Chapter 67

An extra chap as today is your author's birthday enjoy if will ne awesome if u comment share and vote

dont forget if we get 100 ps by the end of the day u will get 3 chaps a week

peace

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He nodded, sidestepping an NPC as it shuffled past. "A place with clear lines of sight in all directions. Preferably the top of a mountain or hill. An outpost would cut down on quite a bit of time walking back and forth. We could see mobs, and other players, from a mile away. Which brings me to another point. Corridor crystals."

Naomi gave him an appraising look. "Crystals that allow the player to travel anywhere. Yes, those would work well, but I have yet to see any here. It could be we just haven't reached a high enough Floor to use them."

Toyo nodded again as they neared the city gates. "I thought as much. How many info brokers do you have on your friends list?"

Naomi opened her menu. "Only three. I'll send the same message to each one about everything we've discussed up to this point."

"Alright, that's a good start." Toyo smiled at her excitedly. "With your help, Naomi, I feel like I might be able to do this. We can actually make a difference."

She smiled at him. "We can, and we will. I just want to keep everyone safe."

Once they had exited the city, Toyo took out the map and a quill. Then a thought came to him.

"You know, you still haven't told me how you knew about my stats."

Naomi kept her eyes on the road as she replied.

"Alright, I'll tell you how I knew about that, if you tell me how you knew I wanted to help you."

"Deal."

After shaking hands, Naomi started laughing at him. "You idiot. It was really easy to figure out. You were cutting Yellow Lotuses open like they were nothing. Every hit was a one shot."

"Yellow Lotuses?"

Naomi gestured with her hand. "Those plant creatures we fought together outside Trevica."

Toyo frowned at her. "I was using Silverthorne. It's a rare weapon, remember? You're the one that gave it to me."

She patted her axe. "Silverthorne isn't as strong as Shieldbreaker here. And I'm a higher level than you. And yet you managed to kill them just as fast as me. Also," She added, "I was able to see the Amulet of Aeris you were wearing during the fight. You keep it hidden under your shirt, but during the fight with the Yellow Lotuses it slipped out and I recognized it immediately. I had been trying to find it for a while, but when I asked Malachi for help, he ranted about how badly he had ripped off some idiot putting all his stats into health. It was easy to put the pieces together once I saw the amulet on you."

"Wait," Toyo said. "How did he know about my stats? We barely exchanged a word beyond the transaction itself."

"Malachi has the Examine skill," Naomi explained, "and he has a bad habit of using it on everyone he can, and then saving the information."

Toyo's heart sank. "So now he can blackmail me at any time, even after I pay him."

Naomi scoffed. "Don't worry about Malachi, I can handle him. Just let me know when the day you're supposed to pay him comes up and I'll go with you."

Toyo wasn't sure how she meant to 'handle' Malachi, but he decided it was better to let it go for now. As it was, he was grateful at the turn of events. Naomi would help him keep his stats a secret.

"You should really stop doing that though." The concern was evident in her tone.

Unwilling to get into an argument, Toyo changed the subject. "Do you want to know how I knew you believed in what I was doing or not?"

She crossed her arms. "Have it your way, but don't think this is the end of that discussion. Alright then, how did you know?"

He shrugged. "I'm good at reading people."

Naomi looked dumbfounded.

"That's it? That's your answer?"

Pausing at a fork in the road, Toyo pointed at a nearby mob that appeared docile. "So those are Jagged Worms. Any idea how dangerous they are?"

"Don't change the subject. What do you mean you're good at reading people?"

Sighing, Toyo set aside the map when he saw her determined face.

"I don't know, I'm pretty good at understanding how people feel based on their body language or facial expressions."

She eyed him curiously. "And how is that possible?"

"I'd like to think it has something to do with the fact that I used to do acting in real life. Being an actor requires a thorough understanding of human emotion and thought, how to display that as realistically and with as little effort as possible. Looking at people and wondering how they feel gets a whole lot easier when you know every projected thought and feeling converted into expression and behaviour. So yeah, acting."

She rolled her eyes. "You expect me to believe that you're an actor?"

"Was. Past tense." Toyo's gaze went back to his map as he began putting down notes. "I didn't really expect you to, no. Now can we get back to the task at hand, please?"

Though Naomi looked more than a little irritated at him, she let it go.

"Whatever, I don't care. Alright, so what's first?"

Toyo grimly handed her an ink bottle. "I hope you're a fan of taking notes."

*****

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