"Speaking/speaking"
'thinking/thinking'
"flashback"/'flashback'
"Skills/skills"
items/items•
I made my way up the stairs leading up to the surface, my face showing signs of tiredness and fatigue, not just physical, but also mental. Who knew that fighting monsters in the dungeon for more than 18 hours with only a few minutes of rest every hour could make you hate living? Not me.
Not only that, switching classes takes a toll on my stamina or whatever it is that is causing me to feel dizzy the more I switch between classes.
That's right, I spent the whole day yesterday and this morning scouring the upper floors, from 1 to 5, killing monsters nonstop. I got too into hunting monsters and gathering Experience that I completely ignored the pleas of my body to rest, to stop for a second and take a breather.
I think at this point the only thing keeping me up was the fact that I was able to pack some coffee in the Guild issued backpack and was able to drink some as I was doing my thing…
But it's alright! I brought back with me a huge sum of Magic crystals from monsters that could be found in the upper floors, and even some that managed to come up from the floors below such as frog shooters and a war shadow that gave me quite some trouble as i was just a level 9 swordsman when i encountered it. Along with the magic stone were drops that I got. It was quite the haul.
I stretched my arms over my head and arched my body forward as I stretched after finally coming up to the surface. Now that there's a proper lightsource I could see just how messy my appearance has become. Splotches of dried blood covered the eden group equipment I'm wearing, some are mine, most weren't. It's strange though, the clothes should've been covered in gashes and holes since I was hit multiple times and even backed into a corner by a large gathering of monsters, causing me to get injured as I fend off their numbers in what I remember to be a pantry. Although I'm not sure if it really was a pantry since I forgot what floor pantries start appearing.
"There's a lot of people." I remarked, walking towards Misha's station.
It was a few steps later that I was assaulted by an angry voice calling my name. "EREMES GUILE!"
Turning my head, I saw that it was Misha that screamed my name. She was giving me the mother of all stink-eye as she began walking towards me.
Wordlessly, she pulled me towards her desk and began bombarding me with questions while inspecting me for any injuries.
"Didn't I tell you to take it slow on your first day? I told you that staying for longer than 8 hours is dangerous for a new level one even on the upper floors, but what did you do? You made it your mission to more than double that!"
I could only laugh wryly as she poked at me with her pen in her annoyance.
"Honestly, I finally get an adventurer to mentor and the first thing he does is disregard my advice. So, you're here to exchange your magic stones? Your bag looks full." she asked as she peered over my shoulders and into my backpack that looks as if it's about to burst at any moment.
"Yep" I nodded.
It took me some time to properly transfer all the magic stones from my inventory and into the backpack. I don't really wanna show anyone my inventory since most of the fantasy stories I read about back on earth paint it as rare and valuable. So just in case it is the same here, it is better that I don't show my hand too early.
I slipped the back off of me and set it on the table as Misha went to the back and fetched trays for me to put my magic stones.
Usually, an adventurer would need to go to the guild exchange to process their magic stones, but since misha was assigned as my guild advisor, i could come to her instead and just hand over a receipt to the guild exchange for a faster transaction.
"Okay, dump your magic stones on the tray so we can calculate the value."
"Umm." I hesitated.
Misha craned her neck towards me as she asked. " What is it?"
"Magic stones from different monsters have different values, right?"
"Of course, but it is easy to distinguish the difference between Kobold and Goblin magic stones so it's fine if you mixed them up this time."
I scratched my head. By now misha is already getting impatient, so she rushes me.
"Go on, we don't have all day you know. And you look like you really need to rest, so hurry."
Sighing, I relented and unloaded the contents of my backpack and misha immediately began to sort them.
"Goblin, Kobold, Goblin, Kobold, Goblin, Goblin-" she picks them up and puts them in their individual tray so it is easier to get the sum later. "You really went at it, huh?"
'I wonder how long it would take her to notice that there's some magic stone from Monsters below floor 1 and 2-' she stopped momentarily, a confused look on her face as she observed a magic stone larger than the rest.
'There we go-'
"EEEEHHHHHHH!" a surprised scream cut my amused thoughts.
"Why do you have a War Shadow magic stone?!"
"Ehe!" I gave her an "innocent" laugh which made her more furious instead of alleviating her stress.
"What do you mean"EHE " ?!" Her shout gathered the attention of not only nearby adventurers, but also her colleagues. "You not only spent more than double the time I recommended you on your first day no less!, but also went down to the 6th Floor!"
"Just the 5th, actually-"
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT BETTER!" Misha raised her voice and grabbed her head in frustration, her first adventurer to personally guide and advice is absurd.
Taking a few deep breaths, Misha tried to calm herself.
'Ooookay, I may have overdone it… but if I had stayed on the first or second floor, I wouldn't have made a few useful discoveries with the System I now have.'
"H-hey, i didn't know it was that serious, i apologize if i overdid it"
"Of course it's serious!" her voice, still firm but hushed. "I told you how many new adventurers DIE on the first floor alone and yet you still ignored my words and went deeper, honestly, what were you thinking?"
"Again, I apologize. But hey, do you see any injuries on my body?" she began checking if i had any visible injury before she sighed and shook her head.
'At least she had calmed down.'
Misha looked around and noticed that they have gained a lot of attention from a lot of people. She realized her mistakes and motioned for Eremes to follow her.
"Please follow me to a private room. Sorry for my sudden outburst."
" It's fine, It's fine. No harm done."
"No, my reaction made you gain the attention from a lot of people. Good, and otherwise." She looked seriously horrified at what she's done, like she just killed me and just realized it.
Her words made me stop for a moment, before I shrugged and once again dismissed her concern. "I'm telling you, no harm has been done."
Her frustrated look doesn't seem to change much but at least her overall demeanor and body language got better.
D-O-T-E
72 Goblin magic stones
57 Kobold magic stones
22 Dungeon Lizard magic stone
8 Frog Shooters
And 1 War Shadow
the drops I had which consisted of 8 goblin fangs, 12 Kobold Claws and 2 Lizard tails. Which totals to 20,200 valis
Each Goblin magic stone sells 300 valis per piece, Kobolds are 350, lizards are 600, the Frogs are 650 and lastly, the War Shadows, which was the highest of the ones I got, sells for 1,250.
The magic stones sold for a total of 66,900. Overall I made a total of 87,100.
Making 87 thousand in one day is absurd as a level one, especially for someone on their first day. A regular level 1 adventurer could make five thousand Valis a day and even ten depending on their luck and experience. An adventuring party of level 1 adventurers might average between 25 thousand to 30 thousand valis. I made almost triple what an adventuring party could make on my first day alone.
That is an amount that would take an adventurer party a few dungeon explorations within a week to make.
"Honestly I'm quite sure you just broke a record of the most valis made on a first adventure." Misha commented.
Anyone else would've cheered at that news, but my expression was anything but.
My mind went back to the conversation I had with the captain of my familia before I joined.
—
"Has Canoe told you the requirements for joining and the rules you must follow?"
I shook my head no.
"Mr. Canoe hasn't told me anything about the requirements and the rules." My answer seemed to annoy the captain as he sent zanis a stare that what i could only guess meant "we'll talk later."
Immediately I knew something was very wrong with this familia. The stare that the small woman gave me, and now these "rules" that this Zanis guy is about to relay to me.
" Our familia has an admission fee of ten thousand Valis for those with no prior experience adventuring such as you, I would assume. Now, seeing as you appear to not have any Valis on you, I would be generous enough to let you have a week of grace period where you could pay the fee in installments. If you are not able to pay in the given week of grace period, our familia has some facilities that you would work to to pay off the debt."
The price seems absurd, but i don't really know since i just arrived in this city and have no sense of the value of the local currency so i just said. "Sounds reasonable." and nodded.
"If you wish to have an audience with Lord Soma, whether to update your Falna or discuss other matters, you must first consult with me or inform Canoe so he can relay the message. Each visit will cost a total of ten thousand valis. Lastly, once you begin earning money from the dungeon or other sources, the familia will take a forty percent share of your earnings."
"Forty percent is basically a highway robbery."
"You are free to leave and try to find another Familia to join but since Canoe brought you here I would assume that none of them wanted to accept you either. You can either agree to our terms or leave to find another Familia. The choice is yours."
—
Now, seeing as I am now a part of a Familia, it is obvious that I accepted the terms proposed by Zanis. And since someone from the Familia likely saw the commotion earlier, Zanis and Canoe will know of my endeavors.
"Is something wrong Eremes? Are you feeling fine? See? I told you you shouldn't have spent that long in the dungeon" Misha's voice was nothing but whispers against my thoughts but I still registered them and gave Misha a polite smile and reassurance.
"I'm just a bit sleepy, is all."
"Haaaah!" she sighed. " You should get some rest after the transaction, pushing yourself too hard and not sleeping enough could lead you to be sluggish in the dungeon and you might get seriously injured, or worse."
Honestly, after she profusely apologized for her outburst ,which she believed could cause me some problems, once we got to this private room, I didn't want to add to her worries anymore so I just kept silent about the literal robbery that I might experience once I get back to my Familia.
Well, it's only gonna be a robbery if they find out just how much I made. Who said I have to tell them how much I made on my first day?
"Will my Familia know how much I made?" I asked, hoping the answer to be no but at this point, my expectation is already low.
Misha tilted her head as she looked at me. " If a high ranking member asked then yes, we are obligated to tell them, Why?"
Shaking my head, I answered- "Nothing, I just don't want people from my Familia hounding me for some handouts." with a lie.
Well it wouldn't really matter since I already made up my mind to lie to Zanis.
We finished our transaction and went to the Exchange booth and showed the receipt Misha gave me. But as I turned to leave, I could see Misha still looking down, which made me a bit guilty since she didn't necessarily do anything wrong and just reacted how a normal person should at seeing something absurd. I turned back and tapped on her table to get her attention,
"If you want to apologize for what happened earlier,even if you don't have to, I would not be against getting some coffee together when we both have free time." seeing a smile appear on her face, i waved her goodbye and prepared myself for the music that i would get once my Familia finds out about my true earnings.
D-O-T-E
I knocked on the door two times before pushing it open. Inside, Captain Zanis is sitting on his desk swirling a glass of Wine. He didn't even pay me any mind so I just went straight to the point.
"I'm here to make a report about my Dungeon exploration, Captain."
His response was quick, almost like I'm wasting his time even though he's not doing anything.
"Just give me your receipt and the Familia cut, I neither need nor want to hear your Retelling."
There goes my plan to lie I guess.
"I-uh… I forgot to take it from the payout booth." lie.
I waited for him to respond.
"What are you doing still standing there? Go get it" was his harsh command.
I nodded and left the room. At this point I already know his true colors so I'm not really surprised or intimidated by his attitude. The day after I joined the familia, when I found out that I wouldn't be able to dive directly into the dungeon right away, he threw some colorful words while berating my "incompetence".
I let it slide. I'm as new as I can be in this world and my Ragnarok Level is only 2. I wouldn't stand a chance if I say something wrong and he decides I need to be lectured.
So I just stayed quiet, the words entered one ear and came out the other. Why would I feel anger towards someone I would probably be able to crush within a week of grinding? He might be level 2 but I have the advantage of having two different leveling systems that work in tandem. But seeing as I am basically nothing at the moment, I kept quiet.
I left the Familia manor and began walking towards the guild once more. I couldn't tell him I borrowed money from the guild since he will most definitely ask for another receipt, I wouldn't be able to ask Misha for a fake receipt either so I will just sneak into the dungeon and slay a few monsters to get a total of at least 4 thousand valis. A realistic number that a new adventurer could get with a lot of effort.
Before I made it to the guild, I checked my kafra storage for something I could use to hide my easily distinguishable hair so Misha wouldn't notice me.
I have a lot of costume equipment in my kafra storage. Hundreds of them, in fact. The only problem is looking for something that wouldn't make me stand out like a peacock.
Eventually I found something that looked relatively normal and used my backpack to hide my use of inventory. It was a hood, one that looks like the ones mages use. The only strange part of it is the glowing stone attached to the top of the hood, hanging to the side by a gold chain. It also has an evil aura that you can feel when you touch it. But overall it looked like something someone might wear as decorative headgear.
Costume Sorcerer Hood•
A costume hood of an unidentified evil magician. The glowing light makes it look mysterious.
Class: Costume
Position: Upper
Weight: 0
Requires Level: 1
Usable By: All Jobs
Entering the guild, switching to High Thief class which is my current strongest, I made a beeline to the dungeon entrance. Thankfully Misha was doing some paperworks on her desk so she didn't even notice me coming in.
I didn't dally, immediately sprinting down the staircase and into the actual dungeon, I didn't even linger on the first floor for long. I managed to reach the 3rd floor in just ten minutes of running nonstop.
On my hand was the strongest weapon i could use at the moment, •Ring Pommel Saber
"Ok, Let's do this."
D-O-T-E
"Miss Misha!" I called to her
"What are you doing here again Eremes? You're not planning on getting to the dungeon again are you?" she asked me with narrowed eyes.
"No no no, nothing like that. I'm just here to exchange a few magic stones I forgot to include earlier."
"Phew~ thank goodness. I thought the worst for a second." A sigh of relief accompanied her comment. "Hand it Over."
—
The total of the 2nd batch I exchanged was 4,500. 2,400 for goblin stones and 2,100 for kobolds. I went back to Zanis and gave him my receipt as he requested. He took the 40 percent cut leaving with a total of 2,700. I paid 2,000 valis of the 5,000 I owed, leaving me with only "700" to my name for the day.
I did not want to stay any longer than I had to in Zanis' office. But as I was about to leave he called for me.
"Since you're now earning from the dungeon, you would have a weekly quota to fulfill like every single one of the members. Fail to do so and you would be forced to work for the familias business until you pay it off."
End
D-O-T-E
A\N: this chapter is brought to you by~ my insomnia!!! I couldn't sleep so I finished a chapter, this is how it went, it's a decent one if I do say so myself. It is a bit shorter than others though.
Anyways i don't have anything to yap about today. The yapperist Frog is about to sleep.
But before that.
PS: I made a mistake referring to Ragnarok online SP(Spiritual Power) as Mana in the first chapter so I just went with it, not like there's a major plot hole that would appear because of a little thing. If you see something called SP on an Item description or in a sentence please just know that it is mana. I ffd up, I might fix it later but it is such a small thing that it's not really worth the trouble.
Info
I promised to give an explanation on how stats on Ragnarok online works so I will try my best to deliver.
Stats are the six fundamental character statistics that make (or break) a character. Stats start out with a base value of 1 and can be raised as far as 99. Third job/class characters can increase stats up to 130 (up to 117 on baby classes). Base stats are increased by spending stat points, higher stats costing more to raise (particularly for base stats beyond 100). Stat points are gained with base level increases, the amount increasing with higher levels. Since all stats start as a value of one, the starting stat of one essentially counts as a zero.
Strength: This stat affects the "melee" physical power of the character, allowing it to deal damage even if no weapons are equipped if a sufficient amount of STR is invested. The STR value is also multiplied to the Weapon ATK value for even more damage increase.
When using "melee-type" weapons such as Axes, Books, Daggers, Katars, Knuckles, Maces, Spears or when Bare Handed, every point of STR provides:
Status ATK +1
Weapon ATK +0.5% (only on Base Weapon ATK, and this bonus is pseudo-elemental)
When using "ranged-type" weapons such as Bows, Guns, Instruments and Whips, every 5 points of STR provide:
Status ATK +1
Agi or Agility: This stat affects the speed of the character in many aspects, allowing it to attack faster and dodge attacks more often.
Every point of AGI provides:
Flee rate +1
Increases Attack Speed
Resistance vs. the following Status Effects:
Bleeding: -1% chance from being inflicted
Sleep: -1% chance from being inflicted
Vit or Vitality: This stat affects the endurance, HP, and restorative power of the character, allowing it to last longer against monsters and to regain more life with healing items.
Every point of VIT provides:
Max HP +1%
Healing Items effectiveness +2% (HP)
Resistance vs. the following Status Effects:
Stun: -1% chance from being inflicted, decreases duration (exact value unknown)
Poison: -1% chance from being inflicted, decreases duration (exact value unknown)
Deadly Poison: -1% chance from being inflicted, decreases duration (exact value unknown)
Burning: reduces chance from being inflicted, decreases duration by 0.1s.
Freezing: reduces chance from being inflicted, decreases duration by 0.1s.
Mode Cold: reduces chance from being inflicted, decreases duration by 0.1s.
Int or Intelligence: This stat affects the mental power of the character, allowing to deal magic damage even if no weapons are equipped if a sufficient amount of INT is invested.
Every point of INT provides:
Status MATK +1.5
Soft MDEF +1
Max SP +1%
Healing Items effectiveness +1% (SP)
Decreases variable Cast Time (at half the effectiveness of DEX)
Alchemists: Brewing success rate +0.05% (half the benefits of DEX and LUK)
Resistance vs. the following Status Effects: (verify for renewal)
Blind: -1% chance from being inflicted, -1/15 second duration
Silence: -1% chance from being inflicted
Chaos: -2/3% chance from being inflicted
Dex or Dexterity: This stat affects the accuracy (HIT) of the character in many aspects, allowing it to land hits easier, among other things. It is also the primary stat for "ranged" physical power, and the primary stat for decreasing variable cast time.
When using "ranged-type" weapons such as Bows, Guns, Instruments and Whips, every point of DEX provides:
Status ATK +1
Weapon ATK +0.5% (only on Base Weapon ATK, and this bonus is pseudo-elemental)
When using "melee-type" weapons such as Axes, Books, Daggers, Katars, Knuckles, Maces, Spears or when Bare Handed, every 5 points of DEX provide:
Status ATK +1
Every point of DEX provides:
Hit rate +1
Decreases variable Cast Time
Increases Attack Speed
Thieves: Steal success rate +0.1%
Rogues: Divest success rate +0.2%
Blacksmiths: Forging success rate +0.1%
Alchemists: Brewing success rate +0.1%
Cooking success rate +0.2%
Luk or Luck: This stat affects the fortune of the character in some aspects, allowing it to deal Critical hits more often, luckily dodging enemy attacks more often, among several other small bonuses.
Every point of LUK provides:
Critical Hit Rate +0.3%
Blacksmiths: Forging success rate +0.1%
Alchemists: Brewing success rate +0.1%
Cooking success rate +0.1%
Resistance vs. the following Status Effects:
Blind: slightly decreases chance from being inflicted
Curse: -1% chance from being inflicted
Frozen: slightly decreases from being inflicted
Poison: slightly decreases chance from being inflicted (exact value unknown)
Silence: slightly decreases from being inflicted
Sleep: slightly decreases from being inflicted
Stone Curse: slightly decreases chance from being inflicted
Stun: slightly decreases chance from being inflicted, -0.01 seconds duration
There you go! If you want a more detailed look, you can find the full details and a much more comprehensive explanation on The wiki of IRO.
Welp, I guess this is all for now, Frog Out!
BuhBye!