[ System Notification:- Congratulations Player 'SkyLion' for successfully clearing the hidden dungeon 'Dungeon Of Waves' and securing an employment opportunity for the underprivileged of Panjim Town.
You are rewarded with
50x Gold Coins
2x Water Lily
1x Skill Scroll ( epic ) ]
A system notification informed Luke that he had successfully completed the hidden dungeon quest!
The completion condition for this dungeon was different from what Luke had assumed as there was no monster fighting, no puzzle solving, no treasure looting, but it was rather a simple mission where he had to convince a single man to take-in cheap labor.
"Hahaha, humans…. This race is so shameless, hahaha, I like them so much" The mer-man kept laughing as he realized that no longer did he need to work hard in his punishment and he could live a life of luxury once more.
Although Luke had no idea, the mer-man he had just befriended was actually a hidden bigshot and his real identity was the second prince of mer-land.
He was royalty who was exiled to the outskirts of their kingdom to reflect on his past misdeeds and was supposed to repent by performing oyster farming in isolation, however, because of Luke he once again saw hope in living a life of leisure.
"I'm Furlo, from today onwards, let's become friends, shameless human SkyLion" Furlo said as he extended his hand which Luke shaked enthusiastically.
[ System Notification - NPC Furlo wishes to form a 'Friendship' bond with player 'SkyLion'.
Do you agree?
Yes
No ]
A system notification asked Luke if he wished to form a bond with Furlo or not and Luke accepted the request without thinking much of it.
[ *DING* , NEW CONNECTION FORMED, SECOND PRINCE OF MER-LAND, FURLO ( LV 360 )
You can now open a private chat with Furlo whenever you wish to- ]
Another pop-up informed Luke that the connection had been successfully established, however, Luke just kept staring at the screen blankly, unable to contemplate the meaning behind its words.
"WHATT…. YOU ARE ROYALTY?" he said in shock as he slapped his cheeks, and Furlo raised his head high in pride as he enjoyed the awe his stature brought.
"MUAHAHA, Bow before me puny human" He said as Luke immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed before Furlo five times.
"All hail the prince!" He said again and again as Furlo kept laughing like a maniac as this was the first time someone had shown him this level of respect.
Back in mer-land, everyone knew that the first prince would ascend the throne and that the king did not wish for his children to get undeserving respect and hence nobody ever really paid much attention to Furlo although he was a noble.
Internally, he craved for the same respect as his brother and father got, however, because of his childish antics, his name was associated with that of a troublemaker back at the palace which meant that nobody treated him with proper respect.
Getting such attention from Luke, he felt like he was on cloud nine as he truly began to like Luke as a person although he was level 0.
"Puny human, since I like you so much, I'll indulge you and allow you one opportunity to ask me anything you want-" Furlo said as Luke stopped kowtowing and looked at Furlo with hopeful eyes.
Since he now knew that Furlo was a level 360 noble, Luke had faith that whatever advice Furlo would give him would prove to be invaluable and hence he asked with a shaky voice "Please tell me the mistakes to avoid in the path to become a good warrior"
"Don't learn trash skills….. and as long as it's possible, don't learn skills out of skill scrolls but always learn them through practical repetition.
You can only learn a limited number of skills in your lifetime and mastering a few will always be better than learning many trash skills and swapping them again and again.
My only advice for you is to master all the skills that you learn rather than swapping them consistently for better ones" Furlo said as Luke nodded his head in understanding.
He had no experience regarding learning skills or skill scrolls, he had not learnt a single skill yet, however, he trusted Furlo's advice on this matter and decided to choose his skills carefully in the future.
"Thankyou for the advise, I'll keep it close to my heart" Luke said as Furlo blushed red listening to his words feeling all giddy inside.
All his life it was only his elder brother giving him advice and this was the first time when he had the opportunity to mentor someone and because of Luke's genuine and eager personality, he quite liked the feeling of teaching someone new.
The two spent some more time together where Furlo told him to keep in touch and message him often for any doubts that he had and Luke also told him about how he should exploit labor and make the most effective use of their skills.
In the end the two parted ways on great terms and a promise to visit each other soon.
Luke, having gained the gold that he wished to buy a skill-scroll, now decided against buying a common skill and rather decided to buy a nice weapon with the money instead, but first he decided to visit the slums and complete his mission by convincing them to report to Furlo for guaranteed money and a respectable job from tomorrow.