Chapter 6 - Tying up loose ends

"Sis, how is your game going? You've been playing for aver a month now haven't you? It would make it 4 in-game months. I sure hope you've at least passed the level 60... It would be shameful if you hadn't.

Personally, I'm a level 137 Knight of the Strategos Empire. Brilliant isn't it? I'm also a standing member of the great Requiem Familia. In fact, I'm the first in command if the Legion group. AND I'm well known for helping reversed the tide during the last monster subjugation quest, so you must have heard of me. I'm called Alistair."

"... I'm level 42. And before you ask, yes, I've been reading. I'm huuuh, a battle-mage" Alya had decided that Kifirin would be virtual stranger to Danny, and that he would only hear of Rin the battle-mage. Somehow she felt that keeping Danny in the dark about Kifirin and her many personas was the right thing to do.

"As expected of you... to be wasting your time in a library. Whatever. But battle-mage? What's that?"

"A class I earned the right to use after reading a book on it. It's a DPS caster that specializes in burst damage and area of effect spells. My primary role in a group will be damage dealing and crowd control."

"Huh. I'll ask my mates about battle-mages. If it turn out to be useful, then maybe we'll use you."

"Don't bother. I'm too low-leveled to be of any use, and battle-mages are not that different from normal mages. Sure, we can fight for real and use heavier equipment than our cousins, but our offensive power is not that great. Think about a jack of two trades" She was lying through her teeth. She hadn't expected the boy to take an interest in her and certainly didn't want to get roped into his useless guild. They would obviously try to power level her... battle-mages were rare. Awfully so. The book was Crystal-rank.

".... Boring"

"Indeed. So tell me, have you done the basic physical training? I heard it's great for stats"

"Nope. However, our leader Darius insist on us doing it. Pff... Ridiculous! Nobody ain't got time for this. The most important is the level. There are rumors of an event at lvl 300!"

"... It's the great 11 to 10th tribulation. If your race is basic-kind, then it's optional. If you're mixed-kind, then it's mandatory. Then you'll have the 10 to 9th tribulation at level 600, and on and on. It's called Grade-up. You seriously don't know of this?"

"You... you.... How do you know this? Is it for real? How did you get the information?" sputtered Danny. His sister was spouting very specific and UNHEARD-OF information with a bored face... as if it was matter of fact. Did she have contacts at Situm corp? Or was she talking out of her ass?

She tilted her head "I learned it in the library. You see the Game Knowledge folder in the information menu? Turns out that it's not going to be filled after an update. You fill it yourself by discovering the inner workings of the game.

I have several information sheets related to diverse subjects in said folder. Even the all-elusive continent MAP that everybody is frantically searching for. It's really interesting."

She was certain that by digging even more, she could one day get her hands on a WORLD map. Certainly, it would show her the emplacement of the immortal haven... wouldn't it?

"...."

"Yep, you see, reading is not as useless as you think. I'm sure there are mountains of secrets buried in books around the continents. Now, before you ask... Yes, I can share said information sheets. And.... no, I won't do it for free out the goodness of my blessed little heart.

Though... present a convincing case and I MAY give you the exclusive." She smirked. Nobody could force her to be at his beck and call in Situm plane. There, she was free.

Danny paled. He knew she had him. Their parents looked down on gaming, so there was no way they would interfere in his favor for this. "I... I'll talk about it with my mates. What kind of information are you ready to broker?"

"Well, you already know of 2 sheets. Hmm… there are 2 others you ought to be interested into. This makes it 4 sheets which are:

- A continental map and its detailed description. You want to know about the relationship between states? The areas under monster rule? Unexplored areas? It's all there;

- The tribulation system as well as basic information on the races and ranks;

- An interesting description of the religious war, the factions and the history of the feud;

- And finally? The death system explanation as well as the inner workings of the Ouroboros court... did you know you could avoid the experience penalties? There also are facts about the Spirit world.

The rest I'll keep to myself for now. And Danny? Don't think you'll be able to get the info in a question of moments by looking at a few books in the library. It took me most of my gameplay time to get this. Months upon months of non-stop READING" Her brother detested studying.

"I see. Ok. I'll contact Familia leader Darius as soon as I log-in and I'm sure we'll come to an understanding" The information was gold. She had so much to offer his guild... it would make them even more important because they would have the monopoly on the data. At least he hoped they would. Sneaking a peek at his sister, he saw her self-satisfied smile. Hopefully she wouldn't be too much of a shark.

"Contact my char in about 1 month. I'm a little busy right now"

--------xxx---------

Kifirin headed towards Deidre's flat after contacting Johannes to confirm the cook's availability.... who was now waiting for her. She had already gotten the cooking skill with guild points, but well, she did ask to be presented to a cook, so it would be impolite to just skip town.

After she rang the doorbell, she was greeted by a cute twelve years old kid who took a suspicious look at Johannes' badge before allowing her to enter.

"You're Kifirin?" She squinted, and did a suspicious once over of our heroine while walking around her. "Hmm interesting... really interesting. You're one of a kind aren't you? And your aura.... somehow it feels forced... and yet so familiar. Regardless, you're Jo's friend, so that already gave you enough cookies points for me to teach you."

"Huh? Cookie points?" Kifirin was at a loss. The girl was acting queer. And what's with the sizing up? How had she even felt the aura tampering? This was no mere cook.

Deidre curled her ponytail "Not so sharp are you? Or just startled? I tend to have this effect on people. Cookies points... hmm to make it short you're in my good graces. Now what's this about you learning cooking? Oh! I forgot. My name's Deidre, but I'll allow you to call me Dei. Great isn't it? Not many have that right, but you're intriguing so I'll be keeping you around" The girl looked expectantly at Kif. Her face was asking for praise at having done her a huge favor.

*There is more to this than meets the eye. I feel like I'd better not anger her. Let's play along.*

"Great! Nice to meet you Dei. If we're to be friendly, then you can call me Kif. As you know I came here to learn cooking. Johannes referred me to you. I already have the skill so I guess you'll be drilling me the basics. The thing is that I love messing around with ingredients, and the possibilities in this plane are just baffling. I love to try my hand at new recipes... and this world is full of ingredients unknown to my people!"

"Hmm.... a creative one. Alright. Delete the skill, cooking isn't suited for you"

"I'm sorry?"

"I said delete the skill. Cooking won't do."

"How so?"

"Geez do you question everything? I'm the teacher here you know? If you want to cook for the pleasure of discovery and creation, you need a naked canvas, which the general cooking skill is not. In fact it's rubbish because it's all predetermined. Copying a finished work is not art, it's forgery. Banal cooks are a joke, and an insult to me and my school. NOW delete the phony skill."

"Yes ma'am" This was a master. Kifirin knew her luck when it found her.

Or.... was it really luck?

...................

"So, do you get it? Cooking is not a skill nor a job, it's an art. Under my direction, you'll learn to handle textures, tastes, colors, elemental mana and moods as well as many other things. You'll create a symphony... and whether it is raucous, melodious, tender, slow, raw, pianissimo or WHATEVER will have to do with your sensibilities at the moment of creation.

The creation cook is a painter, instrumentalist, alchemist, tailor,... and any other craft that you may think of... ALL rolled into one. It is the height of creativity, because you can deal with the whole of CREATION. You can strip it to bring back the basics in order to recreate the NEW... and also may combine it to create another NEW. The NEW is yours to lord over. Your creature.

Yes, a creation cook is a person who perpetually question the domain of the known. Liquid is not always liquid. Sometimes, liquid is a solid, and then later it is earth. Do you get this or are you just nodding your head along in incomprehension? No don't answer it was rhetorical.

Food cannot be categorized, it simply IS. The basis are INGREDIENTS. If I give you a sword and ask you to cook me a feast then you better get to work. Understand the structure of the known, then forget it and rewrite it with your hands. How? Deconstruct then reconstruct as NEW. The creation cook is a god to his ingredients, to the NEW... they follow his ever-changing rules to BECOME.

Everything comes back to the will to destroy in order to create with one's own hands, to bend reality to one's will. Do you get it now? In the death of the old shall be birthed the NEW that will allow creation food to be made. The phoenix rises from the ashes of its previously dead body, and then form a new personality to go on with a new life.

Food is life, thus by cooking, we ultimately CHOOSE a direction for life to follow. What you eat stays with you... it MAKES you. Food feeds your organs, muscles, blood, bones, mussels... and your SOUL. And child? The soul is not to be messed with.

We are artists. Mad scientists. Destructors. Creators. Parents. Healers or Grimreapers. Guides. WE ARE CREATION COOKS!"

That was, by all means, a strange skill, but she decided to go along with it. "I think I get the principles. You destroy the old -what is- by stripping it to the basics and recombining it to create something else altogether, the NEW. Creation cooking gives you the ability to make of this NEW a novel element whose laws are decided by the unconscious of the cook. Then, by combining the different NEWs between themselves, or with regular ingredients, the cook create something unique that may never be remade, a something that will strongly influence the eater, be it for good or bad.

The influence of the food over the eater is determined by the laws of the NEW that are its ingredients, thus by the state of our unconscious at the moment of creation. It relates to the mood."

Ding!

System Notice: New skill! (SS rank)

[VAR](Chaotic blue) - Creation cooking

Your understanding of Deidre's teachings allows you to use her creation cooking to your heart's contents.

As I don't get even a single line of it (I'd tell you it’s complete and utter bullshit if I hadn't seen its results), I'll use your own words to describe the skill. Hell, it's like 1st generation Ancient Sumerian to me, but I still understand it better than what I had to spit out into HER skill description (Don't ever try to read it, you'll go insane... well... even more than you already are. But then again, maybe insanity is the way to go here. The old bat IS pretty deranged too. Unhinged. Raving mad. CERTIFIABLE!)

-Systra-

Click here to see skill description (yours!)

"Chaotic blue? .... Are we the only ones to have ever learned this skill? No way... you created it? What was this about a school then?" Kif also wondered about the 'old bat' comment. To be able to create an SS-rank skill, Dei had to have lived a long time, same as Davros.

Maybe she should introduce them? She betted they'd be fast friends... but then again maybe not. They were obviously absolute opposites.

".... Well I've had many students but you're my sole graduate. You see, they were all wrong... my teachings do NOT sucks. You got the skill in less than an hour. I'm a genius!" Deidre did the dance of victory.

*Well, now I can create some NEW by messing around with about everything and anything, which will allow me to create brand new dishes with unique buffs... or debuffs. The only bad point is that I won't be able to cook the exact same dish ever again. Or know what kind of effects I'm gonna get.... uh oh. Oh well, it's worth it, it'll force me to innovate. Though... gotta be careful of my mood when doing so. We don't want to be cursing people right and left. Do we? Sounds fun... eheheh*

Wacko dance finished, the kid (or old bat? who knew) resumed the talking: "Suck it Systra I WON the bet! I WON! haha! Now then girl show me your skill window. I need to see if Snarky out there didn't take her revenge by badmouthing me in the description. Open it."

"..... "

"Well? I'm waiting"

"Show creation cooking skill window to Deidre"*Here goes nothing. I hope she'll not find it too insulting. But her relationship with Systra is interesting. The simple fact that she has one is telltale of her status. For one? She's not mortal. Can't be. A mortal wouldn't be bickering with a God*

"... That Bitch. She really did it. I'll sooo be taking interest in the punishment game for that. Ya hear me princess? You'll regret talking out of-- No wait. You'll regret WRITING out of your ass. Here, done. Suck it Snarky-chaaaaan!" She laughed evilly, and then she cleared her throat before addressing Kifirin again "Hmm you have a Variant skill because your alignment is ... special. Chaotic blue. That's new. Could it be? Nah. No way. Well... Bye."

"Bye?"

"Yes, Bye. I gave you the skill, which is more than enough. You cannot be taught creation cooking's basics because it has NO basics. Right now I'm in a festive mood and would like to be left alone to gloat in peace. Soooo..... Bye. See you. And give me your contact info, I'll be calling you later. When I feel like it. IF I feel like it. Now shoo!"

The front door closed swiftly behind Kifirin. She had been effectively thrown out of the flat. Charming. As she set to leave the place, the door opened a little and Dei's face peeked out

"And don't you hurt my Johannes. She's a nice kid. You better stay in contact with her once you leave the city. You don't ditch friends like her. That's it"

The door closed yet again, but this time it was final.

*Whew. That was a character building experience. There are more crackpots under the sky that one would ever believe, aren't they? Haha... of course. And I would know, I'm one of them after all, though my case is more... let's say... subtle than Dei's*

..............

Johannes was surprised at seeing Kifirin enter her part of the coliseum. Wasn't she supposed to be with Deidei right now? She sure hoped her friend's strange quirks hadn't discouraged the brainiac. Maybe she should have warned her? 'Very nice and cute as a button' might have been stretching the truth a teeny weeny bit too much.

"Hullo again Jo! Dei taught me... a variant of the cooking skill. It's very interesting and totally mirrors her personality. However... I sure would have appreciated a bit of forewarning..." sweetly smiled Kif.

"Haha. I'm sure you would. But apparently you guys got along all right so it's all good. Twas fast though... a variant huh? Did she teach you THAT?" It gave her goose bumps. Maybe she should reconsider this friendship... one health-hazard was more than enough in her life. Last time she tasted Deidei's cooking... *No! No.... don't think about it. Nothing happened, you never got around to eat it. Yes, that's right, it never happened, and you are totally not suffering from PTSDs*

"You bet she did. She also asked me not to be a stranger, so I guess I'll be coming around to see you guys more or less regularly"

"Great! I'd love it. Maybe we could have a cookout one of these days... as long as neither of you creation cooks do the catering. I put a veto on the creation cooking. GOT IT? But damn... for you to get THAT. I don't know if condolences are in order or not. You'll have to find guinea pigs you know? And I'm not volunteering, I already gave enough to the cause as it is..."

"... Why do I feel there is a story here? Does it has to do with the fact that creation foods cannot be identified? Do you --" Johannes's death stare got Kifirin stopping in the middle of the sentence.

The trauma victim ignored the questions and went into instructor mode "By the way, is there anything I can do for you? You there for training? You do know that you have access to the underground level right?"

"Tch... smooth Jo, smooth. Oh well. To answer your question? Yes I know, and later I'll be going there to level-up my skills. They're lacking. Actually I just came here to see you and get a few of my orders from the merc guild. My new gear is custom made so it took a while... but I'll be sooo worth it. I'm looking forward to wearing IT.... that I am." Kif gave a cackling laugh.

*Oh Spirit! I don't know what the maniac has in mind, but I sense great suffering for those that antagonize her. EVIL is on the prowl*

"I... I see. Well then have fun, I guess? I'll be helping the new southern instructor to get a feel of the job, so I probably won't be there when you come out of the office. See you." She ran away tail between the legs

"Fun? Haha yes, It'll be fun alright. See you"

..............

Lucas was manning the office yet again when she-who-must-not-be-named entered his workplace. He stilled.

"Why hello Clerk-san. How is it going? Great I would take. It's been a while hasn't it? I have a few orders to retrieve, so would you be a cupcake and get them for me?" merrily teased him the Crystal-rank. Well... he had kinda asked for it with his previous condescending behavior so... it was fair. She hadn't reported him to the chief, so as far as he was concerned she was a saint. HE would not have been so nice had their roles been reversed.

"Yes ma'am. Give me a second, your order is in the back-shop." He disappeared behind a door, then came back hands full of packages "Here there are. So, as ordered all A-grade items: 1x black cloak, 1x royal blue velvet hooded mantle and robe, 1x battle mage complete gear, 2x rogue complete custom gears, and 1x custom newbie outfit" He did wonder about the A-rank newbie design gear, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

Mortal Items also came in grades, from F to SSS. The level platforms rising as we went up the ranks. The system made it so in order to keep a semblance of balance in the game.... for example, a level one couldn't equip a SSS item, and a mortal couldn't dream of ever using an immortal-rank Item. But Kifirin? All items restriction were lifted by her class, so she had nothing to worry about. All of her A-rank item had more or less a level restriction of 600

Here was the information sheet appearing in Kifirin's Game Knowledge folder on the subject.

It was monstrous... at level 42, Kifirin could equip lvl 1 000 SSS-rank items. Moreover... she had no rank nor grade, so hypothetically she could also use any item, be it immortal or divine. Well, it's not like she could get her hands on said items here on the mortal continent, but the potential was here.

As she had decided not to rely on equipment too much, she had been reasonable and 'only' bough rank A mortal gear. Thanks to her exceptionally numerous guild points she could have easily gotten her hands on SSS-rank.... so no, she hadn't been greedy, not really.

The specificity of ranked gear was that it gave no normal stat points. In fact, it only gave offense and defense, which suited her fine. She had obviously chosen items with special attributes and was all set for adventure.

Her ace in the hole was the 'newbie-gear'. Save for the color It looked like the one she was actually wearing, the one she had gotten at character creation.... but it was no mere dyed 'newbie-outfit'

Inconspicuous Spiky-heeled footwear

Rank: A +

Custom made for an interesting fellow by masters of their craft, these treacherous boots of black snakeskin hide heels made of sharp dakinum spikes

- Active offense: 100

- Bleed effect: 1 strike = 1% hp / sec for 5 sec [stacks up]

Twin Daggers of Darkness

Rank: A +

Custom made by a master elemental blacksmith, this very low key pair of daggers was forged out of pure darkness and then blessed by a dark priest walking the path of the forgotten.

- Active offense: 800 per blade (darkness corruption effect: 10% less or more dmg depending on alignment of cible)

- Stealth: +20%

Fake Dyed Newbie clothes (Black)

Rank: A ++

Custom made for an oddball by masters of their craft, this misleading and enchanted dakinum-woven armor is an extremely rare item that passively raise offense as well as defense. Reinforced with dark Wyvern scales, It also increase movement speed (less air friction).

- Passive offense: + 600 (Encht)

- Defense: +1 200

- Movement speed: +20%

The 'armor' was a real treasure because it gave off a passive offense. The 600 points were directly added to her status and would be included for each of her attacks, be it a slap, spell or dagger swipe. The boots and daggers however, only had an active offense, which meant that Kifirin would actually have to strike with them in order to add the points to her offense.

She also had gauntlets that ignored part of the defense and a very stealthy cloak, but they would raise flags if she used them with the newbie outfit. She was gonna play the cute little newbie in need of help, join the party of warm-hearted persons, and then slaughter them all.

But first? She had skill proficiencies to raise, so she went to the coliseum underground level, booked a magicproof room with golems and started grinding, keeping at it until they all reached at least intermediate 5 for those she could train. Obviously, she used the timey wimey, because when she came out half a month later (5TW years), she had reached her goals.

The skills has also given her stats points as well a special features, so here was her updated status window. She had also validated the distribution of level-up stat points, so the window displayed her true strength.

*I'm a monster. This is absolutely monstrous... and wonderful. Wonderful. The killing spree will be a walk in the park. Boring? No.... never, I'll make sure to entertain while I'm at it. It would be bad manners to take care of my dear 'guests' half-heartedly. Here I come, shifters.... fear me*

>>RIN<< from DARIUS - Hello Rin, I am your brother's Guildmaster/Familia Head. I was told to contact you at the end of the week, and here we are. From what I gathered, you have information to broker. Would you mind meeting me at the 5-claws tavern? I will be there the whole G-Day, so just come around whenever you're free.

Kif had forgotten about that. Obviously the other party hadn't, as she could tell from the PM. She wasn't after money... she didn't really need any thanks to her guild-points. No... she had set the event into motion in order to make a point. To do so, she needed her brother to be present at the meeting. He was the reason she had a point to make after all... The key-player.

> to DARIUS - All right, I'll be there in a jiffy. Please have my brother present for the meeting. Looking forward to it.

>>RIN<< from DARIUS - Done. See you soon.

.............

Darius, lvl 141 swordsman had been one of the few 100 beta testers. After the end of the tryout, his avatar's level had been reset, but not his skills and stats. How surprised had he been, when he felt that his strength at level 1 was on a whole another level than the first time.

That's when he understood the importance of stats. He then gathered most of the beta-testers and created a Familia: Requiem. He knew that they would stand at the top of the game. They understood how it worked.

He and the beta were the core of the Familia: they were the Prime. The other members such as Alistair (a real life friend) formed the Legion. To be part of the Prime you either had to be a beta-test or have completed at least one basic training. That's why he was interested in more than the information that Rin had to sell... she was obviously a mental basic trainee. It was even rarer than physical basic trainees. Who would want to spend months reading?

As a matter of fact, he saw every single basic trainee as a great resource. He would buy her Game knowledge sheets, and then woo her into joining the Primes. He was also interested in the all elusive Alistair's sister. Danny never talked about her, saying she was boring, and yet he followed her out of their parent's house. Fascinating indeed.

Quietly sipping his raspberry juice, he waited for Rin. Alistair has joined him a few moments ago and was already chatting up the waitress. Nothing unusual here.

..................

Rin had put on the battle-mage gear. They would see it as her having leveled up past level 100 as well as being comfortable money-wise. Ranked gear were costly... very much so. It would also make it clear that she was the one making them a favor by brokering her learnings with them. She wasn't in need of money and the outfit would make it clear.

As she entered the 5-claws tavern, she spotted her brother. Such a shameless flirt. She guessed the swordsman sharing his table was Darius. Letting out a tired sigh, she headed for their table. Her brother was a 3... and Darius a 6. Interesting.

"Hi. I'm Rin, the prodigal sister. Nice to meet you Darius. May I sit?" She ignored the flirt.

"Of course. Pleased to meet you too. Do you want to order a drink? I'm sure the waitress will be eager to please, your brother caught her hook, line and sinker."

"Alright, good idea. It also may allow us to get him back for a while. I'll take a raspberry juice"

"... Raspberry? Nice tastes" smiled Darius as he showed her his drink.

"Ah well... Great minds think alike" laughingly answered Rin. Darius ordered and the waitress left. They now had the attention of Alistair.

"Sis. Nice gear. You leveled up fast" Her brother was surprised. He had just finished his at level 140, and here a fresh lvl 100 had it all already.

"Indeed. Training helped a lot. Stats are important you know? Anyways let's proceed with the business. As you already know, I'm ready to offer you the exclusivity on Game Knowledge sheets. It concerns more or less basic information about the workings of the game. Data that nobody seems to have unlocked yet."

The boys nodded and the waitress came back with the drink. Being virtually ignored by everyone on the table, she sent a look of regret towards Alistair and left the area.

 "My brother previously told you what I was willing to share, so I won't go over it yet again and bore us all with needless talk. I also decided to put a few more sheets on the table, but first let me give you a freebie... no wait 2. it will give you a more precise idea of what I can offer you. Share Knowledge sheet #7 extracts : skills & race basics"

"As you can see, this should be common knowledge... but isn't. Not yet anyways. Or will it be? But Ali.... do you get it now when I tell you that level isn't the most important? Even at beginner level, you get more stats when levelling a skill than for a level. Do you guys ever look at your miscellaneous characteristics? Skills stat gains are written there you know"

................

Darius was shocked. This was gold. But... if it was shared then the game balance would shift, and the advantage that the Primes had over the rest of the shifters might shorten. Not that much because most people were lazy, but new powers would still be born. He had to get the exclusive on this. That's when he shivered. If she gave that kind of info as a freebie... what else did she have in stock?

He then peeked at Alistair. He was sputtering. Understandable... his world had just been turned upside down after all.

"The girl is right you know. I haven't been badgering you with basic training for nothing. To leave the legion and be recognized as a Prime of Requiem, you have to be a Basic trainee. Stats are the most important. Now I guess that I will also insist on skill proficiency" He turned to Rin. She was enjoying her drink. "What do you want for your knowledge sheets? I would also ask you for an exclusive right on some of them if I see it fit"

Rin drank her few last drop of raspberry juice and smiled "Exclusive? I guess that for one you'd like to have the exclusive on what I just shared, am I not right? It would be too bad if it did become common knowledge... wouldn't it? Especially the skills basics" She eyed his drink, and getting the hint, he handed it over to her. The girl sure had a sweet tooth.

"Yes. Name your price. You have 7 sheets to share right?"

"No-no-no. This was the 7th sheet. I have 5 others to share. A girl still has to have her secrets, doesn't she? I can give you THE continental map and its geopolitical description, The religious lore, The tribulations system, The Ouroboros court working and finally The Item's ranking system. I guess I could give you the exclusive on the Skills' gains and Items' ranking system for a set duration but it will cost you premium."

"... All right. The exclusive would last a year. That means that for 4 G-years, you wouldn't share the information with anybody. You ok with it?"

"I would like to keep the right to share it with friends of my choosing that would obviously be under same ban as me, less the sharing option"

"Deal but only for members of your Familia. Now for the price... what do you want? Information? Coins? Favors? Equipment?"

"Hmmm agreed. I ask for coins and the right to freely access your Familia's information network. Alistair mentioned something about you guys putting up a dark gaming website and level access ranks. I want total access.

".... That's... fair I guess. How many coins per sheet?" He wanted her to join Requiem, so this was a step in the right direction. Even if she refused to be part of his familia it would allow them to stay in regular contact through the information network.

"1 Dakinum per sheet. It would make it 5 Dakinums for everything. The information network access would cover the price of the exclusives"

".... 5 000 000 gold? Ok. Then total access to the website would only be for the duration of the exclusive. If you break it I lock you out"

"Deal"

"Deal"

".... I learned a lot. I also have a lot to ponder. By the way, what will you do with the information you didn't give us the exclusive on?"

"I'll keep it to myself for now. Maybe I'll share it later. Who knows?"

"I know it's probably useless because you seem to be the lone type, but do you want to join my Familia? I'd make you a Prime and it would kill the time-limit you have on the information network access. At least accept my friendship request" tried Darius

Rin refused to join his familia but accepted the friendship request. Yay! It was her first non NPC 'Friend'. As they made small talk they kind of forgot about her brother. He was stewing on something so they ignored him at first, and then he left their heads altogether. However, his come back to the forefront of their attention was lethal.

"This is sick Rin! How much did you read to get that much knowledge? How the fuck could you even get so much money and level up? I know a basic mental trainee... and he didn't get even one knowledge sheet. You bitch must have a secret. Tell me. I demand that you tell me or I'll make your life hell at home. Tell me! Tell me now!" Before the horrified Darius, Alistair was having a fit.

"I COMMAND YOU TO TELL ME! AND GIVE ME YOUR MONEY TOO! If you don't I'll make up something to tell the parents and they'll give you hell! TELL ME!"

The egoistical baby had finally snapped from jealousy. First, his sister had a super-rare class (yes, he had looked it up... and found nothing), then she got her hands on sensible information by fucking-useless-reading and made a killing when selling it. 5 million gold! A real fortune!

There was also the fact that she had managed to get her ranked gear at level 100. Yes, level 100, because the bookworm had also found time to level up... which was impossible unless she had a super rare skill or something.

But the cherry on the sundae? Darius wanted her in the familia. He wanted her as a Prime when he, Alistair, was only allowed to be a member of the legion. He felt that it was unforgivable.

"Oh? I knew it was coming. Do you really think you could make my life worse at home? Please, you're already behaving like the worst of the spoiled brat, so I think you'd find it hard to make my life hell... you're already doing it to the best of your abilities after all. Moreover? My capsule will have a log of you snapping right now, so don't think you can go cry to our parents with a bullshit reason. If you try, I'll destroy you. Do you understand? DESTROY YOU. So no more blackmail. No more treating me like a servant. NO MORE. NO MORE. NO MORE ANYTHING. I'LL DESTROY YOU. DIE" She giggled. She giggled? Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Rin felt cold. Exceedingly so. And yet she was boiling inside. Too much. It was too much. She had reached the breaking point. Her breathe was getting short and she could feel herself losing control over her body. The magma... the chaos.... it was taking over

Her eyes flashed red

Titriiiiiiing!

System Notice: /! Emergency Chaos Streak -Incomplete form >> Self-combustion (localised area) /!

****************

Somehow I can"t take care of the table problem with the boots, the first table of the 3 (be it the boots / newb gear / daggers) always ends up a fail.... but the coding should be good cuz when I move it down it works (doesn't seem to be the td thingy)...

Spent a while on it and just can't seem to find my mistake.

Last edit: Yay! figured it out! a (td) was in italics in the last table and somehow interfered with this one

By the way when i wrote G-day, I meant Game Day

G-day / G-hours --> situm plane hours (game)

R-dar / R-hour -> datum plane hours (real)

I'll probably be posting the map as a bigger picture later on.

Have a nice day