Chapter 89- Meeting The Friends

*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*

“ugghhhh….

Abel groggily opened his eyes while his alarm blared right next to him. It took him a couple of seconds to realize where he was and reach out to stop the loud ringing from next to his head. He grabbed his phone after putting a stop to the alarm and the screen’s light nearly blinded him.

3:31 am

He had barely slept for 3 hours after logging out. He took into account that Veridia was 3 hours ahead of his local time zone so he put an alarm for 3:30 in case he overslept. After quickly washing his face and eating a quick nutrient bar, he hopped back into his pod and logged into the game right away.

Whoooooooosh

He appeared back in the middle of the camp. The men were already up and about, inspecting their new weapons and his abrupt arrival startled them all into a combat stance. They only breathed a sigh of relief after seeing it was Abel.

“Red Sky, you really need to find a way to announce your arrival. If it wasn’t for our training, then at least half of the men would have jumped in to attack!” Roy said as he slowly eased his notched arrow out of place.

“Sorry everyone, I… I’ll just leave outside the perimeter you set up next time. That way I wont surprise you on my return.”

“Thankfully you came back on time. Roy was about to make us some of his infamous sludge, please take over for him Red Sky. I can’t stomach his disgusting gruel after tasting your decent cooking…”

“I wouldn’t eat Roy’s gruel even if you paid me. Actually, it depends on how much coin we’re talking about but I wouldn’t do it for less than 1 gold… no 50 silver- no 40 silver coins. Yeah 40 silver would be the minimum…”

Abel inwardly rolled his eyes at Bruni’s comment but he took over from Roy at the campfire. He made a simple porridge for breakfast with some herbs he had gotten from the captains’ spatial storage. After enjoying their breakfast, the men finished packing up as they descended to the second level.

A new day of monster subjugation awaited him.

******

While Abel was hard at work on his quest, Frankie and Melly had finished learning their respective skills in the training citadel. Melissa had surprisingly finished even earlier than her boyfriend but Frankie wasn’t too far behind. He had taken longer because he needed to move around while striking but he still finished learning the basic sword skill in less than 3 days.

“Abe must have had some great determination to finish that boring training in a single night. I can’t imagine doing the same…”

“This just shows how determined he was babe. And remember to call him Red Sky when we’re in-game my Mellific~”

“Ugh disgusting! Shut up Frank The Tank~”

They laughed among themselves as they left the training citadel behind them. They had each gotten a starter weapon with the completion of their training but they were still decked out in starters clothing for everything else. They decided to head to Coinweaver’s shop to get some goods and then get their professions sorted out.

“Did you add that girl that Red Sky told us about?”

“I did, though why are YOU asking?” Mell smirked as she spoke.

“It’s not like that.” Frankie quickly explained while holding up his hands in innocence. He then said “I’m just curious about the friends he made in-game, even this Coinweaver we’re going to, I’m curious about him too… don’t you feel the same way? I mean, we grew up together so we have the same friends pretty much. These are the first people Abe meets outside our little bubble.”

“I’m definitely curious of course, but we’ll meet them soon enough. Sophie said they would log on in the afternoon according to Veridia’s time zone. And call him Red Sky! Didn’t you remind me just now?” Mell said as she lifted her brow in mock-anger.

“Sorry, I meant Red Sky…” Frankie lifted his hands in surrender yet again, agreeing with his girlfriend.

They stopped by the map in the central square to chart a way to cinderfall district. After getting their bearings straight, they made short work of the 10-minute trip and found themselves before Loot ‘n Stuff.

Tring
Tring

“How may I be of assistance dear customers?” The NPC clerk asked as soon as he heard the doorbell ring.

“Hello, we’re looking for Coinweaver. We’re friends of Red Sky.” Frankie said as he looked around the place.

The shop was quite small but it was very clean and tidy. The shelves around them held different goods but mostly consumables like ropes, candles, parchment and other such things while the shelves behind the counter held the more expensive goods such as spatial bags, potions and so on. Frankie also noticed a door leading to the back but he wasn’t sure what it led to.

“Of course, I’ll just be a moment please.” The NPC clerk replied and went to the door at the back. He returned just a minute later with a young man right behind him.

The young man had ashy blonde hair and calm green eyes with a slim nose and a prominent chin. If he had black hair and some hazel in his eyes then he could have passed off as Abel’s distant cousin. The variances in facial features could be attributed to divergent genes among different family members. It was a little surreal for the couple as the young man seemed to be around the same age as Abel too!

“You’re Red Sky’s friends?” Coinweaver asked after coming out. He had been expecting them for the last couple of days but he didn’t want to bother Red Sky over a trivial matter. He figured they would show up eventually.

“Ugh y-yeah, I’m Frank th- just call me Frank, this is my girlfriend Mellific.” Frankie stuttered at first, finding the similarities between Abel and Coinweaver a little jarring.

“Is there something on my face?” Coinweaver said as he picked up on Frankie’s weirdness.

“Ugh no sorry, you just look like someone we know in real life…” Frankie realized he came off as rude, simply staring at Coinweaver so he apologized and explained right away.

“That is pretty weird. Although I have the same hair color in reality, I’ve actually modified my face and eye color, what are the odds hah.” Coinweaver gave them some clarification before he carried on. ”Anyway, it’s nice to meet you. Red Sky probably told you already but I’m Coinweaver. So, what can I help you with? What equipment do you guys need?”

“We already have weapons from the training citadel but we’d like to get some armor. Frank is planning to take the shield warrior profession so he would also like to get a shield while I’m going for archery.” Melissa said.

“Hmm… it would be best if Frank gets used to heavy armor then. You should equip leather armor only otherwise your stats may get affected if you try and wear something heavier. Don’t worry, I have just the right starter armor for you guys. Follow me to the back room.” Coinweaver waved them in and headed to the back door.

Frankie and Melissa followed him through the door and found themselves in a small storage room with some equipment and other stuff laying around. They could see some bags, starter weapons and a bunch of other things like flints, parchments, pots and other random goods.

“You know, Red Sky’s friend Xiang could make you even better equipment.” Coinweaver said as he was rummaging through the goods.

“Um… who’s Xiang?”

Coinweaver looked back confused about what was going on. If they were Red Sky’s good friends in real life then he guessed they knew his blacksmith friend. But then he thought that Xiang might have been an in-game friend of Red Sky’s instead.

“It’s Red Sky’s blacksmith friend. He makes some real decent goods. It’s a shame I couldn’t meet him otherwise my shop would always carry some stock of his goods…” Coinweaver sounded genuinely disappointed. The few pieces of equipment he got off Abel had sold like hot cakes, even when he jacked up the price.

Melissa and Frankie shared a look, they both knew Abel’s real profession and seemed to understand what was going on after hearing Coinweaver’s words but they kept the truth to themselves. Abel obviously didn’t want to share the fact that he was the forger and seemed to have taken some steps to shroud his identity.

They steered the conversation back to the equipment as they tested out some pieces of armor Coinweaver pulled out. In the end, Frankie took a new chest armor, leg guards, arm bracers, a helmet and a shield while Melissa took the same pieces but in leather armor instead. They were looking much more professional with their new equipment now. If random players saw them on the street then they would think they weren’t complete newbs that started playing just a few days ago.

“Um… are you sure you don’t need any payment for all these goods?” Frankie asked before they left. He felt like they took way too many things.

“Yeah, actually I still owe Red Sky a few silver coins. Are you sure you don’t want to take some more things with you? You should take some healing supplies and arrows. That way my accounts with Red Sky would be squared away while you two will definitely be in need of these things.” Coinweaver said, assuring the couple that they could still take more things before the tab Abel covered ran dry. “In fact, all these pieces of equipment are worth less than 2 daggers Red Sky sold to me before he left. If you need more things then please don’t hold back. I’d like to get my hands on some more of Xiang’s products.”

“Sure, then just give us 100 more arrows and some healing supplies with whatever’s left on Red Sky’s tab. We can take it over from there.” Melissa said at the end. Since Coinweaver already owed Abel some money then they might as well use it. It seemed like Abel wasn’t coming back to Velskryn anytime soon.

Before they left the shop, Coinweaver added them to his friends list and reminded them to come by if they needed anything. Even if they didn’t have the funds for the things they needed, they could put it on a tab. They both thanked the young merchant once again before heading back out to the streets.

“Sophie sent me a whisper. She asked to meet them at the north gate. I told her we’ll be there as soon as we get our professions.” Melissa said after they left the confines of the shop.

“Them? Oh right, Abe did mention there were 3 girls…”

“Call him Red Sky!” Melissa chided playfully.

They headed back to the central square and figured out the best route to take to their respective guilds. They had already bought 10 silvers through the exchange, they had that bit of money in savings and then some but it still pained the couple to have to spend around 100 credits just for a profession. They headed to the warrior guild first and went to the front desk.

“How can I help you today?” The NPC clerk asked upon spotting the couple.

“I would like to take the shield warrior class.” Frankie replied.

“Certainly. That will be 10 silver coins please.”

Frankie made the payment and was led to a 3-meter-tall cylindrical crystal. Once he stepped inside, it shown with a clear blue hue and a bunch of notifications popped up in his vision.

*Ding*

You have gained the profession: Shield Warrior

+3 Endurance (+3 per level)
+3 Toughness (+3 per level)
+3 Vitality (+3 per level)
+2 Strength (+2 per level)
+2 Intelligence (+2 per level)

+30 HP
+20 MP

New Skills Unlocked:

Basic Sword Proficiency (Greenhorn 0.0%): Basic skill in sword type weapons.

Basic Shield Proficiency (Greenhorn 0.0%): Basic skill in shield type of equipment.

Basic Sword Mastery (Passive): 10% increase in damage for all sword types. Double EXP in all weapons proficiency.

Basic Shield Proficiency (Passive): 10% increase in defense for all shield types. Double EXP in all shield proficiency.

*Ding*

User has already learned [Basic Sword Proficiency] -> [Basic Sword Proficiency] skill upgraded to 50% Greenhorn.

‘Sweet! Halfway through greenhorn already. Abe never mentioned this…’ Frankie was unaware that Abel’s profession was special and he didn’t get any skill improvement upon gaining his class. He got out of the crystal pod-like structure and saw his girlfriend looking at him, waiting to hear his experience.

“My basic sword proficiency increased by 50%. Let’s go to the archer’s guild…”

They left the warriors guild and went next door to the archer’s guild where Melissa got her profession too. She gained a new stat for dexterity and extra stats for agility, endurance, strength and intelligence as well as the Bow Mastery skill and 50% in her Longbow Proficiency skill. Abel had already told her that she needed to build up short brow proficiency too and then her skill would advance to intermediate archery but this was something for the future.

They both left the guild district behind them and after a short 15-minute walk, they finally reached the north city gate. They saw 3 beautiful young girls standing around seemingly waiting on someone. Melissa knew it was them since Sophie mentioned that they carried a bow, a staff and a mace as weapons and they were the only 3 girls within the vicinity that matched that description. It was finally time to meet the rest of Abe’s in-game friends!