Chapter 125: Market
A/N: I apologise for today''s tardiness. I was simply caught in by Kill Kill. Here is the next chapter.
***
"Ah... that hurts like a bitch..."
Nik groaned as he finally came to be. His clothes stuck to him while the ufortable feeling of being covered in sweat something that Nik hadn''t felt for a long time returned in ruthlessly vengeance while the cuffs stuck around his wrists and forearms were already deactivated, allowing him to stand up.
"Eh?"
Alongside the ufortable smell of sweat, Nik felt something off about his body. Immediately, he opened his stats window and as expected, the torturous pain had borne profits.
[
Name: Nik Faran
Age: 19
Affiliation: Incubus Society (Member)
Bloodline: Carnal Demon
STR: 3 --> 7
AGL: 5 --> 10
VIT: 4 --> 10
ENG: 11
CHM: 6 --> 10
LUK: 2
Stat Points 0
***
3 Elemental Unit=1 System Energy (ENG)
]
[LUK] being non-updatable through orthodox methods, Nik firstly focused on his [CHM]. As a member of the Incubus Society, he needed to partner up with strong women to gain stats. His charm was his bread and butter and he immediately decided to bring the stat to the threshold of the two-digit number before focusing on his [VIT].
If Charm was needed to lure the opponent to the battleground then Vitality was his weapon to ''nail'' the ''deal''. Even if Nik had confidence in going for a good few hours, he can never be too sure of what or who he might face. Not to mention, Vitality also increases his survivability by quite arge margin.
With an increase in his Vitality, he at least has some confidence to face an unknown environment. When it''s too hot, his body will bear the heat, when it''s too cold, his body will remain warm for quite a long time. The innate quality of his body is increased with the increase of Vitality.
Next, he decided to increase his [AGL] to increase his chances of retreating an undefeatable threat. Being a peace-loving guy, Nik would rather run away and nail the enemy''s wife or daughters instead of fighting him head-on. Though despicable, Nik didn''t mind such an attitude. Life is extremely precious. If he could keep his own life and his enemy''s by taking his wife and daughters as a sacrifice, Nik reckoned that the aforementioned enemy might just express his gratitude towards him.
The remaining 4 points were invested in [STR] since Nik felt that a person can never be too strong. But even after all that, Nik didn''t invest a single stat point in [ENG] since he practically nurtured the stat to two-digit state in a single adventure. Using precious stat points for that particr stat may not be advisable.
But still...
"It''s hard walking this way..."
Nik muttered as he had to ce each of his steps with conscious effort as he felt currents of raw and unbridled power coursing through his body.
"This will take some time."
Nik teleported out of the Hall of Glory and started walking towards the building to its right strangely. Whenever he passed some experienced host, they would nce towards him with a knowing gaze before sighing and walking away.
As Nik stood in front of the Heroes'' Guild Hall, the system construction that manages the guilds within the system, Nik simply connected his dialogue box with the special Faq section of the structure before he found himself knowledgeable about the matters of the guild, their benefits and disadvantages.
Sorting out the information, Nik took a moment before he started towards the Market Street once again.
Finding an empty spot near the beginning of the street, Nik took a step forward towards the empty location before a system window appeared describing the rental structure. Since Nik did not have many wares to sell, he simply rented an area for 30 SO/hour.
It was a daylight robbery, Nik thought, but he still rolled a heavy boulder over his heart and epted the one-sided terms before a carpet appeared over the designated location alongside a simple stool to be used as the seating area.
Walking around, Nik sat on the somewhatfy seat and connected his inventory with the rental location and immediately, the carpet was filled with items he wished to sell. They were ced in an orderly fashion with a tagged price of his choice. To be safe, Nik removed the restriction Identification of products by everyone, which will allow any passerby to check out his products.
[Energy Crystal y (W)] x1 for 500 SO.
[Fire Crystal (W)] x3 for 300 SO each.
And finally,
[Fire Eagle Art (Dark Green)] x1 for a whopping 5800 SO!
With his goods finally disyed, Nik sighed lightly before going through the information about guilds. Even though the System allows instantprehension about such descriptive information, he still couldn''t help but be cautious and rummage through the info once more for the sake of double-checking.
The advantages of guilds were many. Not to mention, Brian was in a simr position as him, so it would actually allow both of them to look out for each other, even if it is for survival''s sake. But there were a few disadvantages that made Nik frown in his thoughts while he hesitated a little.
He was inexperienced in many matters outside the night activities and he knew it. For example, he wasn''t a good tactician or an expert survivalist. With the guild, he could potentially cover his weaknesses and maybe, even learn the arts he is missing to be a better adventurer.
But the most obvious disadvantages were the distribution of System Origin and SP alongside him being somewhat restricted in the matters of the system. But that particr disadvantage was once again scaled down by the introduction of special Guild Shops that provided exclusive items that may as well be his true trump card in situations where he became absolutely helpless.
And then there was the matter of affiliation. If one joins a guild, their affiliation bes clear to the other members of the guild. This meant that once someone other than Brian or Nik joined the Guild, both of them would be exposed.
Of course, that situation itself was quite unlikely. With how Brian has presented himself till now, he won''t bemitting such a blunder.
"Ah! My man! Can we get on somemon grounds for the [Fire Eagle Art]?"
Nik was brought out of his thoughts as a man... an elephant hybrid stood in front of him with his beady eyes sparkling.
''Ugh... get a better disguise!''
Nik sighed before shaking his head.
"The skill book is priced appropriately, brother. You must know that an elemental skill book is one of the rarer items in any particr tier.
Not to mention, this one is quite beneficial for those with fire affinity and also requires less System Energy to utilise."
The Elephant man made a troubled expression as, to Nik''s surprise, his trunk twirled towards its fleshy chin, as if he was pondering.
''Holy hell!''
Nik almost cursed out loud but soon regained his bearings as the elephant man kept his gaze on the products.
"How about" He looked up and continued while pointing at the goods while keeping his eyes on Nik, "I take all your wares for 6800 SO?"
"No." Nik immediately refuted. The total price of the products were 7200 SO. Looking at the elephant man who started pondering once again, Nik smiled and continued.
"Although, I would be willing to sell these items for 6500 SO if we can be friends."
He smiled sincerely while the man got stunned before excitement took over his expression.
"Really?" He asked with happiness blooming within his voice.
"Lol, no."
Nik shrugged with a sincere smile before adverting his eyes from the man and looking towards the little girl that was looking at his wares beside the man.
"Yes, miss?"
Nik smiled as the girl kept looking towards the three fire crystals before looking up and smiling an equally bright smile.
"The Fire Crystals for 700?"
"Sure, thing."
Nik smiled and nodded before he connected with the trading function within the system and another window popped in front of the little dark-haired girl as she entered the amount of SO while Nik''s window was updated.
Seeing that the amount offered really was 700 SO, Nik finally epted the trade and the three glimmering red crystals disappeared from his rented carpet.
"Thank you for the business, Miss."
Nik nodded while the elephant man remained a spectator. Apparently, Nik''s little stunt to agitate the man had failed. After thedy left, the man spoke up once again.
"Look... I can only go for 5200 SO. We both know that it''s a fair price."
"No, 5800 SO. Not a single credit less."
Nik immediately shut him down and continued before the man could refute.
"In my experienced eyes." Nik wasn''t experienced, "You are in need of the skill which is obvious to both of us."
"But this skill allows the user to wield the element present in nature. It easily implies that the burden on our energy source is lessened.
So, in all my goodwill, I won''t be selling this lower than 5800 SO."
"But you easily epted that girl''s price."
"It was because she was ady."
Nik shrugged while the elephant man continued.
"How do you know? She could have been a man in the system''s disguise."
Nik nodded with an understanding expression.
"Then all I can say is that if she is really a he, then he chose the right disguise to shop around."
Hearing Nik''s words, the man almost stumbled backwards before sighing.
"5... 5500 SO. Take it or leave it."
"Take it, of course, take it."
Nik smiled which once again induced the man to almost curse at the deviant who had disguised himself in such a beautified body.
With the trade concluded, Nik was 6200 SO richer. Making him an owner of a total of 61881 SO.
After another half an hour, Nik finally left the area after collecting his [Energy Crystal y].
Now, it was a bit easier for Nik to move in such an enhanced body and right now, he was making his way towards the recreational center. Within this time, Nik had finally epted the invitation of the Guild after much thought.
He had too much to lose to adventure in dangers without any help. Even with his fortuitous encounters in the Avatar world, he didn''t think his luck would always hold out. Not to mention, he was lucky enough to not face any other Hosts and the only host he encountered Brian was quite a friendly one, at least, for now.
***
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