Chapter 17

The Spirit of Cooperation

"Wait a minute," Jay said, not wanting Bluth to begin writing the contract. He had to be more greedy, to try and get as much as possible out of this deal with Bluth. The more money Jay could save, the better; he knew that Spells from the Magician's Guild grew exponentially more expensive as their power and requirements went up. The most expensive Spells in the Beginner's Spellbook cost 10 gold coins each, and that was only from the Spells for beginners. How much would it cost to buy even stronger Spells later for when he needed even more powerful ones? "Bluth, how about I pay for everything today by us coming to an agreement?"

Pausing in his writing, Bluth looked up at Jay. "That could be done, but what would you be willing to do in exchange for not having to pay with money?"

“Let's come to that agreement after I've chosen the equipment I want.”

“Sure, we can do that,” Bluth said, waving his hand in the air, taking out a knife-handle with the length of his palm from his Inventory. “This is something you should also buy from me. It's a gatherer's knife. Here, I'll show you how it works.” The knife handle buzzed and a light blurry distortion in the air could be seen where the blade should be. “You infuse this handle with your Mana and it sends out a blade made of Mana with the ability to cut through anything, as long as it's motionless. It helps greatly when dismembering monsters for their crafting items. The only bad part about this knife is that this blade isn't possible to use as a weapon. If anything outside your control disturbs the Mana blade it instantly dissipates and you can't remake the blade for a minute. I tried it on a friend, and when the blade touched his body it instantly shattered and disappeared. Too bad really, but it's a useful tool in any case. This costs 20 silver, but it's really worth it for someone like you who hunts things. You really need to gather their materials. And since you're buying with a barter, it is really worth it for you. How about it, want to buy it too?”

Jay, once again, was stupefied. He couldn't decide if Bluth was helping or using him. “That should be fine Bluth. But really, you have to tell me, did you plan to rope me in like this from the first time we met?”

“Of course,” Bluth said, shrugging. It was obvious that Bluth was a calculating man.

Jay was glad he had met such a man. Their cooperation could be very beneficial. If he could get items from Bluth by bartering with things he brought from his hunts it would be easier to actually find some good equipment in the future. “From now on, if you find any really good items with Wisdom or Intelligence boosts, let me know. That should be part of our contract agreement too. That you should find me the equipment I need if I ask you to. How about adding that?”

“Sure,” Bluth said. “That's no problem at all. If we can help each other we'll both gain. That's good. Go check out what I found for you this time.”

Jay assented by going over to the part of the large table where lay a myriad of things. The first thing he looked at was a pair of bracelets made from a silvery material that sparkled slightly. Observe.

Minor Bracelet of Wisdom (Bracelet) (62g) Durability 10/10 The Bracelet of Wisdom helps circulates Mana throughout your body. It was made by the Beginner Jeweler Rayclaw. Increases Wisdom by 4 Requires 60 Wisdom to use

The two bracelets were exactly the same, and seemed like fairly good equipment for his Level. Jay was already feeling glad he decided to get as many new pieces of equipment as he could.

The next thing Jay looked at was a large dark red shirt made from a thin gauzy fabric. It had two thin silvery threads that formed a circle in the middle of the chest with a thicker silver thread going down both sleeves, ending in a ring around the wrists. Observe.

Lesser Novice Magician Shirt (Shirt) (285g) Durability 14/16 A shirt made from Grubbar Larvae's silk. Embroidered with silver thread to help stimulate the body's Mana. It was made by the Beginner Tailor Sunny. Increases Intelligence by 3 Increases Wisdom by 1 Requires 20 Wisdom to use Requires 30 Intelligence to use

The next thing he looked at was a thin piece of dark blue cloth with three square metal pieces a finger's width apart. It looked like a belt. Observe.

Lesser Novice Magician Headband (Headband) (48g) Durability 8/8 A piece of cotton cloth with three pieces of metal containing runes for focusing mental energy. It was made by the Beginner Tailor Sunny. Increases Intelligence by 2 Increases Wisdom by 2 Increases Perception by 4 Increases Willpower by 4 Requires 50 Wisdom to use Requires 40 Intelligence to use

Beside the headband was a large bundle of cloth. Jay took it and ruffled it through the air only to notice it was a large piece of clothing. It was a cloak from some rough dark gray material. The only thing that looked special about the cloak was that it had a thin band of fabric with flecks of shimmering silver at cuffs, hem and neck. At first Jay thought it was a Magician's Robe, but there were no arms, so it couldn't be called a cloak. Inside the cloak were two large pockets. Those pockets seem useful, he thought to himself. Observe.

Minor Rough-spun Magician's Cloak (Cloak) (3280g) Defense: 10 Durability 42/46 A cloak made from a thick durable cloth. It was enchanted by a Beginner Magician. Repels moisture. Increases Intelligence by 2 Increases Wisdom by 2 Increases Willpower by 4 Increases Physical Resistance by 2 Requires 20 Wisdom to use Requires 20 Intelligence to use Requires 10 Strength to use

Five out of five things were to his liking; things were looking good. Even if the Stat-boost wasn't large, it was still large enough to be significant when put together. Jay was looking forward to his gain in power.

He put down the cloak again and took the other piece of clothing left. A pair of pants made from a dark brown cloth. There was nothing remarkable about the pants at first, but when Jay looked closer he saw faint swirling circular patterns woven into the fabric. The swirls focused in on themselves in the middle of each thigh at a point slightly darker than the rest of the pants. The patterns were almost indiscernible though, as if they were not meant to be seen. Observe.

Lesser Druidic Pants (Pants) (930g) Defense: 4 Durability 25/26 Brown cotton cloth pants with a Silorn Flower infused into a magical pattern on each thigh. Increases Mana Regeneration by 1% Increases Willpower by 2 Increases Dexterity by 4 Requires 60 Wisdom to use Requires 25 Dexterity to use

Everything looked really good, he was even going to get a whole new look after wearing the clothing. He shifted his body, feeling the scratchy clothes he now wore. It felt good to finally going get out of his beggar-garb.

The last thing among the seven pieces of equipment Bluth had brought out for Jay was a necklace. It looked plain, but elegant. The necklace had a pale yellow orb the size a fingernail encased in a net of silvery metal strands, fastened to a thin black leather cord. Observe.

Minor Absorption Training Pendant (Necklace) (60g) Durability 6/6 A necklace with a focusing crystal intended for the training of a Magician's Mana control. The Skill 'Forceful Mana Regeneration' is available for use one hour per day. Increases Wisdom by 6 Increases Intelligence by 2 Increases Willpower by 6 Requires 80 Wisdom to use Requires 30 Intelligence to use

Oh, that's really nice. It gives a skill. Claudine, what does this 'Forceful Mana Regeneration' do?

I don't know, Claudine said. All you have to do is put it on and you'll know... you know?

Thanks, Jay thought. That wasn't obvious at all...

No problem, Claudine answered.

Jay wasn't really displeased by her answer, but wasn't Claudine supposed to help him? He couldn't understand his Guiding Spirit. It seemed like there was something wrong with it. “Hey Bluth, a question. Your Guiding Spirit, what is it like?”

“Huh? How would I know?” Bluth answered, a puzzled expression on his face. It was the first time Jay saw something that wasn't calculative on Bluth's face. “After about two weeks my Guiding Spirits stopped answering any of my questions and just seemed to disappear. I think all Guiding Spirits go away after a few weeks or so. At least a friend of mine told me that his Guiding Spirits stopped talking a week ago. Why do you ask?”

“Oh,” Jay said, slightly sad about hearing how Claudine would disappear. “It was nothing. It's just that my Guiding Spirit is acting a bit weird.”

Claudine, are you going to disappear? Jay thought, slightly hesitant to know either way. He didn't really know if he wanted her to disappear or remain. He couldn't decide what would be best, but he had to recognize the help Claudine had given him earlier. So, he didn't really want her to go away.

I don't know, Claudine said, her neutral voice not seeming to hold any emotion either way about the topic. I don't think so. There is no information regarding that in my memory.

That's good, Jay thought, tell me if you think you're disappearing, or something seems wrong.

Okay, Jay, Claudine said, not continuing the conversation and Jay was brought away from his thoughts as Bluth spoke.

“Yeah, my Guiding Spirit started acting weird before it disappeared too. Maybe it's the same for you,” Bluth said, not seeming to be interested in the subject. “It doesn't really matter, right? The Guiding Spirit was only barely useful at the beginning of the game anyway. So, why care about having it or not?”

Jay didn't know what to think about Bluth's disinterest in the Guiding Spirit. Claudine was almost something like a friend to Jay, and quite useful too since he didn't know many of the things others might take for granted.

“Well, to change the subject, have you decided which things you want?” asked Bluth.

“I want all of it,” Jay said, not feigning disinterest; he was going to buy everything by bartering with favors anyway, why care about trying to look nonchalant when was he already within Bluth's schemes. “And do you have any comfortable boots? I need a new pair. Bring out the best boots you have that doesn't need more than 30 Dexterity and 12 Strength to use.” Jay looked down at his feet, at what remained of his boots. They were scorched black and even more ragged and ripped than whole. It was a wonder they even held together.

“Sure, these should work,” Bluth brought out a pair of plain brown leather boots with a slightly darker brown sole. They seemed comfortable enough, and had no holes. Jay was satisfied with that, he didn't even care enough to look at them with Observe. He only needed a pair of usable boots, only because he didn't want to feel the ground beneath his bare feet.

“So, what do you want in exchange for all of this?” Jay asked, apprehensive again about what would be asked in return.

“Let's go with the same thing we said earlier. You automatically record your encounters with creatures with the Map-pad, come to me with anything you want to sell first, and if we both agree on the price, you sell to me. And you wanted to include me finding you suitable equipment. I can't see how that is needed, I am a Merchant. I live to barter and trade. But I'll include it. The contract will hold until you are what? Level 100? Fair enough?”

“Level 100?” Jay asked. “That seems a bit too far in the distant future. I'll work for you until Level 60. That is more fair.”

“Let's split the difference then and say Level 80. I won't go lower,” Bluth said. “It's not like you will not gain from this too, and you won't be forced to sell things to me. You only need to show whatever might be of value to me first and let me give an offer. How about it?”

“Fine, Level 80 it is,” Jay felt a bit hopeless about trying to gain an advantage on Bluth. “I can see why you choose being a Merchant. You're quite good at making deals with others. But I have to ask, wouldn't you miss out on the adventure of exploring this world if you're a Merchant? You can't go out hunting things or do Quests if you're a Merchant, right? I can't believe that you would be very strong as a non-combatant profession.”

“Level 80, good, that will generate quite a bit of information about creatures and give me lots of items to possibly buy,” Bluth said, beginning the process of writing the contract for their deal, but also continued talking. “I have a plan. And to elaborate I'll say this, do you know which Stat a Merchant needs to most of?”

“Hm, I couldn't say. Maybe Perception? To discern good deals and items,” Jay was wildly guessing, but believed Perception should be very valuable to anyone that needed to find out if something was worth any money or not.

“No, Perception is important, but the most important Stat is actually Strength,” Bluth said. “Strength gives everyone an increase in how much weight they can carry in their Inventory Space., but Merchants have a Skill that at least doubles the weight they can carry in comparison to others. If a Merchant can transport large quantities of things between cities and sell them at a profit he will gain Experience, so Strength is the most valuable Stat. And when I'm Level 256 I'll chose my second main Profession to be a warrior-type, I'll probably try and be a tank and loot-carrier. That way I can go do quests and adventure with a party of friends after I've stabilized my wealth. That way I'll have the best possible equipment. And I get to enjoy playing a Merchant while the game is in its early stages, which will be very fun.”

“A second main Profession?” Jay's face scrunched into a frown. He had not known that. If there was a chance to have more than one main Profession, would that change his approach to the game? No. He couldn't try out being something other than a combatant-Profession. He knew from the few hours he remembered when he was outside the game that he had to battle against a large number of competitors; so, being anything that couldn't fight was not an option.

“Yeah,” Bluth said, not noticing Jay's thoughtful expression. “At Level 256 you get to choose a second main Profession and you even get six more slots of Sub-Professions. I even read that after Level 256, Skills become the most important thing, because you won't gain as many Stat-points per Level as before. Though, I must tell you that this is only a rumor—a credibly rumor from a few known beta-testers—but it isn't entirely certain. I'm guessing that it's true though. Beast-people can have two main Professions from the start after all. So, why would Humans be limited to one?”

“Good to know,” Jay said. “Can I take these things now?”

“Sure, I'll trust you not to run away,” Bluth said, waving the hand that didn't scribble away at the lavish contract-paper. “If you try to run away without signing the contract I'll just beat you to death. If nothing else I can hit pretty hard with my almost 400 Strength. And you're not a high enough Level to run away from me.”

Jay laughed slightly at Bluth's bluntness. Jay rather liked Bluth. Even though Bluth had schemed to get Jay to depend on him, Jay still knew Bluth was honest in his own brusque way. “Thanks, Bluth. And congratulations, you roped me in quite nicely. But I'm gaining from this too, so I can't complain.”

Bluth chuckled as he wrote, not looking up, but Jay could see the slightest creasing at Bluth's eyes. It seemed like Bluth truly found it funny that Jay had been so willingly taken in by Bluth's minor schemes.

Pulling off his clothes, hoping Bluth didn't mind Jay standing in his underwear, Jay put on the equipment one by one, incrementally feeling a strange surge inside his body, as if it was changing.

The largest change came when he tied on the blue headband; the moment he did, the world seemed to grow slightly more clear. He looked at the table, the wood's grain was slightly more distinct. He looked at the far wall, it seemed to be a bit closer. Remembering that the headband increased Perception, Jay figured that was the reason. Perception seemed to be very useful; if his eye-sight grew better, had his other senses also increased their sensitivity? He closed his eyes and listened, but couldn't really hear any difference. Maybe it was most obvious with sight? He had to remember this and maybe try raising his Perception by a large amount in the future just to find out how much of a sensory difference his abrupt raising of Perception would give.

But right now was not the time for testing out how any Stats worked. With his plan, the thing he needed the most was Mana Regeneration, which meant increasing Wisdom. All his plan hinged on him using Mana Manipulation in a diverse and clever way and use materials to damage the Black Ooze. And that could only be done if he had enough Mana to complete his plan. The only thing he felt nervous about was if his Mana would hold out or not. He knew he could run away from the Black Ooze if he had to, but that would also mean giving up on killing it for the next ten or fifteen Levels, which would most likely mean someone else finding the Boss and killing it. So, all he could do was try killing it right now, and giving up on it if it failed. In reality, he was too low a Level to kill the Black Ooze in any conventional way, so he had to gamble on his ingenuity.

Putting on all the equipment, only keeping the belt with Healing Potions slung across his shoulder from his earlier equipment, Jay had just begun packing the flasks of oil and other necessities into his Inventory when Bluth stood up and spoke. “I'm done with the contract now. Read it through, then make your finger bleed and press it to one of the circles on the contract. That's the way you sign it. No need to do anything else.”

“Okay,” Jay said, reading through the contract, finding it exactly as they had agreed, then took out his small knife and slid it against his thumb until a trace of blood seeped out. He pressed it inside a circle at the bottom of the paper. The circle started glowing, radiating light out into the perimeter of the contract-paper. “Done?”

“Yep,” Bluth said, piercing his finger with a needle sticking out at the back of his golden pen. “Now I just have to put my bloody fingerprint on it too and we're done.” He pushed his finger on the paper and it shone again with a brilliant light, much brighter than before. Then the paper split in two. It looked like an identical contract-paper flew out of the paper beneath it. “Here's your copy.” Bluth handed one of the contracts to Jay. “We get one each. Don't lose it. The contract will still hold us to it if you lose it, but when the contract is completed we can combine the papers and turn the two pieces back into a usable contract-paper again, so it's best to keep it. They cost 10 silvers each. Best not to waste the contract-papers if we don't have to, right?”

“Sure,” Jay said. “I'll keep it safe.” Jay had packed all the things into his Inventory by now. All he had kept outside the inventory was the blade-less knife handle which could be used to disassemble creatures and the twenty meters of rope. He put the knife-handle inside one of the inner pockets of his cloak. “If there isn't anything else, I'll leave now Bluth. I need to be somewhere. See you later.”

“That's fine, thanks for the deal,” Bluth said, waving for Jay to leave. “Remember to tell me if you find anything to sell. I'll be waiting.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jay said, not looking back as he left the inner store-room, walking out the store and into the streets again. He was finally ready. It was time to go to the Magician's Guild again.

He looked up at the sky, seeing it growing dark. It was perfect. The first thing he had to do wasn't something he wanted anyone else to see. The dark of night would keep him fairly hidden, and the place where he was going wasn't really frequented much even during the day.

Walking toward the Magician's Guild Jay tried out the Magic Rope Spell and learned its uses. It moved quite slowly, and it was difficult to make the rope bend or turn quickly, but the Spell looked like it would be very useful. The Spell didn't drain much Mana either—only about 50 per minute—as he swished it around above his head, but the best thing was that he could manipulate the movements of the entire rope's length without having any sort of disruption at a certain distance. It was strange, he had thought he would be restricted in how far he could stretch out the rope with the Magic Rope Spell, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

Remembering back to one of his tests earlier, Jay pulled out a pin from his left inner cloak pocket and tossed it into the air. He had filled the pocket earlier with pins to use as ammunition with his Fling Shot. It was the best way to use the pocket. Easy access to hundreds of small pins wouldn't be bad.

Catching the pin with his Mana Manipulation he floated it out away from him, noticing that it didn't fall to the ground at the earlier seven meter mark. Now the pin floated out to more than double the distance before it fell down to the ground. For some reason it seemed like his Mana Manipulation's range had increased. Jay could only figure it had something to do with the increases he got from his equipment. But what had increased the range? He didn't know. Claudine, remind me to think about why my Mana Manipulation's range increased to more than double after I got my new equipment. Remind me in a week if I haven't thought about it before then, okay?

Okay, Jay, Claudine said.

After about an hour Jay had silently and secretly gone into the Magician's Guild, following the compound's wall until he found the hole leading down into the ventilation shaft he had earlier escaped from. He used Enduring Willpower, increasing his Strength, and pulled up the grate covering it, laying it back on the ground. The grate's hinges looked solid enough to hold his weight. He tied his thin rope to the grate and tossed the rope down into the hole.