Alex wakes up as a sharp light hits his eyes, realizing the sun is reflecting off his shiny new [Sealion's Might] ring, casting its glare right into his face.
"Hehe, interesting alarm clock," Alex mutters, kissing his new ring, completely forgetting its previous location, etched into the chest of a giant ice monster.
As Alex gets up, he notices that only Zidane is still sleeping. "Guess the protagonist always wakes up late, huh?" he chuckles to himself. "There's much to do and many important decisions to make. I better get my game on, hehe!" Making a bad reference to one of his favorite anime series, Alex pulls out his stack of Tetra Master cards while heading toward the village weapon store, run by a young shopkeeper named Eve. In the game, Garnet could befriend her later. "Even though it's only been a few days, I miss playing. Might as well take some cards off her hands, hehe."
Instead of heading directly to the store, Alex takes a short detour around the peaceful village of Dali, discreetly conjuring a few grenades and stashing them right away. There is a windmill turning lazily in the breeze, countless smaller homes, each housing a single family, and a medium-sized vegetable farm that seems just big enough to sustain the population. "Too small to export anything, though," Alex notes. The village has a few medium-sized buildings like a bar and some local facilities, as well as the mayor's large house. "I'll pay you a visit soon," Alex thinks gleefully.
Along the way, he only occasionally spots children playing and some older villagers tending to light tasks—working the farm or handling things inside the few village buildings. No working adults in sight. Alex knows the secret of the village: most of the adults are underground, working in a hidden facility that produces Black Mages using machines powered by mist energy.
As a child, Alex had loved Dali for its peaceful, serene atmosphere. But now, seeing it with adult eyes and knowledge, the village's dark underbelly disgusts him. "The village leaders and the working adults are sick war criminals," Alex thinks bitterly. Their greed led them to abandon the hard but honest life of farming, instead producing soulless weapons of war, machines that would go on to cause untold suffering and nearly destroy entire kingdoms. "Unforgivable," Alex concludes, his mind focusing on the village's mayor, who is hinted at being a corrupt, greedy, and unpleasant individual. In the game, this is never explored in depth, and worst of all, the mayor never faces any consequences for his crimes.
As Alex finishes his little stroll, he heads back to the weapon store, which stands just across the street from the inn. He is now secretly in possession of six deadly Annihilation Grenades, but his MP pool is completely drained. "Since I have 110 MP now and my MP regenerates relatively quickly, I was able to conjure six grenades, though my head hurts like hell," Alex thinks, satisfied. "This is so convenient. I should always remember to have a few of them ready. It doesn't matter who I face. If I bombard them with enough grenades, there's nothing I can't take down, as long as they hit their target and don't get dodged or deflected."
Alex enters the store and is immediately greeted by Eve, the young shopkeeper, who seems excited to finally have a customer.
"Welcome! Wow, are you a knight? Your armor looks so cool! You're like the dark prince from one of my favorite stories," she exclaims with bright eyes.
"Hello, young lady. I am indeed a proud Knight of Pluto, though I'm not a prince," Alex replies, smiling. "But it makes me happy that you think I look like one."
"Yeah, the prince in the story is the antagonist who starts a huge war, takes over the neighboring kingdom, kidnaps the princess, and gets defeated by the hero and the princess in the end."
"Wait... do I look like some war-hungry villain to you?" Alex can't help but ask, slightly concerned.
"Yes! You look exactly like that! You're really cool though! You look like you're secretly plotting a murder even right now. But you're beautiful and cool, so I forgive you," she replies, giggling.
Alex feels a chill run down his spine. "...Let's just drop that. I want to see what you're selling!" he says, trying to brush off the creepy accuracy of her comment. "She can't know what I have planned... right?" Alex thinks, feeling genuinely uneasy.
He starts browsing through the store, not expecting much after the disappointment of the Alexandria weapon shop that sold nothing but pathetic [Broadswords].
"The Fantasy Realm places real value on items and equipment," Alex thinks to himself. "You have to risk your life to get them, whether it's through quests, secrets, or the most common method: chests. There's no way the Fantasy Realm would allow players to buy a bunch of powerful weapons in a simple store. Good gear in these worlds can decide whether you live or die."
As he predicted, the shop's stock wasn't exactly awe-inspiring, but to his surprise, it wasn't a complete letdown either! Among the usual items, Alex spots a few green-quality weapons and armor mixed in with the lower-grade gear.
"Huh… didn't expect to find any green items in here," Alex thinks, suddenly more interested than before.
[Dagger]
World: Final Fantasy 9
Quality: White
Type: Dagger
Required Stats: AGI- 5, SNS - 3
Durability: 25/25
Damage: 8-8
Note: A simple dagger without any noticeable qualities.
Price: 3500 Gil - Limited to one per player inventory.
[Rod]
World: Final Fantasy 9
Quality: Light Green
Type: Rod
Required Stats: MNA - 3
Durability: 25/25
Damage: 3-4
Effect: Increases the effect of most healing & defensive spells by 5%.
Note: A simple Rod without any noticeable qualities. Slightly improves the effect of healing & defensive spells.
Price: 10000 Gil - Limited to one per player inventory.
[Mage Staff]
World: Final Fantasy 9
Quality: Light Green
Type: Staff
Required Stats: MNA - 3
Durability: 25/25
Damage: 2-3
Effect: Increases the effect of most damage & weakening spells by 5%
Note: A simple Staff without any noticeable qualities. Slightly improves the effect of offensive spells.
Price: 10000 Gil - Limited to one per player inventory.
[Silk Shirt]
World: Final Fantasy 9
Quality: Light Green
Type: Shirt
Durability: 15/15
Effect: Increases CHA by 1 (Flat boost, not increased by other skills) - Only works if no other chest armor or item is equipped.
Price: 8500 Gil - Limited to one per player inventory.
Alex also spots a variety of other white-quality items without special effects, such as the [Leather Hat], [Rubber Helm], and the iconic [Wrist], which triggers memories of the famous Cotton-Robe trick from the game. This crafting hack allowed players to combine a [Wrist] and a [Steepled Hat], costing 390 gil together, along with a 1000 gil crafting fee, to create a Cotton Robe that could be sold for 2000 gil, netting a profit of 610 gil out of thin air!
Seeing this collection of gear, Alex instantly regrets spending most of his gil on healing items back in Alexandria, many of which have barely been touched aside from a single [Potion] and one [Eye Drops]. He reflects on his behavior during the tutorial in Navalia, where the trauma of barely surviving the night pushed him to make a firm decision, never to hold back and always spend his currency when necessary. But now, that strategy seems to have backfired, leaving him without the funds to purchase valuable items that could be sold for a good sum in the Fantasy Realm.
Of course, Alex could sell those healing items, but he figures the profit margin won't be anywhere near as high as that of weapons or gear. This reveals a flaw in Alex's personality, he tends to swing too far to one extreme or the other. Back in Navalia, he had made the mistake of not buying anything at all and almost died because of it. In response, he overcompensated by going all-in on the purchase of healing items, opting for safety over strategy.
"When I buy a chocolate bar, I eat the whole thing. If I order a pizza, I immediately think about getting another one, instead of stopping halfway," Alex thinks, recognizing his lack of moderation. Even in the Fantasy Realm, Alex struggles to find a balanced approach. Instead of buying just a few healing items, he emptied his pockets and bought as much as he could, a decision that now seems excessive.
Despite his recklessness, Alex reassures himself that this time he made a safer choice, though it wasn't necessarily the best one. He had made up for it by defeating several monsters, but his funds are still low, only 4000 gil, leaving him unable to afford any of the basic light-green items in the shop.
At least Alex is learning, though. He's aware that he needs to work on acting with more balance in the future, and vows to be more mindful going forward.
"I could buy the dagger," he muses, thinking of the [Dagger] for sale. "Not for me, since I already have the [Barbed Dagger], which is superior, but I could sell it later in the Fantasy Realm for a decent profit. Let's decide later… for now…"
"I saw your note! You like to play cards? I'm a pretty famous player, almost as good as my best friend Jack, who has some fame in Alexandria," Alex says, pointing to the note where the shopkeeper Eve challenges people to a Tetra Master game.
"WOW! Are you the masked devil? I heard rumors about a scumbag wearing a mask who conned a bunch of players out of valuable cards and gil, and it was all orchestrated by Jack. The player was a friend of his who also wore a similar-looking mask."
"... I can't believe this. If this wasn't a child in front of me, I'd have to take her down to silence her at this point," Alex muses. "No, I know that guy, but it's not me," he blatantly lies.
"... I don't believe you, Mr. Knight! Lying is bad. I want to play you anyway! I'm a good player, the best in the village!"
A few minutes later, Alex's mood improves after he yanks the gray-quality Zaghnol card and four other low-quality cards out of her hand. Eve is nearly in tears after being totally wrecked by him, as he managed to win a "Perfect" game against her and is allowed to take her entire hand.
"You are the devil. Evil, evil masked devil! Your evil smile is a dead giveaway. You're so mean!"
"This shopkeeper is vastly different than the one in the game. This is weird!" Alex can't help but notice. "Her personality is way more vocal than in the game."
Alex smiles. "The world is a tough place. You'd better be grateful for some tough love…" He then remembers the cards, and it finally sinks in that he just wasted his time. He can only convert his ten most rare cards into FC at the end of the mission, and he already has one Light Purple and nine other rare cards, most of them Dark Green and Green. He even has a few Light Green cards that don't count toward the limit of ten. Winning gray cards from this brat was a waste of time. "Too bad I can't sell them in shops... I don't need this crap."
"You're so mean! I need cards to play against the others. The children of our village also love card games, and you just took five away from me, which would've allowed one more child to play."
Alex suddenly feels his necklace react to that and he tries tapping into it again. "I'm just kidding a bit, my young friend. I'm in a bit of financial trouble, but I would never take advantage of weaker players and ruin their fun by taking away their cards. A knight and pro player like me doesn't act that way! Take this."
He then removes his ten rarest cards from his stack and gives her the entire pile of cards: 47 in total, plus the five he just won from her. Mostly gray, but also quite a few white and a few rare Light Green cards.
Alex sees the usual blue flash, not particularly strong but also not weak.
Eve looks at the cards, shocked by Alex's generosity. "Wow, thank you, Sir Knight!" She then examines them closely, her eyes lighting up. "Some of these I haven't even seen before! There's even a Nymph card. She's so cute! I only heard rumors about her, and she looks beautiful in this card picture!"
"Hmmm, what could I give you in return?" she ponders.
Alex plays it cool. "No need for anything, really... I can't expect a small girl to give me something valuable," manipulating her by treating her like a child, even though she is the same age as Zidane and Garnet. "Give me something good you damn brat, NOW!" he thinks to himself.
"You're a knight! Your equipment looks good, but knights always need weapons, right? I've got this old sword we used when monsters roamed our village years ago. Nowadays, we don't need to fight ourselves because of all those puppets… ah, forget about that. Here, you can have it. It's a bit used, but still in decent condition."
[Iron Sword]
World: Final Fantasy 9
Quality: Light Green
Type: Sword
Required Stats: STR - 5, PHY - 5
Durability: 35/40
Damage: 16-16
Effect: Solid Strike – Increases the chance to break through an enemy's guard by 5%
Note: A reliable sword used by soldiers and civilians alike.
Alex smiles. "Thank you… I'm grateful."
Eve also smiles but is slightly distracted by her giant new card collection. "No problem, thanks for the cards."
"Looks like that was worth the trip. This sword is in very good condition. Thirty-five durability is more than most other green weapons, and the stats are great. It has more damage than the [Solid Marine Saber] and an effect that seems useful to break through enemies' guards. If they keep blocking with shields or weapons, sooner or later, this weapon will break through. I'm sure this sword will sell for a decent amount of FC. Definitely worth dumping my cards here instead of letting them waste away once the mission is over."
Alex heads out of the shop, his light and happy expression turning grim. "The fun and nice things are done. Now, I've sworn to throw away my weakness and fight for my survival... by any means necessary. Time to prove it." He moves toward the Mayor's house with dark conviction.