HC: Pacifist | Ch. 266 - Hidden Trap (Patreon)

“You sure are a handful, young man,” said the sergeant. “Just when I thought you’ve done it all, you do this!”

Roth laughed the praise off. “I’ll soon bring a couple of flags to fly at the Union’s tent. I’ll let you know once I arrive at Hilsford.”

“Nice! We can all have a party or something.”

“See you, Sarg!”

“At ease, soldier,” joked the old sergeant.

After finishing the conversation with the sergeant, Roth glanced at the inventory and watched as yet more gold coins had poured in. Players creating new accounts were choosing the lizard race. During the conversation with Sergeant Sarg, he got over a hundred gold coins.

He then stared lovingly at his new flag one more time. The pole was a fiery red with elegant dark veins. The field of the flag was black silk, with seven circles embroidered around an eighth-one. The flower-like arrangement represented Lacertia.

Flag of the Eight Spires (Epic)

Description: The flagpole is made of red maple, and the flag is made of swamp lotus silk. A flag that represents all lizards and lizardmen in AstroTerra. Each symbol represents one of the bone spires of the Great Swamp, home to the lizardmen elders.

Effects:

One-hand equipment;

Can deal no damage;

+50 strength;

+50 resilience;

+50 endurance;

+200hp.

You can use [Hulking Titan], [Toxin Immunity], [Fury of the Eight Spires].

Restrictions: Pacifist, lvl. 40.

Hulking Titan (Rare)

Description: By focusing your energy and fully flexing your muscles, you become temporarily bigger and faster.

Effects:

Active. Cleanses any crowd control effects upon usage. You can receive new ones after triggering the skill. It lasts 10 seconds;

+20% damage;

+20% damage reduction;

+20% movement speed.

Toxin Immunity (Rare)

Description: After living in the toxic swamps, you become immune to toxins.

Effects:

You are immune to most poisons and acids.

Fury of the Eight Spires (Legendary)

Description: The strength of the fallen warriors, whose leather was used to produce this armor, inspires you to greatness. You summon all your inner strength and die in a blaze of glory.

Effects:

+200 to all stats for 30 seconds;

You lose all your health at the end of the skill's duration.

Cooldown: 72 hours.

He’d been a level 40 player using level 15 equipment. The effects of this epic flag made his other ones look like toys. Firstly, it came with three skills instead of just two. [Hulking Titan] was a run-of-the-mill skill for body combat, allowing players to cleanse any stuns or fear debuffs and temporarily gain a boost to attack and defense. Every respectable warrior would keep a few skills like this in their arsenal.

[Toxin Immunity] was a little better. After equipping the flag, all the debuffs he’d received upon arriving on the swamps were lifted. By a mile, the best skill was [The Fury of the Eight Spires]. He’d already read its effects when he’d studied the [Lacertian Set], and he’d instantly seen its potential.

As a zoomorph, injecting more than a thousand stat points into his character, even if temporarily and with a huge backlash, could make an incredible difference at pivotal moments. For example, if the next time he met the Table, he could use [Fox Form] and [Fury of the Eight Spires] to sway all the stubborn cats to do something that favored him.

Sadly, the flag didn’t have the same safeguard as [Lacertian Set]. That wasn’t a problem, though. After seeing the set, Roth already knew how to cancel the legendary skill’s shortcomings. He didn’t need [Solar Warmth] anymore since he had maxed out his relationship with the lizards, so he would look for a [Second Wind] skill card and learn it. 

The [Affinity Orb] was kept safely in his inventory. Even though Roth already had two affinities, light, and nature, it felt wasteful to use it now. According to the lizardmen, this was a unique item. He would hold on to it for now.

Roth sat on the bony platform and leafed through the pages of his new leatherworking manual. He had initially thought that it only contained the recipe for the [Lacertian Set], but he had been mistaken. The manual had much more to it. It was a collection of techniques, stamping techniques, crafting hints, and recipes.

Roth's inventive solution of stacking shed skins turned out to be common practice among the lizardmen artisans. At the beginning of the manual, a series of notes on what types of shed skins combined best and the best glues to stack them were clearly outlined. 

There was a whole section on stamping patterns that Roth couldn’t wait to try. He hadn’t stamped anything but his light traps, and seeing this new technique, he felt inspired to try to meld the two somehow.

Finally, there were recipes. He’d seen several of them for sale at the reputation stores of the different species of lizards. The lava lizards even gifted him one such recipe. This manual contained every single one of those recipes. He knew how to create at least seven level 20 sets.

There was then a set for level 30, one for level 40, and finally, in the end, was the recipe to craft the [Lacertian Set]! It required him to be level 50 as a tailor first, but still, it was an incredible suit of armor that he was excited to craft someday.

Checking the [Swamp Orb], he found that all of this had happened in under two hours, and he still had twenty-two hours to kill before he could teleport somewhere else. Fortunately, he had a way to keep himself busy. He approached a black lizardman hammering an incandescent piece of metal on an anvil. At first, Roth stared confused at the blacksmith’s impromptu street workshop. He couldn’t spot any furnaces. How was the smith heating the metal?

As if to answer his question, the lizardman grabbed a cup big enough to rival a barrel and drank it down in huge gulps. He then hit his chest a couple of times and released a massive burp. With the burp came flames from the lizardman’s mouth. He brought the piece of metal close to his burning burp, and the metal became bright again. 

A little sickened, Roth approached. “Hello, sir.”

“Oh, beloved martyr. I’ve heard of the great service you’ve done for our people.”

“You’re welcome. I’ve heard there are alligators in the swamps.”

The smith nodded his agreement as he kept hammering the metal which he seemed to be turning into an axe head. “There are. Even though they are weaker than the lizardmen, we maintain a good relationship with them. After all, they are reptiles, too.”

“Right. Where can I find them?”

“They live closer to the dark waters at the swamp's edge. Just head north, and you’ll find them.”

“Thanks!”

Mario’s mom lived here somewhere. It had been long since he’d seen the obnoxious cyborg alligator. Even though the quest he’d issued him didn’t seem particularly valuable, Roth was a sucker for completion, and he didn’t like to leave quests dangling. Since he had some time to kill, he’d use the time to do the quest.

Before he headed out, though, he had a call to make.

“Hey, Mel.”

“Hi! How are you?”

“I’m OK, thanks. You?”

“Good. I’ve been working too much lately, so I came to spend the day with my parents.”

“How are they doing?” Roth asked politely.

“They’re good. They are retired now, so they just take it easy.”

“That’s nice.” Roth wished he could help his mom retire, too. Hopefully, he could keep caring for her and his brothers with the money he made in the game. The Ogres’ job offer and the new title were certainly a step in that direction.

“Listen, Mel. BlueFire has offered me a contract.”

“Really?”

Roth nodded. “Since you are a professional player, I was wondering if you could help me decide whether to accept it.”

“A-are you sure you want my input on this?”

“Of course. I trust you.”

Mel gently tucked her blonde hair behind her ear and smiled. “I’m glad to take a look. Would you mind if I saw the document BlueFire has sent you?”

Roth forwarded the document, noticing Mel’s business-like look as she carefully read the contract. She nodded at some parts and frowned at others. After reading the whole thing twice, she signaled she was ready to talk. 

“So? What do you think?” prompted Roth.

“Several things in the contract seem alright to me. The salary they’re offering is within the industry standards. You can always make a counteroffer and ask for more.”

Roth nodded. When he read it, he immediately thought of that, but money wasn’t his priority. “What else?”

“Something that stands out to me is the clause on full disclosure. I don’t like it. You’re not the typical player hired into a guild because you can fight well, have good reflexes, and have good gaming sense. The Ogres want you because you have a unique playstyle. If you fully divulge all your secrets, they won’t be secrets anymore.

“For example, I’m a hawk knight. That’s a unique class. I didn’t mind divulging how I got it to the Krakens when they hired me because they couldn’t repeat it. I don’t know what your class, race, and skills are. Don’t tell me. It’s OK. But if they aren’t unique, you risk the Ogres taking it all away from you.”

Roth nodded. Drake had said the same thing.

“Furthermore, the part in which BlueFire says they won’t interfere with the Union feels off to me. Even if they say they won’t interfere, you’re the key to why the Union grants unique bonuses. If they get all your secrets, they can probably create a similar organization to yours.”

SergeantSarg had also spotted that hidden trap. Seeing Mel genuinely trying to help him, Roth couldn’t help but feel warmth toward her.

“I want to tell you something, Mel. I would appreciate it if it stayed between us. Is that OK?”

“A-alright. What is it?”

“Have I ever told you how they trapped me in AstroTerra?”

“In part.” Something in her silence invited Roth to tell it in more detail.

“The day I left prison, I was expecting my mother or one of my brothers to pick me up. I had written to my mom and asked her to crash for a few days on her sofa until I could get a job and rent a small apartment. Instead, I found Wilson, one of my old teammates from New Earth. Did you play New Earth?”

“No. I didn’t.”

“Not important. He had planned it all out and guilt-tripped me into entering Loki’s rigged pod. When I woke up in the beginner village, I was surrounded by my old friends.” Roth said the last word between air quotes. “They had locked my pain settings to max and started killing me again, and again, and again.”

Mel brought her hand to her mouth. “And you couldn’t log out…”

“No. I could not.”

She started tearing up. “H-how many times did… did they do that to you?”

“Many,” Roth said, fighting the tears that were trying to form in his eyes. He suppressed the lump in his throat and continued. “Anyway, they left me there and told me there was only one way to get out of the pod. I had to make it to the top 10 in the rankings.”

“Wait? If you died so many times, shouldn’t your account have been crippled? How…” She shook her head and held her hand up. “Never mind. Don’t tell me. When they ask me, it’s easier if I don’t know how. Sorry. Why would they leave a way out?”

“They learned it from me. It’s something I used to do when I was a mean bully,” Roth said sadly. “If you remove all of your victim’s hope, they just shut down. By leaving an opening, they think they can get back up and keep coming back so that you can squash them again. It’s sadism 101.”

Mel’s mouth twisted. 

“Sorry. I know. I’m gross. I was a real piece of work.”

“Oh no. I wasn’t reacting to that. I was just thinking that your old teammates are real jerks.”

Roth smiled weakly. “Loki has a way of making people do horrible things. I’m sure they didn’t have it easy either. If you sow winds, you reap storms. I’m just paying for my past mistakes. What goes around, comes around.”

“No, Roth. No one deserves to be tortured like that.”

“Anyway, when the Ogres retrieved my pod, they found a backdoor in the capsule’s program: a condition. I think that when my old teammates told me that if I reached the top 10 of the game, I could leave the pod, they were telling the truth!” Roth said excitedly. “Even if no one can disarm the bomb from the outside, I can do it from within!”

Mel’s eyes widened, and her jaw slackened. “You’re trying to reach the top 10?!”

Roth nodded.

“I see, and you’re trying to understand whether the Ogres would help you get there.”

“Precisely. Should I tell them my goal is to reach the top 10 and ask them to assist me?”

Ch. 265 - Jackpot

INDEX

Ch. 267 - Ferry