"I'm not going to tell you any of this because I love or like you; it's just cordiality between colleagues. If I have to put up with you in the future working on this, it's better not to start off on the wrong foot..." Their justifications, They made him even more suspicious than usual.
"I'm sure your first intention in the negotiation was to keep some of the objects, am I wrong?" I nodded. "However, you forget the rewards you will receive for completing the tutorial... 1 item for a D classification, 2 for a C, 3 for a B, 4 for an A, and 5 for an S." You don't know that, but I do, because if it weren't for Data I would have to be in charge of granting them... In short, if I had continued, I would have exchanged value for value, and there would have been five wasted objects...
I walked over to the piles of items and picked up the two-handed sword, my spear, the bow, the gem, and the shield, and set them aside...
I changed the backpack for the hood, and took the opportunity to store things in it. The next exchange was the armor, the belt and the cape. I managed to convince him to exchange for the water scepter... it would be difficult for me to contact the people of the depths at the moment...
Despite his reluctance, I kept the gloves because, from what Ildra had told me, there were dwarf cities on the continent where we would arrive... it would be a good letter of introduction to return them to him along with the shield. I added my ring of regeneration, the drow's sword and dagger, and the dwarf's handaxe, and swapped them for the tunic and knives...
By the time the equivalent exchange ended, I still had good things left to exchange...
I therefore had the morning star, the whip and the swords as valuable objects, the crown as the royal treasure, and the book... It wasn't much, but I wanted to see what the next step was Irtrum...
"Bravo... as you may already be guessing, the next trick would be to offer you skills for these objects, but the point is that the rewards will already be granted to you, and the rest, with your own ability, will not take long to get hold of them... so What could I offer you in exchange? "The fact that he kept smiling at me as if I were stupid made me nervous...
"Something to trade in Athair?" I answered.
"Exactly, that is the key to the business for you. Remember that the races that are already in Athair have no obligation to protect you, care for you, or teach you anything; when you arrive, you will be alone... also the race you will replace is not famous because it is especially welcoming... that is what silicon-based life forms have... So what you will need most will be food... and the only thing they need now that they are about to transcend, are crystals. …"
What followed was another boring exposition about Athair, and its monsters... I couldn't help but yawn internally at so much data... One thing is that I had a little access to the game's background, and the other was an oversaturation of the lore and of data...
Unlike what happened with the monsters in the tutorial, the living beings in Athair had a crystal inside that condensed their energy and could be collected when they died. These crystals were essential for the different races to evolve their physiques based on their states. Natural to the different Tiers, just as it happened with Ildra's evolved body, which was beyond any natural capacity I had ever known. For a race about to transcend, neither objects nor gold, nor anything else would be useful to trade with them except crystals; it was the same for other less advanced races, a kind of common currency...
The greater the power of the monster, the greater the quality of the crystal, and therefore the greater its value...
Considering that I had a real treasure, a book that I was very interested in and several valuable items, Irtrum offered me three mythical-grade crystals and, as a common currency of exchange, 120 high-grade crystals, 200 medium-grade crystals, and 1100 common crystals ...
Despite my suspicions that Irtrum was being scamming me, or Master Irtrum, as it seemed that he had taken a liking to me calling him, he assured me that no, that with that fortune I could guarantee the food and lives of the 2000 players, not only mine for months...
Old Dream Rider looked at me solemnly as we finished our business...
"Let me give some advice to my first disciple...."Shit, he hadn't had any other disciples before." Beyond your taste in women, don't let the rest of the races know that you are an omnimagic until you are powerful enough to protect yourself... many have ended up enslaved in dungeons as if they were just breeding stallions..." A shiver ran down my spine when I remembered Ildra...
"Master, can I ask you a favor? Could I see you again before taking the ship to the world of Athair? I think I will have an offer that might interest you..." I asked him…
"It's not usual, but there shouldn't be a problem, although remember that the offer must be good; I don't like to waste my time…"
He became translucent, and then disappeared as if in a wisp of smoke like Ildra...
I was alone in the statue room; the feeling of having closed a stage was tangible... Data's voice echoed in my head...
"Congratulations to the player for completing this phase of the tutorial. Do you wish to finish and join the rest of the players at this time?"
I remembered the advice the teacher had given me to meet the statue of the goddess first...
"I'm going to continue for a while."
I approached the statue of the goddess, and although I was not an atheist, although I did not know the creed of this goddess, I was able to say a prayer to her, thanking her for having watched over me during all the tutorial tests...
A light began to radiate from the statue... what until a moment ago was motionless marble began to reduce in size and come to life...
Dazzling, beautiful, attractive, definitely with a human appearance, her hair with all the colors of the rainbow gathered in a flirtatious bun that left her shoulders and neck exposed with white skin... The tunic clung to her contours. It was an overwhelming sight for any man... her dignity, that halo of divinity that she emanated...
I was really mesmerized until the first words came out of his mouth...
"So what about the dirty, slut, blackmailer, thief, freeloader, slob, *****,*****,*****,*****,******, and Ugly Elf? Is that something serious, or are you still single and without commitment?" She would be a goddess, but she had a language and a vocabulary worse than the most slum women I had ever known... and I had a problem again...
"It wasn't planned; it just... happened... I didn't know..." I began to excuse myself as if I were facing my ex-girlfriend...
"You didn't know; you were flirting with me from the beginning, meditating next to me; you even asked for a date..." What the hell was she talking about...?
"Date, I don't...rec...?" She didn't let me continue talking; her finger was piercing my chest accusingly...
"Don't deny it now... otherwise you would choose to be recognized by the gods, but to talk to me... do you know more gods perhaps... that was a date, damn adulterous, if I already saw it coming... what about Cheater was not because you were cheaters on games but because you deceive all the women who fall into your hands..." The goddess was out; if she kept giving me her finger, she would make a hole in my chest... so I did what everything man would have done in my situation...
I hugged her tightly and kissed her while I told her... "don't worry if I've done something wrong, I'll make it up to you..."
Hours later, we were asleep on the floor, and she was curled up against my chest like a kitten... I was afraid of disturbing her... it had been different... divine... although it took a while for her to calm down, especially without strengthening spells... .but I did the best I could...
When she woke up, I was already putting on my armor...
"Promise me again that you will visit my shrines and pray to me from time to time…" Shit, not only did I have to fight against an experienced mercenary Elf, but I added to my personal anguish a groupie obsessed with me…
"I promise you, stay calm... I will visit you and pray to you often..." I answered without thinking...
"How are you going to pray for me if you haven't even asked me my name? You're the type of man who treats women like trash... you pick them up and forget them... I'm too old to be fooled by guys like you…" The tantrum was starting again, so I untied my armor again and went to offer her the comfort she needed… This seemed like it would be a long one…
The goddess of magic was called Vania... in addition to comforting her, I also became interested in her story, or so I pretended. In this way, little by little, her continuous attacks calmed down... She was just a poor girl who felt alone... The goddesses also suffer, have shortcomings and feel alone...
It took longer than I expected, but when Vania could trust me, she proceeded to give me the rewards for my performance at the sanctuary. They were much more than I expected. By the time we finished and said goodbye, I was no longer the same rookie as I was a few minutes ago. Before...
"Data, now we are finally done with the tutorial."