BXBX NOVEL Chapter 45: [The Streets of Azkaban!]
Effects: Allows the user to upgrade a skill by one upgrade up to a maximum of A-Grade!]
Using the GM Points, I tried changing the grade of the coupon to S but the cost was in millions so I had to let it go. Though, looking at the costs, I was beginning to see a pattern of the cost of GM based on the Grades of various items.
\'Seems like I need to find better sources of GM points if I want to improve the grades of all my items to Grade A and above,\' I calculated a few things before putting it to the back of my mind.
"So, which skill should we upgrade? The best option would be [Perception!], but I think I should wait until I find a shop that sells B-Grade Skills," I mumbled as I walked up the streets of the safe city.
One thing that I realized about the safe zone was that it was in circles. At the center of the city, there lived the richest of the society, with decreasing standard of living as we move towards the periphery, with the poorest of people living near the edge of the safe zone.
From what Emily told me, beyond the border of the safe zone, there was the forest zone that had many monsters in there. The weakest monster being D-Grade with the strongest as much as S-Grade ones.
And beyond the forest lies a few more cities similar to safe city except players can be killed there. It was a typical kingdom made by the NPCs and the players to establish trade as that city was situated near the ocean. Supposedly, only the strongest of the players stayed there.
"Somebody Help!!" A cry came from one of the alleys, catching my attention. Even though the voice was loud enough, people didn\'t pay attention to it and kept walking on their own. Perhaps they were used to it? Kinda cruel, not gonna lie.
"Please! Anyone! Someone somebody! Anybody!" Shouted the same person again, this time voice being clearer than before. A feminine voice of a woman who should be in her early 20s.
Walking in the alley, I saw two burly men cornering a white haired girl. She had skin white as snow that matched with the white dress that she was wearing. Her eyes were deep red, that glared at those men that had her cornered.
"Seems like it\'s our lucky day! A Half Vampire! How much do you think she would sell for?" Those men spoke as they looked at that girl. Though before they could even take a single step someone interrupted them.
"Excuse me gentlemen. But can you let that lady go away? It\'s not proper etiquette, you know?" A blonde guy with a tall build, appeared out of nowhere. His eyes with a red similar to that of that girl, he looked at those thugs for a brief moment before observing that girl again.
"Huh? Who are you? Get los-" though before they could even take a single step, that man spoke out,
"[Sleep!]"
-Thud!
-Thud!
And the two guys ended up in a deep sleep. That blonde guy then looked at that girl with a smile as he continued,
"Didn\'t I ask you to take your business to the outskirts? What are you doing here in the mid zone, Adelaide?"
That girl, who was previously raging and terrified, changed her manner immediately as her eyes were now narrowed at that man. She then stood up and brushed her dress a little before speaking,
"There were new players who just arrived. I was just trying my luck to see if I can suck some stats off them. How did you even find me? I just began, you know?"
Her eyes were now much more calmed than before, the previous weak girl demeanor was completely gone now. One can even see a glint of a predator in her eyes.
"Was just passing by. A meeting of sorts with the Administrator. Though, I don\'t think you failed to catch any of the players," he spoke as he turned towards me. Even though I was wearing the stealth cloak, he was able to see me. Though it didn\'t bother me at all.
\'Expected as much,\' I thought as I undid my cloak, surprising the girl, Adalaide, while that blonde guy just smiled.
"Guess. I need better stealth equipments," I spoke out as I looked at my cloak before turning to that blonde guy and spoke,
"The name is Crowley. Crow for short."
For the time being, it\'s better to go with an alias than with my real name. Honestly it doesn\'t mean much, but from my experience in the back alley days, it is always a good thing to keep your identity hidden until it\'s really necessary to show it.
"It\'s Annikan here. You don\'t seem to be from the previous batches, are you one of the players from the current batch?" he asked and I nodded before speaking," I was traveling around to find some skill shops as well as finding information about the city. You don\'t happen to know about it, do you?"
His smile widened at my answer.
"I do. I was on my way to one of the more famous skill shops. Though the prices would be on the high end… is that all right?" He asked without breaking the character as I nodded with a smile of the same intensity,
"That would be lovely."
"Hey Annikan. You know this guy?" Adalaide asked as she looked at me, while Annikan shook his head before speaking,"nope. I just met him."
"You did?" Not believing, she looked at me again, before turning back at Annikan again. Though her expression turned neutral again before she spoke,
"Well. If you both are going to Clair\'s Skill Shop, I will join you as well. There was something I wanted from there."
Not having any problem, Annikan nodded before turning to me as he spoke," so Crow. Tell me, when did you appear in the safe zone? Did you die or you completed the tutorial like the others?"
"Huh? The tutorial was completed? I thought there were still 20 hours or something," Adalaida spoke with a hint of surprise in her voice.
"It should be. Though some of the zones finished early. Someone found the second exit early on. I think there were 7 such groups this time," Annikan explained, making Adalaida shocked a bit before she turned to me. Though I just smiled as I answered,
"Well. In our case, one of the players got a contract, and another two, Mark and Alex got a rather convenient [Gift]. There was also a group of girls with good synergy. I just happened to ride the bandwagon."
As we began walking towards the direction where Annikan was taking us, I continued speaking,
"From what I heard, the final battle was with the players and one of the NPCs, the chief. They all fought together against the goblin king and defeated him. There was a special artifact that allowed them to open a portal or something that led to the premature ending of the tutorial."
Adalaida, listening to my conversation, made a surprised but understanding face. Though she was shocked to hear that I was one of the people who finished their tutorial early, when she got to know that I was just a bit lucky, she calmed down before she spoke,
"Seems like there are quite a few monsters this time around as well. Though they are all only humans, so I doubt they have any racial advantage."
Annikan looked at me with a deep look before he smiled and spoke," you were lucky, huh? Fascinating," before he turned quiet for a few seconds. And then he asked,
"So Crow. How are you finding this city? Much to your liking?"
"I haven\'t even looked at it properly. Too busy finding a skill shop. Though it seemed nice on the first look. Pretty clean if you ask me," I spoke as I briefed them about what I found on my first observation.
"Glad to hear that. Well, Azkaban is indeed the central city of the first floor. It would be bad if it gets dirty. Not good for the image, you know?" He raised a finger as he told me, before he began explaining a bit about why it\'s important that the city is clean.
Adalaide grumbled as she heard his words, closing her ears in agony, while I just chuckled at her actions. She smiled back at me, before we started talking about mundane topics about the famous restaurants and stuff.
And before we knew it, we reached the shop that the duo was talking about. The most famous skill shop in the entire city, selling skills from C-Grade to SS-Grades. Fixed Price. Non-Negotiable.
It was a lavish shop, that size equal to a small shopping complex. From outside, it felt like a premium luxury shop, with the huge entrance gate guarded by two 6- metered-giant stone golems carrying a giant spear twice their size in their hands.
And as we entered the shop, I felt like I entered another dimension, where everything was shining. Though as the light settled, I saw the counters and various shop compartments, each with their own gradings.
The shop compartments were first divided between grades, and then between utility, with each compartment having at least 3 staff members showing the guests skill cards of their requirements.
My eyes narrowed at those staff members as I found them all to be females with long ears. Presumably elves? They were wearing black coloured tight dresses that seemed to be professional with a hint of lewdness in them.
The atmosphere itself was rather mellow, with the fresh aroma of strange refreshing scent. Add the cool relaxing atmosphere to it, and it was a perfect place that relaxes your senses. One of those places where you let go of stress and shop freely, I guess? There were those back on my planet as well.
"Like it?" Annikan asked with a slight smile before I answered," seems like a place that would rob you of your money," I spoke as I raised both my hands in a bit of defeat before putting them down as I began walking towards the [B-Grade] skill section. Hopefully the price would be within my buying range.