somewhat taken aback by the name but he figured it fit Coinweaver's style. The man would trade in anything and everything so the shop's name was quite fitting.
Tring Tring
When he walked in, he saw an NPC attendant and the young merchant dealing with a couple of players. While the latter saw Abel walk in, he signaled him with his eyes to follow him out back. Abel bypassed the players that gave him a strange look but stayed quiet. They probably thought he was Coinweaver's business partner or something.
After dealing with the players out front, Coinweaver stepped into the store room in the back.
"Red Sky… You went to the palace!"
As soon as Coinweaver shut the door behind him, he couldn't hold back and asked right away. Abel was somewhat taken aback, he thought for a second before remembering the paid post he set up. He couldn't lie about it as the account would use the same name as your in-game avatar so he was forced to post it under "Red Sky".
"Uhh… yeah. Didn't I mention a quest? The instructor in the training citadel issued a quest that eventually set me up to join a monster expedition… I didn't expect to have to go to the palace either but I figured I could take advantage of it. I guess you saw the video?"
He technically didn't lie, the first quest issued by the instructor sent him to old man Rye and the latter had taken him into the palace. He also got the quest for the monster subjugation as a result of his first quest.
"Of course, what a grand and imposing palace… and those beautiful gardens. Where'd you go inside? What did you see? I heard the king just passed, did you meet the new king? What happened to his concu-"
Coinweaver rattled off one question after another, eager to hear about Abel's experience. He was left disappointed after hearing what the latter said when he interrupted him.
"I didn't even enter the palace. I went to one of the side buildings outside the palace itself and then left, I didn't meet the future king or anyone from the royal family. I- uh I needed to get the letter to give the commander in Stormwatch city so I only saw what was posted in the video and one of the side buildings. I obviously didn't want to reveal my quest to the world so I cut off the video then."
"Man, that's a pity… but your video's gone viral!"
"What? It hasn't even been half a day, how… why would it go viral?"
"It's the first time a player entered any palace grounds within the game, of course it'll blow up. You're famous hahahaha" Coinweaver seemed so thrilled you would think it was him that posted the video while Abel's face had darkened in regret.
'I miscalculated… shit shit shit… calm down, no one knows my face and a majority of the players are spread across Elyndor and Valtoria. Yeah, I'm sure it will be fine. On the bright side, if its blown up to such a degree then I should have made a decent amount of credits.'
"Why are you frowning?" Coinweaver noticed the frowning scowl on Abel's face and asked.
"I didn't exactly plan or even want to be famous for that matter… I just wanted to make some money." Abel let out a sigh as he spoke but the young merchant didn't see it that way.
"Well no one knows what you look like, your video was shot in first-person. Besides if you meet other players and they ask then just say you have the same name as the Red Sky that posted the video. What can they do to prove it was really you?"
"You're right… has it really blown up that much?" Abel started feeling excited about the credits coming in, but he was also feeling regretful about charging only 2 credits. If only he had put it at 10 or 100 credits instead!
"When I saw it, it already had more than 700 views which is already pretty good for a paid post but the comments and public threads made about it were much more. You'll have to thank a famous streamer by the name of Sstar. She posted about it and she has more than 100,000 fans."
"Damn… I really do need to thank her. But what's up with the narcissistic name, special star?" Abel mumbled to himself but Coinweaver still heard him and answered him too.
"Well her real name is Selene so the S before star stands for her name. She's pretty famous as an influencer but she actually started out as an amateur singer. She built up quite the fan base on DreamStream a couple of years back."
"It sounds like you're a fan?" Abel asked with a raised brow.
He had been loosening up around Coinweaver, although he still kept many things from him, he no longer treated him as an absolute stranger after a week of interaction. The young merchant's face turned slightly red after hearing Abel's words and quickly explained,
"No- Well not really. I mean she's really pretty but I haven't ever heard her sing. I did see a few clips of her on TV, she took part in this reality tv show or something like that and that's how I know about her…"
"No need to explain, I was just teasing you hahaha. I'll send her a private message through the forums in thanks when I log off. Anyway, you said you got the stuff?" Coinweaver seemed like he wanted to explain himself further but Abel's reminder about the goods redirected his attention to more important matters.
"Yeah, about that… those ingots and monster parts were quite expensive, just the materials alone came up to 24 silver coins. The cooking skill-essence crystal cost 50 silver coins while the horsemanship skill-essence crystal cost 80 silver coins. I couldn't find a general riding skill, only basic horsemanship but it should still be of help if you plan on renting a steed. I usually charge a 10% fee but I'll give you the friends and family discount of 5%. The total comes to 1 gold 61 silver and 70 copper coins."
"No problem, you've saved me a lot of time so I appreciate it. Here you go…"
After sending him the money, Abel thanked the young merchant again and took his leave. He had to head back to the forge and make the equipment before buying some last-minute supplies and heading off.