A/N: Some replies to reviews I have received
To everyone who has made the observation: It was actually "The Gamer of the Shop" by Bladeofdreams that inspired this. For anyone who hasn't read it, check it out. It's one hell of a wild ride. I read it and a voice in my head said "What if I did this, but made it less about being in a stationary shop and more a meandering merchant who could just as easily get into trouble but without having an interdimensional hidey-hole." This is the result.
StressedBooks: I thank you kindly for following this story. Your patronage is appreciated.
Empyrean Asura: I hope this chapter attests to how badass Simon is going to become.
HarmonyDST05: I am definitely planning on him using his immortality to pull a Sans in the future.
0: Thanks
"Appraise."
Sunsettia [Rarity: Common] [Value: 25 Mora]: A plump fruit, beautiful like the sunset, that is abundant across all of Teyvat. It has a curious, sweet aroma and is able to energize an individual. Restores 300 HP.
"You know, it really says something about this world when a common fruit found in the forest can heal more than three times my maximum health," I commented as I read the description of the odd fruit. "Either the average person in this world is tough as nails, or I'm just abnormally weak compared to everyone else."
At the current time, I was strolling amiably down the dirt path beneath the trees. It had been a few hours since my arrival in this world, and I was already getting bored of the majestic forest around me. I was shut-in before being sent there, so you can't really blame me for losing interest after looking at the same scenery for hours on end.
Luckily for me, I had two things I could do that drew my attention away from the monotony. The first was collecting any unique looking plants I could find and adding them to my inventory. The second, and arguably more important, thing was putting my appraisal skill to good use. You see, while looking through my inventory, it became apparent that while over a hundred individual items had been added there, they all only had their name, rarity, and a brief description of each. When using Appraise on them, they revealed just a bit more information, alongside telling how much they were worth.
Items I picked up, however, didn't even have a name until I appraised them, which I made into a little game with Qrow. I would guess at some of the properties of whatever flora I picked up, and he would either nod or shake his head to indicate whether or not he thought I was right. This was in between him keeping a look out for anything dangerous, as taking stock of my inventory took up the majority of my attention.
Speaking of the inventory, on closer inspection, my previous observation that most of the items had a number 1 was actually false. Almost 75% of my stock was Common items, thus being affected by the [Infinitory], with the rest being random low-level Uncommons. The only really pricy items were the four Legendary's that could turn normal people in beastly powerhouses. The closest the Uncommons got in usefulness to that was one container of Medi-Gel from Mass Effect.
On the bright side, I was slowly increasing the experience of my [Appraisal] skill, with it being at around at level 2 with 87% experience after marking the price of every single one of my possessions. It wouldn't allow me to appraise my clothing, stating that it needed to be taken off for me to examine it, which was another thing that made it inferior to the [Observe] skill, but I could live with it.
The next object I appraised was an apple. "I think it this will have a similar effect to the sunsettia," I commented.
Qrow glanced at it, then nodded in agreement
"Appraise."
Apple [Rarity: Common] [Value: 25]: Crisp and fragrant. Delicious raw or made into wine. Restores 300 HP.
"Right on the nose," I grinned. "And once again, I'm jealous that this world's food seems to naturally have healing properties. Would've been useful if I could just eat an orange after breaking my arm when I was seven and have the bones magically knit themselves back together."
My avian companion just gave me another one of his raised-eyebrow looks that had become more and more common along our journey. I swear, the little guy was born with a sarcastic streak a mile wide…which he most likely got from me, but that's beside the point.
I sighed as I stored the apple in my inventory. "That's the last item. Everything in the inventory is all catalogued and priced, and I haven't seen a new plant or rock in the last thirty minutes. I've officially run out of things to do. There aren't even any animals around here, for fuck's sake." An indignant caw from my shoulder caused me to shake my head. "Other than you, genius."
I gripped the sides of my head in frustration. "I swear if something interesting doesn't happen in the next five minutes, I'm actually going to go crazy."
Quest Received: [Something Interesting]
I had the distinct suspicion that the System was about to mock me.
[Something Interesting]
In order to prevent your inevitable non-stop whining over the next few hours, the System has pre-emptively prepared a set of objectives for you!
[] Scout the surroundings with Qrow
[] Confirm the distance to the edge of the forest
Bonus objective: ?
Rewards: 500 Mora, 1 Gacha Token, 5 Stat Points
Bonus Rewards: ? , ?
"Ya know, even though I was expecting it, it still stings a little," I sighed. "So, I'm assuming that the 'scouting the surroundings' part is alluding to the whole 'sharing senses' part of our connection. You know how to work that?" I asked my feathered friend.
He nodded, before gesturing with a wing to a nearby tree. I quickly got the hint that it would likely be best for me to be seated for the duration of this experiment. Getting comfortable was easy, and when I was both physically and mentally ready, I nodded to the bird that now stood on my outstretched legs.
A sudden feeling of vertigo overcame me, causing me to close my eyes. I would've put my head in my hands to try to sooth it, but I was suddenly unable to move my limbs. In fact, I couldn't even feel them. Upon opening my eyes, I was treated to the sight of my own body resting up against the tree, seemingly asleep. The anime stylization added to the RE4 merchant's gear made me look badass even while unconscious, in my opinion.
'I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that I'm hitching a ride in your body, Qrow?' I thought in my familiar's direction. It was odd to feel "my" head bob up and down without me controlling it, but I quickly got over it. 'Okay, then. You're the one in the driver's seat, so I'll sit back and enjoy the ride.'
No further prompting was required for him to take to the skies. I felt his wings flap and heard the wind resistance as we were propelled up and forward, gradually rising through the canopy of trees. Even with the slow speed we were going at, I couldn't help but feel exhilarated by the sensation of flight. By the time we'd finally breached the highest branches, I was halfway tempted to just ignore the quest and tell Qrow to fly as fast as possible in any direction just for the thrill it would give me.
Luckily, Qrow sent a psychological jolt to me, essentially telling me to cool my jets, accompanied by a roll of his eyes as he hovered in place. My focus on what was important quickly returned, allowing me to take a good look at the scenery.
With a few circular revolutions through the sky, I was able to get a better idea on the geography around my currently-unconscious body. The forest was certainly huge, stretching as far as the eye could see in almost every direction. I say almost because off the north a small mountain range ended the sea of green, and a few miles off to the east appeared a walled-off city surround by a large lake. I estimated it would be another hour or two of walking before I could get to the latter. This would be ideal when taking into consideration that the sun seemed to be close to setting.
The only part of the forest itself that was mildly interesting, other than its size, was the random clearings that dotted it. Some were bigger than others; a few had interesting trees sticking out in the middle of them; but the one that truly drew my attention was one that had a small thread of smoke trailing out of it.
'Let's check that one out,' I urged Qrow. He complied, flapping his wings to get closer to the indicated area.
What we found upon seeing the source of the smoke was both expected and completely unexpected.
Among the flowers and tall grass of the treeless expanse was a small camp. It included four medium sized tents, a multitude of structures that looked like training dummies made of random sticks and branches, and a fire over which hanged a pot supported by three wooden poles, in which some kind of stew seemed to be cooking. This was the expected part, seeing as my first thought when seeing the trail of smoke had been that someone was camping and cooking something over an open fire.
What caught me off-guard was the nature of the camp's inhabitants. There were seven of them, all around the five feet tall with grey skin and a mane of cream-colored hair around their necks. Their clothing was basic, consisting of pieces of fabric tied to their lower bodies by a rope to cover their private parts, strips of cloth wound around their arms, and horned masks with simple designs and no eyeholes covering the entirety of their faces. The rest of their bodies were bare, though some did have tattoos in what looked like black ink standing out on them.
The odd creatures were all sitting around the cooking pot, one or two even sprawled out napping as they appeared to be waiting for their meals to cook. Resting on the ground next to each of them was an odd assortment of what I can only describe as mostly-tribal weaponry, including clubs, spears, and oddly enough, a crossbow.
I would've speculated more on them, had the System not popped into existence to distract me.
Quest Complete: [Something Interesting]
Objective Completed: In order to prevent your inevitable non-stop whining over the next few hours, the System has pre-emptively prepared a set of objectives for you!
Bonus Objective completed: Find (Semi)-Sentient life nearby
Rewards: 500 Mora, 1 Gacha token, 5 Stat points,
Bonus Rewards: 50 Shop Points, [Murder of Crows] Level increased by 1
I really couldn't complain with that. Not only did I finally have at least some of this world's currency now, I had more stat points to spend if I ever wanted to, I had a Gacha token to flip in my free time, and I could now summon six crows instead of three.
Speaking of crows, that reminded me.
Murder of Crows [Level: 2/20 0%]
Cost: 40 SLT
Active Effects: Allows the summoning of crows in order to attack an enemy, as well as the ability to leave a Nest Trap. Number of summoned crows is 3 x (Skill Level)
Passive Effects: Allows user to have an autonomous crow familiar. The crow familiar is an extension of the user and is capable of sharing senses for reconnaissance. Further abilities will be unlocked as skill levels up.
'Hey system, the passive stat on [Murder of Crows] says that Qrow may get more abilities at later levels. When is that supposed to happen?'
The increase in functionality for the Crow Familiar part of the [Murder of Crows] skill will occur every 5 levels.
'Okay, that makes a little sense. Second question: is the percentage of experience currently at zero because you forced the level up, or is there something else I'm missing?'
Usage of a Passive aspect of an Active skill does not gain one experience. For example, you must use the summoning of crows to attack an enemy in order to level up [Murder of Crows].
'But…doesn't that directly contradict the whole "I don't get experience from killing enemies" think I have going with my Merchant Class?'
While experience points can be gained for a skill through its usage in violent encounters, no actual EXP will be gained towards user[s overall Player Level.
'That is complete bullshit and we both know it.'
Sorry, man, I just follow my programming. If you want to complain, take it up with the Administrators.
I made a mental note that once I somehow gained godlike power, I would track down those Admins and beat them half to death.
My attention was once again diverted from the current train of thought, this time by the nearby sound of snapping twigs. I didn't need to tell Qrow to look down from the branch he was resting on. What we both saw was…a little girl?
It was a small child who couldn't have been older than twelve. Her long black hair was held back in a ponytail and trailed down to midback. She lightly tanned skin covered by a short-sleeved blue shirt, loose black shorts with a white belt, and blue shoes with white socks that went up to her knees. To add to this picture, I should also mention that her green eyes were wide with panic at how low the snapping sound she caused was.
Unfortunately, the goblin-like creatures across the field heard it too. The speed at which they grabbed their weapons would've been record-breaking back home. High-pitched growling and some form of language carried over on the wind as they worked themselves into frenzy at the sight of the frozen girl. The one holding the crossbow didn't hesitate to demonstrate its skill with it, taking aim at the girl as its companions finally started running toward her.
A caw from Qrow was enough to snap her out of her shock and prompt her to dash back into line of trees, with my familiar following behind her from above.
Quest Received: [A Child in Need]
'This ought to be good.'
[A Child in Need]
A young girl is being chased by a pack of hilichurls. If they aren't stopped, she will be killed, tortured, enslaved, or worse!
Objective: Be the hero you never wanted to be and save your first damsel in distress!
Bonus 1: Defeat all enemies without taking damage.
Bonus 2: Defeat all enemies without the girl taking damage.
Bonus 3: Make a cool entrance
Rewards: 1000 Mora, 100 Store Points, 10 EXP
Bonus Rewards: ? , ? , ? , ?
'A level up from this? Sign me up!' I thought ecstatically, quickly noting the direction the child was running in and leaving some directions for Qrow before retracting my consciousness back to my body.
[Perspective Change: 3rd person]
Ella was running for her life. Never in her twelve years of existence had she felt as much fear as she was at that point in time as she weaved around tree trunks and ducked below low-hanging branches. She instinctively ran in a serpentine patter to avoid the bolts shot by the archer among her pursuers, though it seemed to be getting more accurate as the chase went on if the light graze on her shoulder was anything to go by.
'Why didn't I just listen to Mom and Dad!' she screamed in her head, breathing too heavily to do it out loud. 'They told me so many times that the forest was too dangerous to explore alone, but did I listen? Noooooo, I just had to be bull-headed and ignore every warning! So stupid! Stupid stupid stu-' "AH!"
Her thoughts were halted by her left foot getting caught on a particularly large root. She was airborne for a whole two seconds with how far her speed had propelled her, but the laws of gravity were harsh and brought her down. Hard. If this had been a Saturday morning cartoon, there would've been accompanying BOING sound effects as her prepubescent body bounced across the rough dirt, followed closely by a loud SLAM as her momentum was stopped violently by a collision with a tree.
"Ooooouuuuuch," she groaned.
Her eyes were closed tight as she curled in on herself, the agony bringing tears to them. It wasn't until she heard multiple rapid footsteps approaching that the gravity of her situation hit her again. She scrambled to try standing again, only to collapse as searing pain unlike anything she had ever felt shot up her left leg. A quick look confirmed that yes, her ankle was bent at an unnatural angle and wouldn't be of much use for running away.
"Oh no," her voice quivered as she slowly turned to look at the hilichurls. In a last-ditch effort to get away, she crawled backwards until she was stopped by the same tree that ended her tumble. "By the Seven, please no."
The hilichurls had certainly caught up to her, only now they didn't seem to be acting as violently. They'd obviously noticed the hindered state of their prey and were not above taking their time as they surrounded her. All weapons pointed directly at her as a light laugh spread among them. It didn't take a genius to tell that their intentions weren't to give her a quick death.
However, before the closest one could get close enough to touch her, a loud caw sounded out above them. As was part of the nature of any living being, all present looked up to see the source of the out-off-place sound.
Looking down upon the scene from a high branch was a black bird with dark red eyes. It stared down at them with no fear, as most forest animals would when faced with either the tribal goblins or the overly-loud humans. Instead, it gazed with what appeared to be curiosity, which drew confusion from both sides of the hunt. What surprised them more was when it left the branch and gently glided around to circle the group, eventually coming to land on the child's outstretched right leg. It let out one more caw before seeming to nod its head at Ella.
There wasn't enough time to discern the meaning of the gesture before a new sound broke the silence of the forest. It was another set of footsteps, these ones slow, deliberate, and accompanied by a light series of clinks with each footfall. All eyes were drawn to the path behind the hilichurls, and the man who walked along it.
He was tall, at about six-foot-two, and was covered from head to toe in a hooded leather overcoat. The lower half of his face was obscured by a purple bandana, but his silver eyes seemed to glow in the darkness as he observed the scene before him. His pale hands, protected only by a pair of faded fingerless gloves, lightly gripped the straps of the oversized travel pack on his back. To top off the whole look, a pair of heavy boots covered his feet, making each step twice as loud as it would normally be against the dirt and grass.
He came to a stop several yards from the tribal savages. With one last caw, the crow flew from its perch on the little girl and took its spot on the mysterious man's shoulder. He gently raised his hand to stroke the bird.
"Hehehe, there you are, Qrow," he chuckled in a voice that was both young and scratchy. "I was looking all over for you. Seems you found something interesting."
Neither Ella nor the hilichurls knew how to respond to this. The man, or boy judging by his voice, had seemingly materialized out of nowhere with the shadows of the canopy seeming to gather around him. It wasn't uncommon to see creepy people with outlandish clothing in Teyvat, but somehow this one set off all kinds of alarm bells in their heads.
"As for you lot," he said conversationally, turning to look at the shorter creatures with an amused twinkle in his eyes. "Don't you think its poor form to gang up on a young lady? Have you no shame?"
They remained speechless, but two or three were now grumbling in irritation.
"I have to say, I'm not one for uneven odds. Never was a gambling man, ya see?" He questioned rhetorically. "So, I'd, like to make a proposition: either all of you leave now and nobody gets hurt, or I get to demonstrate why crows are the scariest fucking bird you'll ever see in your soon-to-be-over lives."
The response was quick and concise, as most reactions of the hilichurls were, and came in the form of a crossbow bolt being fired at the boy's head. He reacted by barely moving said head a few inches to the side, allowing the projectile to harmlessly pass by, not even grazing his hood.
"So be it then." The grin in his voice was easily heard as he raised his arms in front of him.
Three hilichurls, these ones holding clubs, didn't hesitate to dash towards the new prey. Unfortunately for them, there was a small obstacle in the way that had been set up beforehand. A small nest holding three large eggs rested at the halfway point between them and their target. Upon the leading one coming within a foot of it, all hell broke loose as the eggs erupted into three full-grown and incredibly pissed off crows who then proceeded to tear into the unprepared adversaries with extreme prejudice. Blood was drawn as claws raked unhindered through uncovered flesh and beaks tore into exposed weak spots.
Not waiting for the remaining enemies to recover from their shock, the stranger opened his outstretched hands and called out. "Rip and Tear!" From his sleeves came three more of the vicious birds, each one immediately honing in on a hilichurl. The only one who remained untouched by the carnage unleashed by the black demons was the archer, who stared through his mask with awe and horror. Hilichurls may be a race that were used to violence and bloodshed, but the sheer amount of blood and gore being torn out of his comrades was more than a little off-putting.
"I gave you an out," the mysterious man claimed as he walked straight towards the stunned archer, seemingly ignoring the battles between hilichurls and birds around him. "I even told you that I'd show you why crows where so damn terrifying. But you took the hard route."
The archer shakily raised its crossbow, trying to aim at the embodiment of terror standing before it. Sweat ran down its neck as its vision tunneled. It wasn't even aware when its companions finally succumbed to their wounds and fell to the ground, dead as doornails. It only knew that the terror increased when the blood-soaked avians reconvened on their master, all perching around his shoulders and head as the original had, and all starting at it with piercing red eyes.
The monster looming over it chuckled one last time. "It's time to say goodnight, little beast," he whispered, raising one of his hands and letting a snap of his fingers ring through the air.
All at once, six crows were upon the last surviving hilichurl. Its screams and growls as it dropped its weapon and swatted at them echoed through the forest, with only two people to hear them. One was the man who sicced the flying demons on the poor archer, and the other was Ella who looked on in a mixture of relief, fear, and apprehension.
'Okay, calm down,' she thought harshly, trying to bring her heavy breathing under control. 'He saved me, so nothing bad should happen from her on out, right? The hilichurls were bad enough, but if this guy turns out to be a serial killer, I am so screwed! Just think positive thoughts and everything should turn out okay.'
The sounds of screaming soon ceased as the final death gurgles came from the mutilated creature lying on the ground. The crows, having seemingly had their fill of violence for the day, retreated back to their master and, much to Ella's surprise, fused into the exposed skin of his arms as he pulled back his sleeves before he let them fall again. Only one remained on his shoulder, mostly clean of blood and viscera, and it looked directly at her from the moment it touched down.
"Well, now that that's all settled," the man said, turning to face the little girl for the first time. "Can I interest you in a helping hand, stranga'?"
At that, Ella finally succumbed to the pain in her leg and passed out from all of the shock she'd been subjected to.
[Perspective Change: Simon]
Quest Complete: [A Child in Need]
Objectives Completed: [Be the hero you never wanted to be and save your first damsel in distress!], [Defeat all enemies without taking damage], and [Make a cool entrance].
Objectives failed: [Defeat all enemies without the girl taking damage].
Rewards: 1000 Mora, 100 Store Points, 10 EXP
Bonus Rewards: 150 Store Points, +5 CHA
Congratulations! You've leveled up!
[STATUS]
Name -Simon
Title - [None]
Class – Merchant [LOCKED]
Age - 17
Level – 2
EXP – 0/20
HP - 110/110
SLT – 120/120
STR - 11
DEX - 11
VIT - 11
INT – 12
CHA – 17
LCK – 12
Stat points - 15
Currency: 1500 Mora
Shop Points: 300
"Ah, I love the smell of progress in the morning," I grinned happily as I viewed my stats. I still couldn't bring myself to spend the extra stat points, so I left them to wait for when I need them most. I also took a good look at my progress on [Murder of Crows].
Murder of Crows [Level: 2/20 35%]
Cost: 40 SLT
Active Effects: Allows the summoning of crows in order to attack an enemy, as well as the ability to leave a Nest Trap. Number of summoned crows is 3 x (Skill Level)
Passive Effects: Allows user to have an autonomous crow familiar. The crow familiar is an extension of the user and is capable of sharing senses for reconnaissance. Further abilities will be unlocked as skill levels up.
Each of the little goblin creatures had given me five percent experience there. I could only imagine the uphill battle this would become at the later levels.
Looking down at the unconscious girl sitting against the tree, I couldn't help but wince at the state of her ankle. I would fix it, but I had a sneaking suspicion that using any one of my health items outside of a direct sale on another person would be against the game's rules. Turns out, I was correct, which was confirmed by the system.
Health items can only be used on one's self or employees/assistants freely. All outside uses require a sale.
'Can't I feed her one of the apples or sunsettias?'
Normal food is not able to heal broken bones in this world. Only medical treatment or magic.
'That's a buzzkill.'
With that out of the way, I determined that I would need to get moving soon, and likely bring this girl with me. She looked light enough to carry, but I didn't have any way to do so other than in front of me in a stereotypical "princess carry," and that wouldn't fly with how awkward I was. On a whim, I tested to see if I could put my backpack in my inventory. It worked, giving me enough room to lug her around piggy-back style.
Now, I don't know if you've ever tried to situate an unconscious person on your back, but this was nearly impossible. It took me about five whole minutes to get it right, and even then, she was heavier than she looked. I ended up needing to put five of my extra stat points into STR to be able to carry her without being hindered.
Qrow, as usual, hitched a ride on me as I headed off towards the dirt path again, this time perching on my head so as not to disturb the sleeping child. The sun was setting and turning the sky above the treetops orange as I made my way to the edge of the forest, desperately trying to think of how to address my passenger when she woke up without scaring her half to death.
So far, no idea came up.
This was going to be a long walk.
A/N (Again)
Just to let you know, sometimes I upload these chapters without proofreading them first, often resulting in a lot of typos and other issues. If you see any, rest assured they will be fixed as fast as possible as I am a neurotic person who can't even stand other people's mistakes, much less my own.
And yes, Ella is just a girl I made up. She may or may not have significance in the future.
UPDATE (1/23/21 at around 1:45 AM): It was brought to my attention that there already is a little girl NPC in Genshin Impact by the name of Ella Musk. This is not the girl I have described in my story, as upon looking her up a thankfully noticed the character is canonically younger than MY Ella. To be honest, before tetsujinvinalay sent me a review, I didn't even know that Ella Musk existed. I just pulled the first name out of a hat I could think of and rolled with it.
So, in conclusion, Ella is not Ella Musk, Ella Musk may appear in the story due to hijinks and the like due to her sharing a name with my Ella, and this is the weirdest coincidence I've encountered and I'm honestly scared now.
And thank you tetsujinvinalay, you and your hard to pronounce name saved me some future embarrassment!
Until next time! Bye!
