Hi, All!
I still need more time, so here's a filler short chapter in the meantime.
See you in the afterword.
[X][X][X]
"Thank you for your patronage"
Cheapskate...
The shopkeeper of the E-Rantel Magician's Guild shop section bowed as the group of adventurers in front of him turned away and left the shop counter. They had just bought an enchanted necklace with the effect of slowing the growth of physical fatigue, which in practice enabled one to do physical activities about 50% longer before getting too tired to continue.
It was a very practical item to have, and the price of eight gold coins should be a fair one. However, the bunch of Gold Rank adventurers only bought one instead of one for each member despite the shopkeeper trying his best to convince them, which annoyed him. Of course for the sake of ethic he had not shown it at all.
Though the main reason for the shopkeeper's annoyance was that he could have earned more for himself if they had bought one for each member.
He had not heard about the details, but he knew that recently the guild had spent a great deal of funds to secure an ancient relic of tremendous value, and therefore they enacted a sale drive to recover the expense. In essence, the shopkeeper would be rewarded two silver coins from the guild for every gold coin he earned through selling the guild's goods. Therefore, he tried his best to sell as many as he could.
It's noon and I haven't even scored a single gold coin for myself
A bunch of silver coins was bothersome to carry around, so he hoped that by the end of the day he would sell enough to earn one gold coin for himself.
Still, he knew that it couldn't be helped. Compared to most other market, the goods from Magician's Guild could be said as luxury. A single item among the cheapest goods was still outside the range of all but the richer ones and higher ranked adventurers, and therefore potential customers rarely came.
Fifty silver coins is too heavy for comfort to carry around. Somebody please come and buy something!
It was another half an hour until he saw someone coming in from the entrance. It was a group of two, one man and one girl quite shorter than him. The shopkeeper at first was delighted seeing the potential buyer, but within seconds it faded.
Their eyes scanning around like that, definitely first-timers. Probably just looking around.
From his experience, pretty much all customers who came into the guild for the first time would only look around, ask a few things, get surprised by the price of the goods, and then leave without buying anything.
Still, he felt that something was strange about these two adventurers.
They were still a little far away from him, but he could see that their plates were of Orichalcum Rank. Usually first-timers were always Gold Rank or lower, occasionally Platinum. The more difficult missions of their rank would make them aware of the importance of having magic items, and therefore they would come to see what they could obtain to make their jobs easier.
Don't tell me that they reached Orichalcum without magic items.
Moreover, the man's outfit looked too impractical for battle with that elegant long coat, dark colored immaculate shirt, white gloves, dark trousers, and shiny black shoes that looked more fit for noble ballroom than adventures. He seriously would not look out of place among nobles with that kind of getup.
Either he's currently putting away his battle outfit, or that one he is wearing is a full set of magic clothes.
The latter was much less likely than the former since an entire set of magic clothes was so expensive only Adamantite Rank adventurers could possibly obtain one. Orichalcum was only one level below Adamantite, though. So the possibility was still there
On the other hand, the girl next to him looked like an adventurer without a doubt. She wore a set of armor which still lacked some parts, the upper arms and upper legs to be exact, to be said as full plate. That was not a strange thing, since a full plate armor set was very expensive, so most people choose to only partially cover their body with armor. What came to him as strange was that she left her thighs bare instead of covering them with leather pants or such. For any enemy with a degree of intelligence, that was the same as an invitation to attack that unprotected part.
Oh, they are coming here. I better stop now.
Being aware that the two new visitors are approaching him, the shopkeeper decided to stop thinking too much about them, and instead formally greeted them like how he always did to any other people coming to him.
"Welcome. How may I help you?"
"I am looking for magic items that can be useful for us"
First-timers confirmed.
Such a broad question would only come out from first-timers. Otherwise they would be more specific on their purpose. In any case, no matter what, all potential customers had to be treated professionally. That was his principle at work.
"All items we have can be useful in their own way. Do you have something specific in mind, sir?"
"To be honest, no. Could you recommend something for us?"
Alright, in that case...
The shopkeeper believed that in this situation the best course of action would be to show one of the cheapest items, but not the cheapest one. That way he would still have something else to show if the customer asked for something cheaper.
Therefore, he presented a simple ring.
"This ring can be activated once every three days to rejuvenate yourself from sleepiness, eliminating the need to sleep for the next twenty hours. This can be yours for five gold coins"
The man seemed to be thinking for a little bit.
"The cooldown is too long for my taste. Do you have something more... impressive?"
"Sure! How about this?"
The shopkeeper presented another ring. This one was fancier than the previous with a small magic stone embedded on it.
"This ring protects you from all harmful tier one spells twice a day. You can have it for nine gold coins"
"Hmm... That would be useful, but do you have something like that but of a higher grade?"
Wow, is he for real?
The shopkeeper was quite baffled. So far the man has not shown any signs of getting deterred by the price of the items he had presented so far. This could mean one of two things. One, the man actually had quite an amount of money in his hands. Two, the man had no intention to buy anything from the start.
The shopkeeper assumed that the latter was much more likely, so his motivation started to wane.
"We do have one which works against up to tier two spells three times a day"
"How much is that one?"
"Sixty gold coins"
"Does this work against spells that cause confusion, illusion spells, or such?"
"It works against any spells that are directly casted on the wearer, as long as the spells are within the first two tiers"
"Hmm... Is there another of even higher grade?"
"Unfortunately we don't have any"
Just get this over with and go away, you freeloader.
"Alright then, I will buy the second tier ring"
"Thank you. Please come aga-"
Wait, what?
"Sorry, sir. I think my mind dazed off for a second. Would you repeat what you just said?"
"I will buy the ring that protects from second tier spells"
"I see. Then please wait for a moment"
The shopkeeper was about to go to the back room to retrieve the ring before the man spoke again.
"Ah, wait. If you have another I will buy two. One for each of us"
Whaaaat?!
"C-Certainly, sir"
The shopkeeper quickly went to the back, hastily taking two of the aforementioned ring, and returned to the counter where the man was waiting. During this time he tried hard to regain his calm.
Don't get too excited. He might cancel it at the last moment just to mess with me.
The shopkeeper presented two identical ring boxes, each with a scroll attached to it. The scrolls were certificates signed by the Guildmaster to guarantee the authenticity of the items.
"That would be one hundred and twenty gold coins, sir"
The man reached into the inner part of his long coat and took out a money pouch. That small pouch would never fit one hundred and twenty gold coins.
"Do you accept platinum coins? It's one for ten, right?"
"C-Certainly, sir"
The man put down twelve platinum coins into the coin tray on the table. The shopkeeper took a deep look at the coins to make sure that those were really platinum coins.
"I have received the payment. Thank you for the patronage"
"Thank you for the service too, sir..."
"Berthold Drake"
"I'm Ryu Seika"
"And I'm Lily Vangraf!"
"It is an honor to be of service to you. Please come again soon"
Berthold bowed to the two adventurers.
"Ah, come to think of it..."
After saying that, Ryu took one of the two ring boxes and opened it. He then took the ring inside from the box.
"Lily, remove your gauntlet"
"W-What?"
"You can't wear this over your gauntlet, right?"
"R-Right, Ryu-san"
Lily looked flustered and blushing as she removed the gauntlet of her right arm. She then reached her right hand to Ryu, and he gently put the ring into her ring finger. The ring fit well.
"Good"
Ryu then took the other ring from the box and put it on his own right ring finger over the white glove. It also fit well. At this point, Lily looked even more flustered and blushing than before.
Seeing this, Berthold clapped his hands in applause. Other staff members nearby also followed suit.
"Congratulations!"
"What?"
Ryu seemed confused at the sudden applause. Then within a few seconds he looked at the ring on Lily's finger and the identical one on his own finger, and he realized it.
"Nonononono! It's a misunderstanding!"
Ryu's voice got sunk within the loud applause, so nobody heard anything he had said. Without wasting any more time, he grabbed Lily's hand and ran away with her without saying any word.
"What a unique way to propose, don't you think?"
A fellow staff said that to Berthold.
"Sure it was. And they forgot to bring the ring boxes and certificates. I will keep them until they come back"
Berthold took the things left behind from the counter and put it away. Today he had learned that things can take unexpected turn anytime, either good or bad. He had experienced the good side and was thankful for that.
Though on the other hand, if he calculated it right, he would have to carry a heavy weight of ninety silver coins and one gold coin home tonight unless he could find another buyer within the rest of his work shift.
[X][X][X]
Afterword:
I was trying to write on how a common people of New World would think about Ryu and Lily upon seeing them. Quite a fun experiment, though I wouldn't know how good the result is without comments from others, so let me know what you think.
I also have two questions for those who read this. Your answer may affect how I will bring this saga in the future.
1. Seeing one recent comment, I'm considering the option of actually adding a third member to Ryu's party. Would you like it to happen? Though keep in mind that it won't be Mel Rose since I already have plans for her.
2. How often would you like to have side-story chapters of Mel Rose's own adventures?
Updated Character Sheets
Name: Ryu Seika
Height: 173 cm
Appearance: See cover image
Class: Force level 70
Sub Class: Techer level 70
Skill Build: Thunder Element and Dark Element focused
Main Weapons: Weddle Park Rod, Gal Wind Talis
Reserve Weapons: Rod of Caduceus, Wand of Elysion, Dahgash Talis, Metal Ignis Talis, Heretic Saw Talis, Motav Prophecy Talis, Seimei Kikami Talis
Special Perks:
*. Photon Inventory. Works the same way as Ainz's inventory system.
*. Photon Armor. A defensive invisible energy shield, giving protection to the whole body.
*. Photon Clothing. Enables instant change of clothes.
*. Photon Blast - Julius Nifta. Creates an energy sphere which pulls everything within one kilometer radius into it and disintegrates those touching the sphere.
*. Ring of Minor Protection. Guards against all low level ailments.
*. Ring of Nullification. Guards against harmful spells up to tier two. Has three charges which replenishes each day.
Name: Lily Vangraf
Height: 148 cm
Appearance: 00m dot deviantart dot com/art/Lily-737314986 (This site is bad with links so just replace the "dot" with actual dots and remove the spaces)
Class: LoyalDog (Level 5), The Creature Within (Level 27)
Equipment:
Winged Helmet of Vedrfolnir. Enchanted, increases maximum HP, passively regenerates HP.
Breastplate of Vedrfolnir (With cape). Enchanted, reduces stab damage, reduces fire damage.
Gauntlets of Vedrfolnir. Enchanted, increased resistance to poison, increased resistance to paralysis.
Greaves of Vedrfolnir. Enchanted, 10% chance to survive with 1 HP upon taking fatal damage.
Twin Swords of Vedrfolnir. Enchanted, adds arcane damage, enabling it to deal damage to ethereal beings.
Simple Red Shirt
Simple Black Shorts
Simple Black Socks
Ring of Nullification. Guards against harmful spells up to tier two. Has three charges which replenishes each day.
Special Perks:
*. Vedrfolnir's Flight (5 pieces): Substantial increase of agility and stamina
*. The Creature Within: Increase of all stats according to level
Name: Mel Rose (Meru and Rose)
Height: 144 cm
Appearance: sta dot sh/220rl2a1s1uo
Class: Force level 75 (Meru), Braver level 75 (Rose)
Sub Class: Techer level 75 (Meru), Fighter level 75 (Rose)
Skill Build (Meru): Fire, Dark, and Light element focused.
Skill Build (Rose): Full offensive glass cannon
Main Weapons (Meru): Nox Liepher Rod, Nox Krieg Talis
Main Weapons (Rose): Nox Sagephus Katana
Reserve Weapons: Koushousen Talis (Meru)
Special Perks:
*. Photon Inventory. Works the same way as Ainz's inventory system.
*. Photon Armor. A defensive invisible energy shield, giving protection to the whole body.
*. Photon Clothing. Enables instant change of clothes.
*. Photon Blast - Ketos Proi. Gradually heals and significantly regenerates mana while it is active.
Q and A:
Q: Are ARK's powerful techs or items can compete against WCIs?
A: Being technological, I don't think anything in their possession would be able to compete against grand magic artifacts. But nobody knows for sure
Q: Do you intend to make Ryu have some conflict with the ainz?, If so would soon be the furthest? And Ryu could have an evolution and managed to hit the guardians or Ainz head on?
A: Probably only as far as verbal conflict. He knew very well that he would never be able to defeat Ainz in actual combat. A single cast of [Death] would just end him before he could do anything.
