In a mansion, some week or so away from Valkia, on the outskirts of one of the three surrounding nations capital's borders, a group of fat men sat around a table, numerous exotic looking dishes covering it. Every now and then, one of them raised a fat hand and pointed towards a one dish or another, demanding it be brought over as he sipped on expensive wine. As soon as such a demand was heard, one of few scantily clad women surrounding each of the fat men hastily moved over, retrieving the mans desired dish and brought it over, serving it to the fattened men.
"If I remember correctly, Shadow walkers took the job, no?" one of the trio spoke, his mouth barely emptied of food.
"Yeees, we should receive some good news in the coming days." added another, laughing as he did so. "Ramia is getting old and senile. Did he really think we all would sit on our asses as he acquires such lucrative commodities and does not share the wealth. He, of all people should know better than that. Then again, old age does not come alone, now does it? Ha ha ha ha."
"Indeed. His age is almost over. It is time for the next generation to shine and take the world by its balls." joined in the third, laughing as well as his fat hands took liberties with one of the scantily clad women attending him. Little did they know a storm was coming their way, one in a form of a rather pissed of merchant, disrespected and underestimated one too many times. There was a reason Ramia could carve himself a large spot in a city like Valkia, one this new generation knew far too little about, due to times long past and forgotten, but they would learn soon enough.
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Jack's little midnight exercise was performed with utmost skill and finesse, or so one would think if they learned than no other resident of the mansion was disturbed because of the fighting and Jack had no reason to tell them of it all, save for a warning to be doubly careful as they head outside. The likelihood of an ambush to try and acquire something out of this whole failed attempt possibly forcing culprits hand. In the end, Jack's logical side won the inner argument, thus a small note about a possibility of actions taken against them was thrown out during the early breakfast, moved up a few hours so the kids could spend more time roaming the nearby forest in search of prey to earn experience and more matter for Jack to work with. They did need proper armor after all, and who better to turn to than Jack, what with him making nothing less than epic quality gear.
The gear worn and the stats it provided depended on several factors. First, was the rarity of the item- obviously the higher the rarity the better the stats it provided. Of course, there were also special effects that could not be acquired on gear below certain rarity, like for example experience gain increase- that could only ever appear on epic or higher tiered items, or so it was believed. And since there had never before appeared a crafter that could actually make gear with such an affix Jack obviously excluded, said assumption was believed to be truth. Jack was not ever planning to spread said knowledge outside the core circle of his guild to be and Ramia- he had no desire to be in a perpetual war with this world's superpowers for the time being.
Second came the level requirement of the items. Once again, the higher the requirements, the better the stats it provided and once again there were certain effects that could not be found on gear below certain level thresholds. These thresholds were the following- no minimal level, level ten, level twenty, level twenty five, level fifty, level seventy five and level one hundred, with gear beyond that supposedly requiring extra hundred levels for every next tier thereafter, though that was supposedly the level of divine beings. Jack knew better though, as actual divine weapons only started from level five hundred- not something easily achieved in a low level plane such as this one. He only acquired his thanks to the abyss, and that was definitely outside of this realms limits.
Last, but also and important factor was the type of the item in question. A breastplate would naturally provide more protection and perhaps vitality than, say, a ring, assuming both items were made of similar level materials and by similarly skilled crafters, resulting in the same rarity and without special enchants. Once again, Jack here was an exception to the rules, since he could, in theory, make accessories that would make even the greatest smiths masterpiece body armor to be considered junk in front of his creation, assuming of course Jack had the shitton of matter needed for such craft of his own. And that, that would require staggering amounts of matter. Of course, unlike the smiths and crafters of this world, his limit was matter cost and his imagination, while everyone else had mountains of other conditions that shackled their capabilities, one of them being the world rules themselves. A world without divines would not be able to create divine level items until such beings emerged for example.
And so, with the levels of his combat party getting closer and closer to that next threshold, Jack was preparing to sweat his ass a little, regearing and filling out whatever lack of armour they still had, currently solved by quite cheap starter armour and clothing acquired from the local crafters. Of course, once again the issue of his empty matter storage was to be blamed for his relative inactivity thus far, leaving his party with their beginner Virtuoso gear. As he himself had put it, unless they can find and clear a dungeon, he will have to continue with the Virtuoso flavour texts, less some annoying and curious bastards come snooping around. Clear a dungeon however, and Jack can get a little creative and liberal with what and how he does things, going so far as to take the input of the person he is crafting an item for, resulting in a more personalized and appealing item for said person. Still, that required a dungeon clear and those were hard to come by, especially for a group without powerful connections and certain level of backing.
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With the kids gone for the day at least, Jack got other tasks that required his attention, starting with a visit to a certain aged merchant and delivering a proper dressing down for his lax manner of keeping fools in check. He had little to no doubt that last night's raid was a result of either Ramia's competitors or peers getting a bit too greedy and handsy with the new inventor of the old fellow. Jack was also well aware that while Ramia was honourable and honest, he could also be insanely decisive and protective of his people and interests, going so far as to become quite cruel towards those who would do him or his business harm.
He had quickly traveled across the town to reach Ramia's shop and just as quickly had he been brought before the old merchant.
"Ho ho. What brings my best new inventor here so soon after acquisition of his own mansion? I would assume there are plenty of things for you to do?" Ramia asked, a genuine smile adorning his aged face. "I am happy about your presence of course, don't get me wrong, since this saves a trip for my runners to your place. I have acquired some items for your second request. Might as well hand them over now." he added, withdrawing a pouch of materials from his spatial storage.
"Business of course, though I appreciate the speed you work with." Jack replied, stretching out his hand and grabbing the presented bag, stashing it away in his own spatial ring.
"We had some uninvited guests last night. Ten shadow walkers, around level twenty, tried to infiltrate the property and manor itself. They succeeded on former, not so much on the latter." Jack explained, fishing out a piece of paper and handing it over to Ramia.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
"Names, levels and classes of the infiltrators, along with achievements, if they had any, and codenames they went by as they infiltrated the property. And no, no one got away, at least as far as those entering the property are concerned."
"And you believe it's connected with the spice trade you have through me. Is that correct?"
"Yes. Who else would have the funds, influence, knowledge and motive for that matter, to send such specialized force to our place acquired in the same day?" Jack explained, adding "I don't know any other way we could have attracted such attention."
Ramia read through the notes provided, his brows furrowed as he read through the information and came to his own conclusions, speaking up a few minutes later once he had decided on the next plan of action.
"Indeed, it seems you are correct. What's more, I have a glaring suspicions I already know who is behind all of this." he sighed and rubbed his temples "Really, I thought those three little piggies were smarter than this. Did the fall of their fathers and their fathers before them, did not teach them anything? Guess our merchant alliance will lose three houses soon enough." he then turned his focus back entirely to Jack. "I have indeed made a blunder it seems. This old head of mine is starting to have it's toll on my sharpness. Worry not, I will fix the issue soon enough though. You also don't have to worry about further actions from the same source. I will solve that and soon enough. Anything else you need?"
"Solving the issue? Are you talking about vitality elixirs? If so, I would love to study one for a few hours. Do not worry though, said study material would be returned to you without a single drop missing. I could even spend the time I need to examine it right here under your supervision if that makes you more comfortable with the idea."
"And what do you think you could gain from such a thing?" Ramia asked with amusement.
"The ability to replicate, in time and with the appropriate resources available of course." Jack replied with a shit eating grin, stunning the old man once again, something that seemed to be happening all too often for the man." Assuming I get enough rare materials to do so."
"That math thingy again, juts with elixir of vitality this time?"
"Yup!" Jack smiled, a predatory smile on his face.
"Hmmm.." Ramia half hummed and half grumbled. The man had quite the dilemma. On the one hand, risks of losing the elixir were great and those were insanely rare and expensive, worst still vitality was a premium one even among other elixirs. Who would not want to live longer after all? Unlike vitality provided by gear that only made you more durable, the one that came from personal stats, be they base ones or achievements, or permanent gains from elixirs or allocating free points, extended one's own lifespan, rejuvenating the body, until eventually, one stepped beyond mortality, reforging their body and attaining eternal youth. Though youth was a relative term, as there were plenty of old fogies who had barely managed to step into divinity at the very end of their lives, retaining their aged shapes and forms.
"Right, forgot to ask." Ramia suddenly spoke up, exiting his current thoughts, having just remembered a rather crucial detail he did not ask about "How did you stop them? I heard no commotion, nor whispers of a battle on that side of the city."
"What are you talking about?" Jack grinned, tossing over a small token "We did no such thing. It was all thanks to the guy you hired to protect us from shadows. Good job on that by the way."
"Oh, right. My forgetful head. Totally slipped my mind." Ramia was old and sly enough to get the hint easily enough, playing along without missing a beat. It was clear Jack wanted to create a mercenary cover for his other actions and what better way than through Ramia's network. An unknown, yet skilled merc taking out a squad of shadow walkers as his first job was quite good, doubly so since the merc in question was in the same tier as said shadow walkers. A beginner, sure, but the upper end of said tier and close to advancement. There were plenty of jobs available precisely because he was a beginner, doubly so in a city that was neutral ground and about to be filled with numerous freshly summoned and gullible gifted.
With his purpose fulfilled, all of them to be precise, Jack left Ramia's shop and returned to his new home, sinking into thoughts about his next few steps and waiting for Ramia to contact him through the communication mark he had left the older merchant with, much like the one he had handed over to both the kids group and farmers, to be used in an emergency situations to contact him.
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"Urgh. Just drop it, will you?" groaned Kaede, surrounded by the rest of the combat squad girls as they once again barraged her with questions. Kenji was pushed aside and seemed half pale, having already gone through rounds of torturous interrogation about the spicy details of their fist night, and day for that matter, together. Thankfully, he had held strong, resisting the neverending questions, teasing and leg pulling he had top go through, all while doing his job during their combat encounters- and thank god for those, since much to the lover couples relief, the rest of the squad focused up hundred percent during those, putting in hundred percent effort to have them taken care of in as short a time frame possible, all while ensuring no excess risks were taken to do so. Of course, it was obviously so they could get back to their interrogation, but Kaede could not fault them for it- she was sure she would have done exactly the same thing should any other girl from their group had gotten where she was right now. And wasn't that something? The nerdy and bookworm like Kaede had snagged her crush, nice and proper and finally gone all the way.
"I have to say though, Jack is incredible, unreasonably so." Chiyo interrupted the rest of the girls as she spoke, drawing their attention to herself for the moment.
"Duh, tell us something we don't already know!" Fumiko rolled her eyes at the incredible wisdom of their scout.
"More than you think. You might not have noticed it, but I am a scout. I saw traces of combat just outside the main mansion and seeing as we are all fine and dandy, and not saying a thing about any nightly combat exercises, I can only conclude it was Jack who took them on, likely alerted thanks to that array thing he was making yesterday. "
"Why would he say nothing then? Does he not trust us enough?" Fumiko huffed, clearly not liking the sound of that.
"I bet it was because he believed it would distract and worry us needlessly. He warned us about a possibility of actions taken against us after all. Now imagine him saying there was a raid on the house during night, but he took care so we can just head out and have fun. Would any of us be capable of doing that?" Izumi interceded, and as she saw everyone else shaking their heads in denial at the question, she continued on "But he still needs the matter so our gear could be made and replaced. The mansion still needs upgrades and Alonso and the farmer squad also need stuff made. He is taking on the burden of dealing with it and knowing it so we could focus our minds on our own task. If anything, I would say he is putting his trust in us more than before."
"Izumi is right. And besides, it does not matter to me and Kaede either way. He has done too much for us already, so even if he keeps secrets, we will still be eternally grateful and in debt to him." Kenji spoke from the side, a slight smile on his face as his gaze was locked on Kaede, causing the shrine maiden to blush a little, but nod in agreement regardless, once again stirring the frenzied and starving bunch of rumor mongers in the form of the remaining girls.
"URghhhhh! KAMI!" Kaede groaned and called for gods in japanese in exasperation, once again swarmed with questions and suggestive winks. It seemed there would be no end to this until she either spilled some beans or got the rest of the girls laid, though that would then bring on entirely another discussion- there was no way they could find someone as sweet, attentive and willing to please while becoming quite the beefcake thanks to his guardian class. 'Kenji is indeed a catch!' Kaede once again affirmed in her mind the truth engraved in her mind and soul. And she was never going to let go.
Thankfully, they were heading deeper inside the forest, encountering more and more monster packs that they then meticulously took care off. Once done, Chiyo cut off proff parts to be handed in to adventurers guild for bounties, while either Kaede and Emi took turns collecting the rest of the bodies as matter for Jack suing his special ring. The team had to admit, there was some odd satisfaction, watching as the bodies scattered into a small, ethereal dust that dissipated further still, leaving their combat zones without any proof, save some random blood puddles in places the bodies had fallen. Their hunt was turning out to be quite the success after all.
Jack Raja(?)
Age- 27
Species- human(?)
Level- 15
Class- Twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(EX)
Stats unassigned: +11
Attributes:
Strength- 24 (14+7+3)
Vitality- 23 (12+8+3)
Dexterity- 21 (15+6)
Intelligence-7
Spirit- 25 (20+5)
Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX).
Spells- none.
Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme.
Gear: amulet +2 vit: weapon- Gundao+3 str. Rings- spatial storage, vit +1.
