Chapter 72: The Underwater Kingdom, Aquavera (3)

Chapter 72: The Underwater Kingdom, Aquavera (3)

Kai left Cyrus's house after finishing their conversation.

Following a step behind, Crawford asked, “So, what's your plan?”

“Well...”

Kai tried to sort out his tangled thoughts.

Though I've solved the problem of underwater movement, it's still far from enough to face the nagas.

He felt the need to grow stronger first. Moreover, the quest to find Tardal's scale had a thirty-day time limit. Given that time wasn't on his side, he had to proceed with meticulous planning.

First, let's explore the city and gather some information.

Since Kai was the first to discover Aquavera, it was a city not yet revealed to other players. Naturally, this meant he had exclusive access to the surrounding dungeons, quests, and shop items!

“I plan to explore the city first. What about you, Crawford?”

“I’m gonna head to Helene’s house to rest. All the events today have left me quite tired.”

Although Crawford claimed he was tired, his face looked much brighter than the day before. Knowing this was due to his reunion with his loved one, Kai offered his sincere congratulations.

Crawford replied, “Thank you. But if you ever need my help, don’t hesitate to come find me. I’ll assist with anything I can.”

“Same with me too. And make sure to find me before the day is over, since you'll need to renew the magic to breathe underwater,” said Helene.

“I'll keep that in mind.”

He couldn’t risk drowning after reaching the underwater city!

Nodding, Kai watched as they walked away, then headed into the street.

Come to think of it, it's definitely...

His body felt light, likely due to The Three Treasures set. Realizing this, Kai lightly kicked off the ground and launched upward. As he used freestyle strokes he had learned as a kid, his speed was unlike back then.

If they held a swimming competition in MID Online, I'd win for sure.

He had even achieved this speed without a swimming skill, which was impressive! If he continued swimming and ultimately acquired a skill, he would be as good as a sea lion.

Kai swam upward to get a better view and observed the city buildings that came into view.

Just looking at the exterior is hard to know what is where. For now...

He quickly spun his body and swam down into an open area that looked like a plaza.

“Huh? Isn’t that a human?”

“I haven't seen a human in hundreds of years.”

The merfolk showed mild curiosity as soon as Kai appeared!

Approaching a group of them, Kai offered a bright smile and said, “Hello. I’m Kai, an adventurer exploring the most beautiful city in the world.”

“Haha, Aquavera is indeed beautiful.”

“There’s probably no city more beautiful than this anywhere in the world.”

If compliments could make whales dance[1], it would certainly be the same for merfolk!

Breaking down their wariness in no time, Kai glanced around with an embarrassed expression. “This is my first time in a merfolk city, so I'm not familiar with my way around. Could you kindly show me around please?”

Since the merfolk used their own characters, just looking at the signs on the buildings didn't reveal much about their purpose.

Exploring everything myself would be inefficient.

MID Online was full of unknowns. No matter how smart a player was, without the right skills, they couldn’t figure everything out.

And NPCs are there to answer questions when you don't know something.

Going around confidently asking various questions to NPCs was the basic approach for players when visiting a new city.

Luckily, the friendly merfolk were more than willing to share their knowledge.

“Thank you. That was very helpful.” Kai gratefully thanked them.

“It’s nothing. We haven’t had an outsider visit in hundreds of years, so it was actually a welcome change.”

“Come by the tavern if you have time later! We’d love to hear stories from the human world.”

“I'll make sure to drop by if I can.”

After parting ways with the merfolk, Kai quickly swam to the weapon shop.

“Welcome.”

“Do you mind if I look around?”

“Go ahead.”

Ignoring the weapon shop owner's cold tone, Kai inspected the weapons.

Hmm, most of the weapons are made from bone. Probably because this is an underwater city.

Due to the nature of the underwater city, they couldn't use fire to work with steel. Moreover, metal weapons would corrode quickly in saltwater, making them unsuitable for long-term use.

“Huh?”

"Ahem, it's quite impressive."

"If you don't mind, may I explain the value of this gold?"

"The value of gold?" The shopkeeper blinked, nodding with a bewildered expression. "Let’s hear it."

"First, look at the front of the gold. There's a finely detailed eagle symbolizing the sky."

"Oh, so this is the bird called an eagle? I've read about it in books!"

The merfolk would never have the chance to see eagles, as they only inhabited the inland regions of MID Online. Perhaps because of this, the shopkeeper nodded eagerly, displaying an excitement that seemed unfitting for his age.

"And on the back is an engraving of the palace of the royal family of Rashion."

"Oh! So that's where the human king resides?"

"Yes, it's a massive palace that rivals most villages in size."

"Wow..."

The shopkeeper, with his mouth wide open, was already letting his imagination run wild.

"On the front, there's an eagle soaring in the sky! And on the back, an engraving of a massive royal palace. This isn't just currency. It's almost an art piece."

"I agree. It is very beautiful. However... I can't lower the price of the sword. One coin won't be worth a handful of gold. You'd need at least twenty of these coins."

20 coins was... 20 gold!

A mere Magic-grade sword cost 2 million won!

Kai felt like screaming at this outrageous price, but he calmed himself down.

I can't just pay that straight out.

While it was true his wallet had gotten fuller recently, spending millions for a set of Magic-grade items seemed foolish.

Think, think...

After crunching numbers in his mind, Kai suddenly showed a relaxed expression and shook his head. “That's unfortunate. I thought all merfolk were intelligent, but it seems someone here knows one thing but not the other...”

“What did you just say?”

As the shopkeeper scowled, Kai flicked the coin with his finger. The coin, slowed by water resistance, rose slowly and then gently fell back into his hand.

Easing the tension a bit with that action, Kai said, “Sorry, what's your name?”

“...I'm Kaul.”

“I see. As someone who also shares the character Ka, I’ll share a useful piece of information.”

Kai glanced around as if he was about to share a secret and then whispered, “I might be holding this gold now, but what do you think will happen when I leave the city?”

“Well... no one will have it.”

“Nope,” Kai smiled slyly, tapping Kaul’s hand with his index finger. "Wouldn't it be you who would hold this gold?"

"I... I see, but that’s only if we went with the transaction."

"Right, so think about it again. As you know, Aquavera could never produce such intricate coins."

“Ahem, aren’t you underestimating the skills of merfolk a bit too much? We could make them if we wanted to.”

Though Kaul seemed slightly uncomfortable, Kai's smile only grew broader. "Well, this is disappointing. Are you underestimating the skills of dwarves?"

“D-dwarves?” Kaul asked with a surprised expression.

The legendary craftsmanship of dwarves was well-known among all species.

"You don't really think humans made artwork of this level, do you? These were produced under the supervision and guidance of dwarves working in royal workshops."

That wasn’t wrong. Dwarves managed and supervised the molds for minting gold coins. Of course, gold was automatically produced 24/7.

“I see... I did think it was quite beautiful when I first saw it.”

Denying it would be similar to admitting his poor taste!

Then Kaul, slightly flushed, nodded in acknowledgment.

"So, how much would this piece of dwarf-crafted art be worth?" asked Kai.

"Hm..." After thinking for a while, Kaul extended out his hand with a surrendered expression and said, “...Just give me two coins.”

Success!

With a few words and a clever idea, Kai managed to lower the price by a whopping 90%!

As he clenched his fist in triumph, a notification window appeared before him.

Ding!

[You convinced Kaul, the shopkeeper of Aquavera’s weapon shop, who is known to be picky.]

[Charisma skill generated.]

[You have reduced the price of an item by 90% with your witty remarks and eloquent speech.]

[Bargain skill generated.]

1. A South Korean saying that means no one is immune to compliments ☜