Stone Arsenal, Meteo City

Today is the last day I'm going to be hunkered down in here for the foreseeable future. I'm honestly not going to really miss it, as I confess to becoming more than a little stir-crazy doing nothing but craft, manage the crowd and do my damndest to keep the hype alive.

On the bright side, all of that crafting has pushed me up to 4-Star Novice. Which unfortunately isn't enough for a World Announcement, as that honour goes to a Tailor in Nostraza Town named Rocha Manic - whose name strikes me as vaguely familiar but I can't put my finger on why precisely. Likely someone who made a name for themselves at some point in the profession.

Grinding Tailor proficiency at the Novice rank in the Nostraza Town area is stupidly easy, however, due to an abundance of mutant sheep-like monsters called Yto which take very little effort to kill, respawn quickly, and drop beginner-grade wool frequently. Just by processing the mountain of wool into threads and fabrics for use as components in other recipes, you can get a lot of proficiency at this stage of the game so long as there are people feeding you supplies at regular intervals.

Once the crafting overhaul hits, processing components becomes a lot more involved, tedious, and precise, with an across the board nerf to the availability of materials from monster drops to match the scarcity of other materials.

If anything, now that they're pushing up to the final Star of Novice, they should try and maintain a stockpile of Yto Wool to sell later. I'm thinking of doing something similar in Ujax if there's enough time myself. Besides Dire Wolves which drop pelts, tails and fangs, there are other monsters worth farming when you get further in - though if you go too far you'll end up in the Ancient Battlefield type dungeon, Wolf Lord's Remains, and honestly, I'd rather jump off the city walls onto my sword and save myself the walk than step foot in there without a solid raid team of at least thirty people at Level 15.

I shudder, attracting a curious glance from Sherry, sat on the edge of the counter. She's been on edge since we met up this morning, but in my efforts to restrain my urge to meddle in the affairs of comparative strangers I've not seen fit to confront her about it.

"What's up with you?"

"Remembering some...unpleasant experiences..." I hedge, "Concerning a very nasty dungeon that I'm not looking forward to going back to."

"The one in the mine?" She kicks herself off, "Or the 'secret' one?"

I shake my head, "Neither."

She rubs her healing ear, "...You gonna tell me or just be mysterious about it?"

I sigh, "Have you made your decision concerning the Guild yet?"

Sherry freezes, then looks off to the side, "...Yeah."

I wave for her to continue, "And..?"

Biting her lip, she continues to avoid eye contact, "Winf- Windy said she was going to join when I called her this morning. So I will too."

I nod but don't smile, getting the impression that some other words were shared by the slightly wounded look she's adopted, "Great. In what capacity do you wish to be treated?"

"Same. The same as her," Sherry looks thoroughly defeated, but I'll take what I can get at this point - whatever the issue, it's between her and Winfrey. I may very well be the crux of the disagreement, but inserting myself deliberately into matters will just aggravate the problem.

"I'll give you a data chit after with the files I gave her, then," I scratch my head, "As for your question, it's the most dangerous dungeon I know of in the region: The Iron-Tier Ancient Battlefield, Wolf Lord's Remains."

Curiosity quickly overtakes her depression, "The hell's an Ancient Battlefield?"

I think about the best way to convey the concept, "It's a large area in the world that has become a dungeon. It's named so, because it usually occurs on the sites of great battles - sometimes manifesting in a similar fashion to a Reminiscence, only formed from the deaths of dozens to hundreds of thousands. Other times the energies and strong wills of powerful people duelling will leave an imprint on the land. Finally, as is the case here, the local monsters and environment reach a certain level of development and form a magical territory."

I take a pause before continuing, "The Wolf Lord's Remains is what's left after an old beast tamer died. His beast companions were left behind and after generations came and went, the Ancient Battlefield naturally formed. The exact lore on what happened is vague at best. Regardless, the monsters in the Ancient Battlefield are smart, numerous and have the approximate aggro range of a herd of parched rhinos spotting water for the first time in days. The moment you step into their territory you basically aggro an entire zone's worth of Dire Wolves, not even mentioning the Boss monsters and Elites."

If the Newborn think that Ujax Forest is a Dire Wolf infested hellhole now - which it is - oh boy, they don't know the true meaning of suffering until they try to raid WLR. It's a fantastic levelling spot, sure, and the rewards are pretty good for the level and tier too, but good fucking grief is it stressful to raid without highly competent teammates. Having descended from trained attack animals, their grasp of tactics and how to deal with humanoid opponents like us players is abnormal for monsters at that point of the game, and they gladly abuse their vast numbers and speed to grind lesser teams to death through attrition.

Speaking honestly, WLR is closer to a Silver-Tier dungeon difficulty-wise.

Sherry takes this information with confusion and mild horror, "How many wolves exactly are we talking?"

"Thousands," I tell her without missing a beat.

"Holy shit, man. That sounds hardcore," Sherry whistles, impressed by the scale.

"It's horseshit is what it is," I grumble, "Not impossible, but far beyond the average local's ability. I'd avoid it if I could, but we can't afford to ignore it. Failure to secure the first clear will doom the Guild to failure or mediocrity."

She knits her brow, "Why's that? Do we get something for it besides bragging rights?"

Nodding, I fold my arms across my chest, "After clearing it, there'll be a brief period of time before the dungeon resets. There's an item we need to find before anyone else does, and another that has a chance to drop from the main boss, Dire Alpha Trastor, that will help to secure our finances for the near future. I'll go over all of it when it's time to retrieve them, we still need a lot more people to even consider trying."

I decide to end the explanation there as Henna returns from upstairs carrying the last of the makeshift mannequins from Justin's Juryriggers, now properly decked out with the full set of Beginner's Bronze Armour. I give her a hand setting it down with the display.

Clapping the sawdust off my hands, I turn to Sherry, "Can you go let them in now? We're ready to start the exclusive sale."

She nods and scampers over to the back door while I give a reassuring smile to Henna, "Last day. Then it's up to you to run with it."

Henna returns the smile with a small one of her own, neglecting her words to go take her position at the counter as a group of players streams in, representing either themselves or their groups. Their gazes are immediately arrested by the rather rustic display of armour sets and hunger is clearly visible in their demeanour.

"Welcome everyone. As you can see, today Stone Arsenal will be selling complete sets of Beginner's Bronze Armour, along with the accompanying Shortsword and Shield. There are also five Zweihanders, if you wish to swap them out," I launch into salesman-mode, something I'm getting better at these past few days, "Each set, with sword and shield, will cost a flat price of two Stone Gold, while a set with a Zweihander will cost two Stone Gold and five Stone Silver. These prices are non-negotiable, and only a full set per person will be sold at this time. Furthermore, if you wish to purchase individual pieces, I invite you to join those waiting out front."

This last piece of information rankles a few of them.

One woman obviously can't keep their mouth shut, "What the hell? We paid fifty Stone Silvers just to be here and you won't sell us the hauberks?"

I stare at them blankly, "You paid for the ability to buy an entire set, without having to queue with the masses, ahead of them. If you do not wish to buy a set, you will find buying the individual pieces when Stone Arsenal opens to the public will be more expensive, if you even get the chance at all."

Sherry snickers, before a glare from Henna silences her.

Picking up a piece of parchment from the counter, I glance at it, "We'll be selling them in the order you registered - if you do not wish to buy, please leave now."

No takers.

Clearing my throat I go down the list, "First is Jitter Sweet, representing August Patronage, then Garen Teed, Illest Dragon, representing Master Dragon, Kilom Yard, Pent Ollan, representing Sober Morning, Wen Zhou, representing Pavillion of Myriad Dao, Ulric Gillian, representing Team Norse, Ingrid Leovoldt, representing Wolf Hunt, and finally Olrica Nennot."

Out of the ten people here, the only ones I'm even halfway interested in are Pent Ollan and Ingrid Leovoldt's teams, and Olrica Nennot. All of them are somewhat well-known by the time of RotA as people of means. The rest are either not worth my time or else have problematic futures.

Sober Morning and Wolf Hunt aren't Official Guilds yet, but they will be in a couple of months time, with Wolf Hunt, in particular, being the ones to discover WLR as a side-effect of their...let's just call it a crusade against the local Dire Wolf population. Sober Morning is, from what I remember, nothing all that special but at the same time, nothing all that terrible either - their main claim to fame being a fairly consistent clear rate for Farmer's Secret and WLR.

Both of them are good choices for collaboration in taking the first clear of WLR should it call for it, thanks to their future track record.

Olrica, on the other hand, is a bit of a wildcard. Though she didn't state her affiliation, I know her as a member of Rambling Rose, the ones who originally completed the Main Storyline - more specifically, one who publically fell out with her Guild and went her own way, gaining new fame apart from them and eventually joining a larger Guild run by a corporate interest group as one of its low-level officers. Simply put, she's a target for potential recruitment as a fairly accomplished assassin-type scout.

Poaching her will prove difficult right now since I'm not savvy to the full story behind it - just that Rambling Rose did something in the wake of their rise to fame she disagreed with vehemently. At the very least, today will be a chance to make her acquaintance.

One by one, they all pony up their hard-earned gold to Henna, likely close to the sum total of their interest groups' wealth. In the end, three Zweihander sets were sold, with seven Sword and Shield sets. Given this is only the start of today's sales, we have already raked in twenty Stone Gold, so, not counting production costs, that means about 15 Stone Gold for me.

This brings me up to a present grand total of 26 Stone Gold - that's 100 Stone Copper to 1 Stone Silver and 120 Stone Silver to 1 Stone Gold. More than any other player or group in Meteo City, without a shadow of a doubt, and also nowhere near enough for my needs. At the very least, I can afford any minor expenses that come my way without feeling the pinch too much.

I'll need to look into getting a bank account opened to store it before I leave the city again, as my Tiny Cloth Coin Pouch is filled to bursting and Henna's looking after the rest temporarily. I'm confident in my ability to defend myself from opportunists at this point in time, but prudence dictates I don't carry this much wealth around on my person. It's just a pity Banks only deal in currency and certain types of jewels.

All immediate business done, I smile, "Thank you all for your patronage. Please be advised that while stocks are currently limited on individual pieces, Miss Rask," I gesture to Henna, "Will continue to stock these items and more in the days to come, so please keep her in mind if you desire additional equipment to be made to order at a price she deems fair."

A few of them look interested and mutter about it maybe being the result of a Quest I'm doing - which isn't entirely inaccurate, after a fashion.

"Mr Ollan, Miss Leovoldt & Nennot, if you would please stay behind, I'd like a word in private. The rest of you may leave, and I invite you to look forward to my and Miss Rask's future projects," I conclude the private showing, nodding to Sherry to show the seven duds out the back door with their purchases.

The remaining three are curious if a little on edge, looking to one another as if trying to gauge why I asked these people specifically to stay.

Clearing my throat, I look at each player in turn, "Mr Ollan and Miss Leovoldt, if you would follow me upstairs for a moment? Miss Nennot, I will speak to you after."

Walking to the stairs I give Henna a self-satisfied thumbs up, pleased to have made a sizable dent in my money woes. Rolling her eyes, Henna waves me off without a word and walks around the other side of the counter to set up the display mannequins with new armour sets.

Entering the second floor with the two Guild Reps behind me I cough, "Apologies, but we'll have to stay standing. This won't take long, regardless."

Mr Ollan, a dark-skinned Firm, is the first to speak up, his voice is reasonable and steady, though his bearded face betrays his nervousness, "What is it you wished to speak about?"

Miss Leovoldt, a Panoplast with clawed hands and a Lion's tail, nods along, "Are you looking to sell more sets in private?"

I deny them both, "No, rather, I'm looking for potential collaborators for an upcoming...project, and wish to gauge your willingness."

"What kind of project?" Miss Leovoldt asks, leaning in.

"A dungeon - one that isn't officially discovered yet. Miss Leovoldt, your cohort will come across it if you continue your activities as you have been, and I assure you, that whoever steps foot in it and triggers the World Announcement will be killed by the dungeon within a minute," I explain, not seeing much use in hiding all the information. Just enough to maintain my edge in negotiations.

Her eyes narrow, "A dungeon in Ujax Forest, you say? How did you get past the Dire Wolf packs? We're barely able to wound even one before being overrun, and their detection abilities are high."

I tap my nose, "The source of my knowledge is a secret, but I can guarantee it's authenticity. I'm not willing to say much more to people who aren't partnered with me or a member of my future Guild. However, I will say that clearing it will require a minimum of thirty highly competent people in good gear who have completed their first class change at Level 10. This will not be happening for another few weeks at the very least, but it pays to be proactive now that I have you here."

Mr Ollan speaks up, stroking his beard, "Why us? Furthermore, what is it you want us to do?"

"While I will be attempting to recruit as many talented individuals as I can for my Guild, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to find enough by the time I wish to clear it. In that case, I'd like to ask your organisations, whose strength I feel may grow to be suitable, to fill in the missing spots."

Mr Ollan nods slowly, "I see. And what conditions are you offering in exchange?"

I smile, "While everything from the first clear will be reserved for my Guild, you will gain a working strategy for future clears undertaken by yourselves. Should you take proper note of how it's done, your losses during future explorations by your own organisations will be drastically lowered and you will stand to profit much sooner than any competitor - besides us, of course."

Miss Leovoldt looks sceptical, but Mr Ollan, likely a more experienced raider given his background, looks very interested and contemplative.

Having said what I wanted to say, I gesture for them to head back down, "Please take this proposal to your respective leadership, and contact me in the coming days with your response."

Mr Ollan nods, "I believe I can speak for my comrades when I say this information is certainly interesting. But we shall have to see how things play out in the coming days."

Miss Leovoldt pulls her lips into a quasi-grimace, "I'm not really qualified to comment on it, I'm just an errand girl, really. I'll see your message through, though."

They head back down, sending Miss Nennot up for her turn.

IdleFancy

Distraction more or less over, time-based plothole from previous chapters rectified. Hopefully. Let me know if it still doesn't line up.