Chapter 100 - 97 : Movements In The Dark

Sato and Fudo, who had previously taken off their cloaks back at the battlefield in other not to be suspected as the mysterious characters, had once again gone to Grynx Merchandise. It didn't take them too long as they used the money they had to re-stock their supplies, both edibles and consumables. They had made a lot from this event that took place and thanks to it, Sato and Fudo felt that they wouldn't be lacking in cash for awhile at least. Despite having a lot of cash, they didn't spend it all but saved some as they believed it would be very necessary when they get to the city. The two then walked off towards the gate while reminiscing on their wins.

One of the top sources of their gains today was from the goblin boss loot which they had raked in 7 silver and 50 copper coins and couple of other materials from. Just this alone would make the other players' eyes go green with envy much less their other winnings. 10 silver coins were also gotten from the emergency mission from Lord Midel alongside 1000 experience points that made it so that their Experience bar was 99% filled up; they just had to flex their muscles a bit and kill one more monster without regards to it's level and they would become level 8 [1]. They also got 50 silver coins from the B rank emergency mission [2] which they shared equally between themselves. Finally, on the monetary aspect of their reward, was the kill reward which totalled about 5 silver coins. This was the reward for the 1st position of most kills done by an individual.

They also got a bunch of resources ranging from 2 star silver or to 3 star Timber crystal. Sato however, was against selling them as they both now had their sub-classes and a few coins in hand, they might as well make better use of the materials rather than selling it. Fudo didn't disagree with this as it was quite reasonable.

Last on their gains were the titles. Sato got two of them being [Humanity's friend] from the individual category reward and [Savior of Races] from the emergency mission during the boss fight. Clicking on them, Sato wanted to study the effects of the skills.

[[ System interface :

[Humanity's friend] :

By saving humanity from a crisis affecting (or about to affect) the race, you have gained their recognition and thanks.

5% discount when trading with human forces.

Human NPCs tend to trust you more often with missions.

Relationship level with human forces would always be capped at [Honoured] unless you commit a sacrilege.

__________________________________

[Savior of Races] :

By preventing the descent of an almost almighty being who desires chaos and destruction, you have successfully saved a lot of lives from being lost and races from being extinct. Receive the joy of the people and races and accept the honour that is due to you.

5% discount when trading with races their dwell in the light.

NPCs tend to trust you more often with missions.

Relationship level with all races that dwell in the light capped at [Honoured] unless you commit a sacrilege.

Unique skill :

Gratitude of Races : Active Skill :

Receive a temporary boost to abilities and skills +1

All attributes +5

Defence increases by 10

Attack speed increases by 10

Damage dealt multiplies x1.5

Healing speed x1.5

Cool-down : 3 days.

System : The gratitude of a race shouldn't be taken lightly much less that of multiple races.

Note : This skill is upgrade-able.

]]

"Such amazing effects.." Sato was overwhelmed by the bonuses of the titles.

One shouldn't look down on the 5% discount. As it stands now, the financial power of the majority of players is quite weak as such, most of their deals and purchases are at most in silver, with that of the large guilds barely reaching the gold mark. To these players who have little to spend, the 5% discount could help them save a lot. It's effect would even become more impressive when players participate in large deals as the amount they could save would be sizeable. A good example is when a player would want to buy a weapon of 100 silvers(1 gold coin). With a 5% discount, they could save 5 silver coins which could be used to buy consumables and food items or even for travel. For someone like Sato, who doesn't like spending a lot, money saved should be treasured no matter how small it is. Because of this quirk of his, one might take him to be petty with his money.

"Better yet, is this unique skill from the [Savior of Races] title."

"Savior of Races? Why didn't I get such a title?" Fudo was surprised and so stopped walking. He opened up his system interface and went through his mission rewards but still didn't see it.

"Huh? You didn't? But it was supposed to be the prize for that emergency mission that came up last." Sato stared at him in confusion as he wondered what was going on. The title was supposed to be part of the reward as it was also displayed on the rewards section of the mission page.

"Ah! I get it now. I think it was meant for the last hit." Fudo said with a look of realisation.

"The last hit? Makes sense." Sato nodded in accordance.

During the battle, Sato was the one who made the last hit and finished off the boss. While the others had assisted in depleting the boss' HP, they didn't eliminate him thoroughly. Hence the conjecture that Sato was the only one who had this title was quite reasonable but they would still have to consult the others to confirm. However, the chances of that happening was close to nil, considering Sato's behaviour.

"A unique skill from a unique title... what's it about?"

"Here take a look." Sato sent him the info on the skill.

"Holy macaroni! It's even better than the other one and this skill, it's freaking OP. Hehe. With this, levelling would be a lot easier for you eh?" Fudo grinned.

What he said was true as the skill was a lot similar to berserk skills. One should remember that berserk potions are really rare much less berserk skills. Even though the [Gratitude of Races] skill had a long cool-down, specifically 3 natural days[3], the skill was quite OP. It wouldn't be an understatement to say that one could turn the tide of a battle in their favor with the aid of this skill.

"One still has to depend on his abilities not just his class skills. Alright, let's be off. We should arrive at Black Grill's cave within 2 hours."

"...can we use a carriage? It would save time and what we need is time." Fudo pleaded.

Sato looked at him with a smile on his face. As his best friend,how could he not know that Fudo was too lazy to walk the distance and so wanted to use a carriage. In their current era, transportation was far more easier and advanced than during the Old era. As such, a lot of people weren't used to long distance trekking apart from those who exercised regularly. The developers of Infinite Realm weren't bothered about this but still, to attend the population who weren't used to this, they made it so that players could still use carriages to get to their destinations.

Despite his best friend's lazy attribute, Sato still agreed after all Fudo did have a point.

. . . . .

In a pub located at the South district in Riverdale Town.

As the residential area of Riverdale, the South district was home to a lot of players and guilds. Some of them had decided to make their temporary headquarters there, renting a building to stay in or a hotel room to recuperate at.

After the battle at the Gnorka, some of the players had gone levelling while the others decided to recuperate and celebrate a bit. Even though they weren't really tired physically, the almost 3 hours long battle had a toll on them mentally. As such, most of the players either returned to their rental houses or rooms and went offline or they decided to go drinking and partying at a pub.

The Red boar pub was one such location that was currently crowded by players. It had two floors which was mostly being occupied by the players right now. The pub was but a simple one and didn't have any sex workers. Even though in Infinite Realm players can't go naked, in other to achieve their belief of another reality, the developers made it possible that players can still go naked and even engage in sexual activities but only at specific locations. Needless to say, the studio behind the game capitalized a lot on this by placing a huge figure on the feature and so, it wasn't really popular among the players. The places that were limited to this feature included a few open pubs and love hotels[4]. The Red Boar pub was however, not one of such places.

Drinks and food were being passed around while the players were discussing their experience with the others. Some even decided to make a video of their celebration and boasting and then uploaded it to the forum's for all to see.

In one corner of the pub was a party of 7 that were drinking and laughing merrily. Everyone one of them was at least a level 5 with the berserker at the helm of the celebration being a level 6.

"Boss Blood is so amazing. While we all levelled once, he went so far as to level up twice."

"Oh stop it. I was already close to level 5 so reaching level 6 was to be expected." The man replied a humbly though his tone and look was filled with pride. If Sato was here, he would definitely know who he was. This was Blood Sword, the berserker he had met earlier together with his teammates when Sato had discovered the mortal rank chest (AN: Chpt 4).

"Boss! Boss!" A player ran in. He was dressed as a ranger and had a bow behind his back.

"Old Hao, what's up?"

"Yeah, you know better than to interrupt boss Blood's party for no good reason. If you don't have one then prepare to guard the door for the next week."

Of the two while spoke, the first was the Paladin, Fiko, and the other was the assassin, Crimson Scar.

The ranger named Old Hao was a bit scared upon hearing Crimson Scar's words but he still didn't back away.

"Boss, I have news that you might like."

"Hmm? Speak then."

Blood Sword replied while putting down his jar of beer.

"I received news from one of our men. The man whom you have been looking for was spotted recently." Old Hao said with a shaky voice.

*Bang*

Blood Sword abruptly stood up on his feet and pushed the table down.

"Where?!"

"He was previously at the West District but he just left town. My men are currently monitoring him though." Old Hao shivered before replying.

"Gather the men. We are going after that bastard!" Blood Sword said before leaving the pub.

Ever since he had stepped into the VR gaming world, no one had disgraced him that badly. Despite being surrounded by his men, Sato had not only taken the stash in the chest but also killed one of them and still escaped unscathed. Blood Sword was thoroughly annoyed because of this and vowed to pay him back tenfold. He had mobilised all his informants in Riverdale Town to search for him and it was only until now that he finally got some news. Blood Sword was determined to teach Sato a lesson and strip him off all his equipment.

'No one has ever disgraced me like that. You, unknown Swordsman, would pay dearly for it.'

AN :

[1] The kill rewards multiplied the experience they got in the event by 0.5 (for killing at least 10 goblins. Check chapter 95.)

[2] Chapter 85

[3] Natural days refers to real-life time and not in-game time.

It's a filler chapter but fillers are still chapters. xD

[4] To better understand this, you pay money and you can go naked and have *** in this places but not elsewhere.. This is of course to prevent some shitheads from going naked in public or r*ping female players.