Chapter 11：Greatest Benefit

"It's a pleasure to meet you Prime." Marius greeted the Guild Leader politely.

"Likewise," Prime responded. "I didn't expect to meet an expert today."

"I assure you, I'm not an expert," Marius replied. "Just a busybody that's poking his nose into someone else's business. I hope you can forgive me."

There was a pause.

"Guild Leader, please. I am short on time so shall we skipped to the business part of this discussion?" Marius continued.

"Yes," Prime replied.

"I currently have 50 Fire Stones. I trust that your subordinate has shown you their... benefits?"

"Yes," Prime answered. "I must ask though, where did you find such a wondrous item?"

"I'm afraid that I must keep my trade secrets. Otherwise, I would have no value to anyone. I'm sure you understand."

Marius knew what this man was thinking. Prime wanted the Fire Stones. He wanted the secret to getting them and he had a few options to get them.

Prime could either purchase them from Marius and trade for the secret. Or he could take the time to find it out himself. But the easiest option was to take the Stones and the secret from Marius by force.

"Are you planning on selling them to anyone?" Prime asked.

"Haha, what sort of price could I demand them for?" Marius asked "They are a weapon that can give a guild a very real edge. Even gold would be too cheap a price."

Prime was silent for a while. Marius continued.

"Guild Leader. This is my deal. You take the kill on sight order off Super Nova. In exchange, I will give you 50 of these Fire Stones. However, if I hear that either Winnie P, Ardern or any other guild are targeting him, I will distribute the method of obtaining Fire Stones and when you reach the City, I will personally chain kill each and every one of your Guild members."

"What?" Prime was startled by Marius' declaration.

"I'm am currently preparing to head to the City," Marius clarified. "I hope you understand."

The key to negotiation was the subtle threat.

Marius obviously hadn't been subtle when he said he'd take retribution for Super Nova's potential mistreatment. But the threat that caught Prime's attention was that he was preparing to go to the city.

Here was a man, who claimed he wasn't an expert, yet he was preparing to leave every player stuck in the Beginner Village behind.

That was the threat. And an undeniable statement of how powerful his adversary on the other side of the discussion was.

Could he afford to get on this man's bad side?

"I accept." Prime acquiesced.

"Its a pleasure doing business with you," Marius said as he made the private trade.

"Master Midnight, do you perhaps wish to join a guild?" Prime asked.

"No," Marius replied before ending the conversation.

Turning to the three Warriors Marius waved his hand.

"Get out of here, you're causing a scene." He spoke coldly.

A moment later he watched as the three Warriors disappeared from the shop. A deathly silence as flooded the shop as they left.

Players were looking at him in awe. He guessed that few people would stand up to any of the guilds. Their strength and manpower demanded obedience.

Marius didn't care as he followed the Warriors out. He didn't have a lot of time left before his time was up. He quickly ran to the refinery, paying the price to get his Lighting and Wind Stones Leveled up. He even paid to level up a few Fire Stones to Level 3.

0:32:09

Breathing a sign, Marius ran to the Smithy.

"Young Adventurer. Welcome back. How can I help you?"

The Smith was as welcoming as the shopkeeper when Marius entered.

"Master Smith, I have a job for you if you would accept. I have four Stones I want to be embedded into my Weapon. Could you see to it?"

Marius pulled out Silent Night and the four Stones.

The Smith observed them with a look of concentration.

"I can do it," he replied carefully. "But are you sure you want to embed these stones. They cannot be refined once I am done and your weapon will lose durability if they get replaced."

Marius considered his options.

Weapon durability would become a key factor when he began the true storyline. However, that only began after entering one of the Main Cities. In the Beginner Village, weapons and armor were protected by the system to help new players grow. After graduating though, that benefit would be removed.

"Master Smith, will my Silent Night obtain any new sockets if I can upgrade or level it up?"

The Smith looked grave. "It is possible, but additional sockets won't be available until you upgrade it to Gold Rank. Then you can get one additional socket per grade."

"So if I can upgrade it to Holy Rank, it will have 8 sockets?"

The Smith nods.

"Ok, can I obtain Pure Element Stones after I leave the Beginner Village?"

The Smith shakes his head. "Pure Element Stones are only available before entering a City. After that, you can refine Skill Stones, but that requires the aid of a Dwarf. It is also very expensive."

Marius sighs. "Last question. Can the Lightning Stone attributes stack?"

The Smith considers the question. "You have 3 Lightning Stones at Level 4. Individually they will give your Weapon 60% pierce damage, essentially bypassing 60% of an opponents resistance to damage. If you embed 3 into your weapon the effect will increase, but will half for each additional stone. As it is, these three will combine to give you (60+30+15) 105% pierce damage with a 5% chance of critical damage."

"I see. Embed them all please." Marius accepts. He was glad that his hunch had paid off.

"That will be 5 silver coins each."

Marius handed over his last 20 silvers, feeling much poorer yet wealthier than ever.

"It will take an hour to finish ." The Smith informed Marius. "Come back later to pick it up."

Marius nodded and logged out.

Several hours later, Marius logged back in, standing in front of the Smiths counter.

"Young Adventurer, your Weapon is ready. Would you like to take it?" The Smith asked.

Marius took his weapon and left, not caring to check its stats. He wanted to get out of the Beginner Village as soon as possible.

"Brother Solitude," A message came through from Super Nova. "You're finally back online."

Marius cursed, he hadn't turned his communications off before he logged out earlier.

"Super Nova, how goes your grinding?" Marius replied.

The Assassin should have had 6 hours to figure out how to beat the Elemental Squirrels. Plenty of time to get a good harvest and a new Weapon.

"I've been doing very well. I've even leveled up to Level 8. I got my Customized Weapon not too long ago too. They're dual blades called Rising Descent. Check it out." Super Nova's message babbled.

Marius read the message, shaking his head, ignoring the Weapon specifications that Super Nova had sent.

"Keep up the good work. Has anyone else tried to farm the Elemental Stones yet?" Marius asked, mastering his patience.

"Not yet."

"Then keep grinding and remember to keep the Stones a secret. I'm leaving the Beginner Village now. We can meet up when you get there."

"Ok. Good luck brother Solitude."

Closing the conversation, another message popped up.

"Brother Solitude, long time no see," Proud Master message him.

Sighing again, Marius replied. "Long time. How have you been?"

"It's been excellent. Those Brutal Arrows have been a huge hit. I've made more coin than I thought possible and its all thanks to you brother Solitude."

Marius was surprised. He knew there was a marketing opportunity with the Brutal Arrows, but he hadn't expected Proud Master to reap that much from his cheap tip.

"I'm glad you profited from our arrangement," Marius replied.

"Haha. Well, I feel its only right to repay your kindness. Have you heard about the Fire Stones?"

Marius was momentarily surprised. "I've heard a rumor or two. Why do you ask?"

"Brother, this is a huge opportunity. The Guild Winnie P has put out a huge reward for information on how to obtain them. Apparently, there is a secret quest where you can get them. I figured a man as knowledgeable as you would have some insights."

Marius was pondering just how people's mind's worked. He didn't think that the leap from the Elemental Stones dropped in the third main quest was that much of a leap to Fire Stones. Since Super Nova didn't have any competition with grinding Elemental Squirrels it seemed like nobody had explored that avenue yet. Were these stupid or just too narrowminded?

This, of course, gave Marius a few ideas on how to make his gameplay a little easier.

"I'm afraid I haven't any idea about a quest that gives you Fire Stones," Marius said honestly. "I have heard that you can obtain something similar called Skill Stones but I haven't found anything out about that yet."

Marius knew full well how powerful those Elemental Stones would be later in the game. A Level 5 Pure Elemental Stone would be worth its weight in gold and Marius regretted not having the time to obtain them.

On the other hand, Skill Stones would be much more plentiful and information on them would be common knowledge eventually. So Marius intentionally diverted Proud Masters attention away from the Fire Stones, towards something far less valuable.

The fewer people with access to Pure Elemental Stones the better.

"Really brother?" Proud Master answered excitedly. "This is huge news. I'll let you know if I find out anything more about them."

Marius farewelled Proud Master and started running to the Village Leaders Hall.

The only person who knew about the Elemental Stones and their advantages was Super Nova and Marius was sure that he wouldn't let the secret out.

An opportunist like him knew better than to give out such a powerful advantage. On the other hand, Marius had a good reason for bringing the Assassin into the loop.

He'd need an ally. A backup plan and potentially a scapegoat if things got too extreme. Afterall, the greatest disadvantage of playing solo was it was easy to get outnumbered.

Even though Night Stalkers were a strong adaptable class, it wasn't invincible. Case and point, the opinion that most people had of Night Stalkers. Many people that had started as Night Stalkers and Assasins had deleted their accounts to choose an easier class to play as.

All classes started out with 2 skills which gave the players a taste of their future class advancements. The Night Stalkers class, on the other hand, was stuck with only a basic control and basic attack skill. Both of which were much weaker than the skills of more specialized classes.

Assassin's on the other hand, had a fairly weak ranged and close combat attack. In most games, the Assassin class was a strong physical class with high speed and attack, making them a valuable class on any team. In Shattered Land, their class was adapted, making them very different to play as.

this was actually why Marius had helped Super Nova. He hadn't deleted his Assassin account to restart. It said a lot about a man's character when he continued through adversity instead of bowing to the tide.

In him, Marius saw potential and though he was grooming him to be a potential scapegoat, he still admired many of the traits he had shown. Afterall, how many solo players had the courage or determination to steal kills from a Large Guild?

Cultivating benefits was never a bad thing. Creating relationships could always yield possibilities. These were lessons Marius had learned in his youth, and they had helped him become the indomitable businessman that he had been.

You didn't need to be the most talented genius. You didn't need to be the hardest worker. You needed to find a niche and people that could support you. Failing unyielding support, willingness to aid you in your endeavors.

Marius sensed that Super Nova had that potential so he made a small gamble. Only time would see if it would succeed.

But what was life without a little gamble? If no one risked anything to build something then mankind wouldn't have risen from the dirt to become the dominant creature on the planet.

That was perhaps his most important lesson. To reap the greatest benefit, sometimes you need to make a gamble and let dice roll.