Chapter 10 The Way Of Fire

I watched as Greg tackled another trent. The speed at which he was going was fast enough to almost break it in two, but the extra hug he gave made sure it was dead. This one didn’t drop loot, which was unfortunate. This time around I did get a lot less loot, so I should, just in case, research about this. I had a bad premonition that the more damaged your map stone, the less likely you were to get loot.

This was the last enemy on this map, which meant I cleared it for the second time. As I was transporting the last piece of loot back, with Greg getting further and further behind me but still moving towards the portal, I cheered in happiness, as this clear was just enough to get me to level 14.

I now had a choice to make. Before I could get access to the miscellaneous green gem slot where I could put the green gem I needed. I need to pick one major physical resistance node out of the three available to me.

The options were slashing, piercing, and blunt damage resistances. This choice might not matter much, as I might need to pick up all three just to increase my defences even more, but perhaps it’s not worth the points wasted.

Currently, I think the best choice would be to go with blunt because I could get armor that would help with slashing and piercing but do mitigate blunt damage you needed to wear multiple layers of fabric to dampen the attack. But that would also mean that my fire protection wouldn't extend to outer layers, which would mean that I would have to constantly buy new armor.

Relatively quickly, I unlocked the two nodes. I needed a blunt resistance gem to put into the blunt node to activate it. A gem that would fit into the blunt node would not be too expensive, yet it would still be a decent chunk of the money of what I currently have. I will just need to continue to clear and buy maps to start filling in my empty gem slots.

This time I was only able to get 190 gold for everything, including the boss drop. That was really unfortunate. At least Felwan seemed to like what I brought. Apparently not many maps produce wood-type loot.

As the loot was being stored, we talked a little bit. While I would’ve liked to keep as low a profile as possible, having contacts to sell stuff was quite important, and it was nice to talk to people once again.

As I went to deposit the gold, I saw someone running away from the guards, and I was pretty sure he was holding wild tickets. I guess some fresh adventurer just got theirs stolen. That was really unfortunate. I did move a little bit faster to put away my gold. This time signing up for another time slot went well, as I just needed to wait another day.

Nothing was really different this time around, and after having just killed the boss, I watched Greg demolish the rest of the monsters. Yet I stopped moving when I saw something glinting next to the branch that dropped as loot. I ran to it to pick it up and examine it.

It looked like a rainbow stuck in a rock. Immediately I knew what it was even without having to examine it. It was a chroma stone. This item can be used on socketed items, and it would randomize that item's socket color.

If you had multiple sockets, it would randomize them all. This alone was worth about 50 gold coins, but I don’t know if selling it was the best idea. It could be quite useful if I got myself some better equipment but the socket was the wrong color.

When I finished clearing the map, I looked at the loot pile that diminished once again from the last one. I checked out this phenomenon in the library, and it seems that my intuition was right. The best loot you could get was during the first clear. That also explained why so many maps in the adventurer market were damaged a little bit; they had already finished the first clear. That could have been a costly mistake.

It took another two days for me to get a time slot for another clear. The map stone was on the verge of crumbling into pieces. When I entered it, I soon figured out that there were a lot fewer enemies, and they seemed weaker, and they were barely giving any loot. We had killed about half, and I was waiting for the boss, but it never showed up.

I guess the map was too degraded for it to show up. Another thing to add to the list on why not to buy damaged maps. Greg and I finished clearing this map quite fast, so I had plenty of time to practice with my staff. I did, however, feel like just waving my weapon around in the air was starting to do less and less for my proficiency.

Now I have enough money to go and buy that green gem that will allow me to get a portion of physical resistances of my elite minion. It would put me quite close to my red line, but I can go and purchase a map in the Guild market. It will cost a little bit more, but they only sell maps that they know everything about, which also includes how much profit you would make if you could fully clear it.

As I stepped out of the portal after my fourth clear, I looked towards the map stone. I then proceeded to press the button to end the portal. As it winked closed, the energies connecting the portal device to the map stone ended, and I watched as it crumbled to pieces.

I cleaned up the pieces and put them in the trash can nearby meant for them. This time I didn’t hire someone to help me with the loot as the amount was small enough that I could carry it myself even if it was a bit awkward.

Now it was time to go to the Guild market. Things worked a lot differently here than in the adventurer market. No one was shouting to sell something; there were professional sellers ready to help you in any way. There were also a lot of catalogues available for you to browse, and I went to one of the ones that listed the current maps for sale.

Making maps was quite complicated, and even if you used the same materials, the results would be somewhat different. If you were good enough and precise enough, you could, however, get quite close to having basically the same map over and over again. All of the maps here did cost more, but next to the cost to purchase one, there was also approximate profit you could make from it.

What I was after was what was called Noob maps. They were basically the easiest ones to clear and gave you a steady source of income even if you couldn't fully clear it in one day. What I wanted were smaller enemies but not too small.

Eventually, I found a simple map type of grass fields with goblins as enemies. They cost around 100 gold coins and after one clear will get you about 100 gold coins. I should, however, get 4 clears, which would mean I should be able to get around two to three times the profit.

That was good enough but of course nothing compared to what I got with the trent map. Yet I wasn’t buying this map strictly to make money; I was buying it to train myself. As I currently was, I really didn’t know if I could defeat even a single goblin, not to speak of the fact that I had to kill 100 or more of them in one day. But if that green gem was still for sale for 210, it should boost my physical resistances up enough that I shouldn’t worry about any attacks that they could do to me.

I didn’t buy the map just yet, but it was nice to know that my plan should work. The minion skill crystal seller was still quite busy with a lot of people around his stall and once again there was barely anyone around the elite minion stall.

"So you're back. I hope you’re not here to sell back that summon crystal, as I’m not in the habit of buying back my own merchandise?"

"No, I’m here for that green gem." Immediately, his face was split by a grin.

"The price is 210 gold coins. How would you like to pay?"

It was so cheap only thanks to our deal. “With a bank token of course,” I answer.

"Deal," he said and extended his hand to shake mine. I then got out my bank token, and he seemed happy not to exchange so many gold coin out in the open. As soon as I had the gem in my hand, I started to meditate. When I saw my heart crystal, I focused on the green tree and the open green gem slot. It didn't take much effort, and I felt the stone in my hand disappear and appear in that slot, giving it a nice brilliant emerald color.

"Smart move, that. Gems are one of the most stolen items," the merchant said. After a few brief words with him, I left. I marched straight back to the Guild market, flagged down a salesperson, and purchased one of the goblin maps. Then I registered myself for a time slot but needed to wait two days before I could enter my newly purchased map.