"Looks like we will be the ones going to explore with you." Both Queston and Truudfluue are standing in front of me with expectant smiles on their faces.
After that slight 'incident' in the pool, I had been grilled by Veleda for the "inconsiderate actions" I had taken and was 'grounded' outside so that she could calm Bittol down.
I tried to calm him down myself, but he was having none of it. This led him to spazz out and alert Seeda, who in turn alerted Veleda. Very troublesome. Still... I didn't learn anything. I'm not gonna stop teasing him because of this. If anything, he will have to be the one to learn from this unless he wants to be the one to lower his social clout.
Now standing outside the orphanage with my Plain Clothes on, I am approached by Queston and Truudfluue, who tell me that they are the ones who will guide me around.
"Okay. Where to?" I respond in turn.
The two boys turn to each other and seem to have a silent conversation before Queston suddenly speaks up. "I guess we will just show you around the places that should be most important to you, like the bazaar or the guild halls..."
Truudfluue cuts in with, "Oh, oh, also the realm portal, we shouldn't forget that."
"Oh yeah, the realm portal, we can't miss that. Also, we might as well visit the Vault of Heroes while we are at it. I don't think you have been there either, Truud." Queston continues.
"No, not yet," Truudfluue responds.
"Perfect... Well, let's go!" Queston holds out his arm enthusiastically, gesturing for us to move forward.
We start to walk down the path leading away from the orphanage and onto the main whitestone road. We just walk in silence for a while, but it isn't long before the conversation begins rolling.
"So, Zero, where are you from?" Truudfluue asks me curiously.
I look around at my surroundings for a little bit while thinking before I say, "Me, I came from my mother, personally..." I look towards Truudfluue with a smile, but he keeps to a stone-cold face despite my joke.
I clear my throat and say, "New York. I come from New York." I'm serious this time
"Ohh, New York. I always wanted to go to New York. I've seen a lot of movies about it."
"Oh yeah? Well, where do you come from?" I ask sincerely
"Yo, Mama!" Bam, Truudfluue hit me with a lame Yo Mama joke.
...
I smirk for only a second because I didn't expect it and close my eyes while turning my head in shame. I basically just got dabbed on by the kid.
"Brother..." I say in mock disappointment.
"I got you! I got you good. That was a good one." Truudfluue is laughing while having a little too much fun at my expense.
I just bob my head up and down as if debating what he said is correct or not, but I will give no other response.
"Anyway!" I yell out.
"I lived in Guelph before coming here." Truudfluue answers.
"Guelph... I know that place." I rub my chin while thinking.
"Really!" Truudfluue sounds surprised.
"No," I respond and shake my head.
Of course, I don't know where some random rinky-dink town or city is in Canada. I'm no geographer. Hell, the only place I know in Canada is their capital, Ontario... Or is it Toronto?
"Oh..." Now Truudfluue sounds downtrodden.
"Where are these places you guys are talking about? They don't sound familiar." Queston chimes in.
"Our homes on Earth," I respond to Queston
"In your realm? Earth Realm?" Queston questions.
"Get over here!" I shout towards Queston in a deep voice and throw my right arm out as if I'm throwing out a kunai. I just can't help myself.
"What? Why?" Queston sounds confused.
"Fatality!" Truudfluue quickly jumps in and continues the reference.
It's my turn to be surprised this time. I look towards Truudfluue with a wide grin, and I think to myself. No, screw that other kid; you're my new favorite.
Queston walks back towards us. He had previously been walking backwards while looking at us, he still is, but he's closer now. I didn't actually want him to 'get over here.' I was just... never mind.
I sigh when he gets back to our side, still confused. He continues walking with us while asking, "Did I do something?"
"No, I was just making a reference to a video game back on Earth," I answer his question, but I have a feeling that this will only make him more confuddled.
"Video Game?" Queston asks because he obviously doesn't know what a video game is.
I have Truudfluue explain to him what video games are and what we were doing just then. He seems intrigued but skeptical about what Truudfluue tells him, and I would too if some kid informed me that you can play games in a box through a window. After that, we continue to talk about video games and whatnot together while we walk towards the business section of District #72. The place where I first entered the Nexus.
---
"How much is it?" I ask a man in the stall standing tall above me as I lean down, looking at a shiny pale-gray dagger in a display case. All around me is the noise of hundreds of people chattering about. We are in a place called The Bazaar of District Seventy-Two. There are many stalls filled to the brim with food, textiles, weapons, tools, furniture, just about anything you would need.
"Ohh... A something... seventy coins or of equal value." The man narrows his bushy eyes brows as he says this, his bald head on full display.
I turn behind me and ask Queston, who is close, "What are seventy coins worth?"
Queston gives me a somewhat exasperated look and explains, "A single coin can feed the whole orphanage for a week."
More than a year's worth of food for thirty-nine people! I nod towards Queston before turning back towards the display case and inspecting the dagger more closely. It's a platinum-colored dagger with tiny rubies inside of its handle. How could such a small thing be worth so much?
"May I hold it?" I ask the man running the weapon stand, my voice getting somewhat lost in the crowd around me.
The bald man gives me a scrutinizing look before asking, "Do you have enough to pay?"
"Maybe..." I hold on to the 'ay' for some time before finishing the word.
I don't have seventy coins, let alone one, but I still want to see it. It's not like I would run away with it or something; that would be stupid.
The man continues to give me a skeptical glare as he begins to open up the display case. Once open, he reaches in and grasps the dagger in both hands, and asks, "What's your name, kid?"
I answer "Zero" as he takes the platinum dagger out of the case.
He seems to deposit my name into his memory box as he hands me the blade carefully. I grab onto the dagger with both hands, and I gingerly draw it towards me. I inspect my inventory to see a platinum dagger, reading...
[Platinum Dagger T6
Dagger: Is Applicable
Damage: 55-115
On Equip: +1 VIT
A remarkably sturdy dagger plated with platinum and ornamented with rubies.
Feed Power: 35]
The dagger does more damage than my sword, and it has a vitality bonus! I want it; I want it real bad. Plus, its feed power is exponentially higher than any of my current items, and its tier is six, which I believe should be really good since the highest I have is only tier one.
I spin the blade a little in my fingers as I look at it. Queston seems to get impatient and grabs onto my shoulder before telling me, "Zero, you're a priest, you have no use for a dagger of this level, why don't you give that back, and we can go look at some wands or something."
What, why? I can use a dagger, I already have, multiple times, in fact.
I decide to voice my concerns to him, and he just shakes his head at me in a tired fashion, as if he has already heard this a hundred times.
"No, since you are a priest, the wand is the most effective weapon to use. Sure, you can equip the dagger, but its efficiency will be diminished for you in comparison if you were a rouge or an assassin. Only dagger classes should be using weapons like this since they can draw out its full potential for damage.
It may have worked, using a dagger, in the Kitchen, but that's because the people in the Kitchen are deliberately weakened. You will never be able to get away with it in the realm." Queston takes his time to explain to me.
I guess what he is saying may hold some merit, but when I used the dagger and sword and staff on the butcher, there didn't seem to be any loss in damage, so I'm confused. Every item says "Is Applicable," so I don't know why I shouldn't be able to use them properly.
The man manning the stall hops back into the conversation and says, "Hey kid, you're a hero, right? You know, I would be willing to give you that dagger for free if you can do a little something for me."
He piques my interest, and I turn away from Queston. I look towards the bald man and ask, "And what would that be, exactly?"
He gives me a smile that I don't quite like the looks of before saying, "Why don't we make a bet? If you can destroy a training dummy in my guild hall with that dagger in under a minute, I'll allow you to keep it. What do you say?"
I mean... I am a betting man. "What do you want from me if I lose?"
"Don't do it; it's obviously a scam. Just give the dagger back, and let's leave." Queston interjects while the man thinks of what to say.
I shrug my shoulder to get Queston's hand off my shoulder, and I turn to see Truudfluue with an equally worried look as that of Queston's.
"Well... Let's say that you will work under me and my guild for four years if you fail the bet. See it as an apprenticeship, if you will." The man has a charismatic vibe to him as I listen to his voice.
"No, Zero will not be accepting your bet. We will give you back what you own and be on our merry way." Queston gives me a pressing stare, practically begging me to go along with his aggressive suggestions.
I ignore Queston, and I ask, "Where is your guild hall?"
"It's down in Pellygrove Valley along with the majority of other merchant guild halls. The walk isn't very far from here." The man responds.
"Zero, you can't be serious!" Queston cries out in distress behind me.
I turn to him and say, "Quiet. You said that you would take us to the guildhalls anyway. I'm done looking around the market, and that is our next stop; what's your problem?" I quickly turn to the man and say, "I accept."
"My problem is that I am obligated to keep you out of trouble while I'm showing you your way around. I can't just sit here and watch you get scammed out of four years of your life for a mere knife. You know you're being scammed, right? Please?" Queston is clearly agitated with how I am handling myself.
"Obviously. Trust me, I got this." I try to assure Queston that I know what I'm doing. I'm pretty sure that I can use the dagger without any disadvantages.
"Great, great! Hey, Grysa, hold down the stand for me until I get back." The bald man calls towards a woman close by who had just been sitting around, watching people.
"Follow me, kids, this way." The man moves out of the stall and starts to walk through the crowd. He turns out onto the left path leading away from the central market square that we are standing in. Queston, Truudfluue, and I start to follow along.
"Do you even know how much health the guild dummies have?" Queston questions while we walk.
"No, of course not. I just got here." How could I? I have been in the Nexus for less than a day. I guess I could have asked before I betted with the man, but hey, too late.
"Seven hundred and fifty! Seven hundred and fifty!!! You can't destroy the dummy in one minute! It's impossible at your level!" Queston seems mad.
"Only seven hundred and fifty? Oh, this bet's easy then; what are you so worried about? If I recall correctly, the dagger does fifty-five through one-hundred and fifteen damage. That means I should be able to break the dummy in only several good swings. What's there to sweat about?"
"Several? Try a couple hundred! Are you an idiot? I know you're smarter than that! I already told you that priests can't use daggers. The forty or sixty damage you would normally do at your level is dropped down to like... three because you are not a dagger class! You use wands!" Queston is shouting in my face at this point as I try to make sense of what he is saying.
I back away from his face a bit and say, "No, no, I can do the complete damage with a dagger; I'm fine. I already did it in the Kitchen with my sword and staff. I can do it again..."
It is Truudfluue this time that responds with, "No, Queston is right this time. I am a commander, and I can only use the spear. I have tried to hit things with a sword, but it only bounces off and does slight damage. Whenever I use a spear weapon, though, I'm fine. I don't know what happened to you in the Kitchen, but maybe you were just going crazy."
"Is it like that for every hero?" With both the information coming from Queston, a native, and Truudfluue, a hero like me, I'm more inclined to believe them, but believing them makes me more confused because I know what I can do; I'm not crazy.
The only response I get is a nod from both of them. I stop talking to think. Maybe I'm the one who's broken then, I don't know... What I do know is that I can use a dagger, sword, knife, and wand. Also, I can use the priest tomes and wear robes and rings without these 'penalties' Queston speaks of. So maybe I'm not a priest, and everyone just thinks I am.
"What if I'm not a priest?" I ask the two, genuinely curious.
"Not possible. You are a priest. You used the tome, right I heard it from Olifiaer?" Queston explains.
"Yeah... I think." if I didn't, I don't know what that blast of white particles was then.
"Then you're a priest, nothing more, nothing less, and you've already screwed yourself for making this deal. Thank you." Queston puts his hands up in the air in defeat while he's saying this.
We drop the subject and walk the rest of the way with the bald man to his guildhall. We talk about things like what I will be doing in the guild and if I will continue to live at the orphanage or not... These guys really have no hope for me.
Interestingly enough but not surprising, Pellygrove Valley was named after the Pelly flowers that grow in the valley... Who would've guessed?
The Pellies are a pink petaled flower with bright yellow stripes and blue stems and leaves. Yeah... that's right, blue, not green. I'm not a flower person; I'm not the type of guy to look at a field of flowers and go, 'Wow! That's beautiful.' or anything. But this valley does look quite nice, definitely not a place I would be opposed to living in. Admittedly, it's a good view.
We are taken to a large two-story building with tall windows showing the inside of the first floor. We stand inside a small fenced-in courtyard with grass and bushes. There is a large door with a sign reading, "Glad To Smile," above it.
I had learned that the guild was a merchant's guild called Glad to Smile. It sounds like a weird name, but my entire situation is uncanny, so I don't know what's supposed to be and not supposed to be anymore. As I have said before: New world, new culture.
The bald man takes us inside, and we are met with the grand interior. Gazing above me, I see a bright golden chandelier staying docile with a couple roaring flames. I don't see any candles which intrigue me, but I won't ask.
The floor is made out of polished marble tiles, and there is a large red and gold rug leading to the reception desk in front with a person working it. Multiple doors leading to different areas surround the room, and a marble staircase leading up to the second floor is to my left.
Truudfluue and I marvel at the room like lost orphan children while Queston, who I happened to glance at, keeps a resolute stare at the bald man who started talking to the person at the desk. He must not like him.
It isn't long before the man leads us through a set of doors and through the hall. It looks like an old manor house with its paintings and statues decorating the halls. We are eventually led down a flight of stairs into a basement area. Since the guild is a mercantile one, they don't have much use for training equipment, which makes sense, and instead appeared to optimize their space for storage and meetings.
We eventually enter a room that is filled with brown training dummies and arrow targets. There is also a caged section with a sleeping elephant inside. There are a couple windows near the roof that show sunlight coming from outside.
As soon as Truudfluue notices the cage, he whispers out, rather loudly, "Look, an Elephant. I've never seen one in real life before." while pointing at it.
The bald man turns towards me and points to a nearby dummy. "So basically, all you have to do is use that dagger to destroy this training dummy in one minute or less."
I look at the dagger I have been holding the entire way here. I'm surprised he didn't want it back as soon as I made the deal. Speaking of which, I still don't even know his name... I guess people are pretty stingy about handing that out all willy-nilly.
"Okay, when do I start?" I ask the man.
He just shakes his head slightly and says, "Any time. I will start the countdown as soon as you begin."
"How do I know you won't cheat me. I don't see any clocks or anything." I say as I look around the room.
"I can't cheat you. Your little commander friend here would know if I did." He says while looking at Truudfluue, who sits close to the cage with the now awake elephant.
Right... I remember. Commanders know when someone is lying or not, apparently. Welp, I guess it wouldn't hurt to start beating on the thing right now, then.
I grasp the dagger tightly in my hand as I move towards the dummy. Honestly, with everything Queston and Truudfluue said to me, It would be lying to say that I'm not a little nervous about this. I stop walking forward once I'm in front of the training dummy.
Repositioning the dagger in my hands to stab the dummy in the head with a reverse grip, I lunge forward, stabbing towards its face. The platinum dagger sinks deep into the dummies head, and I watch the health bar that appeared loose about one-ninth of its total volume.
Oh! This will be easy, never mind. Why the hell was I even worried? I knew I could do this from the start; that's why I even took the bet in the first place. "Hahahaha." Breaking out in laughter, I continue my attack.
I re-grab the dagger in the standard grip position, and I pull it out of the dummy. I then slash both of its arms, eliminating another two-ninths of its total health.
"Wait, what?" Queston speaks out in surprise.
"But you said you're a priest!" The bald man roars out in confusion, and a clang comes from the nearby cage with the elephant.
I am briefly distracted by the clang I head, and I turn to look at the elephant who attempted to get a little too close to Truudfluue through the cage. It ended up banging its tusks against the tight cage, which is what made the sound. It's now moving its trunk around Truudfluue's hands and seems to be enjoying the rub Truudfluee is giving it.
I turn my attention back to the dummy, and I quickly cut it a couple more times with as much strength as I can muster. I don't destroy it with that, but I stab two more times in the head, and the dummy explodes into the motes of light I am accustomed to seeing.
Nothing is left where the dummy was once standing. I believe I destroyed it within the time limit established previously, so I guess I won then? I turn to the group to gauge their reactions. Truudfluue is still playing with the animal, but the bald man is staring at me with a heated expression while Queston just looks shocked.
"You lied to me!" The blad man with bushy eyebrows shouts out in anger towards me.
"How can you..." Queston barely gets out.
"You're no priest! You must be a trickster! Damn Thieves!"
"I guess I can use a dagger too, then." I smile and let out a small chuckle in an attempt to de-escalate the situation.
"You scammed me! You're not getting the dagger. Give me that." The bald man rushes at me, and I instinctually back up without even thinking.
"It's only fair; you tried to scam me first. Preying on my vulnerability despite knowing that I'm a new arrival. How shameless do you have to be?" I retort while keeping my distance and lifting up the dagger in defense.
Queston continues to watch the scene absentmindedly or probably more likely filled with thought, to be honest. I don't know what to tell these people. It's not like I lied or anything. It's everyone else that has been calling me a priest; that's all I have to go off of. So am I a priest, or am I not?
I keep backing up, and the bald man stops advancing once I lift the dagger to strike if I need to. He says, "Give me that, now!" while reaching out with his hand open.
Well... I guess I won't lose anything from this engagement, so I quickly return the dagger to its rightful owner. You will be missed the platinum dagger of dummy destroying awesomeness.
Queston finally came back too with, "Is no one going to talk about Zero's ability to use a knife despite being a priest!"
And Truudfluue chimes in with, "Hey, what's the elephant's name... Ohh... Wrong time?"