The next reward was the selection of items. Given the state he was in, footwear was a priority (he wasn't comfortable wearing sandals everywhere; they were uncomfortable to fight in, they moved and slipped, it was probably better to go barefoot even), so he chose boots as my first item.
During his fights, he had seen the danger that a cut on the hands could pose, since losing the weapon in the fight was a sign of death, so he chose leather gloves reinforced with metal studs. They weren't the best, or the most comfortable in the world, but they would take some getting used to. In the arena and in the cave he had also found that repeated use of those rough weapons ended up giving him blisters on his delicate hands.
He was so focused on this whole process that Ikky didn't notice what was going on around him.
Surprisingly, a voice other than Data's rang out in the blue room:
"Well, well, well, it seems it's my turn now, so since I'm in a hurry, I'll introduce myself and tell you my rules so we don't waste time. I know you're a cheater and so am I, so let's be good friends between professionals and not cheat each other. I am The Merchant of Dreams; you will have nothing from me that you can't take with you when this dream is over, and I only want those things from your dream that you don't really want, or don't need on the other side..."
Ikky almost fell on his ass in fright.
The voice belonged to a humanoid of unknown race; it couldn't be more than five feet tall, and although the general build of its face was very similar to that of humans, it had protuberances on its eyebrows, and an abnormally sharp, angular jaw. There was also not a hint of hair anywhere on its body. If I had to describe what his clothes looked like, I would say that they were a practical mix of a wizard's robe, with a period jacket and various belts and ribbons with bags tied all around. He had no weapons, at least not in sight, which relaxed Ikky, but he wouldn't have dared to say that he looked like a defenseless being; he simply exerted an aura of superiority over Ikky, as if he were the owner of the fish tank, and he simply swam because he allowed me to.
"How did you get in here?"
"I'm the merchant of dreams, I've already told you, why wouldn't I enter your dream? Are you going to keep wasting my time or do you prefer to go straight to the business at hand?"
"As you wish..." Ikky looked at that first non-player character with some suspicion, normally the character of the sellers in the first phases of any game were quite flat, it was a useless effort to define too much this type of characters that the players would not meet again in the game. However, that personality, tone, and mannerisms were all that of a real jerk.
"But let's evaluate what you have right now. Weapons, equipment, and gems, they're not bad at all, not many have made it here with all that. For a pioneer who needs "Data's" help to survive, you're doing pretty well, kid. Here's my offer, see what you think, give me your gold and coins now and you can choose a common skill and for every gem you give me, one of your equipment or weapons can come out of the dream world. Give me the rest of the junk equipment you don't want and I'll tell you why you can trade it in."
The deal was actually oddly advantageous. What were the coins for if he wouldn't have them at the end of the tutorial? And the gems... wait, Ikky was supposed to have an affinity for gems, wouldn't it be stupid to give them away? And the equipment? If you stopped to think about it, it seemed like there was a trick or a deception in all that easy and convenient talk.
"Although the coins are of no use to me, they are the prize and loot for my effort, so for a common skill, I won't give them to you, and as for the gems, I'm sorry but I think I have a use for them, so forget it, as for the rest of the things, tell me what you offer me for my hand axe, two knives and two daggers, my broken spear, the iron hammer, the small leather boots, the sandals, the metal-tipped boots, the long jacket, the short cloak, 2 backpacks, the short cloak, the horned helmet and the buckler. I don't want to get rid of the rest.
"Human, are you sure you don't want to part with the coins or the gems? For the former, I can even offer you a combat skill. For the gems, I can allow all the items you tell me to come out of sleep. For the rest of the equipment, I can offer you a common skill."
The guy liked to haggle over what he saw, though he kept that enigmatic smile on that eyebrow-less, hairless face that was almost like that of a strange doll.
"For all the coins, except one gold, one silver, and one bronze, I won't accept less than one special ability, and for the gems, I accept your deal as long as I keep one of the three. As for the items, I want two common abilities."
The being laughed, that human was no idiot and at least he hadn't treated him like he was a nuisance to be disposed of soon in order to continue with the tests. The guy shook his hands as he said almost in a whisper between his teeth.
"Damn scammer, I accept the price for the coins, but for the two gems, you won't be able to choose more than five items. As for the two common abilities for scrap, the truth is that they aren't worth that much, keep it if you value it so much. At most I can make you a counteroffer; I'll just give you a common skill for scrap, but when you finish the next stage, you'll be able to see me again."
Although Ikky felt that they were somehow scamming him by agreeing to the coin deal so easily, he had no choice but to accept, he couldn't go back on his word now. The special skill he chose was parallel thinking, and the common skill was lightning reflexes. As for the items that could stay with him, he decided to keep the spear, longsword, shield, axe, and the new boots.
Ikky didn't even know what awaited him in the next part of the tutorial but he didn't want to go into that fantasy world naked, unarmed, and especially barefoot. The guy turned around and waved goodbye while mumbling to him again.
"We'll see each other at the end of the next stage. Enjoy your walk through the world of dreams!"
Just as he arrived, he left unexpectedly, opening the walls of the blue room as if they were a curtain of fog.
I couldn't say that the content of the tutorial was surprising; the creatures, the coliseum, the dungeon, everything was a collection of well-crafted clichés. But it was really different to play from the outside, than to feel that same world surrounding you. There is one thing that video games don't convey: the smell, the stench of blood, death, guts, were smells that stayed engraved in the mind and never faded. And about the first NPC he met, wow, it was the best AI construction he had ever seen. If it weren't for Data, it would be difficult to know if this was a game or reality.
"Do you wish to begin the third phase of the sanctuary?"
"Let's begin the third phase."