I told BB I wouldn’t sleep with just any girl but I wonder if that statement reflects my recent behavior? Seems like I’ve been pretty willing to put myself out there and get a piece lately. But, that’s not my fault, I tell myself. That’s just biology! I’m a virile male specimen of a particular age bracket! Of course xxx would be foremost on my mind!
Still, I can’t help but think of what BB said, that she wouldn’t give it away for free, not here or in the real world. And damn it, I have to respect her for it. I don’t know; maybe it even makes me like her more. Though I’d never admit it out loud.
But dang, human relationships are hard mode, for real. I should probably practice a little on an AI girlfriend before I attempt to wade in the muddy waters of real world dating.
Inevitably, my thoughts return to Charis, the reason I’m sitting here, camping the priest’s respawn. I wonder why she revealed herself to me in particular—and not me only, but BB, too. Sensing my attraction, Charis used that to secure my cooperation, but from what I’m reading in the forums this seems to be a unique angle. To everyone else she appears simply as Tamiel, though not everyone that enters Pitola gets to see her. In fact, some people that went to search her out in particular were unable to find her.
So, what’s the common denominator, here? How does she choose her champions?
A little blip in the corner of my screen tells me my ‘friend’ BB has gone offline. What time is it in the real world? Almost ten o’clock? I wonder if she has a job in real life. Or maybe classes to attend. I never asked her how old she was…
Arg! Stop it, Rev! Forget about her, already! Charis! Focus on my love, Charis.
She said she’d show me her face if I brought her the first piece of the staff, so I must procure it at all costs. After the disappointing night I’ve had, only her beautiful face can heal me. I have to see her again.
Eight hours, BB said. Eight hours before the priest respawns. And now I know I’m not the only one on this quest, I dare not assume he’ll be here if I leave this place and come back even a minute too late.
But eight hours is a long time to sit in the pews and do nothing but pray. I should at least attempt to make some use of the night by leveling up my character in some way. Wondering what I can do to kill time, I pull up my character screen.
[Unallocated stat points: 3]
Huh? Did I get a level? When did that happen?
Somehow the image of naked, screaming BB flashes across my mind, and I shake my head to clear it. That’s right—I leveled up after I fought the griffin. Guess I got distracted and forgot to level up my character after that. I wonder why…
I allocate my points, one in Agility, two in Constitution. The bonus in the latter plus my level up adds 35 HP to my overall health.
[Character name: Revelator
Level: 22
Race: Human
Class: Defender
Subclass: None
HP: 1190
Constitution: 65
Strength: 12
Agility: 28
Intelligence: 2
Luck: 2
Skills: Baba’s Sheltering Shroud Aura (7), Blacksmithing (6), Essence Drain (15 MAX), Flourishing Physiognomy, Greater Shield Proficiency (9), Improved Block (9), Improved Aggrovating Aura (7), Interceptor, Mining (5), Oaken Heart (3), Shieldsmith (10), Tremor Aura (5)
(total armor 774)
—Reputation—
Hell/Heaven: 8
Druid’s Circle: 10]
I study my skills, wondering which ones I can level up while I camp the priest.
Mining skill, I still have that? I totally forgot about this one. And Blacksmithing too, level six. Last time I did anything with those two I was still in the labyrinth. I wonder…
Stolen novel; please report.
[Blacksmithing level 6, you can craft heavy armor out of metal ingots.
Recipes known:
Iron Helmet
Iron Breastplate
Iron Belt
Iron Fighting Trousers
Iron Boots
Iron Gauntlets
Tetranium Shield]
Damn, I’m still wearing most of this low level gear. But it’s not easy getting good gear when you can’t run dungeons. I wonder if I can buy some new blacksmithing recipes and craft something better for myself. Might be worth a look.
I pull up a map of Crule. There’s a blacksmith not far from here. And next to his shop, conveniently, the auction house.
The forums said the priest had an eight hour respawn time. It’s difficult to say when exactly BB killed him and started the countdown for the respawn. Around 9:30, perhaps? Then the priest should show up around 5:30 in the morning. At the very least, I’m sure he won’t show up in the next hour.
Let’s go see what interesting new crafting recipes I can buy…
I find the blacksmith has the upgraded version of all my current recipes. Item level 24, Finely Crafted Iron pieces. It gives about a 10% increase in overall armor compared to the Iron set, but I need Blacksmithing level 7 to make it.
Going to the auction house, I find a couple recipes for making magically enhanced gear, though anything with a good amount of armor requires Blacksmithing to be at least level 8.
My eyes are glued to one particular recipe.
[Brawny Breastguard level 28, breastplate imbued with the might of the fearsome brawny drake.
Armor 192
+5 Strength
+8 Constitution
Material required:
2 Iron Ore
10 Tetranium Ore
1 Brawny Drake Eye]
[Starting bid: 80g]
I search the Brawny Drake Eye, the one ingredient I’m missing, which comes up at 49g, 99s, 99c…
Thanks to Misa-pyon putting 5 gold in the guild bank and another 10 from Sherbie and Bruiser’s share of the sale of the gems we got from the giant, I don’t have to worry about paying the guild base guards for a few days at least. I made 10 gold farming goblins, got another 9 from the share of the giant’s gold, and another 5 from my share of selling the gemstones. That’s…24 gold.
OOF!
Emotional damage!
Father, Mother, is this what it feels like to be a—a poor?!
I can’t do it. I can’t live like this. I’m a whale, for crying out loud! I have to have money!
Calm down, Rev. You’re not gonna fix this overnight.
I can’t play the market right now. I need capital to begin this enterprise. Capital I do not have. But I’ll have it someday, I decide.
Once I save up a few thousand gold, I’ll come back. I’ll buy out a particular high demand product so I can set the market price. Then I’ll sit at the auction house for a week if I have to, and any time someone undercuts me I’ll buy it out so I can sell it back at the raised price.
This endeavor will take a huge amount of money to get started. It will take time, and infinite patience. But I am confident I have that at least. And, once I pull this off, I’ll be a whale in TC, too. A whale of my own making!
Until that day, I’ll just have to get by as a pleb. For now I can at least make a small profit by blacksmithing, and I can level up my skill at the same time.
While a few other players move around me, I stand still in the auction house running some mental calculations. I have about seven hours to kill. It takes three minutes to craft an item, that’s 20 an hour for a total of 140 Iron Breastplates. At eight Iron Ore per Beastplate, I’ll need 1,120 Iron for this endeavor.
Current market price is 12 copper per Iron Ore, that comes to an investment of 1g, 34s, 40c. The Breastplate sells for 5 silver—140 of them would sell for 7 gold. It’s not the fortune I need, but I want to level up my Blacksmithing skill, and a little profit is better than nothing when I have to sit in the church all night anyway.
Alright. Time to invest in some Iron Ore…
I set up my smithing station in the front pew of the empty church. Hammer and anvil come from my inventory, and the game lets me make a self-contained campfire right in front of the alter without burning down the entire building. Elyon forgive me, it’s for a good cause!
I go to work crafting, a mindless job, it takes zero concentration, so while my skill crafts the armor for me, I brows the TC forums.
There’s some news about an expansion in the works, set to be released on Black Friday. Supposedly they’ll be adding a whole new continent. I check the comments.
I close the window and stare blankly up at the stained glass window as the Breastplate continues to autocraft in the fire in front of me. The world tree is illuminated by the flames, shimmering shards of green, gold and aquamarine. Heaven in its branches, Elyon’s light shines down to bless the mortals of this realm.
They’re making Tetra Chronicles pay to win? I…don’t know how I feel about that.
I can’t understand it. As a whale with a quarter of a mill set aside just to blow on this game, I should be jumping for joy. With this I could forget the auction house, all my plans to save coppers and invest weeks of my time just to turn a meager in-game profit. With this, I could have the best gear in the game with just the click of a button.
So why does the notion leave me feeling just a little hollow inside? Why do I feel so insulted? Like the devs have just spit in my face…