Gratitude Weapons
I made my way over to Bhardoic's Blacksmith, a small smithy on the side of town. The blacksmith was run by an old dwarf by the name of Bhardoic, who had been practicing honing his craft for years.
"Excuse me, sir, I'd like to purchase some weaponry and armor, please," I asked, peeking over the smithy's table, looking into the steamy smithing area. Loud clanging and banging could be heard from the back.
"Give me a second, lad, I'll set you up with some equipment in a minute, I'm just trying to finish up this set of plate mail," Bhardoic yelled back to me, whilst cooling the hot iron plates held within his clamps.
I looked around the store, admiring the shining sets of armor and large polearms and greatswords strewn across the walls of the smithy. Though most of them were only made of bronze and iron, they looked as if they were beautifully crafted, high-end gear. for how buggy and messy Live Universe was, it was very beautiful in the graphics sense. Of course, that was to be expected from a game that was meant to be "fully immersive".
A light voice chimed from behind me. "Yo, Terry! you come here to get some equipment for the quest too?" It was JeanPierre, standing behind me. I turned to greet the small elf, clad in bulky leather armor and wielding a questionably crafted greatsword.
"Ah, hey there Jean, good to see you. where'd you go after I left?" I asked, in response to the earlier disconnect mishap (see chapter 2).
"Oh, well I thought ya left cause you were tired n' all so I decided to log out myself. why do you ask?" Jean responded, curious as to what my reasoning was.
"Ah, well I got kicked from the game and when I came back, you were gone, so I was just curious," I continued. While conversing, a stout dwarf came out of the smithing area and stood on top of a stool, to make eye contact with the two of us.
"Th' name's Bhardoic, what can I get the two of you?" The dwarf said, staring intently at the two possible customers standing in front of him.
"Ah, well the two of us are in dire need of some weaponry and armor upgrades. do you think you could do that for us?" I asked Bhardoic in a very polite tone, trying to get him to give us a lower price. It was scummy, sure, but at least I had the chance of getting a good deal out of it.
"Sure thing lad, but that armor's gonna cost you extra. Kitsune armor is a real pain in the a** to make, you know?" Bhardoic said, chuckling to himself.
It only made sense that Kitsune armor was more expensive, with the fluffy tail and animal ear. "Alright, how much would one bronze dagger and one greatsword cost?" I queried. A nice weapon upgrade was probably one of the best buffs I could receive for the upcoming line of quests.
"It'll cost you about 150 Tyles for both" Bhardoic responded, tapping on the old wood countertop in front of him. both Jean and I only had 100 Tyles between the two of us.
"Is there any deal we could work out? the two of us are a little short on cash, hehe," I said nervously, praying to God that there was some sort of workaround.
"Well, I do need a letter delivered to the knight, Lambertus, who guards the Northern Gate. If you deliver the letter to him, I'll take 50 Tyles off of your purchase. Sound like a good deal?" Bhardoic offered, looking at the two of us with a hard stare.
"Yeah yeah, we'll do it," Jean piped up, looking at me as if to say 'it's the best option'.
"Hoho, wonderful!" Bhardoic chimed, as he pulled out a note and handed it to me, "Return to me when you've given him the note, and I should have your equipment done."
"Will do, Bhardoic," I responded, whilst I let Jean and me out onto the streets.
Jean and I walked down the streets of Floria, heading towards the gate. The town was bustling with new players, talking and trading at an Ants' pace. Live Universe already had over 12 million consistently active users, and many of them had started in the town of Floria. It was a bustling town, and it was a miracle this small town could support this many people. then again, this is a video game, so it's not like resources are of any problem.
Jean and I continued walking down the main path until we eventually reached a gate that led to the outer fields and hunting grounds of Floria. Standing nearby was a tall and scrawny man adorned in steel plate mail and with a long polearm in hand. This was, of course, the famed Lambertus.
The two of us approached Lambertus. "What is it that you need, citizens?" Lambertus said, in a very affirming tone.
"The two of us are here to deliver a letter to you, from Bhardoic," I responded, handing over the small letter to Lambertus.
"Ah, Thank you for delivering this letter to me, citizens. This will be most helpful." Lambertus stuck the letter into his pocket and ushered us off back to Bhardoic's Blacksmith.
Jean and I enjoyed our journey back to Bhardoic's Smithy, enjoying the beautiful scenery of a game so realistic it was almost like another reality. the stone pathway beneath my feet was worn and torn from horse-drawn carriages and large crowds of people walking across them. Despite all the mess, Live Universe was still a feat of gaming and would go down in the gaming hall of fame.
When we returned to Bhardoic's, he had just finished our two new weapons.
"Well, Lad... there they are. how d'ya like 'em?" Bhardoic asked us, handing over the two freshly made weapons. I slid the 100 Tyles on to the table and carefully examined my new blade.
[Bronze Blade Of Gratitude]
Requirements: Positive relationship with Bhardoic
Damage: 10-25 damage
+2 DEX
+2 SPD
+1 CHA
Description: "A small bronze dagger created in exchange for some Tyles and a small favor. The user will always have good luck with interactions with others, as a gratitude towards the user.
"What a great piece of equipment!" I thought to myself looking over the dagger, "I might as well go out and get to using it, right? Well, I guess I should wait till after I finish the quest..."