In the capital of Rucksta, Weiss is talking to a man that has an arrogant attitude towards everything. He has golden hair and a feline tail and ears. Then he asks "So you are absolutely certain that your report is accurate?" To which Weiss says "Yes your majesty. Everything I wrote in it is my honest opinion."
The man looks at the paper for a moment and then asks "You think that they are a threat to us?" To which Weiss says "If they wished to turn their blade against us, I doubt that we would stand a chance."
Then the man says "You only have met two people in that disgusting thing's little charade. What would you think are the chances that they are the minority of that charade?" To which Weiss says "Your majesty, while I do think that they weren't they weren't representative of the majority, I do think the person called Song Bai could easily deal with the entirety of Rucksta's army's might."
The man asks "You think that a machine, led by a worthless scum, is capable of taking on the full front of my army? If I didn't know you any better, I would accuse you of treason." Weiss says "Your majesty, in my honest opinion, when dealing with the people of Elysium, I think that we should focus on having a friendly relationship."
The man then asks "And now you, a low born, are daring to go against what my ministers have suggested? Even if you are one of my sword-saints, I implore you to think your next words carefully." Weiss is silent for a moment as she doesn't know what to say.
Then the man says "Since you are done talking nonsense, I take it that you accept the approach that my ministers have suggested." Weiss wants to object, but she knows that it will make things worse for her, so she stays silent.
Then the man says "That piece of filth will know soon enough where his dirty race belongs. You may leave for now girl. Someone will inform you what your next mission will be later."
Weiss leaves the throne room defeated. She thinks of how "Soon many lives will be put to waste."
At the same time, four people, one man and three women, were selling their goods to the passersby who were coming and going through Rucksta's capital's gate. The four people were all humans from Elysium.
The man's name was Urk Riitti, a "Runemaster". He had dark bronze colored hair and cheap clothes. His eyes were like amber and his merchant smile was cheeky yet captivating. He was part of the fourth battalion.
On Urk's right stood a tall woman named Marora Riitti, Urk's wife. She had long black hair and she wore clothes that were worn by nomads of her homeland. The end lines of her clothes were a little fluffy thanks to the fur. Her eyes were almost completely black and had a hint of blue. She almost always had an expressionless face and she wore a huge sword on her back. Her class was "Warrior" and she was part of the third battalion.
Behind Urk, laying on the grass, was a short girl with a small chest named Lilji Riitti, Urk's wife. She had pink hair that was in a ponytail and was decently sized compared to her body. Her eyes were also pink. She wore clothes that showed her waist, thighs and arms, but they had similarly fluffy ends like Marora's clothes. Her class was "Thief" and she was part of the ninth battalion.
On Urk's left side, a woman who was taller than Lilji but shorter than Marora, sat on a chair she brought alongside her reading a book. Her name was Alona Riitti and she was Urk's wife as well. She had short silver hair and she had silver eyes. She wore clothes that typical mages in Odysseium wore and she wore glasses for her short sightedness. Her class was "Mage" and she was part of the sixth battalion.
Behind everyone laid a sky blue dragon named Lucky who had his back legs cut out. They could be healed, but due to it being a self imposed punishment for himself, they will stay like that. He had four wings and a long slim tail that could make sound when he wanted to when he flew.
The group has set two signs, one that has "Selling magical tools from Elysium for anyone who's interested" and "If you are going to fuck around, you are going to find out what happens next" written on it. Most of the passerby scoffed at them, as the group was solely humans.
Then Urk said after not receiving anything else but dirty looks from the locals "I know that we humans have it bad here, but telling us to use that sign isn't very inviting to gain new customers." To this, Alona said "It can't be helped. It is for our own protection."
Then after a while, one adventurer came and said "Yo, human. I'll take some of your stuff." To which Urk said with a smile on his face "Oh thank you dear customer. Now what would you be taking?" To which the adventurer took a knife that Urk was selling and asked "What's so special about this one?" To which Urk said "It is a knife that heats up a little and vibrates ever so slightly if you pour some mana into it. It is to ease the cutting process."
Then the adventurer says "Sounds nice, then how about that one?" He points at a potion that has a sign clearly saying it's a healing potion. Nevertheless, Urk says to the adventurer "It is a healing potion that was made by an Elysium alchemist. It can reattach your arm if you still have it at hand, heal it from being mangled or even heal severe burns. If you are looking for something that can restore a whole limb, then I have it in storage."
The adventurer says "That's nice. I'll take all you've got." To this, Urk says "Customer, I have quite a lot in my storage and I hear that people of this world don't have a spacial inventory that they can use. I'm afraid that you don't have the capacity to carry all of them in one go."
The adventurer asks "Spacial storage? What are you talking about? There's no such thing as spacial storage. Give me all you have and I'll be going." Urk answers with "I have 120 potions that are shown and 40 potions that can regrow a limb. Are you sure you can carry all that?" To which the adventurer says "You know what, I'll just take these that you have on the front since you are being so difficult."
Then the adventurer takes as many potions as he can carry, as well as the knife, and says "Well see ya." Urk then says "Hey, you have to pay for those." To which the adventurer says "You are just a meager human. I don't have to pay anything."
The man walks away for some time with the things that he took from Urk, to which Urk sighs and just says "Lilji." After that, Lilji rises from the ground, yawns, disappears for a moment, appears in the next and lays down back again.
Soon after the same adventurer comes shouting while stark naked and only the items he stole at hand "Hey! Where are my clothes?!" To which Urk shouts back "As per our policy, since you didn't pay for the items you took by choice, we took it upon ourselves to take everything else but the items you just took for compensation! Pleasure doing business with us! Please come again!" To this the adventurer shouted "You fucking dare to take my stuff you puny thieves! Give them back and I won't report you to the guards!"
Urk chuckled once and said while pointing at the sign "As per our policy, since you fucked around, you found out. What are you going to tell the guards? Humans stole your stuff as you stole from them? No, you'll probably go and leave the last part out. But here is the stitch customer, we are willing to trade your clothes with the stuff you have at hand. How does that sound?"
The adventurer just shouted "You fucking dare to say that you own my stuff when you stole them from me! Give them back, or I'll be using force! I'm a B rank adventurer you know!" To this, Urk just said "If you are threatening with violence, as in, fucking around, we will be willing to make you "find out" what happens then." He points at Marora who's just standing there.
The adventurer says "You think that you can threaten me?! You fucking on it fucker! I'll…" To which Urk says "Marora" and Marora draws her sword and points it at the adventurer while giving a menacing aura.
The adventurer thinks for a moment and then shouts "You want these?! Fine! Take them and give back my stuff you filthy humans!" He throws the stuff at Marora, who almost slices the potions by instinct.
Urk then says "Lilji" and Lilji walks to the adventurer and gives his equipment back. The adventurer quickly dressed up and left while shouting "I'll make you damn insects regret this!"
There were other people watching this encounter. Some were disgusted by the actions of Urk's group, but some were greatly entertained and decided to buy something, even if they were from humans.
Urk did get some customers every now and then the following day, but there were people who tried to haggle a little too much and others who just tried to steal the products. Lilji's skills helped a lot for the latter case.
Since there started to be talk in the capital that human peddlers were selling high quality goods on the road that leads to the capital of Rucksta, this caused a group of knights to come and "inspect" the site.
When Urk saw the group of knights on the horizon, he sighed and said "Be ready girls. This will probably be a doozy."
When the knights got to where Urk's group was, the one leading that knight group came up front and said "Greetings humans. I see that you are selling goods near our untainted capital. Care to explain why you are here and how you obtained such valuable loot?" To this, Urk said "We come here from Elysium to show that we can have a profitable relationship. As for how we got all of these, the weapons were made by the apprentices of the fourth battalion and the runes were made by yours truly."
Then the knight said "I see, so your cover story is that your little human commune made high quality items that would sell for much higher price than you are selling now. You can't fool me human, you probably stole all of these from some noble, hence, we demand you hand your cargo to us."
Urk just thought in his head "Aah, what a pain. Faust told us to not make this a political matter if we can help it, but this is starting to be an issue. Well… if I had to make a move, I would…" And then Urk said "Unfortunately, you have no right to take anything from us if you don't pay the appropriate price. Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot. Humans aren't legal anywhere in the middle realm, let alone Rucksta, so you seem to have all the rights to take our stuff and get rid of us if you so please, am I right?"
The knight says with a smile "For a human, you actually get it. Now hand it all over and we might let you live." To this, Urk says "Oh, I must apologize to you, for you see…" Then the items appear to be sucked to a ring that Urk wore on his thumb, "There is a lot more stuff inside this ring that you might not have accounted for. Do I give all of that inside of it as well?"
The knight, while a bit taken back, stays calm and says "Ye- Yes. Hand over that ring and be off." After which Urk says "Here" while throwing the ring to the knight. Then Urk says "Now come girls, let's head to our camp for today and return later."
The knight says ""Well, if you still have more, then we have to come and take it off your chests." To which Urk says while he gets on Lucky with the rest of the group "We'll see you tomorrow if you want more, until then…" And so Urk and the group leave.
The knight shouts "Hey, wait!" But Urk and the group are long gone by then. While flying, Lucky asks Urk "Are you sure it's fine to give them all of that?" To which Urk says "Just wait and see for their response tomorrow. You won't be disappointed."
The next day, Urk and the group are in their usual places, barely selling any items at all. Around noon, the same knight comes with the same group of people, but this time, the leader of those knights is pissed off.
The knight shouts "You! You dare to make a fool out of me, Human?! You think that you would get away with it?! This time, I'll make sure that you give us the items while they are OUTSIDE the ring!" To this, Urk says with a smirk and a mocking tone of voice "Ooh. Did someone fail to use a ring made by humans? Oh, I'm so sorry for that failure to think that there wouldn't be people in your prosperous kingdom to use such a simple magic item. I'm truly sorry."
The knight shouts "You think you can get off free after the stunt you pulled?! I was being generous yesterday by letting you live, but this time, I'll make sure that you won't see the next sunrise!"
Urk says, still with a bit of a mocking tone "Oh, scary. But tell you what, why don't we play a little game between me and your group of knights. The winner gets to take everything that the participant has in hand. Oh, outside the storage ring, of course."
The knight says "Hah. Why would I play a stupid game with filthy people like yourselves? I can just force you to give me all that you have. You have no idea how skilled we are at getting things from humans." To this, Urk just says with a mocking tone "Oh? A little knight is scared that they lose a game against a mere human such as myself? Oh, how very knightly."
Trying to keep his cool, the knight says "Very well then. I'll humor this human just this once. What are the rules of this game you are suggesting?" Then Urk claps his hands once in excitement and pulls a stone tablet from his ring. After touching the stone tablet, it starts to float between him and the knight.
Then Urk says "The rules are as follows…" As he speaks, blue carvings appear magically on the stone tablet. "...In this turn-based combat game, each participant has two turns that they can do. The contestants are me, Urk, versus the group of knights led by…" Urk extends his hand to the knight he was speaking to previously as to tell him to introduce himself. The knight responds by saying "Richard Bordigneral."
The name "Richard Bordigneral" appears in the stone tablet and Urk continued to speak "... Urk will be the one to start his two turns, after which, it is up to Richard Bordigneral who will take their two turns from their group. Urk's turn will only start when all the knights in Richard Bordigneral's group have done their two turns.
The loser is to give every item they have at hand and the loser is either the one who forfeits or the one who has no contestants left to make a move. In Richard Bordigneral's group's case, they can individually forfeit while the rest of their group stays in the game. After they forfeit, the individual will respect the contract they made by giving all the items they have at hand and not interfering.
Any interference by outside forces will be met by actions that Meridiem, the god of contracts in Lutah, sees as appropriate action. Disrespecting the contract signed by all the contestants will also be met with the actions that Meridiem sees as appropriate."
Then without blue carvings appearing in the stone tablet, Urk speaks while taking out eight stones that have runes in them from his ring "Everyone who wishes to participate, place your hand near your heart, say your name and swear upon the god of contracts, and you'll be participating in this game." Then Urk places his hand near his heart and says "I, Urk Riitti, swear upon the god of contracts." And so, a blue ball of light appears from him and flies to the stone tablet. Then Richard does what Urk did, his knights follow and a blue ball of light flies from them to the stone tablet.
Then Urk says "Now that the game has started, my first move is to levitate these runes around my opponents in octagonal positions like so." Urk does what he said he would and then says "Now that my runes are in appropriate places, I'll use my next move to activate them like so." As Urk said, eight walls of light appear between the runestones.
Then Urk says "Those were all of my turns, now it's time for all of your turns." One of the knights tried to walk through the wall of light, but they were unable to do so. It is now that they realized that they were in a trap.
Richard says "Don't worry knights. It is just a puny trick made by a human. I'm sure we can break it with ease." As such, the knight attacked the walls with all their might, but with no avail.
Confused, Richard said "Are you all slacking off? Break the damn wall!" To which one of his people said "We are trying our best commander, but it's not budging." Frustrated, Rirchad attacked the wall with his magic. The wall that was hit by it was unaffected.
Now worried, Richard shouted at Urk "What did you do?!" To which Urk happily said "Oh, I just placed a cursed prison that won't turn down unless the mana inside the octagon runs out or the key is used. You CAN break it, however, none of you seem to have what it takes to actually do so."
Richard shouts "You dare to mock us by using some relics you stole from somewhere?! Unacceptable! Release us at once!" To this, Urk simply stated "One, there were no rules that stated that you can't use powerful items. Two, I didn't use any relics, I made all of those runestones myself. Three, no way I'll release you. After all, it is not my turn yet."
Richard shouts "Lies! Lies! Watch until we break free from here and wipe that smug look from your face, you embarrassment of a species!" Urk just says "Do what you want, but until then…" Then Urk starts shouting to the people who were watching all this unfold "Anyone who wants to do business with us, feel free to do so while that big shot there tries and fails to get out! In fact, we are currently selling the same kind of runestones that I used to imprison those knights! You only need to follow a few steps in order to use them! And what's better is that they come at a cheap price!"
This intrigued multiple passersby to come and purchase said runes. While Urk was having his best sales since he came to this mission, Richard was furiously trying to solve the issue he was having.
Richard had an idea that "If the mana is depleted from the octagon, then this trick should end." And so, he ordered his people to spend every ounce of their mana in order to get freed. After a lot of effort, the walls didn't seem to be weakening, to which Urk commented "Oh, by the way, if you are going that route, you'll have to exhaust all the mana in the air and what's in the ground."
Dumbfounded, Richard shouted "How are we supposed to get rid of all that?!" To which Urk commented "I can think a couple of ways actually, but I'm not the one who is trapped inside the cursed prison, now am I." This infuriated Richard, who proceeded to insult Urk for a while.
Night came around and the knights still haven't been able to break free from the cursed prison. Urk decided to make camp where he was so that he wouldn't be accused of running away.
The next morning came, and the knights were unable to break free. Many insults were thrown at Urk and his group not only by Richard, but the other knights as well.
Then the next night came and went, and so it was the second morning since the game began. The stone tablet was still hovering between Urk and the knights.
Couple of hours later, another knight came from the capital to see why his people had been absent. When he saw them imprisoned, he said "I heard that you were caught in trouble, but this…"
Urk, without missing a beat, says "We have plenty of stuff to sell here mister. Are you interested in scouting supplies? Runes that would ease your daily life? Or perhaps potions that would make you have a vigor of a hundred men?"
The man said "Are you the human I heard about?" To which Urk said "I'm A human, but I don't know if I'm THE human you are looking for."
The man says "Are you responsible for those magic lights?" To which Urk says "I'm indeed the one who made them and activated them."
The man says "So you are also responsible for my knights not being able to do their duties." To which Urk says "They were the ones who signed the contract with me to play this game. It was never forced and they all agreed to this game. The consequences are as you see."
The man says "By the order of the city knight, I, Ornstead Luitten, order you to release them immediately." To this Urk simply replied "No can do."
Ornstead asks "What did you say to me human? I think I'm hearing things. Care to repeat that?" To which Urk says in a snarky tone "No… Can… Do."
Ornstead says "Your meager brain doesn't seem to understand the situation you are in, human. You, a human, are obstructing the knights from doing their duties. You WILL release them."
To this, Urk just says "As long as they haven't admitted defeat, I won't let them out. Oh, that reminds me…" Then Urk shouts to half conscious Richard "Oi Richi?! Do you approve of this Ornstead fellow's actions that would count as unapproved interference that benefits your side?!"
Richard then gets a hold of himself and gets to the wall of light and says "Marshal Luitten?! This… This isn't what it looks like! That human tricked us and locked us inside this thing! You must help us!" To this Urk says "I wouldn't do that if I were in any of your shoes."
Ornstead then asks "Why so, human?" To which Urk answers "If you interfere with this game, Richi's side will be breaking the contract that they agreed to. And since this contract is watched by the god of contracts Meridiem herself, there might be unforeseen consequences."
Ornstead says "A god of contracts has her eyes on this game, you say? A game that humans are part of no less? There are so many times you can lie before me until I get sick of it, human. Think of your next words carefully."
Then Urk just says "I can prove it to you guys if you doubt me. But fair warning before we proceed, one of your people might die." Ornstead just says "On with it human."
Urk then says under his breath "Well, I warned you" and then says out loud "Richi boy, tell one of your people to declare that they denounce this contract. That should show you what happens."
Richard then says to his knight "Tomson! You do it!" one of the knights who looks to be young then says "Yes general Bordigneral! I Sanders Tomson denounces this contract!" At first, nothing happens, and so Ornstead says to Urk "So the god of contracts is watching this, you say? So tell me, why didn't she take action?"
Urk just says "Look again Orny." Ornstead is angry that his name was shortened like that, but decides to look back at the knight who denounced the contract. His eyes widen as he sees what is happening to the young man.
Tomson asks while others are looking at him in horror "Why are you all looking at me like that? The human's little lie is now busted and… why… Why do I feel… so weak and… cold." Then Tomson falls down and slowly but noticeably turns into dust. Only his equipment is left there.
Richard says "Unbelievable." And Ornstead says "Rapid aging. I only heard it from legends, but…" Then Ornstead looks at Urk angrily and asks "What did you do?" Calmly, Urk answered "I, Urk Riitti, didn't do a single thing. You who are from the so-called superior race should know the answer by now." Ornstead stares at the human who has a confident look on his face. Soon the man who Ornstead is staring says "I may use underhanded tactics, but out of all the things, I seldomly lie about anything as I hate liars."
Ornstead looks back at the remains of Tomson and Urk continues "I am a merchant, but merchants need to gain trust of their customers. And if I would be a liar, then who would my customers be able to trust when they make their purchase? Themselves? Customers are always right on what they want and it is the merchant's job to try and give what they want from what the merchant has."
Ornstead says "You…" And Urk continues "If my customer wanted to play a fair game, then who am I to rob them of that opportunity. And the same goes for my top customer during this visit to Rucksta. I mean, who am I to rob a god of her invocation of justice and entertainment."
Ornstead says "I… There is now way that a god would favor a human. There… there is no way that's possible. What sort of trick did you use to harness the power that only gods vield?! Answer me, human!"
Urk then says "I need you to rethink what you just asked. You accused a human, a race that you consider to be worse than trash, of being able to do something, to harness a power that only gods are capable of using. The power of time. In your head, what would be more plausible? The fact that humans were able to somehow obtain a power that only gods can wield? Or the fact that a god has shown favor to a human? Tell me, the so-called superior race."
The fury in Ornstead's face is clear and eventually he puts his hand to the hilt of his sword, but Urk is quick to reply "I need you to think your next form of action carefully Orny." Ornstead grits his teeth as he is seething with rage, but he manages to calm himself down enough to say to Richard while gritting his teeth "General Bordigneral, I order you to forfeit."
Richard says "But Marshal Luitten, if we do then…" Ornstead shouts "Did you not hear me general Bordigneral?! I said you and you men forfeit!"
Richard hesitated for a moment, but eventually said "Knights. Forfeit. I, Richard Bordigneral, forfeit." Richard's people then do the same, until there is no one left inside the octagon that hadn't forfeited.
Urk then writes something in the air and pushes it with his palm, after which the cursed prison is opened. Ornstead asks Urk "What was the payment for losing?" To which Urk answered "To give every item that the participants had in hand."
Ornstead is frustrated to hear that his people agreed to something like that, but holds his temper and says "Knights, give every item you have at hand to this human." Reluctantly, the knights started to take off everything they had, but when it came to undergarments, people were hesitant, but Urk restated "Every item they have at hand." To which Ornstead said "Let them have at least some dignity. There are women amongst them." To which Urk said "Unfortunately, undergarments are considered items as well."
Reluctantly, people took out everything they had and placed it in the pile near Urk. Then Urk used his ring to put them in storage and says "Now, I think we all agree that the contract has been honored." And such, the blue lights on the stone tablet disappeared and now there were only carvings left on the stone tablet. As the tablet stopped hovering, Urk took it and placed it inside his inventory as well.
Then Urk says to the knights "Now then, if you wish to buy anything in my store, you simply have to pay an appropriate amount. And I just got new items to my inventory, so feel free to buy them at discounted prices."
Ornstead then asks "So the contract has ended, correct?" To which Urk answers "As I said, that is correct." To which Ornstead replied "Good" and with a swift motion, attacked Urk by cutting his neck.
Unfortunately for him, the attack bounced back without making a scratch on Urk. Confused, Ornstead asked "What was that?" To which Urk answered "An one time item. Wanna buy one? We have a bunch in stock."
Ornstead then says "No need. But I'd like to buy the undergarments of my knights back as well as the medals they held." To this, Urk says with a smile "No problem. That'll be 12 gold coins, 52 silver coins and 3 bronze coins."
Ornstead asks while counting his coins "How did you calculate that? No, I'm asking stupid things. There is no way that a human could calculate their true worth in such a short time." Urk just says "I'm good with math, so I made a rough estimate and lowered it to the third of the actual prize."
Ornstead says I don't have bronze or silver coins on me. I'll give you 13 gold coins to be generous." Urk says "That'll do" as he takes the coins from Ornstead's hand. Then Urk gives the items from his inventory and says with a smile "Pleasure doing business with you."
The knights dress up their undergarments and are about to leave together with Ornstead, but Urk says "I have two questions before you leave Orny."
Ornstead says "Be quick, I'm a busy man." Then Urk says "In a hypothetical situation where the capital would be separated from the rest of the world outside the outer wall, how long do you think the population would survive on what they have at hand?" Ornstead thinks for a
moment and then says "It depends on the season, but my estimate is from three weeks to two months."
Urk then says "I see, I see. Before I ask you the second question, I need you to understand a few things about the cursed prison. One is that there are three runemasters, nine rune-experts and twenty two runeadepts. Two is that the cursed prison that I used is something that is accessible to runeadepts and up. Third is that I used the adept version in this game. And fourth is that the only issue that the cursed prison has is that its size dictates the required mana startup to activate it, otherwise it is mostly self-sustaining."
Ornstead is getting impatient and asks "What are you getting at?" To which Urk says "The second and last question I'd like to ask you is, if you count the non-human in Elysium's roster, how big do you think we can make the cursed prison?"
Ornstead immediately understood what Urk was implying, so he simply turned around and left together with his knights. Urk just shouted "If you want to come and buy something from us, we'll be here for three more days!" There was no response as expected.
Urk says "Now then, Marora." And Marora asked "What is it husband?" To which Urk asks "You could have stopped Ornstead's attack just fine, correct?" To which Marora answers "Yes."
Then Urk asks "Then why didn't you block it?" To which Marora says "I had a feeling that you wanted to show off to that guy, so I let him pass." Urk response by simply saying "I see."
Worried, Marora asks "Was I supposed to block it, husband?" To which Urk says "No, you were right on your hunch. I'm so glad to have such a good wife." Embarrassed, Marora looked away and said "I see."
Urk then continues "But your cooking could use some work, if I'm being honest." To which Marora looked a bit quilty.
Then Alona says "So you are saying that you don't think highly of the rest of your wives, I see." To which Urk tried to backtrack by saying "No no no. That's not what I was saying at all. I simply complimented one of my wives. That doesn't mean I don't love you and Lilji as much. Yes, if it weren't for you, then we would be vulnerable to magical attacks. Yes. Vulnerable to magical attacks. And as for Lilji…"
Lilji just says "I don't care. As long as you give me food, water, a roof on my head and sex when I want it, I'm all good." Urk says "Oh, don't be like that. I know that you want as much attention as Marora and Alona." Then Urk says under his breath "Heck, maybe even as much as those two combined."
Lilji says "I heard that. Don't forget that I'm on cooking duty today." Lilji was the best cook out of all four of them, so this was a devastating blow to Urk.
Meanwhile in Lud's office, the man himself is doing some paperwork. Until suddenly Maumar starts rising from the floor like a ghost and when Lud notices him, Lud freaks out for a moment and shouts "Who are you?! What are you doing here?! Guards!"
Then Maumar says "I'm sorry to surprise you. I was told that this type of entrance was appropriate for situations like these." Still a little freaked out "Who told you that that is an appropriate way to enter while looking the way you do?!" Realizing what he said, Lud backtracks and says "No wait, sorry. I shouldn't criticize how others look. My bad. But seriously though, that is not the way you enter a room."
Maumar then just says "So Izet lied to me." And Lud asks "Were they the person who told you you should enter that way?" To which Maumar answers "Yes. She is the… I shouldn't disclose it to you myself. You will learn in time who she is."
Lud asks "Who are you and what is your objective?" To which Maumar answers "As for now, you don't need to know who I am now. In fact, it may be better for you to not know who I am at this point, but in time you will now. It is an inevitable thing that will one day be revealed as you'll be taken to my domain of existence. You could argue that since it is going to happen someday, why not do it now, to which I say that don't rush things. But as for why I am here, that is a question I can give a clear answer to."
Lud says "I still want to know what to call you." To which Maumar thinks for a moment, and then says "Call me… papa." Lud is confused and says "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" And Maumar says without missing a beat "Call me papa."
Lud says "No, I won't call you papa." To which Maumar says "Why not? That is what I want you to call me." To which Lud says "I don't want to call you such an embarrassing name." To which Maumar says "It is important to me that you call me papa."
This whole time, Maumar's face remained unchanged. A constant dead look on his face.
Lud scratches his head for a moment and then says "Fi- Fine. So… Papa, what is it that you came here for?" Maumar pauses for a moment and then says "Nevermind, don't call me that. It doesn't have the kind of feeling I'm looking for. Perhaps daddy should suffice."
Without missing a beat, Lud said "No." Maumar thinks for another moment, until he realizes "Oh, you must think that daddy has the inclination that I would be the sexual partner that takes a form of a father role in a roleplay-ish way. My apologies. Then father should suffice, instead."
Lud says "Okay, father, what did you come here for?" After which, Maumar thinks for a moment, until he says "No… No, it just doesn't hit the way I want it to. I think now is the time to use the secret name that I was told to use when I come to this kind of situation. Yes. You can call me… Waluigi."
Lud stares at Maumar for a solid minute, until Maumar eventually asks "Is something wrong with the name?" To which Lud says "Waluigi? From the Super Mario franchise?" Maumar says "I was only told that it is a cool sounding name for where you come from."
Lud says "While there can be differing opinions, in general, that is not a cool sounding name." Then Maumar says "So Ortettia lied to me." Lud says "I'm sorry to hear that, but can't you come up with something?" To which Maumar says "Just call ma Marumaru if need be."
Lud asks "Can I just call you Maru for short?" To which Maumar says "I would feel very disappointed if you do so, but sure."
Lud leaves that thing aside and decides to ask "Then what is it that you came here for?" To which Maumar says "I came to apologize."
Confused, Lud asks "Apologize? For what?" To which Maumar answers "I cannot disclose that to you as the time isn't right. The only thing that you need to know is that there is a person who came to apologize to you for an unknown reason. Perhaps you can figure out the answer to what it is that I came here to apologize for, but for now, it shall remain hidden."
Lud says "But since I don't know what you came to apologize for, I cannot answer your apology appropriately." Maumar says that "That doesn't matter, as the act of apologizing doesn't require the other party to understand the reason for the apologizing to occur. But true, there is a missing piece that the one who apologizes wont get without the recipient knowing. But for my desire, the act of apologizing is enough for me."
Lud is confused, and to that Maumar says "If you'd like, I could erase the part of your memories that this unusual occurrence has given you. Would you like me to do that?" To which Lud says "No thanks. While it is weird, I think I should remember this encounter for some reason."
Maumar says "I see. Curious… Still, out of trillions of people, you and one other person are the only ones I can still give you my apology. Unfortunately, while you are the one who doesn't know the reason for it, the other refuses to hear it in its entirety, just waiting for the payment for their grief to finally be revealed. Allas, it is not yet the time for them to get what they want, so they'll have to grieve for a while longer still. I am… such a deplorable person… so envious… so stubborn."
Lud is just listening to Maumar speak, and then Maumar says "It seems that I'm rambling again. Apologies. I will take my leave. But before I leave, Lud Freigner, I'll give you one piece of the puzzle by making you ponder the next question. The question is "Is everything that I remember true? And if it is true, then why all this?""
Lud is confused and Liz enters the room. She is talking about a report before noticing a ghost-like man standing in her lord's office. She shouts "Who are you?!" As she attacks Maumar. The attack passes through Maumar like he was a ghost and Liz runs to Lud to protect him.
Liz says "Don't worry my lord. I'll keep you safe from this ghost." To this Maumar says "I'm thankful that you have such reliable people around you." After which he disappears like he was just deleted with no transition. Just *plop* and he was gone.
Li's little corner again.
Today I'll talk to you a little about what Urk and his group are. So if you aren't interested in the character detail, then feel free to go to the next chapter, or if there isn't one, just go do whatever makes you happy. Everyone needs to have happy times after all. *caugh* *caugh* I didn't have those for a very, very long time. *caugh* *caugh*
But if you are interested, here are the details.
In GFOO, there was an ethnicity of the human race that you could pick that was solely made for the game. Urk, Marora and Lilji are all from the ethnic race called runemen. One group of runemen were like those nomads from Mongolia who changed the place where they stay from time to time (don't get too fixated on the details, just google it if you are interested). The difference is that runemen's territory could be in very high altitudes or by the seashore. The area that the runemen stayed was about the size of modern day Mongolia. Marora was one of the nomad runemen. Marora worked as the guard for the nomads of her clan.
The second group of runemen were traveling merchants who could go by the nomad lifestyle from time to time, but they were different in a way that they could be classified as lone dogs that change their pack as the situation demanded it. This type of runemen could find a place to stay in some town and make it their permanent home, but as they made some of their profit by gathering precious items, they often would be seen doing jobs in adventurer's guilds. Urk was part of this group of runemen since runemaker was an expensive class that we'll get to in a moment.
Third group of runemen was more of a mercenary lifestyle. There isn't much else to say except that being mercenaries could lead runemen to do some dirty jobs from time to time. Lilji was from that group of runemen. She didn't have a bad childhood per say, but she learned many skills in her childhood.
Alona has some runemen ancestry, but she is strictly not runeman. The only reason why she is Urk's wife was mostly due to Urk needing a third wife in order to marry Lilji (we'll get to why this in a minute). As you could see in this chapter, there are "some" sparks between Alona and Urk, but don't stretch the facts too much. Their marriage is mostly due to ethnic reasons.
So, what is the class "runemaker" in GFOO? It is the type of mage class that often has a low mana pool but high stamina. To counteract the low mana pool, runemakers make their spells by making an inscription to an object they call "runes".
If the low mana pool wasn't an issue, then the costs of making runes was. This opted runemaker class being one of THE least played classes in GFOO. Most GFOO players that did play the runemaker class did for the high difficulty of it, the thrill that you could screw your resources and basically lock yourself in low level content for a good amount of time, and the roleplaying aspects of the class. It wasn't a bad class per say, but a high maintenance one that required you to basically have actual work to maintain the playstyle. Would you have enjoyed this?
Runemakers have a system where they have to reach a certain level on their skill to raise their runemaker-level. Runemaker-levels were from highest to lowest:
~Runelegend~
~Runemyth~
~Runemaster~
~Rune-expert~
~Runeadept~
~Runeaprentice~
~Runenovice~
There are no runemakers higher than runemaster in Elysium since those were mainly achievable to players only. However Urk, while himself being considered a genius, has currently one disciple that is genius of another level according to Urk himself. Her name is Ana Lettu and she has achieved rune-expert level even though she is in the middle of her puberty.
If Ms. Lettu would like to, Urk would take her in as a wife if she wished it to be so, but according to Urk himself "We both know that would simply hinder her dream of achieving runelegend level. Even though I only dreamed of getting to runemyth, her ambition was even higher than my own. That brat gets me inspired every time I see her. If she won't achieve runemyth level someday, then no NPC can."
Then to the point where Urk had a need to marry Alona if he wanted to marry Lilji. The gist is that you can never have a pair of two, meaning you can have 1,3,4,6,7,9 of something, but you can't have 2, 5 or 8. Mathematically it means an=an−2+(−1)n⋅1+(−1)n+1⋅2 (In an, n is lower positioned. In n⋅1 and n+1 is higher positioned) Some people may see why this practice exists in some runemakers if you think carefully about what Urk does in this chapter.
But what this means in practice is that if you have one of something and you want more, you have to have three but not two. If you want to eat an apple for example, after you eat one and want more, you must either not eat half of the second apple or you must commit to eating most of the third apple. And since you can't half less than half of the second of a person, that means you must commit to having a third person. Not all runemakers follow this philosophy.
And in case you are curious, here is all the numbers you can have between 0 and 100:
1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 37, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51, 52, 54, 55, 57, 58, 60, 61, 63, 64, 66, 67, 69, 70, 72, 73, 75, 76, 78, 79, 81, 82, 84, 85, 87, 88, 90, 91, 93, 94, 96, 97, 99, 100.
Last of all concerning this chapter, the money system goes roughly like this in Lutah:
1 bronze coin = $1
1 silver coin = $100
1 gold coin = $10 000
1 orichalcum coin = $1 000 000
1 platinum coin = $100 000 000
That concludes our little talk here. Next time, you might see what I'm up to in my vacation. But until then, see you later Mx. Reader.