“How does one go about finding a set like the Swashbuckler’s Ensemble?” Darren asked.
“Trade secret,” Tarlia said.
Darren grunted and continued scrolling. It was a long shot anyway. He suspected the way one went about collecting soul-bound items was potentially messy.
Eventually, he settled on a sturdy pair of trousers, a light shirt, a knee-length coat, and boots—which were by far the best quality of the lot and the most expensive. He also snagged socks and undies.
<<<<>>>>
Canvas Trousers (Good)
Durable and built for hard work, Canvas Trousers will serve you well through the harsh sailor’s life.
-
+5 Armour
-
+1 to Con.
<<<<>>>>
Sailor’s Coat (Good)
This stylish coat will keep the weather at bay and protect against light damage.
-
+10 Armour
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+1 to Endure Elements
<<<<>>>>
Leather Boots (Superior)
Made with premium leather, these boots will protect your feet for years to come.
-
+3 Armour
-
+2 Dex
<<<<>>>>
The shirt, socks, and undies had no bonuses beyond comfort and decency. Normally, Darren would have been pretty stoked with the selection as a first outfit purchase. But knowing what was available in the game just left things feeling… cheap.
The whole set came to a little over a Doubloon. A quarter of what Darren had spent to retrieve the chest. On a whim, Darren asked, “I have an idea. I’m happy to buy these clothes and waive the two Sovereigns I spent retrieving the chest for you…”
Tarlia eyed him with suspicion. “What do you want?”
“Nothing much,” Darren said. “I just want to meet the Countess before she claims the Swashbuckler’s set. I’d like an introduction as the person who put his money on the line to get the chest back for you after it was… misplaced, and have a chance to talk to her.”
Tarlia considered this for a long time before finally giving a single nod. “You can come with me—if you can get cleaned up in time—when I make the delivery in a couple of hours. So long as you understand that if you embarrass me in any way, I will personally remove your spine.”
Darren blinked. Bloody hell, that was harsh. Was this woman always a merchant? Evidently old mate down at Fitted Fit hadn’t been joking about her skinning him. “That’s… fair. I appreciate that your reputation is on the line.” He held out a hand, which, with some hesitation, she shook.
He then materialised payment for the clothes he was purchasing.
Darren stashed the clothes in his inventory. No way was he going to get them dirty by putting them on now. Before that, he needed a bath. And a few other supplies. He hit the road, a spring in his step.
“Not a bad haul,” Wilson said. Then snickered. “For two Sovereigns…”
“Shuddup,” Darren said. “It’s an investment. I’m still hoping I can turn this around and get that Swashbuckler’s set.”
A notification blinked in the corner of Darren’s vision, and he frowned, opening it.
<<<<>>>>
Quest Update: The Hunt For The Ultra-Rare Class
Prove yourself worthy of receiving a rare class.
Rare Class Requirements:
-
Born Leader: Successfully lead a party of at least five for three days without rebellion
-
Valiant Warrior: Through skill and cunning, overcome an adversary at least 10 levels higher than yourself (complete)
-
Natural Diplomat: Resolve a conflict between two opposing parties (you may not be one of the parties)
Ultra-Rare Class Requirements:
-
Everything from Rare Class Requirements
-
Ruler: Found, claim, or conquer a settlement
-
Immortal: Go toe-to-toe with a god and survive (complete)
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Quest conditions:
-
Failure to complete the quest or choose an ultra-rare class before the world opens to Interlopers will remove the option to gain an ultra-rare class.
-
Time remaining: 8 days, 1 hour, 57 minutes, 46 seconds
Reward:
-
5,000XP for completing a task
<<<<>>>>
Darren did a double-take. He’d completed Valiant Warrior? And he’d received XP for it? It only took a moment to realise that Poseidon had counted his confrontation with Tarlia as “overcoming an adversary”. He laughed as everything clicked into place.
“What’s ticklin’ your toes?” Wilson asked, a carved eyebrow arched. “The quest update is exciting, but not mad-cackle exciting.”
“I’ve just worked out how I’m gonna get this quest done in record time.”
***
“Oh come on,” Wilson said from Darren’s shoulder as Darren jogged down the busy street lined with stores, “you gotta tell me what your cunning plan is.”
Darren scanned the signs above doors as they passed them. “All in good time. We need to get some shopping done first, and it’s going to be too disjointed to try and explain and shop. And this isn’t a conversation for people to overhear.”
Wilson let out a heavy sigh. “Fine. But can you at least tell me how long I have to suffer before you’ll spill the beans?”
“Oh, not long,” Darren said and ducked into a shop. It was filled with a random assortment of equipment, including a fair number of weapons. Darren browsed ?until he came across a decent cutlass.
<<<<>>>>
Cutlass (Good)
Forged in the fires of… the local blacksmith. This cutlass is a serviceable weapon suitable for the go-getting sailor.
-
Damage: 19 (base 13 + 6 from STR)
-
Damage Type: Slashing
-
Critical Modifier: 3x
<<<<>>>>
It was a damn sight better than his flint axe, which dealt a pathetic base 5 damage. Thankfully, it came with a scabbard, too. He also snagged a full set of Fair quality hand tools: chisels, knife, a real axe, hammer, square, planer, whet stone, measuring line, and a few other assorted odds and ends. He wanted to be prepared if he had to build another boat in a pinch.
By the time he stocked up on every random piece of equipment he could think of, he had clocked nearly five Pieces of Eight worth. He did some quick mental maths, so about 5/8 of a Sovereign. Expensive, but not as much as his clothes, at two Sovereigns…
Next, he found a store carrying travel rations and stocked up.
Finally, he found a potion store and raided it. He stocked up mostly on healing potions and stat boosting potions for Intelligence, Strength, and Wisdom. That shopping trip cost him a whole sovereign, but entirely worth it. The Greater Intelligence potions gave him a solid +5 to INT, while the healing potions would each bring him to full health from nearly dead.
With everything, he figured he’d be about set for the next eight days of insanity. Now he just needed to find water, clean up, change, head back to Suave Wears and meet the Countess and charm her into letting him buy that Legendary outfit.
Done with shopping, he beelined to The Rusty Spoon in the poor quarter, figuring he’d just get a room now.
It was, as Samantha had said, surprisingly good quality, given the location. He soon found himself a few Bits poorer but in a simple room with a basin in the corner and a jug of relatively clean water. It also had a bed with what looked like a straw-stuffed mattress and a single blanket. But whatever. Water!
He popped Wilson onto the bed and headed to the basin, pouring the water into it.
“Soo…” Wilson said, as Darren stripped down, “you finally gonna tell me what your cunning plan is, Baldrick?”
“Hah! Good reference.” Darren gave Wilson a grin as he pulled up the quest again. “You saw that Poseidon counted my interactions with Tarlia as fulfilment of the Valiant Warrior requirement, yes?”
Wilson nodded.
“Well, I had a suspicion based on having already completed the Immortal requirement that Poseidon was, perhaps, flexing the rules for me a little. But completing Valiant Warrior confirmed it. It’s like an episode of Taskmaster from the twenty-tens. A bunch of comedians get given a series of tasks to complete, and the winner of each task is judged solely at the discretion of the Taskmaster.
“Now, nothing too odd there. But… there’s a lot of room for lateral thinking with the challenges. In fact, it’s encouraged.
“Poseidon confirmed with that quest update that he’s able to award success based on technicalities, not just the spirit of the quest.”
“Okay,” Wilson said. “But how’s that make this quest any easier to get frew?”
Darren pulled out a bar of soap he’d purchased and began scrubbing. “Look at the quest. What task stands out as nigh impossible in eight days without stupid amounts of luck?”
Wilson was silent as he presumably read through the quest displayed in his mind’s eye. “I’m gonna go with foundin’ or conquerin’ a settlement.”
“Bingo! But… consider this: what is a settlement?”
“A place where people… settle?”
“Yes. Exactly,” Darren said, jabbing the bar of soap in Wilson’s direction. “People would normally be humans if it were my world. However, there is a massive range of ‘people’ here, lots of different species. What defines people here?”
“Hmmm.”
“Precisely. We’re going to conquer an ant ‘settlement’.”
“... You’re serious.”
Darren shot Wilson finger guns then began wiping the soap off. “Completely. And if it doesn’t work, well, I’ll think of something else. Lateral thinking. That’s what’s gonna get this sucker done.”
He grabbed the towel by the basin and started patting himself dry, enjoying the feeling of moderately clean skin. He couldn’t wait to have a two-hour-long soak in a hot bath, slowly drifting into oblivion as he turned into a wrinkled lobster and enjoyed a chilled beer and contemplated cracking open the Box of Trauma. He let out a sigh. One day.
Finally clean, he donned his new outfit, which fit so much better. The advantage of being in a game world was that all clothes fit to a greater or lesser extent. The higher the quality, the nicer they fit, but man, woman, elf, Minotaur, the clothes would morph to suit.
It also meant that as you bulked out from dropping points into Strength, your clothes would continue to fit. No Hulk busting clothes here.
He took a quick peek at his stats to see where things stood with the new digs.
<<<<>>>>
Basic Info:
-
Name: Darien Cortez
-
HP: 70 (base 50 + 20 from CON)
-
Level: 5
-
XP: 301,361/304,000
Current skills:
-
Shipwright lvl 1 (13% Proficiency)
-
Twist of Fate lvl 1 (22% Proficiency)
-
Summoned Swivel Gun lvl 1 (5% Proficiency)
-
Supercharged Shot lvl 5 (100% Proficiency)
Current stats:
-
Constitution: 12 (base 11 + 1 from trousers)
-
Strength: 13
-
Dexterity: 12 (base 10 + 2 from footwear)
-
Intelligence: 17
-
Wisdom: 10
-
Luck: 14
-
Endure Elements: +1
-
Armour: +18 (9% reduction to physical damage)
Unallocated stat point per level bonus: 1
<<<<>>>>
He nodded in satisfaction. The trousers alone had added another 10 hit points to his pool. With each point over the base 10 points netting him +2 to health per level, it worked out very nicely.
The two extra stats, Endure Elements and Armour, were a happy addition, too.
“What about the other tasks?” Wilson asked from his spot on the bed.
“Hmm?” Darren closed the page down and refocused on the conversation. “There’s some wiggle room with them, I’ll think of something. Now ready to go?”
The coconut nodded, and Darren popped him on his shoulder and left.