Chapter 5 – Farming GoldFarm

“Congratulations! You’re the first to hit level 10 in Avalon. LIKE. A. BOSS! All that CHR must have made someone in a high place really like you. Talking about yours truly here, just in case you were wondering!”

“Get to the point. What do you want?” I half-growled.

“Would you like your name announced on the server, Big Boy?” [BOSS] asked.

“What happens if I say no?”

“Two options. I’ll censor your name out with those fancy ******. So, it will look like a swear word was the first to hit level 10. Rather tacky, really. Or, I can omit you totally, and announce the second player to hit level 10 instead,” [BOSS] answered.

“Will I still get the rewards for being first?” I asked.

“Of course, Big Boy. For all server-wide achievements, the first 3 players will receive rewards. All that will happen is the second player will be announced as the first, but still receive the reward for being second placed.”

I thought about it for a while. I’m the shadow to Lancelot’s light. The darker the shadow, the brighter the light. I wanted Lancelot to be a source of inspiration and awe; it would be easier for her to find allies that way. Plus, I wouldn’t be much of a Hidden Blade if everyone knew about me.

“Omit my name.”

“Never took you for a shy Big Boy,” [BOSS] chuckled. “I like you more and more. Call me soon, kay? I’ll be waiting

As I turned on my auto-filter mode, I received two notifications instantly after my decision:

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED

GRIND MASTER - FIRST TO LVL 10

REWARDS +75 SILVER +250 FAME

***** CONGRATULATIONS PLAYER LANCELOT

FOR ACHIEVING GRIND MASTER – FIRST TO LVL 10. *****

YOU RECEIVED +50 SILVER +200 FAME

Server achievement rewards were indeed insanely awesome. 125 Silver was almost 20 times what we had earned from our entire grinding session in The Nest dungeon. Excluding the loot drops of course.

“That’s weird. I could have sworn you hit level 10 before me, Mordred. How come they announced me as first?”

“Told them not to, you’re the people person, not me. I don’t want a flood of noobs private messaging me for help and tips. Their stupidity might infect me.”

“Serious, be nicer, Mordred. It won’t do you any harm ju…” she paused mid-sentence. “Oh my!”

“What’s wrong, Lancelot?”

“My Private Message Request is beeping like a time-bomb that’s about to detonate,” she sighed, pressing her temples in a grimace.

I chuckled, “Seriously, be nicer, Lancelot!” mimicking her. “Tell you what, go take a short break. If you’re offline, they won’t spam you so much. You can sort through the messages later.”

“But we shouldn’t waste time! Otherwise, we might lose our top spot on the server,” Lancelot protested.

“It’s fine, I have some things to prepare for us before we can continue power levelling. Go take a short nap for an hour or two. We still have 19 hours left for the bonus drop and exp at The Nest Dungeon. We’re going all out, so you won’t be getting much rest later.”

Lancelot looked a little reluctant but nodded. “Okay! I’ll be back later, but don’t you need some rest too?”

“I’m fine. You know me, I don’t need any down time. Let’s go to the storage first to transfer the drops. I’ll need access to them.”

Nodding, Lancelot followed me to the [STORAGE NPC], then passed me everything except for 10 Silver.

“You be good, Mordred!” She poked my forehead with a finger, then logged off.

I took a look at my [CHARACTER STATUS] screen:

[NAME: MORDRED]

[FAME: 350 RESPECTED CITIZEN]

HP: 200/200 ASPD: 30 (+2 PROFICIENCY +10 FAST)

MANA: 50/50 CRIT RATE: 15%

STATS

[Strength: 1 +2 ] [Improves physical attack power]

[Dexterity: 50 +2 ] [Improves agility, control and speed of body]

[Vitality: 1 ] [Improves physical defence and resistances]

[Intelligence: 1 ] [Improves magic power and resistance]

[Charisma: 25 +5 ] [Improves your luck, game rewards and

attractiveness]

SKILLS

[CLASS: KNIGHT]

LVL 10 SQUIRE [5% EXP]

[WEAPON MASTER - LEVEL 1/5 75% EXP]

[OPPORTUNIST - LEVEL 1/5 75% EXP]

[HIDDEN CLASS: HIDDEN BLADE]

LEVEL 10 INNITIATE [5% EXP]

[REAPER - LEVEL 1/10 0% EXP]

[MARKED FOR DEATH - LEVEL 1/10 0% EXP]

[MASTER MANIPULATOR - LEVEL 1/10 0% EXP]

PROFICIENCIES

[DAGGER MASTERY - LEVEL 2/10 6% EXP]

[MINE – LEVEL 2/10 17% EXP]

Thanks to discovering the dungeon and my server achievement, my [FAME] had hit the second level, moving from [PEASANT] to [RESPECTED CITIZEN].

This was good, the higher my [FAME], the more Avalon NPCs would like me; giving me better prices, rewards and access to special Quests. Throw in my high CHR and [MASTER MANIPULATOR] skill, things should get very lucrative indeed.

I had also gained two Proficiencies [MINE] and [DAGGER MASTERY].

[DAGGER MASTERY]

LEVEL 2/10 [6% EXP]

You can stab, cut and slice stuff with a dagger.

Don’t quit your day job just yet.

+5 DAMAGE +2 ASPD WITH DAGGERS

Not that I planned on using daggers very much, except to unlock some skills, but who knows?

Now, to clear my inventory for more gold.

INVENTORY

1115 x [CRYSTAL SPLINTER]

233 x [CRYSTAL SHARD]

6 x [CRYSTAL DAGGER]

260 x [SILVER ORE]

1 GOLD 22 SILVER 56 COPPER

I put all the Crystal Daggers straight into the server auction house but staggered the sales so that only one would be available every two hours. They were high grade weapons at this stage of the game, so I didn’t want to flood the market and devalue them. I set the starting bid price at 5 silver, something a normal player probably couldn’t afford – but guilds and workshops would pay to give their top players an edge in levelling and PVP.

Too bad they were daggers though, if they were swords – I could charge a lot higher. Everyone and their grandma wanted to be a Knight of the Round Table, so there weren’t many rogues.

Next, was to take care of the Crystals and silver ores I found.

In all my previous life resets, there had been only one player who became a Legendary Divine Smith, the highest Blackmith tier possible. His name was GoldFarm. Yes, rather unglamorous; I know, but trust me, it was an appropriate name.

He was the one player that played Avalon from the very start to make real money. When I say played, I use the phrase “play” very loosely. He didn’t participate in any other aspect of the game. No levelling, boss hunting, PVP or anything else that resembled actual game play. All he did was collect crafting resources, smith the armour or weapon, sell it; then repeat the entire process over, and over again.

His 100% focus and dedication to his craft meant that he was always at least one full tier ahead of all other blacksmiths. Who the hell would want to just collect resources and craft shit 24/7 in a VRMMO? No one else apart from GoldFarm; and it was all for the sake of farming as much gold to sell as he could.

You see in the real world; he was in desperate need for money. Not because he had a mother dying of cancer. Or because he was abandoned by parents and needed to support and raise and adorable younger sister.

Nope, he was just a plain, money-loving, greedy bastard.

It was his obsession with earning more that made him so dedicated and driven. Sure, I could find the resources and forge my own weapons but I couldn’t afford to waste time on such a time-consuming specialisation. A partnership with GoldFarmer would enable me to access the best forged weapons and armours available, while also turning my raw materials I found into profit.

I had tried to recruit him every reset by bribing him, threatening him, flattering him; even begging him. It never worked. His fierce pride, arrogance and complete faith in his own ability was accompanied by an extreme reluctance to share any potential profits. He had turned me down every single time.

This time, I was going to try something completely different, using the ores and crystal I had found.