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Chapter 5: Devil's Trade

Annoyed, Makoto tried to ignore the crowd of people that followed him together with the new stares of players and NPCs.

Alright in hindsight it might have not been the best idea to dive headfirst into a fountain but who didn’t want to do that at least once?

This was a game meant for enjoyment after all and the cold water had truly been bliss after running for half a day with a dried up throat and a red bar warning him about dehydration in the corner of his eye.

While pulling up his wet pants so his sword that was at his hip would not drag behind him on the floor, Makoto examined the various stands.

Many Merchants targeted one specific thing like potions, armor, weapons or general food.

It only took him a minute to find a stand with a wide variety of miscellaneous items on display.

Approaching the man sitting behind a makeshift counter Makoto started speaking.

"Good day sir, is it possible to sell monster drops and other loot here?"

The man smiled at his words and nodded.

"You have come to the right place boy, come, show Dio what you got and I will tell you how much It be worth."

Without hesitation Makoto opened his Inventory and dropped a good hundred or so rock crab shell pieces together with other random loot he had gotten from the Goblin Dungeon.

The Merchants eyes widened seeing the pile of junk before him.

"Well boy, I have to say I get enough of these damn crab shells, maybe not as many at the same time but they are useful in their own way true, and some of these bone and tooth necklaces could be enchanted so they would probably sell well...

Tell you what, I will take it all from you for 50 Copper coins, that sound good for you?"

Cheapskate...

Makoto knew that if he sold all of his loot at that price he would practically be robbing himself so the smile froze on his lips and a fake, shocked expression appeared on his face.

"Truth be told I had hoped for more... You must know good sir that I got these necklaces in a cave close to the Village of Salem where I saved many women and children that had fallen prey to the vile and disgusting Goblin Chief that ruled the area.

After painstakingly freeing them and not taking their money because I saved those poor souls out of the goodness of my heart you are telling me I only get 50 Copper for my troubles and finally reaching Talis?!

Oh how truly unlucky for me to only get 50 Copper for this big pile of loot. What true tragedy for my efforts to be mocked by the gods only giving me this worthless pile of over one hundred rock crab shells and many bone and tooth necklaces that can be enchanted for good stats!"

Makoto had spoken louder and louder attracting the attention of the surrounding players and NPC's, many of which after hearing his tale looked at Dio with contempt.

Sweating heavily and hushing him to be quiet Dio the merchant sighed and made a new offer.

"Well after hearing all the troubles you went through I can't help but feel with you, hardships can truly leave one penniless.

Alright, I will give you 1 Silver for all of this, what do you-"

"Oh what a great Tragedy to only get 1 Silver for fighting over a hundred rock crabs and cracking their incredibly hard defenses, I'm sure the villagers of Salem who see me as their hero after saving their women and children will have great interest in hearing the story of how I had no money left to repair my gear after only getting 1 Silver for all the hardship-"

"Ok fine! Fine! 1 Silver and 30 Copper, that is my last offer! Take it or go!"

The Merchant interrupted his incredible performance of showing crocodile tears and puppy eyes while faking the most miserable of faces.

Immediately a sinister smile formed on his lips, shocking Dio.

"Pleasure doing business with you!"

Makoto walked away, a pile of garbage lighter and over 1 Silver richer.

Another System message made him pause.

For your outstanding ability to detect a scam and turning the deal in your favor you are awarded with a unique skill!

Devil's Greed:Money makes the world go round so why not take more than you give?

NPC Merchants and Shop owners will feel an instinctive fear towards you.Skill Type:passiveSkill Level1 (0%)Skill Effect:+0.5% increased deals in your favor for both buying and selling.Additional Effect:Able to Bargain more effectively.

Makoto couldn’t help but smile after reading that last line.

This skill would be incredibly useful for big transactions that scaled into the thousands of gold, he would be able to reap extra profits and he didn’t even have to barter for any of that.

Well aware that any Merchant who got wind of the skill would probably take drastic measures to get it, he closed the window.

An impish smile creeped onto his face just thinking about the future.

.....

After visiting another shop to buy a water-skin and filling it from one of the many fountains, Makoto decided to buy more food and a few bandages for emergency healing, you never know.

Next on his agenda was a quick repair and after that he headed to a small shop wedged beneath one of the aqueducts running overhead through the whole city.

The sign showed a Hammer and a metal armor piece, it was obviously a shop for equipment which he dearly needed more of.

Inside, Makoto saw many different types of armors on display, most were made out of different metals but a few leather or cloth pieces could be found here and there.

Normally anyone would choose strong metal for protection, but those that had already reached level 10 could select a class, making certain types of armor more effective, even when considering the lower defense.

Steel Gauntlets:Sturdy metal was used in forging these Gauntlets, making it hard for rust or harm to befall this formidable piece of equipment.Defense:10Vitality:5Special Option:Durability of the item degrades 5% slower.Durability:35/35Requirements:Level 5

Asurian Knight Helmet:Crafted in the Image of the Royal Knights protecting the King of Asuria residing in Elisante. It shows devotion to the kingdom and at the same time a responsibility to protect it from all harm.Defense:15Vitality:10Special Option:+5 Honor (If stat is unlocked)Durability:40/40Requirements:Level 10, Must have a friendly relationship with the kingdom of Asuria.

Baneskin Leather Cuirass:Produced from the leather of a Baneskin, a foul creature living underground and preying on wandering adventurers or miners.

The skilled craftsman handling the leather was able to bring out a wondrous effect from it.Defense:12Vitality:5Special Option:Resistance to dark magic increases by 10%.Durability:35/35Requirements:Level 10

Looking at all of these lower level Armor pieces, most of them were either too expensive, above his current level or both.

Finally after nearly inspecting the whole shop Makoto found a pair of greaves that matched his level and price range.

Brass Greaves:Robust brass greaves with strips of hard and soft leather, used to adjust and fixate them to ones body.Defense:6Vitality:5Durability:25/25Requirements:Level 5

The Price was 70 Copper.

After looking at the number displayed on a piece of paper next to the greaves, Makoto went to the clerk in the back.

"I would like to buy the greaves on display with the number 162 please."

"If you just wait here for a moment please."

The woman behind the counter went to get said greaves, locked behind a case of glass.

After only a minute she handed him the surprisingly heavy equipment while another player to his right gave Makoto a sharp look.

Putting the greaves on right away while ignoring the look he was getting, Makoto tried to exit the store but a sudden group was blocking his way.

"You know, I was about to buy that nice pair you have on your legs there, how about you give it to me for 50 Copper and I will ignore the whole thing."

A guy at the front of the group said, it was the previous player that had given him the evil eye.

He was a good head taller than Makoto, had bleach blond hair and a supposedly warm smile on his face, only his dark-blue eyes told a different story.

Makoto knew a look of contempt from someone who thought he was better than everyone else when he saw one.

While also smiling he shook his head and the blond brat frowned.

"I'm sorry but they cost me 70 Copper and even if you gave me one Silver instead of trying to rip me off I would still not sell them, I grabbed them first.

Bad luck pretty boy."

Shoving a girl in the group wearing a purple dress aside, Makoto left an enraged party and a concerned clerk behind.

.....

The sun was starting to set when Makoto walked over the stone bridge connecting Talis to solid ground.

He wanted to be able to select a class as soon as possible so his next goal was to reach level 10.

Close to the beach was a few fields with new enemies that he had not encountered yet.

After approaching the one of them, he was finally able to see the letters before it noticed him.

Starved Wolf: lvl 7

With ribs clearly showing beneath its fur a blood curdling growl could be heard while yellow eyes looked at Makoto with rage and greed.

Instantly, before he even had time to properly ready his weapon the wolf was like a dark streak flying towards him, mouth open and ready to bite a big chunk out of his thigh.

Damn this thing is fast!

Evading barely to the right Makoto tried swinging his sword to slice into its side but before the motion was even complete there was no more wolf beneath his blade, instead a sharp pain jolted up his back and with a roar he punched away the teeth that had been latched into him.

You have received 36 Damage!

Pressing one hand on his back, Makoto decided to stay alert and keep the wolf in his line of sight at all times, he had to get used to its pattern first before he could start dealing actual damage to it.

One big problem was also its incredible speed, it was nearly too fast for him to react.

With another deep growl it bolted for him again, this time even more eager to sink its teeth into Makoto after tasting his blood.

Sweeping his blade in a low arc in front of him, he was able to diverge the wolf from its initial trajectory.

After slowly getting used to its speed, Makoto was able to ward off the attacks long enough to see a pattern.

Confident in being able to deal some good damage he waited patiently, Makoto didn’t have to wait long, in the end he wasn’t the one starving here after all.

Predicting the attack and performing another low sweep he guided the creature, and knowing it was finally close enough, he spun around and lashed out with his sword in another fast sweep.

Wide eyed and unable to stop himself, the blade hit the wolfs jaw, chopping the lower half of its mouth clean off and leaving a stunned beast, now unable to chomp its teeth into anything anymore.

Critical hit!

78 Damage dealt!

Makoto was surprised as well, this was the first time he had actually chopped off a body part.

Even when fighting the Goblins and knowing their pattern in his sleep, he was still only able to slice throats and never behead any of them.

A weird gurgling howl escaped the wolfs exposed throat, continues blood ran down its neck and with bloodshot eyes of hatred nearly exploding out of its sockets a new window appeared.

Enemy (Starved Wolf) has entered a frenzy!

Enemy unable to distinct between ally or foe!

Enemy Damage increased by 20%!

Enemy overall Defense and Resistance has dropped by 15%!

"A desperation move huh?"

Smiling he waved the wolf with his free hand to step closer.

Naturally the beast did not know what the gesture meant but at this rate it could not even remember its initial intention, only all consuming rage remained and without hesitation the wolf launched towards Makoto's position.

Without any worry he waited until the right moment, steadied his footing and with quick movement, his sword disappeared down the wolfs throat, piercing everything in its path and after getting a few continues messages declaring critical hit after hit the light faded from the monsters eyes.

Everything that was left behind was a pelt and a tooth, he pocketed both items and continued killing until he hit level 7 after which he distributed his points and checked his status window as well as Skills for the first time in a while.

Status WindowName:MakotoLevel:7Alignment:NeutralClass:NoneRace:HumanGender:MaleTitlesNoneHealth:320/320Mana:150/150Strength:38(+3)Agility:38Vitality:14(+7)Wisdom:10Intelligence:10Fame:5Evasiveness:6

Penetration:Even the strongest of defenses can be broken through with effort and tenacity.Skill Type:passiveSkill Level3 (21%)Skill Effect:+ 11% Armor Penetration

Devil's Greed:Money makes the world go round so why not take more than you give?

NPC Merchants and Shop owners will feel an instinctive fear towards youSkill Type:passiveSkill Level1 (15%)Skill Effect:+0.5% increased deals in your favor for both buying and selling.Additional Effect:Able to Bargain more effectively.

His health was finally in the 300's and even though his skill list only contained two Skills for now, they would be very powerful after increasing the level and most importantly, he got them completely free of any charge.

Normally even simple skills like Tanning or Sword-Fencing had to be either earned through various quests or paid for, most took the first option if possible because right now not many players could afford to pay 10 gold for one basic skill this early into the game...

Wiping off the blood from his blade, Makoto eyed the surrounding wolfs and a sudden instinct made them all perk up their ears and look at him.

The smile that he showed them could only be compared to one a mother would give her child, a loving smile that was happy the other was born.

Because if those wolfs did not exist, how else would he be able to gain so much experience and level up?

A big group of wolfs was growling at Makoto with fearful eyes, the smile those beasts could clearly see on this mans face was that of love but the air coming from him had an incredible killing intent.

Confused and backed into a corner nearly all of them went into a frenzy, just by being near Makoto they had lost the little reason they had left inside of them.

Attacking their brothers beside them, while sometimes a smiling Demon with love in his eyes appeared, a bloody battle royal took place on the fields not far from the stone bridge of Talis.

Howling sounds could be heard until deep at night and many guards patrolling the bridge were only able to see an occasional light, scattered in the distance, possibly from a swung sword.

Citizens of Talis called this event the 'Howling Moon' and it was told again and again as one of the mysteries surrounding The Marine city.

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Here is the Chapter for today, hope you enjoyed it, i sure did writing it :D finally more Gear!

As always I hope you guys comment any questions or opinons and cya tomorrow [th_101_.gif]