Slackjawed, I stare at the World Announcement, shocked and horrified at the contents.

This is a problem. This is a big fucking problem.

Reminiscences are, essentially, a type of dungeon. They form from the strong memories, regrets and desires left behind by dead NPCs, and contain a much-abridged snapshot of the events that preceded their demise. By interacting with it, one can enter the memory and attempt to overcome what they could not. If you succeed, you receive a reward based on how much you managed to satisfy the lingering will of the dead, usually a low-tier Legacy item, and the Reminiscence dissipates. The Satisfaction rating also determines whether or not the Reminiscence is permanently resolved, or if not, how long it takes to respawn.

The Failed Mage's Regret is a hidden Reminiscence, buried part-ways underground in a hill about an hour and a half to the north of Meteo City. To access it, you need to present a seal buried nearby to the door of the long-dead mage's laboratory and solve a really irritating puzzle.

Thing is, that puzzle wasn't solved until a week after I came back for The Rise of the Adventurers update.

I don't know who this 'Irikis Falk' is, but within a couple hours of the game's launch, they found and solved a puzzle that wasn't completed for another month. Not only that, but the reward for completing it is a unique Legacy item called 'The Failed Mage's Monocle', which adds a flat +15 Perception boost and allows the wearer to perform Lesser Magic Item Appraisal, without any prerequisites, free of charge. Partial completion will net you a Novice Identification Tablet which is a consumable that casts Basic Magic Item Appraisal with a 20% success rate. The guy who ruined the farm there made a killing with the monocle, as players - myself included - were more or less obliged to go to him to get their items identified. The local NPC who's supposed to provide the service is currently imprisoned in the City's jail until a player can provide proof of his innocence as part of a Level 12 quest chain.

The Monocle is a reward you only get once, after all, and even if you get full completion, a month later the Reminiscence respawns and becomes permanent, with a scaling amount of tablets awarded based on satisfaction rating, turning it into a decent farming spot for appraisal consumables.

I'd planned on heading there to get it after putting a set of gear together. If this Irikis person manages to get a high enough completion to receive the monocle, I'm going to lose a large chunk of income.

My only saving grace, besides the one hour manifestation period, is that the Reminiscence requires players to solve a randomised Crafting puzzle, and a high completion rating is a pipe dream for anyone not already a 2-Star Novice Craftsman, and even that is just the bare minimum. Since there hasn't been a World Announcement for the first 1-Star Novice Craftsman yet, I still have a chance.

Nodding to myself, I return to my logging with renewed purpose.

You and me are going to have words, Irikis Falk.

---

 

Thanks to the boost in success rate and the better quality nodes, getting the rest of the Sad Oak and Blue Birch only takes half an hour, leaving me time to get back to Meteo City right as the Reminiscence manifests. Since there still hasn't been a World Announcement name-checking Irikis Falk as even a 1-Star Novice, I believe that whatever information they have concerning The Failed Mage's Regret only went as far as the location and door puzzle solution.

Even that much is cause for serious concern on my part. I wasn't expecting to run into competition for any of the local secrets, and I refuse to believe that this is somehow my fault, since that wouldn't make any logical sense.

On the long walk back, my mind continuously runs over the possibilities, and the best I can come up with is that I'm not the only one with foreknowledge of Astral Reckoning. I mean, if it can happen once, surely it can happen twice. The biggest cause for anxiety is that while once might be a coincidence, twice is that start of a pattern. For all I know, there could be hundreds, if not thousands of people like me out there, primed to strip Merrow of all it's secrets before either I get to them, or the people who were originally meant to have them can find their destined lucky break. There's no guarantee that these other inheritors of future knowledge will be as responsible as me.

I was already feeling the pressure of only having a month to prepare, and this possibility has only amplified it.

Passing through the city gate, I immediately set off towards the marketplace, and zero in on a travelling textiles merchant operating out of the back of his wagon, bundles of multicoloured linens stacked atop each other and lashed to the bed of the cart with several thick ropes.

"Greetings, customer!" The beady-eyed merchant declares as I approach, "Can I interest you in some fine fabrics?"

I pull out my only Stone Silver, "I want eighty Stone Coppers worth of yarn."

"Of course, good sir, but of course!" The merchant smiles mechanically, "For a good citizen such as yourself, I'll throw in an extra ball."

The benefits of citizenship - 1-star travelling merchants like to be generous with high-paying locals in the hopes of increasing their reputation. If enough people buy their wares a merchant NPC can potentially promote themselves, so occasionally you'll find sundries merchants that have a higher tier than some jewellers, thanks to large numbers of players buying daily necessities like lamp oil. It's even possible to raise your own merchants if you raise enough affinity to become their sponsor, but the capital required to do so is beyond my means for the time being. I have some ideas for that lined up, assuming I don't have to deal with too much interference.

Following that, I hunt around for a general tool supplier and spend 15 Stone Coppers on a set of Beginner's Carpentry Tools, leaving me with nary a copper coin left to my name. If I had the time to travel to one of the other starting zones, Nostraza Town, I could get the balls of yarn I need for half the price, but I'm on a time limit here, so I can't afford that kind of indulgence, and was something I took into consideration even before the surprise discovery the Secret Reminiscence.

Fully supplied, I make my way back in the direction of the gate, before ducking into a sidestreet and over to a workshop with a procession of NPCs carrying heavy logs coming and going from a side entrance. The sign above the main double doors reads 'Justin's Juryriggers', a carpentry workshop presided over by a 3-star Journeyman Carpenter named Austal.

Austal is the main mentor for would-be Carpenters in the Meteo City area, and like the other trade mentors, has a wealth of quests he can offer to get players started in the field. Notably, bringing him ten stacks of Sad Oak Logs will give you the opportunity to look at a Beginner's Carpentry Manual, instantly raising you to a 1-Star Novice Carpenter. Which, while it won't take long to get to doing it normally, is both a massive time saver, and the prerequisite to learning a recipe from him, in exchange for another five stacks: Simple Blue Charms, a neck slot item that increases Willpower by +1 and costs a tenth of a Ball of Yarn to 1 Blue Birch Lumber, the result of refining Blue Birch Logs.

Simple Blue Charms are the goal, and the more I can make the better.

Entering the workshop, the noise of the various magically powered workstations drones into my skull like a swarm of bees put up to a megaphone. Carpenters muddle about the shop floor, going about their work processing logs into planks and so on. A swarthy Firm gentleman with a sawdust blanched leather apron leans against the countertop, keeping a steady gaze over the workers. His vigil is interrupted by the tinkling of a bell placed above the door, drawing his attention to me.

Squinting a little, Austal stands up a little straighter, "Welcome. Business or training?"

"Both," I wave briefly in greeting. Mentor NPCs like Austal, thankfully, are important enough to avoid the text-to-speech-esque roboticism of minor NPCs like most of his employees probably are, as they're here more to give the illusion of busyness and serve as background decoration. Still, their ability to respond is largely limited to their trade and what's relevant to locals. They'll gladly guide you through a list of common materials and their uses, but they're not equipped to handle complicated subjects like moral philosophy.

Austal observes me closely, "If you're willing to do a little chore for me, I might be willing to teach you a few tricks to carpentry."

"Sure," I agree without hesitation, already prepared in advance.

 

 

Dumping out ten stacks worth of logs onto the ground, I jab my thumb towards the pile, "Job's done, Chief."

Austal eyes the large pile of Sad Oak quizzically, but chooses to forego questioning it, "So it is."

 

 

Reaching behind the counter, Austal pulls out a ratty, dog-eared bundle of parchment bound together with twine and hands it to me, "Read this."

Accepting the Manual, I quickly flip through the pages, scanning each one for no more than a few seconds each.

 

 

Seeing the World Announcement, I relax considerably. Passing back the Manual to Austal, I fix him with an expectant look, "I'd like to exchange goods for the Simple Blue Charm schematic, please."

Austal nods slowly, "It's yours for 750 Sad Oak Logs."

Quickly, I dump out the remaining Sad Oak Logs in my inventory onto the initial pile and receive a small sheet of parchment from Austal. Wasting no time, I glance at the diagrams then tear the parchment in half, each piece dissolving into my body. Schematic learnt.

Pleased, I look back to Austal, "Finally, I'd like to request the use of this workshop."

"Alright. You've proven your eagerness to learn the craft, the workshop is yours to use as you see fit," Austal agrees, thanks to a combination of my Charisma, Citizenship Pin, Carpentry skill progression and the quest. The best you can do with lower affinity is to rent a workspace otherwise, which costs one Stone Silver every hour.

I walk briskly to a free circular saw bench, and pull up a tall wooden stool scarred from years of use. One unit of Blue Birch Lumber requires two Blue Birch Logs, meaning I can, assuming a 100% success rate, create 345 Blue Birch Lumber. At my current skill level, however, I'm looking more at around 200 Blue Birch Lumber, give or take. So long as I can create a hundred Simple Blue Charms, any extra I make is just a bonus.

Pulling out the first pair of logs, I place them on the bench, and focus on the concept of Blue Birch Lumber. Immediately, the saw whirs to life and the logs begin to glow brightly. After twenty seconds pass, a neat stack of Blue Birch Lumber replaces the logs, which I place back into my inventory, then start the whole cycle again.

At present, this is basically how crafting functions. So long as you have access to the appropriate tools and workspace, you can automatically craft any recipe you possess, with a fixed chance of success based on skill level and the quality of your tools, which is both a blessing and a curse. Since the outcome is fixed, you can burn through a large stock of supplies fairly quickly regardless of difficulty, but at the same time, you can't really deviate from the designs and experiment. Neither can you utilise your skills and knowledge to make anything better than what the system gives you, which also means that nothing you do will increase the success rate.

You simply get what you're given.

---

 

After another hour spent crafting, I tally my gains, and find that the pile of Simple Blue Charms I've created comes to a pleasant 114, which is 14 over the minimum I need for the next step.

As an added bonus, I also got promoted to a 2-Star Novice Carpenter when I completed my 97th charm and received the corresponding World Announcement, likely cementing my name in the minds of the players as someone to get not one, but three World Firsts back to back on the first day. Even if they are simple and easy, most players will have chosen either Nostraza Town, or Taladi's Waystation at the frontiers of Panopla. Neither starting zone has the ability to fast track the development of a Carpenter as efficiently as Meteo City, but 2-Star Novice is as far as I can go for the time being, with the next quests from Austal becoming available once I advance to 1-Star Beginner.

Not that I especially care about raising my Carpentry skill much further for the near future, as I plan to move to weapon and armour smithing once I have secured the Failed Mage's Monocle, with which I can make myself some decent starting equipment that will last me through to level 6 before I have to consider replacing it all.

Back to the matter of the charms though. I don't have enough inventory space to carry all 114 units at once, since each charm, as an equipment item, is one inventory space, and I only have 33 inventory spaces, thanks to the extra cloth sacks I included in my starting gear.

Thankfully, there's a workaround I can use.

Heading over to Austal, I wave for his attention, "I'd like to borrow a Donation Crate."

Austal cracks a smile, "Certainly. You require 100 of the item you wish to donate to fill a Donation Crate."

Indeed, I intend to donate the charms.

Major settlements like this one have a number of NPCs who accept large amounts of specific items every day in exchange for reputation and a small fee. It just so happens that a woman outside City Hall accepts Simple Blue Charms, and pays more than what I'd get if I were to sell the charms to a 1-Star vendor willing to buy them. Handing in an entire Donation Crate increases the total reputation and money by 25%, but you can only hand in so many a day - in this case, exactly one crate's worth of charms.

It's a good way to make money at low levels, and repeatable. Plus, even though the monetary reward eventually stops being worth the effort, the extra reputation is, if anything, the main reason to complete donation dailies.

I can either sell the surplus charms to players, or keep ahold of them for tomorrow, but to be honest, I'll probably just dump them at a vendor for the reduced price, just so I can get the bag space back. I hate having a cluttered inventory, and it's no real effort to make more when I need to.

"I have completed 100 Simple Blue Charms. They're on my workstation," I point to the pile of charms.

Austal goes behind the counter and into the storeroom, returning with an empty wooden crate and lid which he places on the counter, "Please fill it. Note, that once the crate has been sealed, you cannot retrieve the items inside as they will become the property of City Hall."

Separating out the surplus charms and bagging them, I sweep the pile of necklaces up into my arms, then waddle over to the counter and dump them into the crate, placing the lid on top and hammering in some complimentary nails to seal it shut. Thus sealed, I place the crate into my inventory, where it takes up a single, solitary space. How very neat.

Thanking Austal, I leave Justin's Juryriggers. After a moment orienting myself, I make my way through several alleyways and sidestreets on the most direct path to City Hall I can think of based on my hazy memory of the city's layout. So long as I keep going in the same general direction, that should good enough.

Within five minutes, one final alleyway opens out into a large fountain plaza, with the large, ornate granite building opposite being the seat of power in the City and it's most important facility to players, even surpassing the Cathedral and Pioneer's Alliance branch. While both have their uses for gaining quests and supplies, City Hall is where you turn your hard-earned money and reputation into property deeds, titles of nobility, trade route permissions and so on. Likewise, all Guild-related business is handled by City Hall. For anyone looking to make serious money, Town and City Halls are essential.

Still, I've got another three crates worth of Donations to hand in before I can do anything there, not including the one I'm carrying. So with that said, I approach the NPC responsible for handling donations, Lidya, a City Guard Captain, stood at the left of the staircase to City Hall, next to a pile of Donation Crates.

"Greetings, Captain. I wish to make a donation of Simple Blue Charms."

Lidya gives me a curt salute in the Stone style - two fists together at chest height - her face completely deadened of emotion, "Meteo City would be glad of your aid, Citizen."

Handing over the prepared Donation Crate, Lidya passes a handful of coins before placing the crate with the accumulated pile, where it vanishes into light particles, turning my initial single Stone Silver investment into 46 Stone Silver, and 88 Stone Coppers.

Next, it's off to the smithy.