Chapter 186 Name Your Price
As Eric contemplated the map and the forbidden Ruincrest Range, a squad of four Darkwarden Sentinels materialized on Radiant Avenue.
Four level-200 Darkwarden Sentinels on Radiant Avenue, holding pitch-black spears, approached Valkor Titanhelm, clearly intending to take him away.
"You won't take me!"
With a defiant yell, Valkor Titanhelm hit the logout button. But instead of simply vanishing, his body, still slumped against the cobblestones, remained. It was as if his consciousness had been ripped away, leaving behind an empty shell.
The Darkwarden Sentinels, however, were unfazed. Two of them effortlessly hoisted Valkor Titanhelm's limp form and dragged him away, their movements swift and practiced. The remaining two stood guard for a moment, their gazes sweeping the street, before following their comrades, melting back into the bustling crowds.
"Blackflame, what just happened? He logged out, but...his body..." Rosewater stammered, her eyes wide with confusion. She couldn't understand it. Why was Valkor Titanhelm's body still here? It defied logic. And for some reason, she found herself turning to Eric, as if he held the answers.
Had Eric known the reason behind her question, he would have been amazed by the sheer power of feminine intuition.
"The System has ways of ensuring those who deserve punishment receive it," he replied calmly, a knowing smile playing on his lips.
Valkor Titanhelm had been foolish. The judgment passed down by Shadowwing Citadel was absolute, a decree from the System itself. Had he accepted his punishment, the consequences would have been temporary, a minor setback. But to delete his character in an attempt to circumvent the System's will? That was a mistake. His equipment, his gold, even his hard-earned reputation, all gone. Reputation, especially, was a precious commodity in Divine Realms: Legends, difficult to earn and even harder to rebuild. Many quests were unique, their rewards lost forever once the opportunity passed.
"I see..." Rosewater murmured, though her tone suggested she understood more than she let on.
It made sense. If players could simply delete their characters and evade the consequences of their actions, chaos would reign. As the game progressed, as players invested more time and effort into their characters, such occurrences would become less frequent. Few would be willing to abandon their hard-earned progress. But for someone like Valkor Titanhelm, someone who treated the game like a playground, deleting his character was a small price to pay. It was a loophole, a flaw in the System's design. But the System, she realized, was rarely wrong.
Rosewater felt no sympathy for Valkor Titanhelm. If anything, she was grateful to Eric. Their families had planned to unite their fortunes through marriage, a prospect she found abhorrent. She'd been searching for a way to assert her independence, to prove her worth, and Divine Realms: Legends had provided her with the perfect opportunity. With enough success, with enough influence, she could break free from her family's suffocating grasp. And Valkor Titanhelm's actions, his utter humiliation, had just handed her the perfect weapon.
With the unpleasantness behind them, Eric and Rosewater returned to their table, their transaction the only thing left on the agenda.
Eric had initially planned to use this opportunity to investigate the Godslayer Title, but Ruincrest Range was a dangerous distraction. In Divine Realms: Legends, it was a place of dread, a graveyard for countless adventurers who'd underestimated its perils. Even with his knowledge, Eric knew he wasn't ready. He couldn't even find the path, let alone navigate its treacherous landscape.
The Godslayer Title would have to wait.
"Blackflame, here are the materials you requested." Rosewater spread her hands, and a dazzling array of icons materialized above the table, each representing a different forging material. "My backpack space is limited, so I prioritized rare materials, Stone Material, and a few other essentials. And because you were so helpful, I'm offering you a discount. Forty-three gold." She smiled, her eyes twinkling. The materials had cost her thirty-seven gold to acquire. She'd initially planned to charge fifty, but Eric's assistance had earned him a significant price reduction.
She hadn't had enough liquid assets to purchase the materials outright, but the Glowing Outfit Design Blueprint had been a goldmine. She'd not only earned over a hundred gold but had also restored her credit rating. And she still had several blueprints left to sell.
Even a powerful guild like Echoes of Dusk only had twenty to thirty gold in their coffers. Rosewater, on the other hand, was now sitting on a small fortune. It was enough to make the guild elders green with envy.
The success of their first transaction had only fueled her excitement.
'What other wonders will Blackflame bring to the table?' she wondered.
"Forty-three gold?" Eric raised an eyebrow, impressed.
Rosewater had outdone herself. The sheer quantity and rarity of the materials were staggering. There were rare components for crafting Dark Iron and Mithril level items, even a few pieces of Adamantite, a material unheard of in Eldoria. And the Stone Material, a resource he desperately needed, was piled high, over a thousand stacks, filling every available slot in her mining backpacks. The mining nation moniker was well-deserved.
Mining backpacks were a unique breed, designed specifically for storing forging materials. Their capacity dwarfed that of standard backpacks. Rosewater, for instance, had one standard backpack with one hundred slots and six mining backpacks, each capable of holding three hundred and fifty stacks. All of them were full.
Stone Material was abundant in Rosewater's territory, sold to her for a pittance, eighty copper per stack, perhaps even less. In Eldoria, the same stack would fetch three silver pieces. The price difference was astronomical.
There was just one problem. Forty-three gold was a king's ransom. He didn't have that kind of money on hand.
Fortunately, he'd come prepared.
With a flourish, he opened his inventory, and the table before them was engulfed in a blinding light. Hundreds of pieces of equipment materialized, level eight and nine Bronze, even a few pieces of Dark Iron. Most were of his own creation, crafted during his time in Luminescent Grove. But the centerpiece, the item that drew Rosewater's gaze like a moth to a flame, was a level ten Mithril One-Handed Sword, its blade shimmering with an otherworldly light: Silver Dawnrift.
Mithril weapons were the stuff of legends, coveted by even the most powerful guilds. Only the most elite players could ever dream of wielding such a weapon.
The private room, once elegantly appointed, now resembled a treasure vault, overflowing with riches. Rosewater stared, her mouth agape, speechless for the first time in her life. It took her a moment, a full ten seconds, to recover.
Over five hundred pieces of high-level equipment. Enough to outfit an entire army. And most of it, she realized with a jolt, had been crafted by the man sitting across from her. How was that even possible? Blacksmithing was a time-consuming endeavor. Even with his focus and skill, how could he have possibly crafted so much in such a short time?
"Name your price," Eric said, his voice laced with amusement.
Rosewater's carefully crafted composure shattered. She'd planned to exploit his desperation, to squeeze him for every copper he was worth. But this...this changed everything. Five hundred pieces of high-level equipment. Even if she sold herself into indentured servitude, she couldn't afford it.
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