It's been almost a month since I released this story. To celebrate, I've decided to offer some bonus chapters! All you have to do is invest as many power stones as possible this week. At the end of the week, based on the story's current all-time ranking, I will release a certain number of bonus chapters:
Top 50: 1 extra chapter
Top 30: 2 extra chapters
Top 15: 3 extra chapters
Top 5: 4 extra chapters
Top 1: 5 extra chapters
The ranking period runs from today, Sunday, 06/30, to Sunday, 07/07. I will check the ranking about 2 hours before it resets and use that as the final result. Like currently voted by my Patr0ns (Poll still ongoing), all bonus chapters will be released at once on the same day the ranking ends (07/07/2024) along with my regular chapter. (Timezone: CEST)
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In the end, they came to a few different agreements. While he wouldn't have many short-term benefits from it, Harry would gain a few mid-term and a lot of long-term advantages.
While he would sponsor the head start of different occupations early, he would receive a part of the monetary profit based on how much he could sponsor, but most importantly, he would gain one crafted item from every 10 floors, starting with Floor 10.
The most important occupation for him was blacksmithing, which Lisbeth decided would become her part. After all, according to the information, the ore he was producing for free with his Inferi was good enough to last beyond Floor 20, according to Argo's estimates. After that, her best guess was that they would need Fantasy Ores.
For the other occupations, the limited resources that he had access to by not being in a more advanced and connected world were only enough for them to start early. Maybe till Floors 5–10.
He will also sell the more advanced weapons and armor he has right now to them on store credit. They would pay him back as soon as they could.
"Now we will just need to find a safe place where we can set up a store for you, Lisbeth." Argo muttered as they worked their deal out.
"I believe I've just gained a solution for that too." Harry muttered as he was focusing on the notification he had just received.
[ 'Interdimensional Trader' has leveled up to Level 4. ]
[ Interdimensional Trader (Active/Passive) Lv. 4: A Skill Received Through the Essence of the Interdimensional Trader, Allowing the User to Turn a building in his possession into an Interdimensional Store, Connecting It to the Multiverse.
Sub-Skills:
Create Store (Active): Creates a dimensional store in an owned building (1/1).
Appraise (active): The ability to appraise objects for their value and relevant trading information.
Close / Open Store (Active): The ability to lock and open the door.
Create Temporary Door (Active): This creates a temporary door at your location that you can return to from your store. Once you create another one, the old one will be replaced. (Cast Time: 10 Minutes)
Add Room (Active): The ability to add new rooms to your store It needs to be attached to your main store room. (0/1)
This skill gets leveled through sales. More expensive sales grant more experience. ]
"I'm able to expand the store and add new rooms to it. At least one for now. Like I already mentioned, I have a game system like yours, and one of my skills is this store. And it just leveled up as we finished the deal." Harry explained quickly, "So, Lisbeth, if you want, I will be able to make a room for you to work in. If you want, we can add a sleeping corner, but it will need to be part of the same room since you can't leave the store."
"That's great!" Lisbeth said, excited, before adding with a blush, "I would like that. What do you want for rent?"
"If it's fine for you, I would like you to produce some common steel weapons and armor with material I provide you in exchange. Of course, once your level is high enough, the ability to do something in less than a minute through a skill is just too broken. Sooner or later, I will have to equip an army for my territory, and such high-grade equipment would give them a massive advantage." Harry explained, as he thought of something else.
"Yes, I am fine with that!" Lisbeth nodded eagerly. "You are already doing so much for us."
"Okay, now that we are through with that, we should head out, Lisbeth." Argo said he was a bit rushed now.
"Eh, where to?" Lisbeth asked, confused.
"We should get a headstart and rush to the next town. You will need to level up to fulfill the stat requirements to unlock and level the skills. But the resources we can get around the Town of Beginnings will soon be depleted. With more players present, it will be harder for us to level up. And the majority will remain around the town." Argo explained seriously, as she had been too distracted by the store.
"Hmm, let's form a party and level together! There is something I just thought I wanted to try out." Harry said, "I'm almost ready, just a moment."
Suddenly the door and a red-headed girl burst in as she was chased by something: "Oye, tell your lizard to stop chasing me." Shouted Ygritte, irritated.
"Hello, Ygritte. Her name is Tiamat, and I told her she should get you." He recently expanded the tunnel system below his future castle, connecting it with the ground level. He even moved some people to it, so he always had someone ready to send out for errands, among them the red-haired Wildling Girl, angry Cherry, and, eh, Ygritte.
Why Ygritte?
Was it so strange that he preferred to be surrounded by beautiful girls?
He was a lord! And a 16-year-old boy who had a mental illness that, for some reason, didn't work on his puberty.
"Good that you are here. These are Lisbeth and Argo, some new allies." He said, pointing at the two girls staring at Ygritte and Tiamat, "The angry cherry here is Ygritte. One of my people. And this little troublemaker is my beloved partner and dragon, Tiamat!"
"You have a dragon?" Argo asked as she watched Tiamat, who had landed on his shoulder.
"Yep, the best one." Harry said as he scratched Tiamat below her chin.
'Remember that, little humans!' Tiamat added.
"Good, the mental link works while inside the store." Harry nodded before realizing that they didn't know what he was talking about. "Tiamat can only communicate through a form of mental magic. We just confirmed that it works with you outside of Aincrad."
"What's Aincrad? And who are they? Southron Ladies?" Ygritte asked as she watched the two girls with suspicion.
"Aincrad is the world from which they come. Let's just say a different land where we will be going to try something out! They are two people trapped in that world and can die if a monster kills them." Harry said, as he had no idea how to explain the concept of a different world to Ygritte.
"If something kills you, then you will die? Isn't that like normal?" Ygritte asked, confused.
"Yes, but this world was supposed to be a dream for them where they don't die. But an evil sorcerer trapped them inside. And that world is filled with monsters." Harry sighed before turning to Argo and asking, "Can you please open the door for us?"
As soon as Harry stepped out of the store, his name and SAO level once again appeared above his head. The same happened to Ygritte and Tiamat.
Ygritte, Lv. 14
Tiamat, Lv. 5
"What's that?" Ygritte asked, confused, as she watched the names floating above them.
"Your name and a number representing your strength." Harry replied.
"I can't read that."
"Yeah, it's in English. The essence I gave you only taught you the Westerosi common tongue, which is coincidentally like English but written differently." Harry sighed. "Try to swing your right hand downwards while extending your middle and index fingers."
Ygritte performed the motion, "Is there something supposed to happen?"
"Hmm, I had hoped you would be recognized by SAO's system as a player. This is a world where you can get stronger by killing other things." He explained, "Stronger than a normal human."
'I hoped to exploit this chance by leveling up some of my people. They are far more accustomed to the threat of death than these players from a modern world. But it can't be helped if it doesn't work. It's not like I can give them my compatibility mode...' Suddenly he had an inspiration: "Invite Ygritte and Tiamat to my party."
[ Ygritte has joined your Party. ] [ Tiamat has joined your Party. ]
"Now try again." Harry said it eagerly.
"Oh, it works. I can read it now." The red-headed wildling said, as she tested out the different options on the menu that had appeared in her vision.
"Nice, but still too bad." He sighed. "I had hoped I could use it to train more people at once. What's the Max Size of a SAO Party?"
"Six People." Argo answered, as she understood what he had tried.
"And I need to be with them. Yeah, this is no good." Harry sighed. "Let's focus on leveling, since it doesn't seem that you can hear Tiamat either. Her magic seems to be also suppressed by the World Rules. Invite Argo and Lisbeth to party."
'You can still hear me fine.' The night-blue dragoness complained. 'It's because of our special bond.' "ID: Create Inferi." Harry said as the skill activated like normal and the world around them changed a bit.
They were still in the alley, but the atmosphere was different. On one end appeared a shape.
Inferius, Lv. 4
"I will see if you get experience by killing it. Try to use your bows." Harry said as he stood between them and the Inferius.
All three girls pulled out their bows and began attacking it with them, while Harry easily kept it at a distance.
"It works. We are getting experience, Cor. They even dropped something. Eww, Inferius Flesh." Lisbeth said it with disgust on her face.
"Wait, they are dropping something?" Harry wondered.
"Yeah, look into the party inventory."
It turns out they had a shared party inventory where all drops were gathered.
And unlike his own system, the SAO system was recognizing these Inferi as monsters and generating items for them.
"This is perfect. I can create instances up to level 40. Unfortunately, this is the highest skill I have, because this skill is only able to create instances with creatures that I have encountered in some form that are instinctively recognized by me as monsters." Harry explained, "Hopefully Aincrad will give me higher-level ones. Because leveling with my own system has become very slow."
"So you can create instances with us, and we will never run out of saved experiences?" Argo asked.
"Yep, how does the experience distribution work in SAO?" Harry asked.
"It's based on the damage dealt and tanked." Argo replied.
"Okay, I will keep them busy and tank while you attack them." Harry nodded. "Let's go; it's time for power-leveling."
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