Chapter 233 - Salket (1/2)
”You are quite the confident one,” continued Salket. ”Well, I do belong to a guild, the Black Wolves guild.”
”I hope you are the one that Kiriti referred to meet here at the gate,” said Balthazar putting out his hand.
”Yep! I realized that as soon as I saw your name but didn't expect that you would be riding on a horse and manage to come to the city within an hour. That makes it awful tempting for me to get a mount. It would speed up our exploring efficiency by a large amount,” said Salket.
”I just got lucky. Even Kiriti had no idea at that time that I would manage to get a mounting skill,” said Balthazar. ”So, can you give me the details that I asked for?”
”Yes. Just wait here for a moment before I get someone to replace me here. It would take a couple of minutes and information about a mount would make the guild take my request on priority,” said Salket as he signalled to stay by a small shop just inside the gate.
As Balthazar went to the shop, he immediately requested for a map of the city from the NPC. Such items are mostly found at the centre of markets or near gates where newcomers would usually buy the required supplies. He quickly got the map from the NPC and continued to wait in the shop while looking at the prices of various consumables.
It was a habit he had learned from his past life to look at the different consumables and their prices in shops. He also asked a few questions to the NPC about availability of few other items. It would give a relative idea of the items that are in demand at a new place and glean some information about the market in that area. It was a tactic that could only be used in the game as no person in real-life would be patient enough to answer all his questions even if he bought a few items. There was still a limit on the amount of reality that the game designers could bring to the characters, and this was one of the flaws which players managing organization would use prevalently in the game.
Soon, Salket came to join him in the shop. ”Got a lot of shopping to do, haven't you?” he asked Balthazar.
”Just looking into the local special,” replied Balthazar in a cheeky tone.
”Ok. I have the details of the things you are looking into. Can I know about your quest, though?” asked Salket.
”I don't know myself, but I am told it is going to be a hard one and that is the reason I am preparing for it. Have a quest item which I need to give to the priest of the temple. Need to have reputation to teleport. Would also probably have to upgrade my equipment before I contact the NPC in the temple of the twelve,” said Balthazar.
”That was quite candid. Aren't you afraid at all that my guild would be interested in your quest and try to take your quest item?” asked Salket.
”The letter is in my name in the Murk water town. So, it wouldn't do any good to you if you get it after killing me and you need a certain amount of the town reputation to request it. Even if you do, it was issue by the adventurers association and I doubt you want to meddle with my quest just to satisfy you curiosity,” answered Balthazar.
”Ya that would be of no use to anyone. Let me just give you a small tour while I explain the details of the place,” said Salket. ”You don't need to worry about it as almost all the players here have the information, just not properly organized and might miss to tell you a few details. I can just message it to you if you like.”
”No need. It is better if we have a chat in the bar. We can have a proper chat and the drinks are on me,” said Balthazar.
”Ya. The money that the game earns in the city is mainly based on the bars after the weapons and consumables of course. The number of merchant shops are very less almost the same as that of the Murk Water town,” said Salket walking into the city. ”It is fine for a town, but for a city it is on the low side.”
”Wouldn't that cause a problem as there would be a scarcity of potions and tools available?” asked Balthazar as he followed Salket. ”Or are the shops of a higher tier than usual and have more stock?”
”No. The stocks in the market are usually the same. That is what makes it much hard to finish quests here, but most quest rewards are better than in other cities. I think it is the common arrangement of border forts or cities,” answered Salket.
Hearing that things made sense to Balthazar as he knew that some forts, towns and cities on borders of warring nations had this kind of a setup in his previous life. The places were meant for active wars and continuous fighting. It initially didn't make sense to many as these consumables were used much faster by the players in the environment, but that was not its purpose.
The designers made it such a manner specifically for the kind of independent players who enjoyed the game only for the fights and wars. When anyone bought consumables in too large numbers, they were oppressed by these independent players as they would lack the required consumables. Even guilds found it hard to maintain their supplies continuously in such areas.
Apart from that, these areas sold equipment which increased the drop rate by a large amount and the quests in such areas also rewarded similar equipment. This made it much harder for guilds to develop easily and a haven for all the independent reckless players. This was particularly good for the kind of rich players who spent large amounts of money to enjoy the game and they also enjoyed bragging and partying about the same. So, a larger number of entertainment establishments was also common in such places.