Volume 3 Chapter 4

By Spiriter - 10:57 PM

Chapter 4: Van Hawk’s Humiliation

Re-P/R by 1stSlug 2014

Lee Hyun’s computer was connected to a trading site that dealt in items. He would check the site for the common gold prices of trade goods almost every day, but this time it was for a specific reason.

“Absolutely amazing.”

Royal Road’s popularity was increasing day by day. Although it was only last week, the listed number of registered items was around 160,000, and today it went over 165,000 items.

It wasn’t that items went unsold, well, other than the absurdly high priced and unwanted items, almost all items from the previous week were sold.

The items that were sold were deleted from the list after a day it was sold, but more and more new items were being registered. Lee Hyun slowly rolled down the list of items.

“Looks like there’s a lot of usable items this week.”

————————————————————————————————
Item: Sword of Melain:

Durability: 105/105
Damage: 40-43

Sword is of a long sword style, made by mixing a small amount of mithril. A sword considered to possess superior strength; a blacksmith of some renown named Melain forged this item.

Restrictions:
Strength 200
Level 100

Equipped:
+50% Additional damage to the undead.
+25 Strength.
+17 Agility.
————————————————————————————————

————————————————————————————————
Item: Saikuri’s Bracelet:

Durability: 40/40

A creative, yet eccentric magician named Saikuri was well versed in enchantment spells. He infused his wrist items which granted magical abilities; this item has become something that everyone on this continent desires.

Restrictions:
Level 150

Equiped:
+30% Maximum mana increased.
+20% Amplified magic effect.
+10 to all stats.
————————————————————————————————

These kinds of items were very few and were coveted. Even Lee Hyun craved the weapons and accessories with special abilities.

‘How much?!’

The Melain black auction started at 1.5 million won. However, the prices continued to soar, currently exceeding 2.5 million won.

The weapon had no class criteria, and it could be used at relatively low levels. Because of this, the item was being sold at an expensive price.

Saikuri’s Bracelet is a unique item that had a starting bid 3 million won, and its current price was more than 5 million won.

“It’s a pie in the sky.”

Lee Hyun could only lick his lips. From the start, he never planned to buy things from the auction site. Of course, in terms of investment he could buy an item and hunt with it. He had about 30 million won (about $30,000 USD) he could use.

But by buying items, there was no end to spending money. In the end there are always better items, and the purpose of buying good items to farm is lost.

Lee Hyun decided to stop searching, and started writing a post for an auction. He wanted to sell the items he had obtained from hunting things in Lavias.

They were mainly the Death Knight’s weapons, and the loot that he did not sell due to them being so unique, or of specific importance.

Among the loot, there were some items that were needed for quests, and those could be sold for cash. Most people would discard or sell them at the general stores, but Lee Hyun kept in mind that there were people who would buy them.

The length of an auction is one week. About 4 weeks of game time. Items dropped from the Death Knights.

Weed kept the best ones for himself, and set the price of the other items at 10,000 won as the starting bid. It was more advantageous to have more bidders in the auction as the competition for the item would rise.

As the competition heats up so to would the price rise, and there was no worry since the price will at least rise to the market price.

But for general loot, Weed set the minimum price as 3,000 won. If the item was worth any less than that it was not worth the trouble of auctioning it online.

The reason being, that it was simply a waste of time. Lee Hyun had registered more than 30 items on the auction site.

“Please rise in price...” he prayed.

He was anxious, as this was the first time he listed his own items from Royal Road for sale.

‘Now, I wonder how much will they rise?’

He knew that the price wouldn’t rise just by wishing it, however, he couldn’t help but be expectant that it would. Lee Hyun had the highest rating for the transaction site– a triple diamond rating.

With this rating he received 100 commission free transactions, and items he posted were shown where it would stand out the most. The items were displayed in the middle of the auction screen with a red box highlighting them.

“With this much, at least it won’t be buried by other items.”

People started bidding on the Death Knight weapons with bids of 20,000 won and 30,000 won. Lee Hyun observed the auction for a moment before heading to the capsule to log into Royal Road.

The auction had a duration of one week, so it wasn’t good to have any high expectations after posting.
The Arpenian Empire!

It was the first Empire to unite the continent of Versaille under one banner. However, after about 300 years, the glory of the Empire did not last and was eventually divided into dozens of smaller countries.

Since then, history has centered on Knights and their stories were written. Pretty much it’s a history founded on blood and death!

The weak forces of principalities and minor countries allied to survive in this era of war. This was the story of the formation of the Britten Alliance.

In its early days, the seven kingdoms shared a strained atmosphere of distrust and suspicion; now the kingdoms have integrated into one through laws and regulations, as well as with arranged inter-marriages.

The lords of each nation can go to other countries and be treated with the same respect as they receive in their home countries. They also had a thriving economy.

Geographically, they were situated somewhat to the east of the center of the continent, and thus were able to prosper while avoiding major wars.

Born of these came the independent cities (Free imperial cities) formed by the merchants, so trade and technology were able to advance greatly.

Due to this reason, quite a number of users selected the Britten Alliance as their starting place.
Tomlin town.

It was located at the most eastern part of the Britten Alliance.

“Buying rabbit skins!”

“Anyone looking to hunt in Pestar Cave assemble here!”

“Cleric preferred. Level 50 priest or higher! Item drop allocation will be double the amount of a single person.”

A huge crowd gathered at the square. It was filled with users dressed in colorful clothing and equipment. There were also an astronomical number of merchants.

Britten Alliance is a Kingdom that is highly advanced in commercial trade, so a fair number of merchants came to trade here.

“You bought enough spices?”

“We’ve bought a lot of things cheaply, so I think we’ll make a huge profit this time!”

Tomlin village was visited primarily by the low level beginners, and the traders. With a variety of goods being sold and exchanged, many merchants frequently dropped by.

A wagon that was slowly approaching the east entrance of the village caught the attention of many onlookers.

“Huh? What’s that?”

“This doesn’t look very good…”

The wheels were wobbling as it was tumbling down the road, the condition of the canopy covering the wagon was almost a rag. The state of the wagon was not what garnered their attention, however. The real reason was that it was coming from the East.

Weed was carving away on the coachman’s seat, and Mapan also was sitting while working hard at his expense calculations.

Mapan’s ears were still covered because of Weed’s shouting as they crossed over the Bar Khu mountains. He had heard so much of the Lion’s Roar that he was near the point of neurosis.
Unlike the warrior’s war cry which put pressure on the enemy and enhanced stats, Lion’s Roar was a skill limited in its usefulness. The skill to raise the morale of an entire army, or bringing order in a military engagement, didn’t seem like it would see much use.

(P/R Neurosis: is a class of functional mental disorders involving distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations)

Even though Lion’s Roar was such a vague skill, it leveled very quickly. Once Weed yelled for a long time, the level of the skill climbed rapidly.

Weed raised the Lion’s Roar skill to Advanced Level 3. Thanks to this, Mapan vowed to never go on a similar trip with a warrior.
“Really, there’s a lot more people here than I thought.”

This was Weed’s first impression of Tomlin Village. Despite the village being in the fringe areas of the East, there was a large number of players.

Because of this Weed finally felt the realization of the fact that they were in one of the central kingdoms, unlike the Rosenheim kingdom which was one of the frontier countries.

It took nearly one month of suffering to journey over the Bar Khu Mountains, to finally arrive at the Britten Alliance Kingdom. They met giant spiders, then basilisks, ogres, and loads of various other beasts on their way!

Once by the lakeside, Water demons had seized Weed by the ankle, and with their limbs and roots, attacked him fiercely.

Bar Khu Mountains truly had to be a heaven on earth for monsters. The first wave of Lycanthropes were not even half the size of the second wave. The Lycanthropes attacked in large groups, and they had to fight through them for over 10 hours before they were able to break free.

Even with these odds, Weed had crafted all of the jewels he had. In truth, intermediate sculpture mastery does not rise easily, or by much, at this point.

Then, through sculpting he gained the new skill to facet gems. Yet, this type of crafting didn’t even compare to sculpting wood since it gave 2 or 3 times the proficiency, and through it, sculpture mastery rose to level 4 intermediate.

But what was more pleasant than this, was that intermediate handicraft had finally rose to level 6. Since growth in handicraft skill is fueled by growth in sculpture mastery and it affects many other skill areas, one could say handicraft is the second most important skill after sculpture mastery.

“Weed, is this the first time you left Rosenheim Kingdom?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been to other countries to meet a few friends, and I’ve noticed that the Rosenheim Kingdom has the least amount of people. Even the Kingdom of Brent to the north has more people.”

“It’s because there are a lot of benefits to starting in a Kingdom with many people.” Weed replied.

If there is a pioneer, then there is bound to be information. And in the case of a special dungeon or a demon’s lair, there was the notion of ‘ownership’.

When a guild takes ownership, they have several advantages. Firstly, guild members have 20% additional experience, and non-guild members in the dungeon could not enter outside of certain schedules. This was often the cause of many wars and friction between other guilds and other users.

This can be seen from the activity of the developed guilds in the Britten Alliance. The Siege of Fort Odein is one example.

‘It’s something that has little to do with me. We don’t have the time to deal with guilds fighting wars of pride.’

Weed and Mapan ignored the startled eyes and stares.

As startled eyes followed Weed and Mapan, which they still continued to ignore, their first order of business was to drive the wagon to the exchange. Because the exchange was in a rural village, it was relatively small. The owner was a nice old man.

“I came to sell a few things.”

Mapan began to speak, and the master of the exchange showed great joy.

“Yes? A lot of traders come by these days. It is greatly appreciated. What kind of goods do you have for sale?”

One by one, Mapan pulled out all of the cheese and bottles of olive oil from the wagon.

“These items are for sale.”

“Oh my! Those are from Rosenheim Kingdom, aren’t they? Coming from so far away, I’ll pay 4 silvers and 8 silvers respectively for each.”

Mapan felt conflicted for a moment, tightly closed his eyes, and sold them all. Until now, the entire journey in the wagon was just short of revolting because it was loaded with the smell of cheese and olive oil.

Every time the wagon hit a bump his stomach lurched; Royal Road’s outstanding realism rather felt more of a drudgery to Mapan.

“I am grateful. These are hard to find in this town, 470 gold should be enough.”

“My pleasure!”

Through the transaction, Mapan’s profit was about 200 gold as well as a little rise in fame and expertise. At last, the month long trip was worthwhile in the end!

After all, the greatest happiness as a merchant is the feel of success and the satisfaction you obtain from the wealth after a long haul.

Next was Weed’s turn.

Mapan looked at Weed with eyes full of envy. Since groceries reap this much profit, I wonder how much more profit will be gained from jewellery.

‘The gems Weed directly faceted and formed into jewelry…’

Mapan gulped.

Weed opened the backpack, and one by one pulled out brooches and bracelets.

“How much would you pay for these?”

At that moment, the exchange was filled with the sound of user’s comments.

“It’s a jade!”

“Those are jewels. That one is an emerald… if I’m not mistaken, that must be a sapphire!”

“Where did they find those precious stones?”

“It’s so beautiful...”

The reaction was hardly surprising. Traders who come to the Tomlin exchange are people who were relatively low leveled, and this would be the first time for the majority of them to have seen jewelry.

The exchange owner looked carefully at the jewels Weed passed forward, and he expressed disapproval.

“Things like this are impossible to sell in a small town like this! How about you go to a large city?”

Mapan gave a helpful comment.

“Jewelry is classified as a luxury; rather than selling in a small town, it would be profitable to sell it in a large city with developed commerce. Maybe it would be better to sell directly to the jewelry stores rather than to the exchange, since they would give a better price.”

“Is that so?”

Weed put the jewels back into the bag. Anyway, they did not necessarily need to sell them in Tomlin at this moment.

Each and every town or city had a different value on jewelry, so Weed had taken out the jewels to examine the current market for jewels in the Britten Alliance.

After filling the cart with other goods purchased with money from selling food, they finished everything they wanted to do at Tomlin village.

Even after the two men rode slowly westward in the rickety wagon, and were gone, their visit to the merchant in Tomlin village became a hot topic.

“If the exchange in the town could not afford it, how expensive might they be?”

“For that handcrafted jewelry, I’d wager they would fetch a really high price!”

“Where on earth did those people come from?”

“East! But there is only the Bar Khu Mountain range in that direction…”

“No way! They passed through the Bar Khu Mountain range?”

“Rosenheim Kingdom! The jewels are probably imported from the Rosenheim Kingdom, but where did they get crafted…”

*****


After a few days, Weed and Mapan arrived at the capital of an ally of the Britten Alliance, Castle Regus of the Keuroin Kingdom.

In the broad, plain sight in front of a castle, beginner monsters such as rabbits and foxes moved about as users pursued them with determination.

Leisurely, Mapan spoke, “That’s a very peaceful scene.”

“Yeah,” Weed was also in agreement. After being used to the bloodthirsty encounters with monsters in the Bar Khu Mountains, the little rabbits and foxes looked cute in comparison.

The sky was blue with white clouds passing by. The sun was warm, and golden fields of grain as far as the eyes can see. Regus Castle, constructed with red bricks to match the scenery, was incomparably beautiful in comparison to Serabourg in the Kingdom of Rosenheim.

Looking at such a peaceful sight, you almost feel like writing a poem.

*Ting*
————————————————————————————————
Art has risen by 2 points (+2 ART)
————————————————————————————————

The art stat didn’t only rise when making artwork, but it also rose by seeing beautiful things while traveling.

Keuroin Kingdom, the kingdom with the most travelers!

Here, the extreme beauty of the town and castle brings many visitors. A famous resort regarded as a place for couples to date and others to enjoy vacation.

Weed and Mapan enjoyed the moment of relaxation for a while. In the meantime, Mapan was cleansing himself of his fatigue and suffering, but Weed with keen eyes analyzed the castle.

‘A castle like this would be a good model to make a sculpture out of. There would probably be many people willing to buy it. I wonder how much my sculpture mastery will rise by?’

Weed took in the shapes of the spires and the heights of the ramparts; he roughly sketched as he walked along the interior.

A sculptor’s instinct.

Anything he views he absorbs fully in memory.

Weed and Mapan reached the front of the city gates. Mapan dragged forward the horse drawn wagon.

“I’ll go in first.”

There were two ways to enter a castle. One was entering through the front gate. Of course, this was where Mapan chose to go. But the armed guards stopped him.

“Here’s the toll payment. And I also need a trade permit.”

Mapan threw 2 gold to the guards without any hesitation. After earning a considerable amount of money by trading in the previous village, 2 gold was nothing.

“Welcome, merchant.”

The guards prostrated themselves as if in front of nobility, and they opened the gate. All castles have large gates where it’s usually closed, but they open to people who pay gold!

This spirit! The excitement!

“Wow, incredible!”

“That person just gave out 2 gold without a second thought.”

Nearby users were commenting with interest. Around the castle, the beginner players that were hunting small animals were shocked. Mapan just shrugged.

“Hey Weed, come on in!”

In a minute, Weed headed toward the side door. The small door was bored into the side of the main gate; however, this time the armed guards directly prevented him.

“Stop! You are not a citizen of the Alliance. What brings you to Regus castle?”

Just by looking at people, the guards could tell where they were from. Although he was from Rosenheim Kingdom, it was not a simple procedure to visit the capital of a foreign country, as it needs to be reported.

If the incident was not reported, there is the possibility of becoming a wanted man with the authorities.

“I am here to trade, and to sell handmade goods, honorable guards!”

“Yes? If that is so, you need to pay a toll in accordance to our country’s laws.”

“A toll for passage?”

Weed immediately began to praise the guards for their efforts with a friendly smile.

“It’s admirable to see that the Regus castle guards enforce such tight security, it really is unequaled.”

“W-Well, of course! Hahaha!” The simple guards laughed.

Weed had already mastered how to fully deal with soldiers through the experience with the instructor at the training center.

“It’s hard, right? But to keep such a great castle safe seems to be a great honor. Is everyone stopped to keep the castle safe?”

“Why yes. If you come to the castle for trade, you still have to pay the toll.”

“How much is the toll for passage? Because all the money I have is 7 silver…”

“That is sufficient. The toll will be 5 silver.”

Weed’s face went stiff for a short moment. And he pulled 4 silver out of his pocket.

“Oh! I only have 4 silver…”

“…”

As Weed and Mapan entered the city of Regus, they decided to go their own way to do their business.

“I’ll stop by the exchange and see if I can purchase loot. Maybe I’ll find something to do. Then after one day I’ll meet you back here.”

Merchants have their own unique quests. Commonly they are called story procurement commissions. How to get some different goods, or requests, or even entrusted to transport particular items.

“Well…”

Weed parted with Mapan and made his first priority to look for a jewelry shop around the busier streets. Of course, this was in order to sell the jewels.

Regus castle, the capital of Keuroin Kingdom was a flourishing city, so it was not difficult to find a jewelry store.

First and second floor.

The jewellery store ran a business on two floors that were packed with the nobility. Users like to buy gems for items with sockets. If you combine those items with gemstones, special characteristics could emerge.

“What are you interested in buying?”

Weed was greeted by the shop dealer. A woman! The elegant beauty was the NPC of the jewellery store.

“I came here to sell.”

Weed took out the gems from his backpack. The various kinds of gemstones shined brightly. These were the deeply green emeralds, dark blue sapphires and pearls.

“Wow, they’re gems.”

“I think I’ve never seen so many gems.”

It was not very different from the reaction in Tomlin village. After viewing the dealer weighed the jewels and proposed a deal.

“Oh, I think I could give you 2900 gold for this! But wait, you are a famous adventurer and you have a related profession to this business, it would be proper to pay you 3200 gold.”

At the capital he had spent 1,700 gold, and in just a moment it had almost doubled his profits of over 3000 gold! It seems that gemstones from Rosenheim Kingdom are bought for a cheap price, and were then processed and sold as highly expensive jewellery in Keuroin kingdom.

‘So this is a profit of 1500 gold?! Considering the traveling time and effort of crafting, I would say this is a huge profit!’

The experience and the money of hunting for one month were given up. There was also the risk of losing the trade goods so the profits weren’t gained for nothing.

At this point, if you were a merchant you would bargain. Depending on your trading skills, you could sell things for a higher price; Weed, however, was not a merchant. So instead he pulled out the harp.

*Ttiriring, Ding, ttingtting~*

It was a secret weapon to improve impression with woman NPC. A bard, or a harpist, has the power to charm people through a performance. It elicits favor and goodwill, and lowers prices.

At a high level, a bard can earn the love of the masses and be a guest at inns or restaurants for no charge.

“Wow! That guy is playing the harp.”

“He’s decent.”

“It sounds pretty good.”

Weed’s performance was basic, but it was not bad. He deliberately set aside some of his spare time to learn it and added one more thing to his trade since he was the jack of all trades.

*Ting*
————————————————————————————————
By listening to the performance, the NPC’s impression of you has increased.
————————————————————————————————

Weeds mouth curved into a smile. The shop dealer’s eyes were gently closed, in appreciation of the music. His objective was achieved. However as the dealer opened her eyes, she said, “The music is good, but the song is lacking since there is no singing.”

“Singing?”

“Yes. You can sing can’t you?”

Weed could not bear to refuse. A roaring rocker!

In real life, it was once upon a time a goal of his. Yet, he ignored things that a rocker could not ignore. Ignorance of pitch! Ignorance of tempo! Ignorance of lyrics! In other words, he was awful!

He was what people would call severely tone-deaf! Only Weed had never accepted that fact. So as he plucked the harp, Weed began to sing.

“It’s bright! The sun rises today! Return again! It’s sunny! And! It’s up! Courtyard! Day!”

“Kkyaaa!”

“It’s driving me mad!”

“Run away!”

Really, what is the difference between the Lion’s roar skill and singing a song?

Weed’s singing made the users become both shocked and horrified. If you only listened for a little bit, the head becomes dizzy and your breathing becomes labored. It becomes uncomfortable to the point it feels like your insides might come out.

“One day! Your thoughts! Walk down! Look! The! S – K – Y~!”

Weed bellowed eagerly as he sang. There was no melody. There was only noise. As if singing in a loud voice is the best way to sing a song.

When Weed finally finished the song and the stampeding crowd users got out, only the store owner was left. Her expression was turned to stone.

“How much will you give?”

She shook her head as Weed spoke.

“No trade.”

“…!?”

“Get lost! Otherwise, I’m calling the guards.”

“I have to play the harp again…”

He had to give up singing. Weed played the harp again with much effort and raised the impression of the shop dealer.

“I’ll give you 3240 gold.”

“That’s fine.”

Weed with a light heart, sold the gems, and departed with 3240 gold.
*Ting*
————————————————————————————————
You have reaped a large profit through trading!

Fame has risen by 150 points (+150 FAME)
————————————————————————————————

Weed’s reputation rose again.

‘From this, I now have over 2000 fame...’

The higher your fame, the higher difficulty of quests you can receive, and it was possible to receive discounts on items. However, fame in itself is worth being proud of.
“Do you know of Corona? That guy did some extraordinary work. He took out a twin headed ogre in the Hwaryong (Fire Dragon?) mountain range.”
“A thief named Batun safely accomplished the Archduke Samiel’s request. Archduke Samiel gave him a knighthood and a position in the military.”
This is the power of fame.

Sometimes, after finishing a major quest or taking out a difficult monster, the NPCs started to spread stories about it.

It is the same with merchants when they gained large profits from a trade. In Royal Road, you can become very famous through NPCs gossip.
“Have you ever seen the swordsman Bansen? If you see him, be careful. He is committing murder indiscriminately at random. Even a bounty has been placed on his head!”
Of course, sometimes you can become infamous in the way of notoriety. In Weed’s case, after creating a statue in the town of Freya, he became a celebrity there.

Having finished his business at the jewelry store, Weed headed straight for the appraisal shop to appraise the value of the Crimson Necklace of Life he had obtained at Lavias.

Weed was interested in its ability, but his identify skill was too low a level to identify it. When he first picked it up, the necklace was somewhat white in color.

Yet, it was named the Crimson Necklace of life. The color remained unchanged when he met Mapan. Then as he crossed the Bar Khu Mountains, it began to gradually change. Now it was fully crimson.

The thought of discarding or selling this item made Weed uneasy. This might cost him money, but he still decided to go to the appraisal shop to find out what this item really was.

‘If this is a crappy item, I’m going to smash it.’

Many users looking for identification services crowded the shop.

“Here, please identify this item I picked up from hunting!”

“OK, this ring has the property of…”

There wasn’t another place like this in the marketplace. Taking unidentified items for identification can be like scratching off lottery tickets.

You don’t know how it will end up. Who knows? One might even obtain a tremendously unique item. Weed went through the first floor and immediately went up the stairs to the second floor.
The first floor was for simple checking of items, and with Weed’s identification skills, he could do a decent identification check.

There were a considerable number of users upstairs. Weed hesitated for a short moment, but decided to move on. Since Weed had been able to identify all items so far, he firmly believed that the item was not common.

Finally, Weed came to the third floor, the top layer of the building. The rooms were completely sealed. It was to thoroughly guarantee confidentiality. Weed went into one of the rooms.

“Welcome!” The blond female wizard greeted Weed enthusiastically.

‘She’s a user.’

In general, when you cannot get out of the castle for those 4 weeks, users can experience a wide range of quests. Weed had strengthened himself by beating the scarecrow, but that occurrence was extremely rare.

Most users spread out to do things like side jobs at an inn, order books from the bookstore, or even improve manufacturing skills.

But for users who chose the wizard route, most of them work with identification. Judging an item’s magical properties can improve your skills, and if you’re lucky you can earn a significant amount of money.

*****


‘Dang! How could I be lacking in 3 gold just at that time!’

Wizard Lindell had raised her level to 200 and she had just finished her second job advancement. Upon the job advancement, a wizard is able to learn a new spell.

Lindell who specialized in lightning magic chose the spell lightning shower. Numerous bolts of lightning fall from the sky with beautiful effects and can inflict great damage on monsters, making it a very useful skill.

However, the price of the skill book was a whopping 540 gold!

Even after finishing the second job advancement, a poor wizard could not have that kind of money. When you are a low level, you need to buy various magical amplifiers, the reagents for spells, and as your level raises little by little, you need to buy all the skill books, then there is your robes, the staff and equipment etc etc.

On the battleground, it may be the most colorful and shining profession, but wizards always have to live in poverty. There was no choice for her but to work part time in item identification in order to get the 3 extra gold needed to buy the skill book she wanted.

But ever since the first customer, the experience has been terrible. Lindell’s tender forehead was covered with wrinkles from the stress.

‘Why is there a beggar here?’

As soon as she saw Weed’s appearance, that was what came to mind.

‘He should go wash up.’

Lindell could not believe her eyes.

Talk about low quality, torn cloak and shabby armor. The durability had decreased and the leather had lost its luster, and the peculiar equipment seemed like a dust cloth. There could hardly be an outfit even more bizarre.

His back behind his shoulder was an unknown mesh bag, but it smelled repulsive. It was the strong smell of medicinal herbs.

Aside from her thoughts, Lindell forcibly smiled and spoke to the guest. Being unkind to customers is grounds for being kicked out from the identification store, and gone is her feasible way to raise money.

“I am sorry, but this place is for the identification of rare and high quality items. General identification of magical items is downstairs.”

It is the same wherever you are, people are judged by their attire. An NPC would react based on your fame, but it is different for a user like Lindell. Without any comment, Weed pulled out the necklace and held it out to her.

“Please determine this.”

“The price is expensive. To do an identification, the charge is 50 silver.”

Though the money was precious, his decision was already made at this point.

“Here it is, 50 silver.”

“Oh, so you are going through with it. Do not regret your choice when the item is listed as meager.”

Lindell went over the precautions. Among items that you discover through identification skill you can get good things as they expected, but realistically the item is often much more disappointing.
Because identifying can lead to this, some people will be firm in refusing to pay, so she warned people to pay in advance. Lindell took hold of the necklace. From then on, she noted what seemed to be an unusual flow of mana.

A type of magical flow that even as a wizard she couldn’t determine!

That means it contains at least 4 magic circles or more. But, her extremely high identification skill should be able to see what the magic is.

Identify

Lindell’s hands shined as she touched the Crimson necklace of life, and the information of the item was revealed.

*Ting*
————————————————————————————————
Item: Necklace of the Death Knight:

Durability: 100/100

A summoning item crafted by the Warlock of Darkness, Barkhan Demoph!
This necklace contains the life of the Death Knight, Van Hawk. With this item, you can summon Van Hawk; however, changing his loyalty from his Lord Barkhan to your own will not be easy.

Restrictions:
If one is not deemed worthy as a master, he will be attacked.

Enchantment:
‘Call Death Knight’

Equipped:
Summons Death Knight.
+50% Effects of black magic.
+20 Intelligence
+10 Wisdom
————————————————————————————————
Lindell’s eyes were wide open with shock.

“Th-This is a unique item that has not been made public yet…”

“Please return it.”

Weed’s necklace was identified, so he left the appraisal shop.

*****


After finishing their errands, Weed and Mapan left Regus castle and headed toward Somren Liberty City.

Weed asked Mapan to stop the wagon at a deserted place.

“What’s going on?”

“Just watch and you will see.”

Weed jumped from the coachman’s seat. He held out the necklaced and chanted the spell.

“Summon Death Knight!”

At once, black smoke gathered and within appeared the Death Knight, Van Hawk. The boss of the Barkhan catacombs.

“Keueoeoeo!”

Just the same as before, except that the clothes had changed quite a bit. His appearance in the Barkhan catacombs, Van Hawk had had great items and equipment.

But now the Death Knight is wearing only a basic sword and equipment. The reason was simple; it was because Weed had already stolen it all.

The Death Knight’s body faltered from the bright light, but he soon found his balance. Since he is a level 200 undead monster, the sun caused such a big reaction to him. The Death Knight’s vision brushed past Mapan, and his eyes rested on Weed.

“You human!” He roared at Weed.

He eyes burned with hatred. The overflowing killing intent could be felt. The Death Knight clearly remembered it was Weed who had killed him.

“You summoned me! You believe I will betray Lord Barkhan and follow you? Huhu! You’re only a sculptor! I’ll kill you, human!”

The Death Knight assaulted him. Weed intentionally took the hit and slowly his blood spilled. Then since his health was reduced to less than 20%, he used his skills.

“Sculpting Blade!”

Weed’s sword went through the Death Knight repeatedly.

The Death Knight was recalled and the necklace changed back to white. As more monsters with life are killed, the necklace will turn back to crimson.

It began from that time on. On the road to Somren Liberty City, every time the necklace turned red, he called back the Death Knight.

“Sculpting Blade!”

“Seven Celestial Steps!”

Eagerly he used the skills to kill the Death Knight!

It never left his hands as he was establishing a record. Kill him, return him to life, then kill him again, and again, and again!

For the Death Knight it was an outrageous thing to be subjected to. However, this was a desirable result for Weed. During his sculpting on the wagon Weed usually had full mana and health.

With satiety he didn’t need to have it at 100% and could control it, but the recovering health and mana at full was a waste.

However, he could always recall the Death Knight, so it could not be any better. Even if he cannot get experience due to it being a summon, he could still continuously improve his skill mastery.
After the tenth time of beating him to death, it was the first time the Death Knight sounded ill.

“Ugh, you are strong...”

When he died five times more, the Death Knight heaved a sigh.

“I seem to forget Lord Barkhan’s grace little by little.”

And again he died about five times more, he spoke more drastically.

“It seems your leadership qualifies you to rule over me, but I do not know yet.”

After that, he was killed twenty more times. By this point Weed didn’t even bother to keep count. Whenever Weed’s health and mana reached 100%, he called the Death Knight to fight.

The vitality of the necklace he held filled quickly with a little aid. The Death Knight has finally announced his intention to yield.

“Master!”

The Lone Death Knight! The strongest Death Knight, Van Hawk, recognized Weed as his master. However, Weed’s answer was unexpected.

“No, I cannot trust you. Since you are the servant of the evil warlock, you must be planning something!”

“No, it’s not like that…”

Weed did not listen to the Death Knight and killed him another 300 times.

“I will serve you master, so please…”

Even after he heard this, he killed him about 500 more times.

From then on, whenever the Death Knight appeared, he appealed desperately, but to no avail. Weed’s goal was to help master his skills, so there could be no mercy.

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42 comments

  1. Weed = S confirmed, lol!!

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    Replies
    1. Everything in the universe can be put into two categories: S and M.
      XD

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    2. Weed pls staahp

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  2. LMAO!! Poor Death Knight...

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  3. pray he will rest in peace until he get summon again

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  4. JESUS CHRIST WEED YOU MONSTER HAHAHAHA

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  5. Ahahaha
    poor Van Hawk

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  6. Lol, this reminds me of horse in the first volume.

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  7. No mercy for the poor Death Knight.

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  8. I wonder why he didn't do this to tori

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    Replies
    1. Vampirism is troublesome in reality he couldn't even have tamed him without the Roshein and Freya priests present. His Level was 400 class from the start and he didn't rely on gear. Only in later half of the Novel Weed is strong enough to solo him. Thou the way he controlled him until then was funny.(Tori the Fool getting controled by a master of Carrot and Stick)

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  9. That death knight....

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  10. I guess the death knight was crying inside the necklace...

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  11. Looks like weed learned a lot from that Da'in girl.... xD

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  12. LOL! It is so funny when the girl thought that Weed was a beggar

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  13. POOR POOR DEATH KNIGHT!

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  14. Weed is BRUTAL. POOR DEATH KNIGHT :P

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  15. that is so fking sad LOL, omg hes horrible! I cant even tell whos worst between him and ARK now from the LN ARK HAHA!!! I think this MC wins though because this LN is the only LN ive read so far that i have felt sorry for the monsters xD

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  16. weed behavior makes me sick , so stingy about money . Money is not everything

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    Replies
    1. Oh, please shut up. This is fiction.

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    2. He's poor in real Life, and earns money so his sis can go to college. He had a hard Life, so let him at least be stingy.

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    3. say what?money is not everything?based on how the world works i dare disagree.
      even religion that is said to be purely based on spiritual guidance needs/use money, even good and kind people from charity asks for donation/money. Even when you're sick and your life is in peril you need money for hospitalization. If money is not everything for you would you kindly give it to me?because for me it is everything.

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    4. Thank you. Money is everything

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  17. THe stingyness about money is kinda annoying gotta say
    #poor deathnight xD

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  18. I can tell some people reading this series are idiots who have never lacked anything in their life. I think weed's stinginess is very realistically portrayed, because some people who haven't had a life as bad as weed behave worse than he does.

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  19. Unique Necklace indeed and it is op hahaha

    anyway, thanks for the chapter

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  20. Weed is horrifying ...Poor thing got killed 500 times...

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  21. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  22. Stay strong death knight. You will soon have a legion of fans to help you support your misery! XD

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  23. *Le files an Domestic Abuse file*

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  24. Poor death knight

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  25. this may be the funniest most sadistic thing ive read in years

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  26. Reading this for the second time... DK is the real MVP!!!

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  27. he reealy learned alot from da'in girl
    XD

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  28. he reealy learned alot from da'in girl
    XD

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