Liene liked to monologue a bit and was clearly enjoying teaching mode. She was making a number of points by either stabbing her skewers or throwing them about the room.
"Well, let's start with the things you have far more control over – rifts and dungeons. There can always be a surprise break but overall, it's mostly about which ones you choose to enter. What was your affinity again? I can help recommend where to go and maybe get you some discounts on delve slots," Liene said, leaning impossibly far back in her chair.
I wondered if there was an enchantment on the chair, she had a skill or spell, or she was just that good. My guess was enchanted chair since she chose a very specific one.
"I don't think I mentioned; I am null affinity," I said casually but to a series of dark looks and even a hand-clenched-to-the-chest gasp from the brawler. He looked truly horrified.
"
She shook her head in an exaggerated fashion. “It sucks big dragon
"You'll have your pick and might even get those stodgy
"Eh… he can't get involved with the Adventurers Guild. Because of his… prior circumstances…" Stannis seemed to be choosing his words carefully but made a few gestures at me and then almost a wiggling his hips motion from his chair.
I finally had to say something. "Okay, I want to get back to the rifts discussion but what can you tell me about this Cornelius thing? It seems like it will follow me no matter what. And I think Stannis is being prevented from actually saying something." He visibly winced, though this time it didn't seem from getting hurt. "I think it would be helpful to us both if you explained." I tried to keep my voice calm and steady but I was too intrigued.
Generally, I did my best not to get involved in office gossip for many reasons – rule 194 – but this seemed juicy and it truly seemed like it would haunt me. Possibly to my literal grave. Best to get ahead of it.
Before Liene could respond, Stannis let out a gasp of pain. "That is classified and I can't be involved in letting the information get out. And nope, I can't try to do something mildly clever like leave the room. Now that I know it might be discussed, I can't allow it." After a brief pause, he looked to me and simply added, "I'm sorry."
Disappointed didn't really describe how I felt. Resigned was probably the best way. I couldn't fault Stannis, just someone higher up the chain that screwed me over.
There were ways to likely get enough details but they might result in pretty bad repercussions for Stannis if anyone discovered it. Weighing the need to know versus Stannis' safety and maybe life – if they were shocking him just for skirting around the info, it might really be truly classified in an ‘I could tell you but I'd have to kill you and then a bunch of other people’ kind of way – I decided to let it go.
Plus someone might get pissed off if I learn about it and then come squish me. Yes, let's leave that for now.
The warrior, a woman sporting a greatsword and some truly impressive muscles – damn, nice forearms! Wait, is that something I’m into now? Ugh, stupid 18 year old body – stepped forward and put a hand on Liene's shoulder. "I would be remiss if I didn't ensure the soundness of your understanding of the intricacies of cultivation. I had the unfortunate pleasure of a run-in related to your… body double… and I came to understand he – or at least his soul and consciousness – came here through no machinations of his own from a world, nay a realm, that lacked cultivation. Is your situation equivalent?"
At my nod, she continued. "And the cultivation pyramid has been explained, that building from the zeroth sub-Tier to the first will take considerably less essence than from the eighth to the ninth?" At my affirmative nod, she gave a grateful nod to Stannis. "And then surely, your Innate Capability and the Evens and Odds were covered too. That's obviously important for your build."
Stannis gave a nervous – or embarrassed – cough and I added, "We didn't have time to cover that and unfortunately, my Core Ignition did not include the disclosure of my Innate Capability, only that it wasn't dangerous to the Kingdom. It would have been 50 gold for that information, only the ignition was free."
The entire group looked shocked initially and their faces quickly morphed into a range from disgusted to mutinous.
"I think I heard her say 'lucky little' something, maybe sodas?" Chuckles erupted from everyone. "Let's keep it to one question: if I didn't know my 'Cap', how would you treat that?"
"Well, you'll be able to get a reading pretty cheaply, even here in town," Liene started but cut off at a shake of the head from Stannis. "
I’m pretty sure ‘sodus’ is pretty equivalent to shit and ‘jebbie’ is probably the f-word.
"Okay, do you know how you want to fight? We can't take your Cap into account right now. If you are null, that probably means solo delving unfortunately. You could armor up like crazy but I doubt the funds they gave you will let you actually get good enough sodus to protect your cute
There were multiple shudders, including from Stannis.
“Have seen too many get turtled by overwhelming numbers and if you don't have anyone to step in to get you off your back, you're jebbie’d. Hopefully not literally!" She looked for a laugh that didn’t come before sombering. "Being slowly bitten or scratched to death and your only remaining hope is that it's relatively quick is a real jebbie’d way to go…"
I felt sick to my stomach but apparently wasn't the only one. The brawler and ranged attacker both looked off into the distance.
"I want to focus more on control, dexterity and dodging, and whittling opponents down. I have tried to just use overwhelming force in video games—" At seeing their looks of utter confusion, I tried a different wording.
Consultant survival tip #9: Always read the room. It is very easy to lose people, especially when using jargon they might not know, and many stay lost rather than catching up to the conversation with just a bit of context missing. And few will actually admit they are lost and ask for clarification. Overexplain more than underexplain. It can frustrate some but better they are overinformed than under.
"—these are simulations of things like battle that we have for entertainment. And gaining knowledge." Not the best explanation but one that fits with what's available for purchase to use with tablets and AAIs.
With everyone back to being on board, I said, "I have used strategies of simply overwhelming force and it ended… badly. With my… the person I was using in the simulation dying quickly. So I want to focus more on control but I also don't think a ranged attacker is good only on their own – no offense… sorry, I didn't get your name." The ranged attacker just shrugged.
Liene laughed, setting her hat in motion again. "Dragoslav is somewhat of a specialist in stealth and thus likes to remain silent. Except when losing at cards. That said, it's almost impossible to offend him. Unless you talk about that god-awful book series he is always going on about. The Amazing Adventures of something or other.
"Back to the point: you want to focus on battle control. That means you probably want defense and offense with a bit of range so probably shield plus spear or a moderate length sword. Halberd would fit the bill if you were strong enough to wield it one handed but I don't think that is the case right now. Mostly that's someone who has a few Tiers and has focused almost exclusively on strength. And you'd need a great trainer which you won't find out in the boonies.
"Yes, I would probably recommend sword or spear. Despite your height, swords open up a lot more arenas in the future with two handed, thrusting, etc. They are best when delving though not quite as good against people because everyone trains against them. Anyone disagree?"
Sword and board it is I guess. Maybe I can put a cool sigil or coat of arms on the shield? Do I want to differentiate myself much? I guess I'll see if the general vibe is towards supporting the standouts or if the tall blade of grass gets cut.
After spending the next 15 minutes on deciding which spear or sword type would work best – I’d been in favor of a sword that looked like what I thought was a khopesh but I was never too much of a swords guy – we actually ended up on a long shaft morningstar instead. It would inflict some piercing wounds, allow me to more easily damage or cripple monster limbs, help me move enemies around through strength-based blows, take advantage of my height, etc. I could cultivate more to strength and dexterity early instead of getting overly complex.
Plus, they were pretty cheap so I could continually upgrade to ones with enchantments and/or made of better materials. Though I’d probably need to commission them as they weren’t that common.
I didn't think I'd look as cool but it really did fit the wear-them-down-while-staying-safe style of fighting I was hoping for. Plus, most who wielded the spiked mace didn't develop bad habits for switching to other weapons, which was something Luka – the assassin type – was happy to report. He was all about maintaining flexibility to take the best path forwards.
The warrior, who’d been heavily team sword, was looking slightly grumpy but stepped forward again. I eventually learned her name was Axe. It used to be Alexandra but she shortened it to Axe. She said it gave her a minor advantage through confusion in battle: when people heard someone shouting commands for Axe, they looked for an axe. And that was her moment to strike.
"Guildmistress Liene, I know we deigned to focus on weapons and still must cover armor but I believe it is imperative to at least broach Evens and Odds forthwith. If he leaves without said knowledge, it could significantly impede his path."
"Yes, yes Axe, we know how much you love talking the intricacies. Go ahead." Liene grabbed another skewer and, despite the sauce having congealed on it in multiple spots, looking like greasy pupae to the mystery meat, she seemed to enjoy it as much as any other she'd eaten. Apparently the six extra helpings were all for her.
"Coinciding with your Core Ignition and subsequent rise to Tier 1, you gain an initial Innate Capability. Or 'Cap' as some cretins call it." She threw a glance around and all of her fellow guild members rolled their eyes simultaneously, like it was choreographed.
"As this was seemingly not explained to you, Stannis I may have words for you after. However, depending on how you allocate your essence and your cultivation focus, you will gain additional Innate Capabilities and strengthen them. I have consumed a large corpus of research on this topic and find it fascinating."
Just as she was getting up a head of steam, Liene said, "Time limit girl. Flirt with the nerd sodus later."
Blushing deeply, Axe bowed her head before continuing, talking to the table. "All cultivators are either Evens or Odds. If you are an Even, every time you advance in Tier, or 'Tier Up', on even Tiers, your initial Innate Capability increases, often significantly, in efficacy. On odd Tiers, Evens get additional small boons to their initial Innate Capability. Most cultivators are Evens. It is challenging to get exact numbers as most people are not amenable to divulge such information, but estimates are around 92.3%.
"Odds are obviously quite uncommon. Every even Tier, an Odd will receive an increase to one of their Innate Capabilities. That increase is usually paltry but can occasionally be quite substantial. I said 'one of' because every odd Tier, Odds receive an additional full Innate Capability. Typically, it is closely aligned with the initial Innate Capability but it can be rather random. At the even Tier, an Odd ordinarily sees their most recent Innate Capability increase in strength.
"Then, everything becomes more fascinating, yet sadly more muddled, when you start to allocate essence to your Innate Capability core."
I bet I’m an Odd. Gotta have some super-secret set of special power, right? If only…
We discussed cores for another ten minutes and I was starting to get worried about the time but cores were actually more important than armor when I started learning more.
Everyone had four cores: physical, magical, innate capability, and bloodline.
Bloodline was the easiest; a few people and all magical beasts – a topic I wanted to delve deeply into but we couldn't right then – had a bloodline. Those bloodlines gave people powers, such as a Green Iguana with strong regenerative powers that meant a lost limb could be regrown almost instantaneously.
It's possible for someone to allocate up to 10% of their essence in any Tier to their bloodline core. If someone didn’t have a current bloodline, they could awaken one – through magical intervention, not spontaneously unfortunately – but the higher the Tier of the person when it happens, the less effective it will be. Post Tier 5, there were no records, at least on Putijama, about someone awakening a bloodline.
Similar to the bloodline core, it's possible to allocate up to 10% of essence in any Tier to the Innate Capability core, or CapCore as Liene called it, further strengthening existing innate capabilities. With Evens, it's pretty straightforward. But with Odds, things can get more complex. Most people can choose which Innate Capability to allocate to but it's not 100%. We didn't get deep into the intricacies but Axe excitedly winked at me – in a very friendly only way – and mouthed something that I couldn't understand through the translation spell.
Most people allocated nothing to the bloodline core and little to no essence to the CapCore.
Magical and physical cores were pretty much what I was expecting. For the magical core, it was about directing essence towards mana regeneration, mana capacity, or the more nebulous mana affinity. Most people had multiple affinities but one main one; if they wanted to increase their affinity to orange essence, they would allocate more to that. However, it only worked on their spells, not how they absorbed essence.
I really was still a bit lost there but time was of the essence. Pun not intended.
The physical core was a lot of the typical categories of endurance, regeneration, strength, dexterity, processing, memory, proprioception, etc. People could get really specific too, like increasing hand dexterity. Luka had that in spades and Dragoslav did too. Axe gave me a good breakdown of where I should focus past Tier 1 with just the advice of 'equal distribution to everything' in Tier 1 depending on how much I put to my physical and magic cores.
They recommended 70/30 physical and magical but I was thinking closer to 60/40 or maybe even 50/50. The dream of being a mage is too cool!
Unfortunately, they informed me mana isn’t typically useful until you get spells and skills but most wanted to build out their pool a bit in advance.
Liene cut off a discussion about allocation strategy and quickly brought us around to armor. "With what you're going for, I would normally recommend full plate. Unfortunately you don't have the budget for anything more than basically paper plate, HA!" No one else laughed at the lame joke. "Okay, first off, boo to all of you. Cleaning duty to everyone. Second, I think full plate it too dangerous for a solo delver for what we talked about earlier. Luka, Axe, if you were balancing movement and resilience with a shield, what would you go for?"
"Chain shirt and probably leg plates or studded leather pants. Oh man, he would look great in leather pants, wouldn't he?" Luka said, looking to Liene.
"Frankly, I concur with Luka," Axe added quickly.
"About the armor or the leather pants?" Liene chided. Axe blushed a deep crimson and mumbled to herself.
Consultant survival tip #74: Never, ever, EVER make fun of your subordinates in a full meeting, no matter what relationship everyone has to each other. Going for the joke can come at the expense of their trust. The cost of a few laughs is their trust and respect. It’s not worth it.
"Stannis, I think you can help him pick out the armor, no? Armor is obviously crucial but really, there are few really bad directions you can go and with your budget, most of it is pretty much the same. So, any remaining questions? You booked us for an hour."
I excitedly leaned forward, now that all the melee talk was done. Yes it was crucial. And honestly fascinating. But SPELLS!
"Everyone keeps telling me I shouldn't get spells or skills yet but I don't know why. Stannis won’t say but I don't think it's classified, he’s not getting shocked. So why shouldn't I get a spell – if I can afford it – at my current sub-Tier?"
I tried to keep my voice steady. If it was bad for me now, I would have the patience to not ruin my cultivation; or my pocketbook.
But man did I want to shoot lightning and fly and do it all.
Even just that sound attack that pushed people a bit would be cool.
Focusing back on the rest of the room from my daydream, I really looked around. Everyone was giving me slightly pained looks. "What? Did I say something offensive?"
I couldn't understand any of what they said in reply.
Well, sodus.
***
SO. MUCH. PAIN.
While the Core Ignition was simultaneously good and bad – like that time I'd hooked up with my ex – the AAI implantation was no mixed bag.
It was only awful.
Really, really awful.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
On Earth, they always said you couldn't feel brain surgery. And it makes sense, why would there be nerve endings in your brain?
But I could feel the chip moving through my brain, every millimeter it wiggled and wriggled slowly through my gray matter felt like a poke in the belly button but for my whole body – a weird mix of nausea, pain, and something adjacent to pleasure that was somehow awful. I thought they might implant it at the base of my skull but nope. Seemingly dead center of my jebbie-ing brain. It took forever; we had already been there for almost 45 minutes.
And my burgeoning connection to the damn thing made me even more aware of it and everything around me.
At least I could actually finally understand what everyone was saying. The AAI chip, as I learned from Stannis in our down moments, was a mix of technology and magic. It could communicate directly via my brainwaves. And it took in soundwaves and changed the words to concepts I could understand if it was loaded with the software for that language.
Awesome for communicating with those I could connect with but far less useful for those I couldn't as it wouldn't change my own words and their chips presumably wouldn’t understand English.
Stannis was apparently barred from connecting with me so while I could understand him, he couldn't me. The technician was translating until I said, "Hi, yes, I appreciate you translating but I'd rather you focus on not destroying my brain. I like this brain. Well, I've only had it for a bit but I like it so far."
Stop trying to tell jokes to the person holding instruments inside your brain. At least it didn't land.
Imagine the tombstone:
Here lies Terry.
He told a joke so good it killed.
Him, unfortunately.
"Oh, I retracted the tools and the chip itself is finding the right spot with the aid of its magic and that of the facility. All good here, I'm just keeping your skull open because it is so cool seeing it work," the man said with a nonchalance I envied. He said it like that was a normal thing to do to another person, watch as something wriggled through their brain just for the fun of it.
Not knowing how to react, I sat there in a confused silence for a good two minutes before he began touching a tool to the bones that were peeled away at the top of my skull. They made sloppy squelching sounds as I felt them reseal. I was simply glad I was restrained because my almighty shudder might have caused damage.
Maybe it made my hair better? Couldn’t have made it worse…
Suddenly, I was free from the bindings. I looked to the man who just languidly stared back at me.
"Uh, can I go now?" I asked. He just made a shooing motion and took out a tablet and started watching something. I turned to Stannis who handed me my tablet and walked me through connecting it to my AAI. Thankfully, it was locked to my AAI so no one could steal the tablet and get the information on it.
Personal information security is probably going to be even more important here since personal power is driven by the actual power of my person. I need to keep info about me secret. If only Middy could see me this worried about OpSec.
I brought up the free translation program Alena pointed me to and started talking. Stannis smiled as the program started spitting letters out on the screen. The program could speak out loud – called A Dragon Speaking Naturally – was ungodly expensive.
"I'll never learn magic it seems." Stannis merely laughed and shrugged. "Shall we go see about getting me some armor, a morningstar, some supplies, and hopefully a spatial item?"
Stannis nodded and swung his arm, turning towards the door. "You know I can understand you, it's just you that can't understand me, right?" I said.
Stannis turned around and looked at the tablet and laughed again. "Totally forgot that. Glad we had a plan for when the magic would fizzle. Liene was very concerned you were screwed. Damn budget allocation only giving us
I visibly rolled my eyes and he laughed again. He seemed in a much better mood suddenly. I knew he exchanged a few words with the members of Liene's guild before we left but I wasn't sure if that was the cause. Holding the tablet in front of my face, I said, "Okay, let's head back to that shop Alena recommended?"
I heard Stannis move and brought the tablet down. He looked sheepish and nodded. I presumed it was for the second time.
"Just lead the way and feel free to talk freely at me about the city, its culture, the Guard, etc. as we walk there. I'd rather hurry a bit because I know you can't really tell me much beyond what you have already about cultivation and I want to try to get to the town – Velez – before the sun sets if I'm really not allowed to stay here even a single night." I kept the tablet just to the side of my face this time and Stannis seemed better at-ease with that.
"Sounds great, let's go kid."
***
The quick hop on, hop off journey from a horseless carriage had us there in no time.
Mostly Stannis talked about The Wandering Lotus and Alena's joke sounded more and more true. Why a guard was comfortable just walking around the city talking about some AAI or tablet show with people hooking up in pretty salacious detail I wasn't sure – and he did get a few mildly scandalized looks – but it was mostly background noise for me as I processed.
Okay, so we have a fighting style and most of what I'll buy picked out. Stannis said he'd reach out to Miklos about his brother and Velez so they would be aware I was coming at least and I'd hopefully have a contact when I arrived.
I'm feeling good about getting to Velez safely and with money to last me a bit while I get settled.
I hope there is a good training program there like Liene said was likely. I’ve got my AAI-assisted training module but following phantom forms in my vision and actual instruction are two very different things.
We entered the shop and Stannis, speaking at a very slow pace, started talking with the awkward shopkeeper again. This time a wizened woman was watching bemusedly beside him.
"Hello. We were in here previously. Earlier. This man," Stannis indicated towards me, "would like to purchase, to buy some things from you. Good deals. Low prices. Yes?"
"What the hell are you on about?" the old woman asked, laughing. Then she looked at me, her deep orange eyes seeming to burn into me. "Well, you're the supposed big spender – put out feelers about spatial storage items that might be in your price range and got three here – so get your cute butt – yes, you're cute; no, it probably won't impact your price if you flirt with me but feel free to give it a whorl. And by it, I mean only flirting – over here and take a look. You wanted weapons, armor, and supplies too, right?"
I was slightly taken aback. There was one older woman two clients ago who was slightly flirty but it had been some time since someone was that… overt. And she would have been 30 years older than me on Earth and my body here was even younger.
"Oh, I was only kidding. It's like it's your first day here. Oh wait," she looked to Stannis then guffawed so loud it triggered a hacking fit and I could swear I saw a small bit of flame shoot out of her mouth. Still trying to catch her breath, she wheezed out, "It probably literally is your first day on the planet. Well, get the
Really, even the AAI translation software maker was a language prude?
I tried manually setting the translation software to just let the word through and surprisingly it complied. I wouldn’t get the translation but at least the weird buzz from redacted words would go away.
I spoke slowly at first. "First, can you understand me?"
She looked confused and turned to Stannis. "Did he get hit on the head? Oh, the pretty ones always are so dumb. No good for pillow talk, you know?" She laughed again.
"He just had his AAI implanted. As in you are the first person other than me and the technician he has interacted with." Stannis was looking like he was barely holding on to the stern face and there were tears at the corners of his eyes.
"Traitor," I said and held up the tablet. All three looked at me with suddenly wary eyes. "Uh, that's a phrase for when a friend betrays someone, like in this situation Stannis. I didn't mean it literally." Everyone relaxed a bit but the tension was still ratcheted up far higher than I wanted. "Sorry," I finished.
Consultant survival tip #7: It can be great to relieve tension with a joke. But a boring joke is always better. Going way out on a limb might work every once-in-a-while but it isn’t worth the risk. Keep jokes light and not sensitive. Don’t go for calling someone something risky for instance.
Tip #7 is so damn boring. But it keeps being proven true.
"Terry, you should be getting a request from her momentarily. Think about accepting and it will happen," Stannis said with a bit of the previous mischievousness returning to his eye.
[Esmerelda, Empress of the Emporium of East Zalano's Excellent Exchanges, would like to initiate an AAI connection with you. Translation of verbal communication only. Status: temporary, <73 minutes>. Accept?]
The window in the corner of my eye was strange but at the same time almost exactly what I was expecting. I thought yes, expecting the window to close and my vision to return to normal but I immediately got another prompt.
[Ivan, Idiotic Intern of the Emporium of East Zalano's Excellent Exchanges, would like to initiate an AAI connection with you. Translation of verbal communication only. Status: temporary, <73 minutes>. Accept?]
I turned towards the man. "She gets to set my title if it's for official use of the shop." He shrugged and seemed to not care one whit.
Good for him. I think.
Accepting the second prompt, I stepped forward. "Yes, thank you for doing some prep work. I unfortunately realized I wasn't prepared to select my weapons and armor. I have gold to spend if you have the wares."
Heh, need to also get something to prevent arrows to the knee.
"Uh, of course we have the wares. That's why you're here. Anyway, you want to start by looking at the spatial storage items?" Ivan asked pointing to two rings and a cloth bag.
Without waiting, he plowed forward. "Okay, if all you buy are these, you won't get nearly as good of a deal. We are selling these on consignment and there are some weird formulae that go into it. We use this software that lets me play with the margin but—" he suddenly stopped as the old woman walloped him upside the head. "Ow, what was that for?"
"No one wants to hear about what we actually use for our bookkeeping and price setting you nincompoop!"
Pretty cool nincompoop was actually translated. Not as a swear word but that's an edge-case insult for sure.
"Actually, I would be interested but let's focus on the transaction and maybe exchange contact details after? I would love to help procure amazing artifacts and radiant relics for you in my adventures," I said, trying a wink. I’d always been bad at them in my old body but this one felt good.
"That sounds great,” he said as if to a toddler who proclaimed he was going to punch the moon.
“As I was saying, this first ring is going to run you 62 gold on its own. It has a stability rating of high B grade, a capacity of <800 cubic feet>, a toughness rating of high B, and it has an item isolation enchantment up to 50 goods. Beyond that, all isolations fail though. Maximum capacity per item that you apply isolation to is <17.5 cubic feet> but you can probably fit something over <250 cubic feet> in there with no isolation. We didn’t have something that big to test specifically.
“It also has a minor stasis enchantment that will help with transporting goods that might spoil." Ivan was trying to do some hand flourishes over a rather lovely looking ring of probably platinum with a large purple gemstone.
Sensing that was probably too rich for my blood after a few second pause, he silently moved on to the bag. "Now this is great for hunters, bringing those monster parts back to sell or really anything that deals in volume. Stability is low C grade, capacity is an astounding <1200 cubic feet> of storage, up to eight moderately resizable isolation chambers but no item isolation, toughness of mid C grade. No enchantments. That will run you 35 gold all on its own but it's actually owned by family of the owner so you will get a better discount on it the more you spend. I could see it going down to close to 20 gold if you spend over 50 total, depending on some other factors. "
Consultant survival tip #18: If someone is on a roll and giving out good information, DO NOT INTERRUPT. People like to fill silences and if that is with good information, all the better. Play it one of two ways and decide in the moment. First is to keep an interested face, give good but silent encouragement. The second is to look bored and like you expect them to reengage you in the conversation. Both can work and are relatively low risk.
Seeing I was neither biting on his pitch nor asking questions, he gestured at the last ring, an utterly plain metal band that actually looked like it had rust spots. "Honestly, I feel like this one is a bit of a dud. Weird enchantments. The stasis enchantment was done incorrectly so it actually increases the rate of decay. Its stability is mid D grade and the toughness is low C grade – so it will take a good hit from most low Tier 1 monsters with no issues – and has an extremely weak autorepair function. Like anything that damages it could take weeks to heal.
"It can also charge small electronics like your tablet there. The capacity is strange because it fluctuates. We got 49 items into it before it failed but it didn't want to take more than <250 cubic feet> in total and nothing more than <64 cubic feet> per item, though shape didn't matter. The item isolation is weird because it grouped like with like in the same isolation bubble. Very strange.
“It might be able to accept essence and Tier Up but I highly doubt it – the others are going to stay at Tier 1 but this one resisted the identification spells we cast on it. The guy selling it called it sentimental so while I'd say it's worth 12-15 gold, he wants 25. It’s a spatial storage item but frankly, it sucks."
"Can you explain what stability and toughness mean? I am guessing toughness is its ability to take a hit. Is stability how stable it is over time, meaning items might get damaged or the storage item itself might start to fail?" I asked.
"Yes and no. Correct to the toughness. For Tier 1, any of these should be safe from anything in the 1.0-1.4 range for monsters unless you have many attacking it at once. After that, you start to see Tier 1 items potentially taking a hit that leaves lasting damage. A lot of people actually wear spatial rings in special padded pouches when in rifts and dungeons to prevent damage. It makes it slower to access the storage but then you just keep things you might need extremely quickly on you.
“Regarding stability, you are close. Simply put, items degrade. Most spatial storage items actually start out pretty high in B grade and then degrade over various lengths of time. A C grade will last you at least a few years, by which time most delvers can Tier Up a few times and get something better than these. And we are equipping you to be a delver. If you’re just doing regular work, it will probably be hard to afford a replacement but high danger delving means high rewards for those who are successful.
"Items in spatial storage can get damaged or lost, especially fragile or, more worryingly, highly magical items that are more susceptible to being pulled into the void. You'd need a legendary void mage to pull something back from that but they are just made up! Ha!" Ivan seemed tickled at his 'joke' but no one else reacted so I felt fine basically ignoring it beyond a small smile.
"Great, thanks for the information. Let's look at what else you have and we can get down to business," I said. Then I held up the tablet and Stannis gave me a thumbs up.
All in, I had 59 gold I could use, having spent around ten gold so far and keeping six gold for living costs – 60 days at ten silver a day. I wasn't willing to put myself at risk for desires instead of needs but two months should be enough to get myself going.
As we went through the armor, I found a rather fetching set of chain coif and shirt that came to my elbows with vambraces and gauntlets. They were lightly enchanted with autocleaning and a mild autorepair function.
There really wasn't much that was good when it came to protecting my legs. We went with some leather pants that were enchanted with durability and flexibility in mind and threw some light greaves overtop.
I was truly out of my depth at this point and just listened to the experts. I usually just threw armor on in video games and my three session journey into the world of LARP ended when someone threw a 'spell' directly at my face, breaking my glasses. The girl I was dating who was into said live action role playing seemed to think it was my own fault for not wearing prescription rec specs.
I am from Chicago. I grew up wanting to be Michael Jordan, NOT Horace Grant!
"Now boy, you need a close-range backup for when things really get bad. Let's get you a dagger," Stannis said, looking wistfully at a small, intricate blade with gems of green and brown glowing softly in the hilt.
“We’ve got throwing and regular, which do you want?” Ivan gestured his head in two different directions.
Knowing I needed a ranged option, I chose throwing. I can pull off a bandolier! …I hope. I headed towards the area with a few throwing knives and pretended to look like I knew what I was doing, bending over the display to inspect closely.
A hand rested gently on my shoulder as Stannis leaned down to whisper in my ear. “You want to look at quantity over quality. You’re gonna start out throwing like sodus so it’s best to not have to rebuy every few delves. And to always have them around for when you need ‘em if you get disarmed.”
The old woman laughed. “You realize this place is heavily enchanted right? I can hear everything in here with ease. That said, I have an option that just came in that I think will help with that. And it will train you to watch where you throw too!” She looked like she might let out a cackle but it was actually a belch. “Huh, that soup was delicious but isn’t agreeing with me. Ivan, you sell the poor boy on why the ‘Found Yet Never Lost’ daggers are the right option.”
“Uh, so the reason they are right, first and foremost, is you get 10 and they are cheap. They are actually good quality and have a slight repair enchantment on the bandolier. When you get within 10 feet (3m) of a knife that is outside the bandolier, it will alert you. That way, you can more easily recover them. It’s only 1 and a half gold because it’s an unusual enchantment and most either want auto-returning daggers or go for pure quantity.” Without even waiting for an answer, Ivan swept it into my pile for final review.
Looking to Stannis and seeing him giving an interested look, I figured at worst, I could just say no later.
Consultant survival tip #117: If someone knows better on a topic and is likely working in your best interests, let them cook, don’t get in their way. You don’t have to be the expert on everything. Take precautions to make sure it doesn’t fall apart, don’t go for big swings that leave you exposed, but for small things, it’s often best to rely on others if you can.
I moved to the spatial items. The fancy ring was always going to be way out of my price range. The bag was just that, a burlap sack. Yes, it was enchanted but it was really ugly. And it felt impractical for some reason.
Possibly that was simply because the second I touched the rusted ring, it felt like it belonged to me. Belonged in a way I’d never really felt before; or at least in a very long time. The feeling made me remember being a toddler and someone at daycare taking away the toy I was playing with – one I brought from home – and the intense feeling of disgust at the idea of not having it.
No one else seemed to notice but I was pretty sure I just Gollum'd in the store.
I absolutely need this. I must have it.
With the supplies, my morningstar and a warhammer as a backup weapon, my mid-sized shield, and the armor, it all came to 39 gold – after all my previous bargaining and wheedling.
I only have 59 gold total to use. They aren’t coming down on the ring…
Putting on my best puppy dog eyes, something I hadn't even been close to pulling off in my old body, I pleaded, "I will take this very ugly ring off your hands. It sullies your store to even have it displayed where someone could see. With everything together, that will be 59 gold and 17 silver. That's plenty! It's a steal at that!"
There’s a reason the sales team handled negotiation.
"Ha young man, maybe if you were to owe me a few… favors… we might call that a deal," the old woman gave me a lascivious look.
Then she burst into another wheezing cackle.
"YOUR FACE! YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR FACE! Boy, I know who you aren't and even if it were him, he ain't worth 5 gold for a tumble. Good gravy, you really are new, aren't ya. Tell ya what, put some of that armor back and we'll have a deal provided you owe me a favor in the future. Stannis here will make sure it's all fair, nothing too crazy but you'll still owe old Esmeralda here. That, or you can have the perfectly good bag."
Knowing it was probably a dumb idea, I put the coif back – I have a presumably glorious head of hair, despite the current cut, so why not show it off?
Yes, it was a dumb justification.
Consultant survival tip [error, not found]: Sometimes you just need to do the thing you want despite all signs pointing to it being a dumb move.
Bet on your instincts. They haven’t proven you wrong. Today.
Isekonsultant survival tip #1: When a magic ring calls to you, answer.
Stannis cuffed me on the shoulder as I put the last of my things into my new ring. Ivan was helpful enough to crate up most of the supplies so it would only count as a few items in the wacky way the magic worked.
They hadn't really tested weight limit so I was glad it seemed to not care in the slightest about the heavier crates. Esmeralda even included an enormous water jug with a very weak automatically refilling enchantment because no one Tier 1 or lower wanted to lug it around and anyone with a spatial item typically could afford much better.
"Well boy, it's time to kick you out of town. I've already gotten five messages asking me when it will be done. I'll walk you to the east gate. Gabor, Miklos’ brother, is already aware of you coming his way." Stannis was trying to keep a positive face going and failing spectacularly.
I waved goodbye to Esmeralda and Ivan and tried to connect to them via AAI for a more permanent contact. Ivan accepted, Esmeralda rejected it and told me to go through Ivan and she'd find me when she wanted that favor.
On the quiet ride over to the east gate, Stannis looked pensive. It seemed he was finally talked out.
As I turned to him just inside the gate, he gave me a large smile that seemed painted on, not reaching his eyes. I tried a connection request just to see and his smile turned rueful. "Sorry lad, can't happen. At least not yet."
I nodded in understanding, shook his hand, and walked through the gates, turning back to look his direction and wave. Apparently I still hadn’t mastered their version because he gave me an odd look. I turned and headed in the direction my AAI said the village of Velez was.
Then, I was suddenly on the ground, someone in a hooded robe hanging over top of me, reaching for a knife on their belt.
Well, sodus.
***
NOTES APP
End of Day 1 Needs and Goals
Current wealth:
[~0 gold to spend, 6 gold reserved]
Immediate Needs – INs:
1) leave Zalano before welcome is worn out
2) safe travel to Velez to the east and a safe place to sleep
Short-term Goals – STGs:
1) get contact info for Axe, Liene, Esmeralda, Ivan, Stannis, Miklos, and Miklos' brother (Gabor) – Ivan succeeded, Esmeralda and Stannis failed
2) begin training to be able to reach at least Tier 2 in the next year – good pace is said to be two thirds of a year and doubling every Tier after that
3) discover Innate Capability
4) decide on Tier 1 essence splits
5) do NOT hurt long-term cultivation; play it safe rather than do irreversible damage
6) figure out this Cornelius BS
7) healing potion?
Long-term Goals – LTGs:
0) get to a safe level of power to not be squishable at all times
1) understand spells and why everyone seems to say they are dangerous
2) begin finding market inefficiencies, start Galactic Trade Federation Empire 2.0?
3) decide on long-term fighting style or find ways to cultivate that exclude fighting
4) find a girlfriend/partner. Whatever they call them here.
5) start to design a new sigil or house insignia?
Previous needs and goals accomplished:
INs:
1) get information to be able to survive next month – social and safety from monsters – (mostly accomplished)
2) keep enough money to be safe for one month, hopefully two – 6 gold reserved – 10 silver per day for 60 days
3) acquire equipment and supplies to survive trip from city to one of the surrounding villages
4) choose direction – likely east – and village to aim for; get introduction or letter giving safe passage?
STGs:
0) bag of holding!
1) get equipped well enough to get to village and begin actually cultivating
LTGs:
1) fighting style decided (for short-term at least)
Do you like the scene length and word count at the start in the author notes?