Village Benefits (1)

When one stepped into a Village for the first time, they would notice some obvious differences from Hamlets. Aside from the obvious fact that Hamlets didn't appear to be guarded, Hamlets didn't have residential areas. Most of the businesses in Hamlets thrived from tourism and the fact they were frontier outposts, and this "tourism" would only increase as more and more players entered the game. Even though this place was simply called a "Village", a residential and "downtown" area were clearly defined.

This place seemed more like an organic settlement rather than a collection of NPCs.

*Now for a couple of things I came here to do...*

Since Villages were larger than Hamlets and had larger NPC populations, the number of specialized professions among NPCs was slightly higher than that of Hamlets. While Hamlets only really had basic amenities, Villages offered a small bit of luxuries as well as more advanced necessities.

Jisha strolled into the "downtown" area of the Village. Foot traffic was a bit more dense than Hamlets as pedestrians and NPCs with tamed monsters roamed the streets. The player population appeared to be a bit greater than Hamlets as well.

But how was this the case? Unless one were a beta player or had insider information, they would be roaming randomly in the wilderness until they came across a settlement. In fact, most players were still in this category despite the fact that the developers leaked a map with basic information before the game's release.

This was due to the simple fact that Villages were less common than Hamlets. Players who spawned in Hamlets would eventually find their way to the nearest Village, and multiple Hamlets funneled into a single Village. For example, those who spawned in Uval or Covan would both eventually end up in Inkling Village.

*First order of business is inventory expansion. Then we'll get some more ammo and basic frontier exploration gear.*

By default, players could only carry 12 different types of items before their inventory was full. But, the shop Jisha headed into, dubbed "Mark's Backpacks", offered multiple options for inventory expansion.

"Welcome to Mark's Backpacks. Is there anything we can help you find today?" asked the NPC who was just inside the doorway.

"I'll be fine, thanks. I know what I'm getting," Jisha said as she refused help.

This was another difference between Villages and Hamlets as well; Village shops seemed to be more well-employed. Mark's Backpacks could even afford to have an employee greet customers!

The store wasn't that big, but the upgrade sizes surprised her. Strangely enough, a mere Village had excellent options!

All sorts of backpacks were hung up on the walls and displayed on shelves. The look of the store was a bit more modern than those of Hamlet frontier shops; one might even see a store with a layout like this in real life.

And on those shelves and walls lay a colorful assortment of wares.

*>Name: Miniature Green Backpack*

*>+5 Inventory Slots*

*>Name: Miniature Orange Backpack*

*>+6 Inventory Slots*

*>Name: Miniature Cyan Backpack*

*>+7 Inventory Slots*

Though the deals on these items were superb, Jisha wasn't going to waste a single Copper. She was going to find the best option available. The further back she headed into the shop, the pricier and grander the backpacks became. Finally, at the back wall, the best available items presented themselves.

*>Name: Orange Backpack*

*>+15 Inventory Slots*

*>Name: Cyan Backpack*

*>+16 Inventory Slots*

The "Cyan Backpack" seemed to be the largest option in the store, so Jisha naturally wanted to purchase it.

Just like shopping in real life, she took the item off the wall and headed to the counter to pay.

"That'll be 100 Bronzium," said the clerk behind the counter.

Jisha easily paid with 1 Silverium and headed out the door.

*It's incredibly cheap!*

And though most of her net worth was down the drain, she wasn't worried in the slightest.

Items that added inventory space, like backpacks, didn't actually have to be worn by avatars. And if you wanted to add more inventory slots to your account, the price would go up exponentially. So the 16 slots Jisha had just gained for a mere Silverium was a very good bargain.

When venturing in the wild, you never knew if you would come across anything valuable. If you didn't have room to store it, you could only admire it...

*Next up, frontier shopping.*

And even though this was a Village, it would still have a frontier shop that looked almost similar to that of the Hamlet's. Jisha easily found one due to its signature logo and headed inside. And after several minutes of browsing, she purchased everything she needed.

*>Name: Advanced Waypoint Marker*

It wasn't much, but this item was the main purpose of visiting a Village's frontier shop. If you paired it with a map, it would mark its location in one's current position. On top of being helpful for navigation, you could also teleport back to it if you were within a certain distance. This, along with the "sleeping bag", was a basic necessity for any explorer.

Placing a sleeping bag would set your respawn point; if you were to die in the wild, you would simply respawn there instead of in the nearest Safe Zone. However, Jisha wasn't going to die. If she, a former Tier 9 player, died in this low-leveled area, she was better off quitting Synergy forever!

*Now, the "fun" starts...*

The only thing left to do after frontier shopping was actually heading into the frontier. Grinding, exploring, gathering, etc... Almost everything one needed to do in order to advance themselves was accomplished in the frontier. To an ordinary player, this experience was thrilling like no other. However, to Jisha, grinding low-level mobs would be incredibly boring. However, there wasn't any better way to level up at the moment.

*Hopefully I can stumble across something that'll give me a ton of XP...*