Melvin's soundwave startled Sam. With trying to pick out the best items, and then getting away from the Trader’s Hall as quickly as possible, he’d forgotten all about Melvin transporting into Domino Hill.

“I know it took me 15 minutes, instead of 10, to get here, but really!?” Melvin paused just a second, but before Sam could continue, he chuckled and asked, “Is there somewhere I can meet you to talk in person?”

Sam looked around for a location that would provide good visibility for Sam to spot anyone following Melvin, and said, “Meet me outside Hat-trick’s Hardware. It’s on Vegas Boulevard, two blocks north of the intersection of Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street.”

***

After getting a map of Domino Hill, it took Melvin about 30 minutes of fighting the crowd before he arrived in front of the hardware store. Melvin looked around for a few minutes, and not seeing Sam, used his soundwave to call him again, “Sam, I’m here, but I don’t see you anywhere.”

Sam was across the street on top of a building where he’d been watching Melvin approach while looking for anyone that might have decided to follow him, and he replied, “See that small stump, it's in front of the store and used as a stool to sit on?”

Melvin looked around quickly spotting the stump, and shrugged his shoulders with confusion as he replied, “Yes, but what about it?”

“As you're facing the stump, shove it from the left side, and you’ll see a charm I left under it. Pick up the charm necklace and put it on under your shirt against your skin. When the system gives you a message asking if you want to activate it, do it by mentally select the numbers ‘1776’. Then walk two more blocks north, turn left on Trash Card street, and you’ll see Shifty’s Shoes. I’ll meet you there.”

“What’s this all…” Melvin started to ask, but then Sam interrupted him, “Just do it, and I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Sam watched Melvin do as he instructed, and before he left to meet Melvin, he noticed two women getting overly excited as they couldn’t figure out where Melvin disappeared to.

***

Melvin and Sam were sitting inside an enclosed carriage that Sam paid to take them across the city. Sam had closed the windows and placed his silencing rods around the two of them for privacy.

“Master Sam, what is it that you are so paranoid about?” Melvin finally got a chance to ask.

“Just ‘Sam’, just call me Sam O.K.,” replied Sam.

“O.K. Sam, what’s going on? Why are you so paranoid?” Melvin asked again.

“Did you know you were followed to the hardware store?” replied Sam.

Melvin looked a little surprised, but then responded, “No, I’ll swear an oath to the Seven Decks I had no idea anyone was following me!”

“I believe you, but the people following you is why I’m paranoid. In the Trader’s Hall there must have been over 50 people that watched me purchase two scrolls with a value of almost 1400 gold. One or more of those people there might try to find me to steal these scrolls, or any other money, they think I might have. I’m also not sure if the Merchants Guild would be after me too since they lost so much money,” explained Sam.

Melvin nodded his head in understanding, then said, “O.K., that makes sense, but the Merchants Guild absolutely does not care about your purchase. The local Merchants Guild’s treasurer, Super Splits, arrived just a couple of minutes after I did. He placed ‘Bitch Face’ [at least that was name Sam heard] under a Gambling Oath to confess everything that happened. When I expressed my displeasure at her treatment of one of my clients, Splits explained that ‘Bitch Eyes’ owed the local guild 680 gold, which caused her to break down in tears again. He then further rubbed in her stupid mistake, when he told me that the perception scroll did have significant ‘value’ that ‘Bitch Lips’ was required to pay off, but not much 'real value' to the guild…”

“Wait, why’s that?” Sam asked, interrupting Melvin.

“According to Splits, The System Shop sells the same multi-race perception scroll for 1,800 gold, but The System Shop will only buy that scroll for 280 gold. So… the local guild is thrilled to have ‘Bitch Chin’ on the hook for 680 gold for a scroll they could only get The Shop to purchase for 280 gold. Plus you paid full price for the mana scroll, which they would have sold for probably 650 gold.”

Sam held up his hands to stop Melvin’s explanation, and said, “Wait, back up for a second. Just because The Shop would only pay 280 gold for the scroll, doesn’t mean the local guild couldn’t sell it for a lot more!”

Melvin shook his head, “Actually, no they couldn’t. Splits said they’ve been trying to sell that scroll for over 20 years after one of their member merchants acquired it as part of a dungeon loot drop. They’ve just left it on the shelf to look elite, because of the retail price placed on it by The Shop. Over the years, everyone that showed any interest, backed out of the deal after discovering the problem with the scroll.”

Sam’s stomach dropped through the floor of the carriage at Melvin’s comment, and he asked, “what’s wrong with the scroll?”

Melvin winced as he answered, “Technically, nothing. However, none of the other races will agree to teach anyone their language. They will only use translation stones.”

“That’s not that big a deal,” replied Sam as he was starting to feel a little relieved.

Melvin then said, “But that’s not all. The scroll takes months for the user to acclimate to the perception changes, while they end up stumbling around in a confused state, or they constantly vomit from the way food tastes, or scream hysterically from the sounds or visions they get. Additionally, the internal changes to the body the scroll makes are said to be very painful. All the internal modifications won’t make you look any different, but there is a lot of pain. From what we know, the last few people that activated the scroll, either went crazy or their guilds purchased a ‘Purge scroll’ for 100 gold to delete the effects from the person’s body and mind.”

Sam asked, “Then why would anyone even try to use the scroll if it is worthless?”

Melvin nodded, and said, “Exactly! That’s why it has no market value. But if someone could successfully adopt the perception modifications, it would be much, much cheaper than a 3,000 gold translation stone. Additionally, you wouldn’t be just limited to the voice translation, you could actually perceive everything all the other races perceive! You could feel the ground vibrations like the dwarves. You could hear all the sounds that elves hear. Gnomes are rumored to be able to actually see additional dimensions and runes, and who knows what other perceptions you might gain from trolls, orcs, and goblins! I mean there are only rumors… Unfortunately, these amazing potential benefits are outweighed by the fact that no one has been able to successfully use the scroll.”

Sam was drooling at the possibilities, but he was hesitant at the risk of losing the 280 gold The Shop would pay, and the potential loss of another 100 gold for a purge scroll… Then his AI allowed a gambling quest to appear in his vision.

==

Gambling Quest:

Activate the Multi-Race Perception Scroll within 1 week.

After activation, if you don’t purge the scroll for three months, you will be awarded 8 ability points.

If you fail, and purge the scroll within three months, you will lose 16 random ability points.

Select “Yes” to accept the quest.

Select “No” to decline the quest and continue being a senseless idiot.

==

Sam minimized the gambling quest. He was pumped at the idea of expanding his perception and understanding of all the races, plus the additional ability points would finally put his Luck stat over 50! He just needed to finish his business with Melvin before he convinced Jen and Tamako to help him beat this quest.