SpartanDonkey

"SpartanDonkey of the Expeditionary Legion, at your service," he said, leaning on the small portion of the wooden counter that wasn't covered by scrolls. The beads he wore clinked like door chimes rattling whenever someone entered a store. "How may I help you this fine day, Chimi, my good man?"

"Hey there, partner," Chimichangaroo said, saluting him. "How many times have I told you that you sound like an NPC if you introduce yourself exactly the same way to everyone who comes by your stall?"

"Would you like to purchase that information?" SpartanDonkey pretended to rub two coins together.

"Are you serious?" Chimi raised a brow. The fire fairies zipping around him stopped mid-air and gave SpartanDonkey quizzical looks. It was interesting to see them mimic their summoner’s reaction.

"Everything has a price. However, I don't know the answer to your question. So, no. I'm not serious. But you have repeatedly pointed it out that you also sound like an NPC repeating his dialogue."

The two of them shared a laugh.

This standard greeting has evolved over the dozens of transactions they've had. SpartanDonkey had one for every customer, like a special handshake. This was important, as advised by the guild leader Expeditionary Legion. It helped with customer retention if the customer believed they had a personal connection with the merchant—even if that connection was fabricated.

“I notice you’re wearing a new set,” SpartanDonkey said. “Impressive design and I’m sure its stats are as well.” Like complimenting someone’s haircut, a merchant should praise a customer’s equipment.

Chimi’s previous robes were a combination of red, black, and white fabric, accented by golden rune designs. Now, he was wearing dark blue clothes with a metallic sheen to them, giving the impression that it was rigid as metal plating but flowed when blown by the wind.

“A new product from my Ocadule,” Chimi nonchalantly said. “I’m trying it on to see its performance in battle.”

SpartanDonkey then asked about its features, which Chimi readily answered. SpartanDonkey could easily tell Chimi was waiting for someone to brag about his powerful new item.

After Chimi got it out of his system, SpartanDonkey asked, "Are you here to check up on the materials you ordered?"

Chimichangaroo ordered items dropped by low-level monsters that nobody farmed anymore—large quantities of them. They were for fabric weaving to level his Dreamweaver Ocadule of Relic Quality that he had been boasting about non-stop since he obtained it. Chimi, being Chimi, would never directly brag about something. But he'd find a way to tangentially mention his Ocadule in a conversation so that the other person would be amazed at his find.

And so, SpartanDonkey called for Contractors to farm them. Thankfully, Clement and his gang were willing. SpartanDonkey was concerned no one would do it. It was an incredibly tedious task despite the high pay—Artas on this mountain didn’t have the same value compared with the ‘outside world’ because there was limited use for it.

All Mardukryons, except for the newbie, Herald Stone, were too over-leveled to farm the items Chimi needed. Getting one drop from a hundred low-level monsters would be considered lucky. The way to farm those items was through Elites—they were higher leveled and dropped more loot to hopefully lessen the effects of the penalty. But summoning Elites required killing tons of the regular versions anyway, so it wasn't exactly a 'better' method.

"Just wanted to drop by and chat," Chimi replied. "No rush on my order, partner. I know its deadline is for next week."

"In time for the Great Hunt," SpartanDonkey assured him. "How's your Dreamweaver Ocadule going?"

"Levelling at the speed of light," said Chimi with a thumbs up. "I have woven so much that I'm starting to think I could do it in real life. My predicament is that my inventory and stash are filled with robes, capes, and cloaks, even with the expanded storage I bought with cash. I can't dispose of them quickly enough through the auction that I'm just selling them to NPCs."

"Isn't that a waste?" SpartanDonkey said. He stopped himself from smirking at Chimi's subtle boasting. "Once our Gate is connected to the rest of Hierakon, I'm sure many players will buy your crafted items." Here was another opportunity to brag he dangled right in front of his customer.

"But who knows when that'll be? And Artas isn’t a problem for me," Chimi said with a shrug. "Anywho, my current goal is getting my Dreamweaver Ocadule's Rank as high as possible before the Great Hunt. That's why I ordered the required materials to continue doing it."

"I'll get you what you need. Don't worry about that."

"Though I'm not sure if it'll be enough…" Chimi scratched the bottom of his tusk with his equipped scroll—the most expensive and powerful magic scroll SpartanDonkey had made. "I might ask Herald if he's free to help me farm."

"He's probably busy power-leveling for the Great Hunt," SpartanDonkey said. "I saw him running around the village doing quests." It slightly irked him that Chimi was making separate Contracts with others.

On this mountain, SpartanDonkey was and should be the middle guy of everything.

Everyone should come to him, and he'd connect them to what they needed. But in his laxity, expecting the newbie to go to him, Chimi bypassed him and directly Contracted Herald. He should've been more aggressive trying to recruit Herald—and he was going to remedy that this time.

"Right, Herald is with Kezodilla's party," Chimi said. "It's nice of Kezo to take in the newbie. They should help him with leveling; the Great Hunt is coming soon. This is also why I'll still try to convince Herald to help me. As you said, ‘everything has a price.’"

Not if I get to him first, SpartanDonkey thought.

If he managed to take Herald under his wing, he could use him as a bargaining chip. Chimi and his whale friends made up the strongest Mardukryon party. They have also progressed the most in terms of game content. Unfortunately, they haven't found a way to escape the mountain, or Chimi would already be boasting about it. Nonetheless, they uncovered plenty of secrets SpartanDonkey was not privy to.

And he'd be a failure as an Expeditionary Legion member if he couldn't discover those secrets.

The Council already put the Mardukryon mission on hold. Many guild members thought he was wasting his time, some calling him outright foolish and lazy, by staying as a Mardukryon instead of changing races and taking on other missions.

He chatted with Chimi for a few more minutes, mostly speculating about what'll happen during this Great Hunt. Many Mardukryon players had quit, but the remaining players also became stronger—perhaps it was still possible to progress the Great Hunt further than previous ones. They might find a clue for the Mardukryon's main quest if they survive the latter stages of the event.

Naturally, he generously buttered up Chimi, telling him that his party would rank first, as usual, and be awarded by Chief Nogras. After Chimi got his fill of praises, he went away to continue weaving.

SpartanDonkey resolved to cultivate his connection with Chimi and his party, not only for his current business but also in preparation for the inevitable escape of the Mardurkyons from this mountain. No doubt, Chimi's party would whale everything out of their minds come the time they could access the rest of Hierakon.

And SpartanDonkey would be there to profit. Hopefully, it'd boost him up the ranks of his guild and show the naysayers how hard he worked as a Mardukryon.

Another hour passed uneventfully, with only three other people dropping by to purchase spell scrolls.

Fewer and fewer players remained active. Many of his customers were disappearing, some maybe for good. But SpartanDonkey didn't mind it.

Eventually, his investments in the Mardukryon race would pay off.

Then Luds showed up and interrupted his movie-watching time.

"SpartanDonkey of the Expeditionary Legion, at your—"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, SD." Luds dismissively waved his hand. SpartanDonkey narrowed his eyes because of the deviation from the script. Oblivious to SpartanDonkey’s reaction, Luds said, “Have you managed to get the info I was looking for?"

"Short answer: no. Herald won't reveal their secret, just like that." SpartanDonkey snapped his fingers. "Come on, you know this won't be easy. Long answer: I'll be able to get it, I assure you. Firstly, I have to build a connection with him."

"I need to find out soon. Because…because… Just that I need it before, uh, before the Great Hunt, so I'll be prepared for it. That’s it. I don’t want to be caught off guard."

SpartanDonkey's cheek muscle twitched. Their Contract didn't have that deadline. He vaguely answered, "I'll tell you as soon as I get the information."

Customers adding terms that weren't agreed upon beforehand...annoying. Those weren't included in the Contract’s pricing; they were essentially trying to get free service. But SpartanDonkey chose to hold his tongue. He'd only bring it up if he could not gather the information within a week—he'd look good if he succeeded, and he'd have a very valid excuse otherwise.

SpartanDonkey had a personal stake in this—a business one, to be more accurate. But everything was business to him.

He wanted to know what reward Herald received from Mehubanarath. SpartanDonkey was sure this was also the answer to Lud's question.

Then Luds went on a tirade about how Kezo's party tricked him into thinking they hired a tank to help them kill Zoar Elab, the Living Statue. It turned out they didn't—Kezo's hastily put-together party of weak players did it on their own, with no dedicated tank or even a healer. SpartanDonkey confirmed this himself by interviewing other players, anyone who could have helped them.

He wasn't investigating for free, of course.

Luds had to pay for it, which he did with surprisingly no complaints or haggling. Sensing that Luds was obsessed with this matter, SpartanDonkey decided to take advantage of him by jacking up the price.

But listening to Luds complaining wasn't included in the Contract and was becoming tiresome, so SpartanDonkey cut in and narrated how his meeting with Herald went. He embellished it to make it sound like he made more progress than he actually did.

"I spotted Herald going in and out of the tunnels a few hours ago," SpartanDonkey said. "I'm sure he met Bawu. Just give him some time, and I'll check up on him. Herald will be more open after seeing that I'm a valuable friend."

"Is he still online now?" Luds asked.

"Everything has a price."

"I'll pay, I'll pay."

"Are you going to talk to him?"

"Yeah, I'll try to find out what bullshit they pulled myself."

SpartanDonkey shrugged. "He’s online. But no refunds if you do manage to discover their party's secret." Knowing Luds, he’d make the situation worse. SpartanDonkey could make a ‘good cop, bad cop’ play with this. And, of course, he’d increase the price.