Chapter 7: Monster
Damon smiled, awkwardly ruffling his head and putting up an act. "I just got lucky. I happened to hear a drunk alchemist bragging about his creation.
Ellora stared at him, one eye squinting as if she were trying to x-ray straight through his skull. "Lucky, huh?" she muttered. "Next thing you'll tell me is you overheard a goblin chieftain whispering the formula for soulsteel in his sleep."
Damon chuckled, playing the part of an innocent newbie with dumb luck. "I mean, if he talks loud enough..."
The old hag grumbled but turned around and began rummaging through her cluttered shelves anyway. Damon inwardly sighed in relief. He knew he was pushing it. He was not sure that this part of the plan was going to work. Thankfully, it did.
A second later, Ellora turned around and slammed a small potion bottle on the counter. "Here. take this and use. I don't want you blowing yourself up out of stupidity!"
[Item: Body Tempering Potion – Uncommon]
Damon's eyes shot up. Fuck. Is she giving me the actual potion?! The reputation points were no joke!
Ellora noticed his wide-eyed reaction and smirked. "What? You thought I'd hand over those ingredients to a brat like you and expect you not to mess it up? One wrong stir, and you'll melt your organs before your strength even begins to awaken."
Damon quickly composed himself, bowing his head in gratitude. "Thank you, Miss Ellora. I won't forget this."
"You'd better not," she snapped. "And don't go thinking I'm doing this out of kindness. You owe me now. 10 gold coins."
Damon's face twitched. This was bullshit! This was daylight robbery! She was charging him ten times the best market price! In just a single month, this potion would become quite common in the game. She was not handing him some game-changing treasure, it was just an uncommon rarity, basic use potion.
"Are you sure, Miss Ellora? I thought the potion was 1 gold coin?" He hesitantly asked but the old hag pretended not to hear him and simply turned to the side and whistled a tune. "Were you saying something bloodling?"
"Ah. Nothing. I was just thanking you for the loan. Thank you so much. I will repay this favor." Damon smiled. His heart ached at the thought of 10 gold coins hanging over his head this early in the game, but what the hell. Fuck it. It was an investment for the future. It was worth it.
He was just about to thank her and leave when he noticed something on the shelves. Five beautiful rings, which were obviously storage rings.
"Miss Ellora, I am afraid I am in a terrible position." Damon immediately stopped in his tracks. "In order to repay the 10 gold coins to you as fast as possible, I need to collect and carry a lot of materials. Heavy ones. Precious ones. Time-sensitive ones," he said, turning around with the most innocent, pitiful expression he could muster. "But as you can see, my carrying capacity is tragically limited."
Ellora didn't even look up. "Just out with it, bloodling. You want one of the rings."
Damon winced, hands clasped together like a man begging for his last meal. "Just a small one! Even a broken one would do. I'll bring it back. Think of it as... enabling me to earn your money back faster."
Ellora snorted. "And if I don't?"
"I'll be stuck for weeks. Penniless. No potions. No materials. You might not see a return on your investment for months." He laid it on thick, letting just a sliver of desperation slip into his voice. "I'd hate to be a disappointment."
The old woman sighed dramatically and finally looked up, peering at him with narrowed eyes. "One ring. You lose it, I'll skin you and sell your blood to necromancers."
"I accept those terms," Damon said quickly, trying not to sound too happy. Two minutes later, he walked out of the shop with a rare grade storage ring, the vampire charm, the body tempering potion, and two talismans, one for minor teleportation and one for a mana barrier.
In the end, the entire package came to a cost of 12 gold coins, and the old hag ended up charging only 10 gold coins. More importantly, Damon had received these items with minimal effort and that too on the first day of the game launch which made them worth at least 25 gold coins.
Damon left the shop with a smile and the old hag watched him leave as if she was really glad that he finally left the shop. What a monster! She sighed in relief.
Happy with his haul, Damon quickly walked out of the small town once again. This time, he did not head toward the old well, instead, he took the shortcut to reach the nearest city, the city of Nieta Falls, a sprawling riverside stronghold nestled against a jagged mountain range.
It wasn't considered a capital city by any means, but it was bustling, rich in quests, and, most importantly, had what he needed: a special awakening pool reserved for the awakening ceremony.
If one asked what determined the future path of a player in Earth Online, everyone would unanimously say the same thing. The awakening process.
The Awakening process was everything.
In Earth Online, levels and loot could only carry a player so far. In fact, their future was decided in just a couple of days after playing the game, their first awakening.
An awakening didn't just boost stats or give skills. It decided their class tree, affinities, growth scaling, and most importantly, there was a chance it could unlock hidden evolutions and even bloodlines if done under the right conditions.
The process by which one awakened was extremely important. The extremely precious awakening resources were always saved for the nobility. This was one of the reasons why noble titles were highly sought after in his last life.
Even if most of the players missed the ideal condition for the first awakening, they could always make sure that their second, third, and all the awakenings so forth could be as ideal as possible.
But the first one, the very first awakening, was special. It laid the foundation for everything that came after. It was like setting the mold before pouring the cast. If you botched it, no matter how much you polished later, you'd always be playing catch-up.
In his past life, Damon had awakened like everyone else. Some random place. Some standard process. He didn't even think twice about it. He had no noble bloodline, no connections, and no resources.
Now? He wasn't going to make the same mistake.
This time, he was prepared. He had already changed into the vampire race, had the Body Tempering Potion in his bag, and was about to enter the most potent early-game awakening site in the region.
The Awakening Pool in the Nieta Falls city.
The pool in Nieta Falls was hidden deep inside the Cathedral of Silent Waters, and later on, it had become an extremely coveted place for the players to undergo their awakening.
Only those who had an S-rank affinity and high reputation with various factions, along with a nobility title, were allowed inside. Even then, they charged an obscene amount just to use it. Most players could only dream of using such a resource to awaken.
But Damon wasn't most players. Even though he did not possess any of the above requirements, he still knew a loophole to get into the place. He only hoped to get there soon enough before his advantage became drunk and disoriented.