Then he pulled up his stat sheet with a grin to enjoy the concession he’d fought hard to wrangle from Poseidon.
<<<<>>>>
Basic Info:
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Name: Darien Cortez
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HP: 60 (base 50 + 10 from CON)
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Level: 5
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XP: 296,361/304,000
<<<<>>>>
And there it was. Darien Cortez. Biggus Bottomus was finally put to rest. He let out a contented sigh. He wasn’t going to miss that name and the snickers he got when people inspected him.
He’d considered asking Poseidon to change his name to his real one, but it didn’t feel right. On the one hand, he wouldn’t blend into the world as a Local—which was what he was now—on the other, his real name was well known in gaming circles on earth. Being recognised could lead to an investigation on Earth that saw this world destroyed.
It gnawed at him, not knowing for sure what had happened to his body. But on the chance that this was it for him, he didn’t want to risk this world being nuked from orbit. Better to let the devs keep their cover-up…
The idea made his blood boil, and part of him hoped he had survived the cardiac arrest and would burn the company to the ground for building a game that could literally kill people.
Before he turned into a raging murder hobo by dwelling on that, he stood with a harsh shake of his head and began pacing, trying to get some of the anxious energy out.
There was nothing he could do. Which was part of the problem; he was helpless again… Better carry on and get the quest underway.
Darren pulled up the quest prompt to view the details now that he’d accepted.
<<<<>>>>
Active quest: The Hunt For The Ultra-Rare Class
Prove yourself worthy of receiving a rare class.
Rare Class Requirements:
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Born Leader: Successfully lead a party of at least five for three days without rebellion
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Valiant Warrior: Through skill and cunning, overcome an adversary at least 10 levels higher than yourself
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Natural Diplomat: Resolve a conflict between two opposing parties (you may not be one of the parties)
Ultra-Rare Class Requirements:
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Everything from Rare Class Requirements
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Ruler: Found, claim, or conquer a settlement
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Immortal: Go toe-to-toe with a god and survive (complete)
Quest conditions:
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Failure to complete the quest or choose an ultra-rare class before the world opens to Interlopers will remove the option to gain an ultra-rare class.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
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Time remaining: 8 days, 3 hours, 8 minutes, 37 seconds
<<<<>>>>
The last requirement for an ultra-rare class caught his eye. He hadn’t noticed it was already marked as completed. Interesting. His conflict with Themis evidently counted. Good to know his probable death counted for something.
He needed to discuss this with Wilson and see if he could convince Samantha to join them.
He also needed to consider where to put his bonus stat point per level. That was huge. It was tempting to drop it straight into Wisdom. But his gut told him to hold off until he gained his class. He had no idea what classes would be on offer, and what stats they boosted per level. There was every chance he might find a great class that offered him a large per-level boost to his most important stat, Wisdom. So putting the bonus point into another stat would round out his character nicely. This was his life. He needed to be more than just a one-trick pony.
Probably.
Darren headed to the door and exited the temple. Hot, humid air washed over him, his skin instantly sticky. He’d have to get used to this now.
Wilson stood from where he’d been sitting on the edge of a step as Darren approached. He looked up at Darren. “So…?”
Crouching, Darren offered the coconut a palm and set him on his shoulder before trotting down the steps and into the street. “I’m here for good, maybe. Probably?” Darren said.
Wilson studied his face, an uncharacteristic look of concern on his carved features. “Do you… do you want to talk ‘bout it?”
Darren opened his mouth to brush the offer off, push everything back in the box, as usual, but hesitated. He let out a long breath, shoulders sagging. “You know what? I’d actually like that. After we get shopping done today, grab a beer at the inn and chat?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
“Alrighty then.” Darren nodded, then filled Wilson in on the rest of the encounter with Poseidon and detailed his new quest.
“Only eight days to do all dat?” Wilson asked in his thick Cockney drawl once Darren had caught him up.
They turned down a street promising markets and shops of some kind. “As a player,” Darren said, “I’d have said that’s plenty of time. But being stuck on this Classless progression is going to make it tough.”
“’Ave any ideas yet?”
Darren studied the stalls they passed and peered through open shop doors. “Lead a party of five or more is pretty self-explanatory, if those pirates don’t kill me. But I’m going to need to do some research on some of them. I wonder if there’s a library on this island with some history and context I could dive into?”
“Ask Samantha?” Wilson asked.
“When we meet up at the inn tonight, yeah. Ah, here we go.” Darren stepped into a store called Suave Wears. Racks of clothes lined the wooden walls. At the far end, an elf with long, beaded dreadlocks stood behind a counter. She wore a loose white shirt with short, frilly sleeves. The shirt was tucked into a bright plaid skirt of yellows, reds and oranges that complemented her dark skin. The clothes weren’t that fancy, but they reeked of quality. Darren had no doubt they were top-tier.
The corners of the elf’s lips curled down when she spotted Darren and Wilson.
Darren beelined to her, a huge smile plastered on his face. “Afternoon! I need some new clothes.”
“Yes, you do,” the woman said. “But you won’t be buying them here. I suggest somewhere by that slum we call the harbour.”
Darren ignored her as he reached the counter and leaned on it. He also minimised the notification letting him know he’d been inspected. As an afterthought, he inspected her.
<<<<>>>>
Tarlia Reid
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Level: 22
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HP: 308
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Class: Merchant
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Status: Local
You are insufficient level to see more information on Tarlia Reid.
<<<<>>>>
Far out, she was high level. This island had an abnormally large number of high-level NPCs. That or he just had the misfortune of running into all of them…
The proprietor, Tarlia, gave Darren an even more disdainful look after he cast Inspect on her, but said nothing.
“I don’t fink she likes you,” Wilson said cheerfully from his shoulder. “Maybe it’s because you stink and look like a bum?”
“Probably,” Darren said. “It’d be a real shame, though, if she turned away clientele based purely on their appearance. You never know when someone might have been shipwrecked for weeks but has an inventory full of gold.” He removed a handful of Sovereigns from his inventory and let them clink onto the polished wood of the counter. Probably enough there to buy most of the store out. Poseidon had been generous in his quest rewards.
The woman looked down at the coins and back at Darren. “Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear,” she said, her voice cold enough to cool the entire store. “I suggest you find somewhere else. Now, do you need assistance in removing your filthy self from my store?”
Darren blinked, taken aback. He straightened. That was new. Usually, the whole dropping-a-stupid-amount-of-gold-on-the-counter worked wonders. From his shoulder, Wilson snickered.
“Well,” Darren said, “I suppose I’ll go check out some other shops then…”
“Good,” the woman said.
“Fine,” Darren said.
“What are you waiting for?” she said.
“Nothing!” Darren turned and stalked out of the shop while Wilson’s snickers turned into guffaws.
“Shut up, coconut.”
Wilson wiped an imaginary tear from his beady eye as his laughter subsided. “But seriously though,” he said, “I fink it’s time we did some real shopping.”
“Do I even want to ask?”
Wilson rubbed his hands together. “I have a plan to take over the world, and you’re gonna buy the supplies for it.”
Darren let out a long, weary sigh.