Chapter 63 - Setting up shop. (2/2)

”Let us see, what properties are available,” said Strontson as the two of them left. He produced a scroll from his pocket and gave it to Shadow. The scroll listed various properties that are for sale and rent along with their location and cost.

Though Shadow had a constant source of income from the portal, it wasn't an inexhaustible source. It currently provided him about 32 gold which was far from enough to purchase a plot of land. It would slowly increase as the number of players in vita-nova increased.

It was just the launching day of the game and many were waiting to see if there would be any effects due to use of somnium technology. By the next few days, the player base of the game would increase by a hundred-fold, it would see the peak of new players in about a month and it would still continue to have new players even after five years.

With the amount he had on him, he couldn't purchase land but could definitely rent a few shops. The lands were being sold for a minimum price of 100 gold and those weren't the lands near the market. There were five shops available near market, each of which had a rent value close to 15 gold per month.

Though he had bought a few properties on some territories in his previous life. They were on the outer reaches of town when they upgraded as most of the best properties were already purchased by that time. So, he didn't expect it to have such a high price. His expectation was something near 50 gold which if he had the members of the Crimson Realm use credit exchange to get gold was easily achievable. So, purchasing land was no longer an option.

Still he decided to rent a shop right on the market right beside the portal. He thought it would be best if he finds a shop which was at a busy area. The greater number of players that saw it, the more popular it would become.

He didn't even need to open it right now. He just needed it for publicity of the guild. He was provided the deed for renting the shop by the Strontson on payment of 15 gold. With the remaining gold he could make decent renovations to it if required.

Once that was done, he had no more business at the town hall and immediately left to the shop. He also asked Rudra to meet him there. They found one of guards and showed him the deed. He quickly removed the restraints on the shop and let them inside.

The went into the shop and examined it. It had two floors and covered about 400 sq feet per floor. It was still not configured and even the name of the shop had been left blank. The decided to make the ground floor as a display area and the first floor to be a restaurant.

The cook profession had become a moderately famous one due to the special dungeon 'Cave of Wargs'. The wolf and warg meat were resources it gave to every player. This prompted more players to attempt the cook profession at this stage.

Apart from cooking meat which required them to buy provisions such as stove and utensils, cooks could also produce simpler dishes like sandwiches, juices and other drinks using fruits, water and bread which were always available.

Similar to forging and alchemy, cooking also required tools which they decided to buy and provide to their members at the restaurant. The forging and alchemy also required coins and resources to manufacture products. He left the remaining gold he had to Rudra so that it would speed up the process.

The main aim of them buying a shop was to attract more members to their guild and a restaurant was a very effective method even in real-life to make people notice them.

They decided the name to be Crimson Realm Equipment and Consumables. They had a notice placed on their shop that said opening tomorrow. Even though they managed to rent a shop, they still needed to gather trade profession players and also need to have sufficient products to sell.

Most of the basic recipes and designs required for a shop to start were already gathered by Rudra. But they also needed at least a few high-end items to be displayed on their shelves to get popular. Being Kade's apprentice, he had an advantage over other blacksmiths. He made his way towards the forging association.

Along the way, he was contacted by Merlin and Tetsujin. They already gathered a few quests which they wanted to complete. They were also wondering if they could complete the hell mode of the 'Cave of Wargs' first.

Though they had the advantage in making blackrock village their base over other guilds among the light faction. The same didn't apply for the first clear of the Hell mode of the dungeon. Moreover, the competition at the town was only among humans as it would be hard to find weapons, equipment and designs for other races at a beginner town at this stage of the game.

But the dungeon was another thing entirely. There were five other races similar to humans who could attempt the dungeon and some of them had racial passives which would be useful in such an environment.

Especially fae and dwarves who have good ways to retaliate in the environment of the dungeon. That is why it was a great surprise for most that a human team got the first clear of the dungeon. With that in mind both Merlin and Tetsujin insisted on attempting the hell mode.

They even had shown him chats on the forums which indicated that the other races were also attempting hell mode. But Shadow had enough experience to know that their racial passives wouldn't be of much use in a dungeon. Though the fae could fly for short durations and dwarves gained strength in a cave like situation, these would be suppressed in the hell mode of the dungeons.

The game had this implemented as without this all the races would have use for their racial advantages in most of the dungeon and human wouldn't get any records. This would definitely make players avoid choosing humans slowly. So, they decided to have this safeguard in place.

Though the forums had shown that the other races were competing for the fastest record and also attempting the hell mode. None of those players told about the suppression they faced in the dungeon. ”They obviously wouldn't make others know of the issue they are facing at this time when everyone is competing for the first clear.”

With his administrative privileges he could already see that some teams from other races and kingdoms already had completed the elite dungeon and even check out the leader board. It looked like they were trying to beat the system record for fastest completion already.

”Ah! It would be very hard to convince them to lay off the hell mode for now,” thought Balthazar as he looked at the records. He suddenly realized that he could actually use this to their advantage. The fastest record was already near 80 minute which was very close to the system approved record of 60 minutes for the dungeon. This was done by a team composed of all fae characters.

”There are many others already attempting the hell mode, but all are failing. Clearly the far have an advantage. Once, the trick with the torches was known, the dungeon became a lot easier. But still none of them managed to complete hell mode. It is clear that they are hiding something,” replied Shadow in the team chat.

”That is true. We also have doubts, but we have to try. It will be too late if we keep waiting,” said Merlin. It looked like he got really addicted to first clears.

”But we get only one chance and even I can't change that. Why don't you guys try to do the elite mode with Tetsujin and Slaine. With the torches, we have an advantage we didn't use previously. It would also better prepare us for the hell mode,” suggested Shadow Tyrant.

”It is not a bad idea. I have yet to try this out too. Moreover, the team which attempted hell mode have already used torches and still failed. If we go in half-c.o.c.ked, we might waste out chance. Soon, some information is bound to leak. Someone would release or sell the information about it,” agreed Tetsujin.

Shadow immediately contacted Slaine and requested him to join them. He would like someone other than him to be on good terms with Merlin and the team.

Slaine was a good choice for this as he got along with most people. He was also an adept player who on suggestion from Balthazar, had been practicing in manual mode.