Chapter 5:

Jay looked down into his dig site, which he now called his Crystal Cellar. It was nowhere near finished, but the walls were much more reinforced now that he had actual lumber to work with.

He was looking specifically at his territory jewel. It was ‘crystal’ clear, and emitted a soft white glow.

Jay whisted, “Damn, never expected the thing to be so big. It’s like 4 of me wide and 1 and a half of me tall.”

Jay turned back to his tent, he couldn’t do more without some lumber and a break. Both of those required time.

“Though I suppose that would be more informative if I knew how tall and wide I was…” It was when Jay was lamenting his inattention to detail that it happened. A torrent of flame shot out of Jay’s chest and formed the portal not 5 paces in front of him.

Jay was nothing if not adaptable, so he strolled forward calmy, already forming a sarcastic comment for his alternate self.

Which made the fist crashing into his face all the more jarring. “...goddamn motherfucking, ‘I’ll just sell my wholeass motherfucking barony in the middle of a world-wide crisis, no problem!’”

The clearly distressed Jay stared at his fist, which had already started dissolving into ethereal flame.

He naturally adopted a small cocky grin, “Sorry about that, I really wanted to punch my past self for having that idea..”

He then burst out in hysterical laughter until the blue fire only left behind alternate Jay’s belongings.

Main Jay wasn’t having nearly as good of a time, having a injured jaw and magic killer headache didn’t tickle even Jay’s funny bone.

Eventually though, “Ugh… why do I have to be such a bitch.”

Reluctantly, Jay gathered his new stuff and went to his tent.

Even though Alt-Jay hadn’t told much of a story, his worldly possessions did.

There was the white fabric garb custom to the Old Sea Wastes, the desert north the Northsand Barony.

There were the piss-poor rations, a beggar’s meal compared to the simple grain and dried fruit Jay has been surviving on.

Even a wanted poster from the ‘Stansa Holy Order Inquisitors’. There was no such Order to Jay’s knowledge, and he should know, he’s a Stansa Baron, after all.

Jay put the pieces together, “I sold the land to some buyer, and all hell broke loose. These ‘Inquisitors’ must have targeted anyone even remotely suspicious.”

Jay looked at the ornate looking sword sheath/handle, and the tightly bound backpack like bundle.

Jay undid the bundle, “Nice.”

A half dozen identical fist-sized gem-sized gemstones fell out.

Jay did what he does. “System Scan! Description!”

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Rose Stem Gemstone

Mana Gemstone (Nature)

(Rare)

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Description:

A gemstone mined under land with a high concentration of nature mana.

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Jay’s thoughts of the gem were simple, “Fuck Yeah!”

Jay’s thoughts on how to use the gem were not,”...Hmm. These are too expensive for me to sell regularly on the Stansa Kingdom Marketplace, and those who buy from the Inter-Kingdom Marketplace would know how to find even a greater territory crystal.”

Jay thought of it for a while longer, and simply thought to buy a good grinder at some point in the process of ‘duping’ the gems.

He laughed to himself, “I might get less than half the value from it, but there are thousands of magic types willing to fork coins over for mana crystal dust.”

Jay was forcing himself to focus on the practical things, because he knew the moment he even thought about the sword he’d jump at it like a dog with a bone.

His voice was shaky, “N-note to self. Investigate slavers seriously, bring the sword and gems back. Other information about barony would help as well.”

Jay shivered with excitement as he continued. “Knowledge a-about the future might be bunk, but the same c-can’t be said about knowledge concerning past and present ha-happingings.”

Jay pressed the button.

He then physically tackled the sword, rolling around on the ground with it before holding it up to use his signature skills.

“System Scan! Description!”

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Dwarven Forge-Steel Sword

Shortsword

(Rare)

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Description:

A shortsword forged by Dwarven masters. Is the highest ranked unenchanted sword traded by the Dwarfs.

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Jay would have jumped for joy if he wasn’t already rolling around for joy.

But he didn’t have to lower his voice for the badlands. “HAHAHAHA, it really is a (Rare) sword! Fuck YEAH!”

Jay wasn’t the poorest man in the world, even before some cheat item started giving him a god complex. He’d seen, retrieved, and even used such a ranked sword at times. But he’d never had one to himself like this.

And if it wasn’t for how fast he was running to his training grounds, he’d be celebrating even harder.

…

A Half-Elf was sat on a velvet throne, when his country crystal sent a message through to him.

Slyvir Cyn Stansa, 3rd of his name, kirked up one of his elegant brows. “Honored Nephew personally elected a Baron? He hasn’t ever played the noble’s game.”

But the further he read on the further the young/old King read on, the more interested he became.

Slyvir tilted his head to the side, “Honored Nephew gave the baronling the rights to the land between the border baronies and the dead sea god’s tomb? That’d be a titillating ploy…”

The King paused, “Except that the baronling unearthed a territory crystal rivaling an Earldom…”

With eyes full of mischief Slyvir declared, “Well then, we must prepare a proper welcoming for the new noble!”

A purple glow flowed through the high ceiling.

Slyvir sighed, “I suppose you’re right, we have more pressing matters, but we must simply make the event extra exciting for the young one! As way of apology for our tardiness!”

The purple light renewed, and the country leader resumed his work.