Chapter 19 – New Money

Nie Yan arrived back at Calore city after passing through the transfer point. As soon as he arrived, he turned a corner and entered a nearby alleyway. There he activated Stealth after making sure no one was following him. Only after making seven or eight detours through the alleyways, did he finally arrive at the Kade Smithy.

This was a lesson learned from the past. He definitely wouldn’t allow the location of the Kade Smithy to be disclosed.

Nie Yan would retrieve the Bat Teeth he had collected from the other player in batches, then transfer and sell them to Kade.

A while later, over two hundred stacks of teeth were sold for four silvers. Two silvers had become four in only half an hour. In addition, he also gained nine hundred experience. Nie Yan noticed his experience bar had already risen to five percent when he glanced at it.

He went back to Mordor after handing over all the Bat Teeth, and continued buying more.

Those players who saw Nie Yan return, fearful that he might soon leave again, immediately lined up and waited to trade.

Mordor was bustling with an unusually high amount of activity due to Nie Yan’s actions.

“Everyone, there’s no need to feel anxious. After I buy everything I need this morning, I’ll be coming back around eight in the evening to buy some more.” Nie Yan issued an announcement to the crowd. These players would most likely amass quite a few Bat Teeth after farming monsters for the whole day up till eight in the evening.

By the time he had purchased over two hundred stacks, the amount of Bat Teeth being traded had gradually lessened. After purchasing another one hundred stacks, Nie Yan saw there were no more players coming to trade. Thus he went through the transfer point back to Calore city.

Two Thieves were following him closely. Nie Yan had bought these Bat Teeth all in one go, yet he still had the appearance of someone who looked like they still hadn’t had enough. With that sort of behavior, trying not to attract the suspicion of others was difficult in itself.

Nie Yan’s mouth curved into a faint smile when he detected these Thieves attempting to track him. At present, those who were able to track him… haven’t even been born yet!

Nie Yan turned a corner into an alleyway and activated Stealth, very quickly disappearing from sight.

By the time those Thieves made their way over to the alleyway, all traces of Nie Yan were gone.

“Where’d that guy go?”

“I can’t find him.”

“Brother, what do you think that guy’s gonna do with all the Bat Teeth he bought?”

“Who the hell knows… It definitely isn’t for leveling his Blacksmithing though, that’s for certain. There’s no way in hell Blacksmithing would take that many Bat Teeth to level up, even if he’s buying them for his friends. Not to mention he’s even coming back for more in the evening. Let’s wait until next time.”

Those two Thieves who stood at the corner spoke a few more words, then turned around and left.

Gradually, a silhouette emerged from a wall not far from where those two Thieves had been. It was Nie Yan coming out of stealth. He had been just two meters away from them at most, yet they hadn’t detected anything in the slightest.

Nie Yan smiled coldly as he gazed at the backs of their retreating figures. It was simply wishful thinking, believing that they could pry into his secret. He wouldn’t be so stupid as to reveal Blacksmith Kade’s location. He turned around and went further into the alleyway.

Having exchanged all three hundred stacks of Bat Teeth with Kade, Nie Yan now had seven silvers in his pockets. With the current average level of the player base, this could be considered a massive sum of money.

He then ran to Carter town and Yeme town to purchase more Bat Teeth. After exchanging them with Kade, he had a total of twenty-six silvers.

He now understood what it felt like to be rolling in money.

“Ahh… how refreshing.”

The amount of money a player had early in the game was essential to their growth in the future.

That Paladin from his past life had made over ten gold coins from this quest. Earning such an amount seemed inconceivable to him when he first entered the game, but now he knew it was possible firsthand. Those players who knew about Nie Yan buying Bat Teeth for a high price would never imagine he was selling them to an NPC. Thus he would be able to make even more money down the road!

A person’s confidence would change when they had money, and Nie Yan was no exception. He immediately went off to the largest auction house in Calore city. The equipment and weapons being auctioned there were all at least Bronze-grade or higher. In addition, there were also various uncommon skill books and materials being auctioned off as well. For the most part, players who traded here were those who would often partake in raids.

While on his way to the auction house, Nie Yan decided in advance that he would buy ninety Fine Silks at the lowest possible price. After making the purchase, he deposited his new materials into storage, so he could retrieve them whenever he wanted to hand in his quest. Afterwards, he strolled into the large hall of the auction house.

As expected of the largest auction house in Calore, its construction was quite grand. The pillars within the main hall were built to be dozens of meters high to support the immense roof. The entire length of the hall spanned over a hundred meters. It was as if it was the hall of some vast temple or shrine.

Nie Yan had routinely walked through these halls in his former life. After finding a corner to sit down at, he picked up his bidding device and marked down the quoted prices of the various merchandise that would appear on the magic screen.

He look at page after page of merchandise. Everything  listed on the magic screen was separated into categories, making it easy for players to find a specific item they were searching for.

Nie Yan unchecked all the categories that were of no use to him. All that remained on the screen were items that could used by all classes, such as defensive daggers, small round shields, bags, etc…

Player could equip up to five bags. They were divided into slots of sixteen, twenty, twenty-four, twenty-eight, and so on. The larger the bag space, the higher the price.

Each player would be given a starter bag with twenty slots when they began the game. If they wanted more bag space, they could buy a sixteen-slot bag from the market place for ten coppers. As for twenty slot bags… their prices were even higher. Though at any rate, money wasn’t really an issue for Nie Yan at the moment.

Money spent could still be earned back in the future. In reality, the real loss was letting it waste away in your pockets.

Nie Yan was using this money to outfit himself with the best equipment.

The auction house had no more than eleven twenty-slot bags up for auction, each one being auctioned off for around twenty coppers. Nie Yan placed bids on four of these twenty-slot bags.

Although the price of the bags Nie Yan bid on gradually rose, his maximum bid never exceeded twenty-two coppers. Before long, he managed to secure four twenty-slot bags.

God dammit… tailors are the ones that make the real money, Nie Yan couldn’t help but think to himself. However it was necessary to have the right connections if one wanted to be successful in a crafting profession. For example, a player could be at ease leveling their crafting skill if they had a guild to rely on and have the guild supply them with an endless amount of materials. Tailors were like this as well. And although many normal players would learn a crafting skill as well, they couldn’t compare to those players who specialized in their crafting skill.

Nie Yan’s need for money still hadn’t degenerated to the point where he needed to become a player that specialized in crafting.

After spending half a silver, he opened up a page that was exclusively for Thief merchandise.

He skimmed through the page, searching for anything that looked interesting. As long as the item was useful, he would buy it without the slightest hint of hesitation. It didn’t matter if the item was a little overpriced, he would still purchase it regardless.

The items he bought were all Bronze-grade; a pair of Soft Leather Pants with Dexterity +3, a set of Azure Fur Armour with Strength +2, a pair of Horsehide Boots with Balance +2, and a Silver-tip Dagger with Strength +3. Nie Yan had spent a hefty sum purchasing these four pieces of Level 0 equipment. After replacing his current equipment with his new gear, he was now wearing only Bronze-grade equipment. Any one of these four pieces of equipment would cost a fortune for the average player. If it wasn’t for him taking advantage of Kade’s hidden quest to make a profit, he definitely wouldn’t have dared to spend so much money.

Nie Yan glanced at his equip load after replacing his equipment—16 lb. His weight was still classified as a “Light Load” (0–20 lb), thus his movements wouldn’t be hindered at all.

In addition to those four pieces of equipment, Nie Yan also bought three Thief skill books. The first was the passive skill, Enhance Stealth: Stealth and Cloaking receive an additional bonus of +3. The second book taught an attack skill called Concussive Blow: Directly strike an opponent, confusing them and preventing movement for three seconds. This skill has a cooldown of thirty seconds. Finally, the third book taught a skill called Smothering Strike: Strike an enemy from behind, putting them in a dazed state for six seconds. Target will awaken from the stun if attacked. This skill has a cooldown of thirty seconds.

These three skill books taught only Level 0 Thief skills, however the market price for them was roughly twenty coppers each. Thieves would be very poor when first starting out in the game. In that respect, Thieves and Mages could be considered fellow sufferers in the same boat, as both classes would end up spending practically all their wealth buying skill books!

Thieves were a class that couldn’t survive without skills, but each skill book was quite expensive! Thus they had no choice but to bear through the hard times, living frugally each day so they could purchase a single skill book. Sometimes these players would even be forced to continue wearing their old worn out equipment, just so that they could save a few coppers. Even the Thief players who were somewhat wealthy in real life would sometimes have no choice but to head to the transaction platforms and spend some money to buy in-game currency.

A Thief’s true power, their formidable ability to control a fight, would only emerge if a player could endure through these hard times and buy the skills they needed.

Nie Yan had also endured these hardships before, slowly making his way up bit by bit before being reincarnated. Though he was able to easily buy his way through this barrier in his current life.

His skill bar looked that much less empty after learning those three skills. He pulled up the page for skill books again to see if there were any other skills up for sale. As he browsed, the name of an uncommon skill caught his eye.

Skill Book: Parry
Description: Parry an opponent’s attack with your weapon.
Requirements: Action (requires weapon)
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Restrictions: Thief, Warrior, Paladin; can be learned by any faction.

Nie Yan couldn’t forget this skill. It was something that every close-combat class yearned for—the most valuable asset of any melee class. It didn’t matter what kind of situation a player was in, whether PvPing or fighting a monster, being able to parry an attack was a lifesaver.

Parry was a skill that had a one in ten thousand chance of dropping from demonic monsters.

Only one or two players had learned the skill when he participated in a hundred man battle full of Level 60s in the past. This exemplified how rare of a skill it was. Its value was only slightly less than the skill book for Vital Strike.

It didn’t matter though… he would buy it anyway!

Nie Yan glanced at the current bid—two silvers. Not only that but the bidding price was constantly rising by at least fifty coppers each time.

The ones who made bids on these uncommon and rare skills were usually wealthy players, teams, or maybe even guild leaders. More often times than not, they wouldn’t mind spending a few silvers for the sake of a single skill book.

Two silvers and fifty coppers, three silvers, three silvers and fifty coppers…

The fierce bidding on the Parry skill book attracted the attention of many players.

“It’s a rare skill!”

“No wonder the bids are so high…”

Three silvers… it was roughly the same amount that a team would make after clearing a common Level 3 dungeon. Even then the most they could earn would be five silvers.

After a short while, the bidding came to a halt. The auctioned item would go to the highest bidder if ten minutes passed without any further bids.

“Four silvers…” Nie Yan placed his bid. He was determined to get this Parry skill book.

“Four silvers and fifty coppers!?” He didn’t know who, but someone increased the bid yet again.

This price could terrify the overwhelming majority of players in the game.

At this moment, it was simply a matter of which side was more willing to throw their money away. “Five silvers!” Nie Yan increased his bid once more… No matter what he’d still have many more opportunities to earn money in the future. This amount wasn’t something he’d be lacking in the slightest.

“God damn. Who the hell is that rich? To spend that much money for a single Parry skill book…”

All of the players at the auction were already discussing it in private. A single Thief skill book being auctioned for such a price… This was just too terrifying.

“There truly are a lot of wealthy people.”

The price didn’t increase for a while. It seemed the other party had been scared off by Nie Yan’s bid. The Parry skill book entered his bag after ten minutes passed.

After learning the skill, he bought a vial of poison used by Thieves to coat their daggers for thirty coppers. It could be applied three times before running out, and would cause an enemy to lose ten percent of their defense after being poisoned.

Finally he was done purchasing everything he needed. Furthermore, the items he had auctioned earlier had been sold. Currently he still had sixteen silvers remaining in his pockets.

Despite having learned so many new skills,  Nie Yan didn’t need to practice with them at all. This was because he was highly familiar with both the Thief Skills and the class itself. He could use these skills with ease right off the bat, thus his strength had increased significantly after learning them.

Nie Yan now had a lot more confidence when comparing himself to those who had started when the game first released. Using the game knowledge of his past life, he could now pave a path for his future development. Then in the future he could walk down this path unobstructed.

Afterwards he crafted the Silk Cloths in his bag into bandages, which could be used in case of emergency. He also bought bread and other useful items that could replenish his strength. Furthermore he now had a bag full of Basic Health Potions and Basic Recovery Potions.

Intermediate Combat Medic: Skill Mastery 10/500

Should I head off and level then? Nie Yan immediately thought of several leveling locations that were very suited for Thieves to train in.