NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8: Alchemists' Guild
On his way back to the city, Ye Yan saw many parties killing slimes. They normally are composed of 5 people of which three are trying to hit the monsters while the other two are using [First Aid] to heal them. They are TRYING to hit the monsters because the slimes are jumping all over and dodging while attacking them back at the same time. It's a pitiful sight. They were more like sandbags than players. If it wasn't because of his fighting experiences, Ye Yan would too be covered with bruises, at least, until he uses [First Aid] on himself or drinks a potion. The players that were killed by the slimes had their bodies drowned in that substance making a terrifying scene. Ye Yan became, even more, determined to never die to these sticky creatures. If he would die, it will have to be with dignity.
Ye Yan took two hours to arrive in the Adventurers' Guild Branch closer to the East Gate. The City of Ji is the second most populated city of Yan Empire so it has four branches of the guild, each of them near one of the gates.
He barely made it inside and had a difficult time getting to the NPC to turn in his quest. He goes to the counter further from the entrance where players apply and turn in the quests. There is six attendant there, all females, the three to the left are for getting the quests and the three on the right are for turn in. Only the one in the middle was available. The NPC has long black hair, a cute face, and a ginormous breast that looks like two basketballs.
'She must suffer from back pain. The Adventurers' Guild Leader must be a lusting man for sure. Most of the female NPCs here have big boobs or ass.' Ye Yan is not a teenager full of hormones anymore, even there, he never was the kind of person that ogle woman on the streets, he just looked at some porn in the middle of the night.
He turns in the four quests and received some experience and money as a reward. These quests are mostly to help the players level up faster and get some money to buy useful items.
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Quest: [Kill 50 slimes]
Reward: 20 exp and 10 coppers.
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Quest: [Collect 20 slime ball]
Reward: 10 exp, and 20 coppers.
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Quest: [Colect 100 Mushroom spore]
Reward: 40 exp, and 30 coopers.
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Quest: [Colect 20 Poison mushroom]
Reward: 40 exp, and 30 coppers.
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Ye Yan is now with 242/660 of experience of level 1and he has a good way to go yet to become level 2, so he decided to look for quests available for level 1 players. There are only two quests on the notice board.
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Quest: [Kill 200 Crookroaches]
Description: The city's sewers are infested with monsters and the City Hall issued an extermination order.
Requirement: level 1
Type: Repeatable
Difficult: D
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Quest: [Collect 100 Soft Silk]
Description: The tailoring is in need of [Soft Silk]. The item drops from [Giant Silkworm].
Requirement: level 1
Type: Repeatable
Difficult: C
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Ye Yan applied for only one of the two quests. He decided to do the [Collect 100 Soft Silk] quest and look for some more monsters to kill in the area. But before leaving he will go to the Alchemists' Guild to start the quest. When he got there, he was stopped by an NPC soldier.
"Stop! This isn't a place for beggars. Get out of here right now!"
"But I have an item that may be of interest to the members of the guild."
"A beggar can't have anything that interests our esteemed alchemists. Get the hell out of here right now or I will make you go without a hand." The soldier said while drawing his sword.
Ye Yan got some distance away from the guild and started to ponder. 'Can I only start this quest when I am of a higher level? Or maybe... I should change my equipment?' He looked at his appearance and he indeed looks like a beggar. He is still using the [Worn-out shirt], [worn-out pants], and [worn-out slippers] from when he started the game. He hadn't equipped his new [Wooden Mail] yet because it weight 20 so he would be over 25% with a decrease of 10% of movement speed.
He equipped the [Wooden Mail] and tried to enter the guild again. This time he got to go in. The Alchemist Guild is very spacious but not so big as the Adventurer Guild. There are many shelves filled with books and potions on display. All the people inside, NPC's only, are wearing luxurious clothes and have an air of superiority.
Ye Yan asked a clerk if he could meet the manager but was refused right away. The clerk looked at him with disgust, like he was a fart stinking the air he is breathing.
"The manager is not someone that everyone can meet. Go back to where you came from." The clerk said shooing him away.
'Are every Alchemist Guild's NPCs this snobbish?'
He took the [Karemet Leavings] from his bag and showed it to the clerk. It stunned him and he readily changed his behavior.
"One moment. I will notify the manager."
Four minutes later the clerk came back followed by a small old man, better to say, an old gnome. He looks at Ye Yan measuring.
"Hum. Came with me, boy." The old gnome just said it and started to walk away. Ye YAn follows him to a room richly decorated.
"Quick. Show it to me!" The old gnome didn't even waited for him to pass through the door to ask.
He handed the item to the old gnome and waited for him to evaluate it. After five minutes, he began to talk. "My name is Zhong Mingyu and I am the guild's manager. Where did you get this item?"
"I killed a monster called [Karemet Leavings] and it dropped from him." Ye Yan thought it was unnecessary to hide it from the NPC.
The old man measured him again. "You are only a novice and don't look that strong but the fact that you defeated that monster shows that you are a formidable adventurer. This is a part of a terrifying monster that disappeared long ago. But looking at the preservation status of this residue, I'm afraid that the monster is still alive and not far from the city. Although Karemet is strong, his body is like a treasure trove. Each pound of him can sell for 1 silver and it can be used to make powerful potions. So what do you think, young man? Can you kill this monster and bring back his remains to me?"
System: "Zhong Mingyu has a quest for you. Will you accept it?"
"I will kill the monster and sell his remains to you." Ye Yan decided to remind the gnome that he would sell the item after seeing this greed look.
"Good." The gnome said a little unhappy because he didn't like the fact Ye Yan talked about selling it because now he will really have to pay and can't trick him anymore. NPC can trick players if the latter doesn't make clear the terms of the agreement.
"Take this [Insulation box] and use it to collect the items."
Ye Yan opened a parchment and looked at the quest details. The quest details and the forum can be accessed through this parchment that he got when he started the game to make things more realistic, but he only has to think about what to write to thinks appear in it.
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Quest: [Kill Karemet and collet his remains]
Description: The Alchemist Guild will pay a high price for a piece of him.
Type: Unique
Difficult: S
'Wow! A difficult S quest!' The quest can be ranked in six levels of difficulty: S, A, B, C, D, and E, being S the more challenger one.
"I will take my leave them."
"Go go go."
Ye Yan left the Alchemist Guild and went to look for equipment that he could buy at the market with his 1silver and 10 coppers. Every 100 coppers equal to 1 silver coin and 100 silver equal to 1 gold coin.
He purchased four items.
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[Shoes] (Trash, Armor: Footgear)
Description: A defective product sold at a discount price..
Def: 2
Level requirement: 1
Durability: 10/10
Weight: 5
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[Cotton Pants] (Trash, Armor: pants)
Description: A simple piece of clothing.
Def: 2
Level requirement: 1
Durability: 10/10
Weight: 3
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[Cotton Gloves] (Trash, Armor: Gloves)
Description: A simple piece of clothing.
Def: 2
Level requirement: 1
Durability: 10/10
Weight: 2
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[Hood] (Trash, Armor: Hood)
Description: A simple piece of clothing.
Def: 2
Level requirement: 1
Durability: 10/10
Weight: 5
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If Ye Yan wears all his equipment now he would weigh 45 (43,4%), so his movement speed would decrease by 10%. Ye Yan unequipped his [Wooden Mail] so he could walk faster and only put on his hood.
When he got to the city gate, it was already dusk in the game so he looked to the sky to know the time. In Second Life the time is the opposite of real-time. When he started the game, in real-time was 8 p.m., but in the game, it was 8 a.m. And if a player wants to know the time it is, he would have to look at the sky while thinking about the time o'clock, to know the answer. Now, are almost 15:00 p.m. in the game and 7:30 a.m. in real-life. The day of the game has 48 hours, 24 of the day time, and 24 of the night time.
It is very late now, so he decided to log out of the game.