Chapter 13

To Bargain To Bargain

Fengil brought out the glowing ingot of metal from the Refining Furnace with a long handled tong and lay it on the stone floor. “Look at that. With this metal it will be possible to create a permanently poisoned weapon. I never knew this could be done. Thanks Jay, for showing and giving me these Mana Crystals.”

“No problem,” Jay said. “You helped me, so of course, I'll repay your kindness.”

“Good,” Fengil said. “Then you wouldn't mind selling the Mana Crystals you have, right?”

“What do you offer for one?”

“How about a silver coin each?”

“Too low. It seems to me that these Mana Crystals could be really great crafting items,” Jay said. “How about changing a few fire-rocks for a Mana Crystal?”

“Aw,” Fengil scratched his chin, “come on, those fire rocks cost me 2 silver a piece, and I had to buy a box of fifty for one gold coin to even be able to get them. The Mana Crystals aren't worth that much.”

“You just spent 2 silver for fuel to create that metal ingot,” Jay said, slightly startled at their price. “How are you not willing to trade some for the Mana Crystals if you can use them so easily as fuel?”

“I only use fire-rocks when I experiment with new things. They enhance the possibility of success when smelting. This poisonous iron ingot will become, at most, two smaller weapons. And if I can't sell them for at least 2 silver each, I won't make much of a profit. And if I have to spend 2 silver coins for each Mana Crystal I use to refine poisonous iron, then I wouldn't be able to have any real profit. It isn't good business to do that.”

“Fine,” Jay said. “I'll sell you five Mana Crystals for 4 fire-rocks, how about that?”

“No,” Fengil said, “I can't easily get more fire-rocks. If you want to buy them you need to go to a Dwarven Fort and become familiar with their blacksmiths. And you can only buy five boxes of fifty fire-rocks. After that, you need to present a Superior item that you've crafted to show your worth as a Blacksmith associated with their foundries. If you can't present one, you'll no longer be allowed to buy supplies from them, none whatsoever. Now, do you understand how valuable these fire-rocks are?”

“Sure, they're valuable, but so are the Mana Crystals,” Jay said, wanting to convince Fengil that the Mana Crystals were worth as much as possible. “How difficult would it be to create a Superior Item without Superior ingredients? Let's make a deal. How about I give you the first choice of any special Crafting Items I find before I get to level 40? And you trade me 4 fire-rocks for 6 Mana Crystals?”

Fengil hesitated. “I don't know. It costs almost a gold coin to use the World Vein Transfer if I need to go buy more fire-rocks. I really don't know if it's worth the cost.”

Jay seemed to have hit a nerve. He knew that what he said about Superior Crafting items should hook Fengil. “You know it's a good deal. I already found one Crafting Item you had not seen before, and I'm only level 14 now. It's likely I'll find more good items, and they will all be for you to pick from. Understand, though, this is only if you're able to pay for the Item. I can't go around giving away my stuff. You should know what I'm talking about, being a creator of things yourself. You do it to increase your amount of money. I hunt creatures to do the same. So, let's make this deal, it will benefit us both.”

“Fine... fine,” Fengil said, seeming slightly resigned at having been persuaded. Jay could only assume Fengil had a hard time letting go of the useful fire-rocks, but felt slightly delighted at the idea of having a source of Crafting Items in the future. “Here you go,” Fengil gave four fire-rocks to Jay.

“Thanks,” Jay took the small red rocks, feeling their heat go through his palm, and put them into an empty Inventory Space. Then he brought out six Mana Crystals. “Here. Show or tell me what you created from the poisonous iron later. It will be fun to see what you've created. I would suggest making either arrow heads or daggers. Both of those would be great with poison.” Jay backed away from Fengil until he reached the doorway, touching the frame. “I need to go now. I've got some things to do, but message me when you're done with whatever you're going to create.” Jay left the room, walking out of the Blacksmith's Guild.

“Thanks for the suggestions,” a message from Fengil sounded out in Jay's mind.

“No problem, talk to you later,” Jay sent back.

- - - - - - - -

Some time later, Jay stood outside the Herbalist's Guild's side building, where Hyren worked. He walked into the little stone building, and up to the counter, noticing that no one was here this time either. “Hey, Hyren, you there?” Jay yelled into the interior of the building, hoping Hyren was there.

He knew too little about the Mana Crystals. So, he had to learn about them. And Hyren was the person that Jay felt might know most about what these Mana Crystals were. “Hyren?!” Jay yelled again.

“Yes... yes... just a moment,” Hyren's muddled voice sounded from the somewhere beyond the door leading to the inner building.

Jay waited. Five minutes passed. “Hyren, I've got something interesting here. I need some help with identification. Come on, I know you're there.”

“Yes... yes...” Hyren's voice sounded again, but this time Jay heard that the second 'yes' was definitely closer. “Who are you? Why did you barge in here?” Hyren pushed open a door and with an unnatural lithe speed that belied his withered old face, then came up to the counter in front of Jay. “Never mind, it doesn't matter. Show me whatever you think is worth my time.”

“Here,” Jay brought out a Mana Crystal and gave it to Hyren. “This is a Mana Crystal I found. What can you tell me about it? How much is it worth?”

Hyren wrinkled his eyebrows, looking down on the Mana Crystal. A flash of light flew out of Hyren's eyes, touching the Mana Crystal. “Hm, this is a bit interesting. Created from the body of some sort of Slime, correct? But it's so weak, I can't see any really discernible power fluctuations inside it. Where did you get this? You shouldn't harvest the Crystal before the Slime reaches Level 24 if you want it to be better than average. But this is still somewhat valuable. I want it. Are you selling this? How many do you have? What's your price?”

Jay was taken aback by the torrent of questions. “I have a few. And might be willing to sell. Before that, though, I want to know what Mana Crystals can be used for. It seems they are quite useful and valuable.”

“Useful, yes. Valuable, Mana Crystals usually are, but not these. I can give you 3 silver coins each if you have more than a hundred to sell. I'll give you 2 silver coins and 50 copper coins for anything between 50 and 99 Mana Crystals. And 2 silver coins for any amount less than that. Do you want to sell some to me?”

“Let me think about it,” Jay said, stalling for time to think, jumping for joy in his head. He was rich, finally, he was rich. But he couldn't show his delight on his face and kept a calm expression, trying to show some disinterest in selling. “What are you going to use the Mana Crystals for?”

“I'll create some rudimentary Poison Resistance Potions.”

“That seems useful. How much are the Poison Resistance Potions?” Jay asked, knowing they would be very useful to him when he went to confront the Black Ooze again.

“Five silver coins each. They increase your Poison Resistance by 30 for ten minutes. Want to buy some?”

“Hm,” Jay wanted to buy some, but felt the price was a bit high. “How about trading some Mana Crystals for Poison Resistance Potions and money? I'll give you seventy Mana Crystals for ten Poison Resistance Potions and 140 silver coins. Should be a good enough deal for you, right? I assume the cost of making the Potions is less than what you sell them for.”

“Nah, too expensive,” Hyren said, already turning to walk away.

“Wait,” Jay said, not wanting to let this deal slip away. Hyren could sell him many useful potions, and Jay wanted to make a more lasting impression on Hyren. “How about 6 of those Poison Resistance Potions, 20 low grade Healing Potions and 120 silver. Those low grade Healing Potions aren't very expensive, and I wanted to buy some of those anyway. How about it?”

Hyren stopped moving, turned around and looked at Jay with those piercing eyes that seem to know more than Jay could even fathom. “Fine. I'll do you this favor. But first, tell me, who are you? Why do you know I was here?”

“Ehm,” Jay was startled, had Hyren really forgotten him? Was Hyren a real person or not? Jay was hesitant to ask, either way it would feel strange. “I was here some days ago and gave you a parcel from Bluth. We talked some. But I guess you don't remember. I'm Jay.”

“Ah,” Hyren said, seeming to remember. “Well, why didn't you say so in the first place? Bluth is a friend, he helps me find lots of useful things.”

“You're right, I should have opened with that,” Jay said. He felt hopeful that Hyren would remember him this time. Especially since Jay had sold Mana Crystals to him. “Here are my seventy Mana Crystals.” Jay spread out the small Mana Crystals on the counter, giving them to Hyren.

“Good,” Hyren said, taking the Crystals. “Wait here a while, I'll go get your things.” Hyren left the room through the door he had entered from earlier, leaving Jay feeling baffled. Had Hyren just taken his stuff without giving him anything in return?

Jay waited for Hyren to return, hoping he hadn't been robbed.

Five minutes passed. “Hyren?! Where are you? Come pay me for the Mana Crystals.”

Five more minutes passed. Desperation began filling Jay. Had he really been cheated by an NPC? What was this? “Hyren! Come back here with my Mana Crystals,” he yelled at the door.

Just as Jay had had enough and began thinking of infiltrating the inner building, the door behind the counter opened and Hyren walked out, bringing with him a tray with twelve stacks of ten bright silvery coins. Beside the coins lay two coiled ropes with ten thumb-sized round Healing Potion vials stuck to it by a loop of rope. Around each Healing Potion's neck the rope had a knot which seemed like it would be unravelled easily if you pulled at the Potion flask. Hyren had actually prepared a belt to hang the Potions from.

“Here you are,” Hyren said, beaming at Jay with a smile that made Hyren's face more wrinkles than face. “It took some time, but I made the first six Poison Resistance Potions, and have them in a cooling vat inside my Inventory. Just wait a moment, and I'll give them to you too.”

“Oh, that's good.” Jay's relief flashed through his entire body. He had not been cheated. It would have been too cruel of the world to do that to him. He had finally gotten rich, and it would hurt too much if he had actually been robbed by Hyren. Jay knew that Hyren wasn't someone Jay could fight even if he was taken advantage of. Hyren had almost taken a third of Jay's Health with a simple poke to the stomach, and Jay didn't have any illusions about being able to fight Hyren if Jay was cheated. It was something that made him coldly sweat; he could have been cheated without any recourse of reclaiming his Mana Crystals. How had he not thought of that before?

He felt lucky that he hadn't shown the ring to Hyren yet. Jay had wanted to see if Hyren could identify the ring, but now he felt a bit less certain of who he could show the ring to. What if someone wanted it after he pulled it out. It was obviously not an ordinary ring, and he didn't have the power to resist if someone much higher Level than him wanted to steal the ring from him. At best, that would leave him without the ring, at worst, he would die because he owned something someone else wanted even if they had to steal it from him. An unanticipated problem had surfaced.

“How long before I'll get those Poison Resistance Potions?” Jay asked.

“They're done now,” Hyren said, reaching out into empty space and then a deep blue crystal tub with a slowly moving clear liquid inside was brought onto the counter. In the tub was six elongated glass vials with a cork of some grey material. Inside the vials was a darkly green liquid. “Here's the Poison Resistance Potions. After using one, you cannot use another within thirty minutes or else you'll poison yourself. You need to remember that.”

“Huh... Shouldn't that be something you tell customers before they actually buy your Potions?” Jay asked, picking up the coins and draping the rope with Healing Potions around his shoulder. Jay put the coins inside his Inventory Space and was finally relieved; his prospects had now greatly improved.

“Oh... I forgot,” Hyren said. “Well, it doesn't matter.”

It wasn't good that he couldn't chug the Potions and keep his Poison Resistance up during his fight with the Black Ooze. Now he had to figure out when the best timing to use the Poison Resistance Potion was, but the Potions were still very useful, and Jay didn't have any real complaints, even after knowing he could only use one every thirty minutes.

“I guess not,” Jay said, disgruntled. “Thanks for the Potions and money Hyren. I need to go and do some other stuff now. I'll be back later if I get some more Mana Crystals or other items I think you might want. See you later.” Jay turned around, walking out of the small building, not looking back at Hyren. Jay felt slightly aggrieved every time he spoke to Hyren, but it was worth it; Hyren was the only person Jay knew who sold Potions at low prices.

- - - - - - - -

“Hey, Bluth,” Jay said as soon as he entered Bluth's General Store. “I'm here to buy some supplies.”

“Hello, Jay, I'm glad to see you're back,” Bluth said, smiling. He stood behind the wooden counter, at leisure, as usual. “What do you need this time?”

“I have quite the list this time. I hope you have everything I need,” Jay said, smiling back. “And I hope you'll give me a discount on account of me buying so much this time.”

“Well see about that,” Bluth said, smiling even broader, his eyes twinkling with the amusement of a seasoned merchant meeting a novice. “I'm sure you'll be pleased with the price we agree to.”

“Great,” Jay said, but felt a slight hint of something uncomfortable in the pit of his stomach, like the feeling he imagined he would get if he was being stared at by some large dangerous creature. “You've treated me well for as long as I can remember, so I'm sure you're right. I need the following. A twenty meter rope, thick enough to hold my weight, with a metal hook at its end. Thirty torches. Fifteen litres of lamp oil. Forty empty ceramic or glass bottles which can hold at least 0.3 litres and at most 0.5 litres of liquid. An empty barrel that can hold at least 5 litres, but no more than 7. Twenty meter of cloth rags as wide as my hand. Ten boxes of match-sticks. Travelling Biscuits for 2 silver coins. A sturdy backpack. A belt with between six and ten leather pouches which can hold the ceramic bottles. Can you sell that to me? And what do you want for those things?”

“Sure, no problem,” Bluth said. “I have all those things, or at least I can get them within an hour. Should I assume you want the lamp oil in the glass bottles and empty barrel? It will be an extra fee for filling those, but you won't need to pay for something to hold the fifteen litres of lamp oil, so you'll still pay about the same amount. How about twelve silver coins for the lot?”

“Come on Bluth, you can do better than that,” Jay said, feeling out Bluth, trying to get a better price. “None of those things are really that expensive.”

“Fine,” Bluth said, “How about I give you some more things I think you might like?”

“Such as?” Jay was intrigued, he wouldn't say no to something that could improve his survival rate.

Bluth brought out a pair of dark grey pants with segmented chitin plates on it, its hardened outer surface had overlapping plates at the feet, knees and hip. “I'll include these pants in the deal. From the looks of it, you could need some new pants to cover up. You do know you're walking around with almost completely tattered pants, right? You look ridiculous. Be glad you didn't encounter the City Guard, they would have fined you for indecent exposure.”

“Huh?” Jay said, involuntarily, looking down on his legs, only now noticing the burnt remains of his former pants. They were truly ruined beyond all salvation. The pants barely hung together with small threads and patches of burnt cloth. “How did I not notice that?” he said mostly to himself.

“How would I know?” Bluth said. “But you need new pants. It's not a good idea to walk around without your pants. In this game your body is completely the same as it would be in the real world. And though the game is only accessible for those over 18 years old, it still is possible to get into trouble by doing indecent things at the wrong place and time. You shouldn't forget that.”

“Hey? You're a player?” Jay was shocked. He had always been sure Bluth was an NPC; it was actually the only person he had interacted with regularly that Jay had been almost certain was an NPC.

“Ha ha ha,” Bluth laughed loudly. “You thought I was an NPC? Ha ha ha...” Bluth held his stomach, bending over the counter, wheezing in laughter.

“But...” Jay said, trying to reconcile with the fact that Bluth was actually a real person. “But you gave me a Quest. Can players do that? Of course they can, you did. But how?”

“All players can give Quests to other players, but only for up to 1000 Experience Points, and those Experience Points are taken from the players that gives the Quest, so it isn't used frequently.”

“Why did you give me a Quest then?” Jay said, puzzled.

“I did it because you seemed to need some help,” Bluth said, honestly. “I also thought it might benefit me to help you. It's never bad to have more customers.”

“Wow...” Jay was speechless. “How is it that you own a store? What is your Profession? Your Level? Hey, add me as a friend.” Add Friend 'Bluth', Jay thought right after saying that. And as soon as he thought it, Bluth was added to the Friend List.

“Sure,” Bluth still laughed heartily. “I'm a Merchant. Level 66. But back to business, all of those things, plus these pants. And just for the laughs, I'll include this jacket too. It isn't very good, but to you it will be better than what you have.” Bluth brought out a scuffed brown leather jacket with metal studs all across the chest.

“Nice, thank you very much. Tell me when you have the stuff ready for me. I'll go buy some Spells while I wait,” Jay said.

“Oh? What Spells?” Bluth asked.

“Don't know yet,” Jay said. “Just thought I'd go through the Spells I might be able to use from the Magician's Guild and then choose one or two.”

“That might be good,” Bluth said. “But I think you should check out the Spells and Skills at the Beginner's Guild. They have a lot of useful Spells and Skills for a very cheap price. You should really get Magic Rope, Haste, Detect Trap, Detect Danger, Nightsight, Scope Sight and Null Presence. Those are very useful Spells and Skills. They aren't really great at first, but when you use them at the right moment, they are priceless. I've been able to hide from monsters on more than one occasion because I have a high Skill Level in Null Presence. It's also good that you're not over Level 20 yet, because the prices for Spells and Skills rise tenfold after that.”

“Thanks for the info. I need to check that out,” Jay said, now changing his mind on where to go next. He needed to go to the Beginner's Guild and look what they had to offer. “I'll go have a look at that now then. See you later.”

“Sure, just take these pants and put them on while you wait. I'll tell you when I've got all the stuff you need,” Bluth said.

Taking the pants, Jay put them on and walked out of Bluth's General Store, feeling good about his plans for killing the Black Ooze and hopeful that he would get some good improvements in his lacking Spell and Skill department.

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