Chapter 2

Choosing a class in Royal Road is not a simple thing for me. Having seen the very code of the game, I know how to obtain the rarest, most powerful classes. Other than me, every player simply moves through the game, hoping to stumble upon a powerful class. Anyone who has ever owned a game guide book would understand my dilemma. I must choose ahead of time which class to acquire, and make the appropriate measures.

First I will tell you this, I have no intention of choosing the strongest combat class in the game or anything close. My hobby entails giving interesting humans power then seeing what they do with it. For this however I do intend to choose the strongest class.

Within Royal Road, there is a series of craft and artisan subclasses with the word Light in their names. Aqualight Painter, Blacklight Tailor, Moonlight Sculptor, Silverlight Chief, and several others. One such class is the one I will choose, and the method to become it exists in this city.

I purchased a dress that appeared both elegant and tasteful. It was necessary to look good to qualify for the initial step.

I entered an item shop and requested a job. The manager did not require assistance, but I knew just what to say. It took some doing, but he eventually hired me for the lowest pay.

I worked there tirelessly. I smiled at adventurers that came in, attracting them back and chatting with them about various things. I have been around for a while, I am a very skilled talker.

Things progressed after that. The shop manager realized what a skilled worker I was and that keeping me increased repeat customers. Eventually I was promoted to the highest pay. I always made sure to act humble and gracious to the manager, and demonstrated my knowledge of his items was very high. My familiarity with the NPC grew, until it reached the point I qualified for a certain quest.

“Hey Curi. Can I ask a favor of you?”

I replied, “Of course, what do you need sir?”

The man smiled, “I came across a sword some time ago that I cannot identify, could you take it to the Identification shop to have it looked at? I would do it myself but do not have the time and I trust you to not run off with it. I will of course give you the money to pay for identification.”

Identify the mysterious sword.

The manager of the item shop has asked you to take this sword to to an Identification shop to learn its properties. Have the sword identified and return it to the manager.

Difficulty level: E

Quest Requirements

Close friendship with the store manager.

Does not have the identify skill.

Acknowledged as trustworthy and knowledgeable by the manager.

It was what I had been waiting for. “Of course, I will gladly do so.”

You have accepted the quest.

I was given a sword and 12 silver pieces. Even with my eyes, the sword was unidentifiable. That was because it was a quest item with a variable state. When it was identified, the object data would be replaced with a different object data. Of course before going into the game, during my time searching the code, I already learned of this item and the details of the quest.

I entered the Appraisal Shop and lent them the sword and the fee for Identification. But it was no good. The appraiser’s skill was too low. The appraiser apologized and asked for the help of the head appraiser to determine the object’s value. The price to have the head appraiser use Identify was unbelievably more that what I was given, but due to the inconvenience, they would lower it this one time. To a price of 7 gold. As 1 gold is worth 100 silver, this was over fifty times the amount the manager had given me to use. Of course I knew it was apart of the quest. I also had more than enough money for such a thing and paid the man.

I watched as he used ‘Identify’ on the sword, and saw it glow for a moment before the object data was switched out.

Mystic Sword

Durability 32/80

Attack 23

This sword was once bestowed magic by a powerful enchanter. The magic is of a type once thought lost to time.

Restriction:

Level 30

Equips:

Damage caused by this sword is treated as magic damage.

The appraiser was stunned by the information the identification had revealed. Before he could ask any questions, I retrieved the sword and left.

I returned to the manager and passed him the sword.

Quest Complete

The sword’s mystery is revealed, but in answering one question, more take its place.

Reward:

10 Gold

After hearing that I spent my own money to pay for the appraisal, the manager insisted that he pay me back and extra for my consideration and trustworthiness.

After looking over the sword, he said, “Hmm, most interesting. A magic lost to time eh? Could you do me another favor? I wish to know a bit more about this enchanter. If I told you who I acquired this sword from, would you investigate and see if the enchanter is still around?”

The Mysterious Enchanter

An enchanter capable of bestowing lost magic upon weapons may reside in the city, investigate to see if the Enchanter truly lives.

Difficulty level: E

“I will do so sir.”

You have accepted the quest.

“Thankyou. I acquired this sword from an Alchemist acquaintance of mine who has a shop on the other side of the city. Please ask him about it.”

“Yes sir.”

I crossed the city in little time and found the NPC alchemist of the potion shop. Potions were rather expensive compared to herbs when it came to healing, so few but high level adventurers came to his shop. In order to for the NPC to take me seriously, I used a significant portion of my gold reserve to purchase a custom dress. When I entered, the alchemist smiled at me. He could not tell the level requirements of the custom dress, but the fact that it was custom, it was beautiful and that I was beautiful wearing it all accumulated in the Alchemist’s mind that I was someone to be taken seriously.

“Pardon me sir Alchemist. Would you mind greatly if I asked you a question?”

“Why not at all dear,” he answered.

“The manager of the store I work for told me you gave him a sword, would you tell me more about it?”

The potion maker’s attitude changed a bit, but not too much. I had revealed that I was working for an item shop which meant I was not rich, but I expected this from him. The only reason I needed him to like me was so that he would not throw me out after this revelation. If he did so the quest would fail and I would have lost the path to the class I sought.

“I’ll answer you miss, but only if you buy something.”

I smiled, knowing I had succeeded in taking another step in the quest chain. I knew the minimum purchase required for him open his mouth, and bought a potion of the same value.

“Hmm, okay. The blacksmith up the street traded it to me for a potion. Talk to him if you want to know more.”

I thanked the man and left for the blacksmith.

The blacksmith was trickier than the alchemist if you did it wrong. I was convinced that without knowing how to do it beforehand, this quest was close to impossible for all those but the luckiest to complete. Simply put, you had to buy at least three items from him over the course of the week prior to taking the quest. He was a good blacksmith, but not the best, and there were many blacksmiths in this city. Not to mention that he was on the other side of the city from the item shop, so although becoming a trustworthy friend of the item shop manager was a prerequisite for the quest, it was unlikely that anyone who had this prerequisite would buy three things from this exact blacksmith within a week of doing this quest.

If someone obtained this quest and made it this far and ended up asking the blacksmith without having bought three things from him, they would be turned away and the quest would reach a dead end, resulting in failure. Even if the person tried to buy something off the blacksmith after asking it still wouldn’t work. It was possible to continue if you purchased three items at the same time, then asked, but he would make a request before giving you the information.

I of course knew of this, and had bought at least one item from him, every other day since I started working at the item shop. This way, no matter what day the quest was given after the first week of work, I was always qualified to obtain the information instantly without having to do his request.

“Hello little lady, welcome back.” He greeted me with a smile, which I returned.

“Hello again. If you have some time, could you answer a question for me?”

“For a repeat customer? Of course.”

“I heard you gave the alchemist down the street a strange sword. Could you tell me about it?”

“About that? Hmm. Well, I suppose I can. For you.”

I smiled sweetly at him, something that made the man blush just a bit.

“Well, Funny thing is, it was sold to me by the Innkeeper of the South Rock Inn. Told me he found it among a few other things one day in his Inn’s attic. You can ask him if you really want.”

I thanked the blacksmith and made my way to the South Rock Inn, the final step of this quest. In case you were wondering, I could not have headed for the Innkeeper first and asked him about the sword without having first received the quest, talked to the alchemist, and been directed there by the blacksmith. Doing each action changed my avatar's object code until it reached this state which qualified me to successfully get what I needed from the Innkeeper.

“Hello, would you like a room for the night?”

I smiled and said, “Not at the moment, could I ask you a question?”

“Why certainly dear.” Innkeepers always treat potential customers with respect.

“I heard you sold a strange sword to blacksmith a few streets over. Could you tell me about it?”

At this the young man frowned. “That’s a bit personal.”

I said, “I’m willing to pay for the information.”

I slide two gold coins onto the table.

The Innkeeper looked at the coins and smiled, “Well if you put it that way. I inherited this Inn from my uncle who died some time ago. I’m sure the sword was his. I found it among other things such as books and papers and such.”

I gave gratuitous smiled and said, “Oh? Would you be willing to sell those things to me?”

There were other ways of acquiring them without money, but they all involved doing a task for the Innkeeper. Money was a shortcut.

“Hmm. How much would you pay?”

“Would 25 gold cover it?” Let the haggling begin.

“Hmm, how about 50 gold.”

“Oh I can’t afford that. I don’t even know what is in them. How about 28 gold?”

“You must have some idea of their contents if you’re willing to buy them. 42 gold.”

“Not really. Truth is, it is my lover that wishes to know about them, this is a present to him from me.” I gave him a wink that implied we were very intimate. Such things throw men off so easily. “Would you be willing to part with them for 32 gold?”

The Innkeeper raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, I give. Let me go get them.”

I smiled. A moment later the man came down with a heavy bag containing a few books and papers. I rented a room at the Inn and took them out to begin reading.

The papers told the story of the man, his past, his dreams, his triumphs, and his failures. It seemed he left it all for his nephew, but the Innkeeper never read them, not caring for his uncle all that much.

After reading it, a system message appeared.

Quest Complete

You have learned that the sword was enchanted by an enchanter who discovered some of the long lost enchantment arts.

You have leveled up!

Class Change!

You can convert to the secret class Firelight Enchanter. If you accept, you can learn exclusive skills for the class that are withheld from the primary class.

Do you wish to convert to Firelight Enchanter?

“Yes.”

My avatar was enveloped in light. My object code was replaced by a new object code, that of the Firelight Enchanter.

You have learned new skill: EnchantYou have learned new skill: Identify

I knew the class would come with more skills, but they would not be acquired until I increased my level, stats, and the proficiency of the skill Enchant.

I returned to the item shop manager and told him of the Firelight Enchanter and he congratulated me on getting the class. Later I told him I was leaving the city, and he thanked me for my hard work.

Although I acquired the class that would best allow me to give others power and make heroes, I was only part way done. I would acquire enchantments to use on items automatically as I leveled up and increased my Enchant proficiency, but the most powerful enchantments had to be discovered out in the world. I already knew it of course, but even the book I acquired the class from claimed that there were enchanting masters out there who could teach me powerful enchantments. Only by learning them all could I truly become a master enchanter.

Chapter 3

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