<<Earning a Living>>Decit and Deception (Complete) [SP-F1]

[Abalasster 0]

Abalasster enjoyed walking around the Town of Beginnings. He hadn't yet set out to the fields surround the great town. This could be because he was to timid of just wasn't up for it yet. But something about the city that filled him with wonderment. The sites, the people and the food was all amazing. But, he needed something more. He needed something to keep him interested in this city of amazement. But, one day while he was walking around town square, he found his excitement. He was walking and couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. He kept looking over his shoulder but saw nothing. As he began to walk outside the square, he was approached by a man in black robes. His robes covered his whole body, with the exception of his forearms. "Hello traveler" the man spoke. His voice was a bit raspy. "You seem like you have potential to be something great". "Who are you" Abalasster retorted. He was in no mood for wandering strangers. The man opened up the menu , selected some icons, and then a menu popped up for Abalasster. "Earning a living: Becoming a merchant" Abalasster read. This answered his question. This figure was an NPC merchant, and one that could teach Abalasster a thing or two. Abalasster smirked...and accepted the quest. "Excellent" the NPC chimed. "Lets begin"...

Edited August 12, 2015 by Abalasster

[Abalasster 0]

The NPC  motioned for toward a bench near the outskirts of town square. Both the NPC and Abalasster walked toward the bench. "What kind of NPC is this guy anyway" Abalasster thought to himself. Most of the NPC's he had seen were cheerful city folk. But this NPC was different in almost every way. He dressed differently, spoke differently and even acted differently too. The two soon got to the bench. "You are probably very confused" the NPC said. "You must have many questions, like "why pick me" or "who are you". Well, all your questions will be answered in due time. For now, I shall introduce myself. My name is Weston. I am also referred to as "The Weasel". Why people call me this, I have no clue. I am a benevolent and fair merchant". "For one to have been nicknamed after a weasel" Abalasster thought. "This NPC must be a con and cheats people. Most merchants do anyways". "Now" The Weasel continued " , "we can begin. You will be performing a series of tasks for me. Complete them and you will become a merchant. An amateur merchant but a merchant none the less. So, ready for you first assignment?"...

[Abalasster 0]

Abalasster nodded in agreement to the Weasl's last comment. "So" the Weasel began.  "Your main task is to gather the fragments of a sword for me. The sword is know as Zephyr and seemed to belong to some long-lost-heroic-whatever. All that you need to know is that it is worth quite alot to me. Now, this weapon was shatter and now it's fragments are all over the place. But don't worry. Many of these fragments are in places where you won't get yourself killed. Let's start you off with the easiest of the fragments. This fragment is in a tree outside the town. Apparently, this means some significance to the twins folk but it is more significant to me. So, once you go and felt the fragment, your going to come back to me. I'll be sitting right here on this bench" . Abalasster sat, taking in all the information. He must have waited a bit too long because the Weasel was soon telling him to get up and get moving. So he did. "Wait" he heard Weasel call from behind him. He turned to face the merchant. "The tree is near the main entrance. Also, you won't be able to just walk up and take the fragment out of the tree, so use your head". Abalasster than turned back and continued towards the main exit...

[Abalasster 0]

When Abalasster made it outside the city, he took a long look at the land beyond. Plains filled with players and enemies, fighting and killing each other. Landscape was beautiful, with the sun in noon position. But Abalasster's job wasn't to look and see how pretty this world was, it was to find the tree. He didn't have to look very far to find the tree. The tree was the biggest he had seen. It stretched up maybe hundreds of meters. But what really set the tree apart was the hilt of a blade that was lodged in it. Abalasster took grip of the hilt, and disregarding what the Weasel said, began to pull on the hilt. It wouldn't budge. He tried pulling it from all different angles, at one point, he planted his feet on the tree and tried to pull out the hilt. This resulted in him falling down. "Wonderful" Abalasster yelled, kicking some of the grass on the ground. "How will I get this thing out. Maybe Weasel wasn't lying on this.But what to try next"...

[Abalasster 0]

Abalasster began to explore his options. Pulling the hilt out wasn't going to happen. He could try to burn the tree down, but with no fire or way to start one, or he could try to stick his rapier in the tree to try to loosen the hilt. Abalasster withdrew his rapier. It was the second time he had since the beginning. He looked at his default weapon. It was nothing special, but at the same time it could be the difference between life and death for him. He turned towards the hilt and thrusts his rapier into the tree. It didn't make much impact. He tried this multiple times again but they all ended with the same result, minimum impact. That's when he remembered the critical attack. He stepped back, holding his rapier in his attack position, waiting to feel the weapon charge. When he felt, the struck the tree. The branches shook and leaves fell but the hilt was still stuck in the tree. "There must be another way" Abalasster thought. Indeed, there was...   

[Abalasster 0]

Abalasster kept thinking back to Weasel's last words to him. "...Use your head". "He couldn't of meant this literally, could he?" Abalasster thought. "Well, one thing is for sure, I'm not head-butting that tree". He took a seat against the tree and just waited till another thought came to him. He looked out at the plains and saw a player and a wild boar going at it. The player seemed to be struggling a bit but they were to far away to tell for sure. That's when it happened. The boar charged at the player, and the player couldn't evade in time. The boar made contact and the player fell to the ground. He soon turned to pixelated shards and evaporated. Abalasster shot up, remembering it was just some fool-hearted player that died and is going to come back so he can become stronger and defeat that boar. No, that player is now dead, and won't come back. But, this gave Abalasster an idea. He picked up a rock. There was a boar roaming within throw distance from Abalasster. He tossed the rock and it hit boar. This angered the boar and it charged at Abalasster. "I need to time this perfectly" he thought to himself. As the boar closed in, Abalasster stood, waiting. the boar kept coming. When the boa was near meters from Abalasster, Abalasster evaded out of the way and the boar collided with the tree. This shook the tree so hard Abalasster thought it would fall over. But, what h expected to happen did. The boar had knocked the hilt out of its placement in the tree. As for the boar, it lay unconscious fro the impact. Abalasster took the hilt and walked back towards the town, more specifically, he was walking back to the Weasel...  

[Abalasster 0]

Abalasster walked back into the town square and found Weasel sitting on the bench that he said he would have been sitting on. Abalasster walked up and sat next to him. "I have the hilt" he said to Weasel. "Splendid," Weasel replied. "Do you mind telling me how you got it?" Abalasster told Weasel that he had lured a boar to head-butt the tree for him, thus releasing the hilt from the tree. Weasel chuckled. "Alright, the next piece is in the top of the bell tower. You are going to have to scale it. For this I'll give you a rope. But word of warning, once you get to the bell tower and get to the glass case and remove the sword fragment, it will trigger guardians to try to stop you. They can't kill you seeing as how you are in a safe zone, but if they catch you, you'll be evicted from the town for an in-game week, which I can't afford to happen. So, are you up for the challenge"? Abalasster agreed and took the rope...

[Abalasster 0]

Before Abalasster got off the bench, he handed the hilt of zephyr to Weasel. The hilt felt and looked like a combination of wood and steel. It sure was an interesting design. He then walked over to the bell tower, which was the tallest building in the town. Abalasster examined the rope. It was pretty standard rope, save for its length and the hook on the end. This rope would be more than long enough to reach the top of the bell tower. But there was one small problem and that was the size of the bell tower. Abalasster was very skeptical that he could throw the rope all the way from the ground to the top of the bell tower. So he began to look around town square for the tallest building, so he could grapple to the top of that building and then try to throw the rope to the top of the bell tower. He found that building. It was an inn that was about a fourth the size of the bell tower by Abalasster knew that his odds would be better if he threw the rope from the top of the inn than if he threw it from the ground, so he threw the rope towards the roof of the inn... 

[Abalasster 0]

The rope hooked latched on to one of the railings on the top of the inn. Abalasster tugged on the rope to make sure that it was secure, which is was. He then began to scale the inn. It wasn't to hard of a task, he was just hoping not to many people were watching and becoming curious. After he made it to the top of the inn, he decided to sit for a bit and look at the city from his view. this was one of the taller building in the town and had a pretty decent view. But he looked up to the bell tower and imagined what kind of spectacular view that must be. He then decided to find out. He took his rope in hand and begun to spin it like a lasso, to build up momentum. He then released the rope and I launched towards the top of the bell tower. It landed perfectly. He pulled the roped to make sure it was secure and it was. His next adventure had just begun...   

[Abalasster 0]

Abalasster stepped back and got a firm grip on the rope. He was going to have be careful with this first jump. If his form was sloppy he would end up face planting into the stone building and plummet towards the ground. He knew that pking wasn't aloud in a safe zone but was death by falling aloud? He would have to treat this as a life or death situation. He took a deep breath and ran forewords. He jumped over the railing and put his feet in front of him. He landed against the tower safely. Abalasster smiled and looked down to see Weasel looking up at him. This was the first time he could see part of Weasel's face. He was a white male, with a beard adorning the pieces of his face that I could see. Everything from his nose up was still covered by the hood. Abalasster looked back up towards the Bell tower and began to climb. He couldn't wait to see the view...  

[Abalasster 0]

Abalasster has finally made it up to the top of the bell tower. He saw the glass case but before he went to it, he sat down and looked out at the town. It was magnificent. He could see all the people and NPC's walking around and looking like ants. He could even see outside the city to the plains and the land beyond. He took a deep breath in. This had to be one of the best views that this world had to offer. But what did he know, he hadn't even left the first floor and barely stepped outside the town. But this view to him was spectacular. But he had a job to do. e got up and walked over to the case, that was under the bell. He took a deep breath before removing the case from its place. He looked at the fragment of the sword. Like the hilt, it had the same combination of wood and steel design. This part of the sword was the majority of the blade. But, it was missing from the central ridge and the foible up to the point. There would obviously be more to the quest after this. He slid his had across the case...before he opened it and took the blade... 

[Abalasster 0]

When Abalasster took the blade, the case evaporated. Then, four golem type creatures appeared on all side of Abalasster. He knew that he would only have to deal with one though, and that was the one blocking the was he came up. He waited for the golems to approach him. Once they were within arms distance, Abalasster decided it was time to act. They all lunged for him, but Abalasster jumped over all of them, resulting in them colliding into each other. He landed on the back of one of the golems. He pushed of its back with his feet and made a run for the rope, but here could here one of the golems behind him. He knew that he wouldn't have time to safely mount onto the rope, so he threw himself out of the bell tower. As he was falling, he never felt more free. The wind brushing against his face. He let out a laugh of excitement. But he knew he needed to get to the rope, which was right next to him. He grabbed onto the rope, slowing his descent. He looked back up to see the golem staring down at him. It wasn't long until Abalasster made it to the ground safely. He ran over to Weasel, still with excitement in his heart and handed him the fragment of the sword...

[Abalasster 0]

Abalasster sat down next to Weasel. "Ah, two down" Weasel replied. "Now, are you ready for your next task?' Abalasster nodded. "Good. Your next assignment will be to get the last fragment of the blade. To do this we are going to have to get our hands a bit dirty. The fragment belongs to a certain upstanding citizen of the community. Tonight we will be taking this fragment from this person's house". "Can't we just buy the item off of him" Abalasster chimed in. "There's the problem my boy. This citizen thinks that he was destined to have this rare fragment and wouldn't give it up even if someone would sell the town for that fragment. So, here's the plan. I am going to distract this guy. While I'm doing that, you break in through the back of his house. Once there, you find the fragment and get out of there. while in there, if you see something you want, take it. We will meet back at this bench when the job is done. By the way, we are hitting his house when the sunsets, so be ready". Abalasster was filled with all sorts of questions, but he didn't ask any...

[Abalasster 0]

"Come on lets go scout out the house" Weasel said. The two of them got up from the bench and started towards the man's house. It wasn't to far from town square. Once they got to the house, Weasel began to explain the plan "What I'll be doing is distracting the guy when he comes back from his day instructing new players on how to fight the monsters. When I see him coming, you will go in through his garden back entrance here. Then, break down the door as silently as possible. Then, get in, get what you want and get out. Got it?" Abalasster nodded. "I'd say we have about a minute until the sun sets" chimed Weasel. The two stood silently side by side until the sun set. "Here he comes" Weasel spoke softly. Abalasster went back around into the garden and waited to here Weasel begin the conversation with the man. He heard the two begin to talk, so he withdrew his rapier and thrust it into the hinges of the door. Luckily, the conversation kept on going, meaning that the man didn't hear what Abalasster was doing. He walked into the house and began to look for the fragment...

[Abalasster 0]

Abalasster looked around the man's house for the fragment. He tried every room on the first floor but couldn't find it. So he walked up the stairs to the second floor. He walked into ha seemed like a bedroom. There, he found some type of alter, lit by candles. On this alter were 3 items, all void of ownership. The first was a bag of 50 Col. the second were a pair of uncommon boots, named "Mercury's treads" and the last item was the fragment. Abalasster took all three of the items. But, that's when he heard the front door open. His stomach dropped. He heard footsteps coming towards the stairs. But, before they made it there, a voice called out "What in the world happened to my back door?!?" This must be the man" Abalasster thought. He didn't hesitate. he ran out of the room and bolted down the stairs towards the front door. "Who are you?!?" came from behind Abalasster. But it was too late for this man to do anything. Abalasster made it out of the door and was off towards town square before the man could do another thing...  

[Abalasster 0]

Abalasster walked over to the bench where he saw Weasel. He wondered if he should tell Weasel about the boots he found or just keep them. He decided to hold on to hem for now. Abalasster sat down next to Weasel and handed him the fragment. "This is fantastic" Weasel spoke with thrill in his voice. "We can finally put Zephyr back together. Now, I'll get this to my blacksmith, while you go on the next task". Abalasster was taken aback. "We have all the pieces to the sword. Am I not done yet" Abalasster spoke with irritancy in his tone. "Not yet my boy" Weasel chimed. "You now have to go and get the holster. This will be relatively easy. You would have to break in to anywhere. A local fledgling merchant somehow acquired Zephyr's holster and is selling it for 300 Col., which is outrageously low. You, are going to him and buy it off him. But, you are going to buy it for 200 Col." Weasel handed Abalasster a bag containing 200 Col. Weasel than got off the bench and walked off. "Time to finish this" Abalasster said to himself... 

[Abalasster 0]

"But who's the merchant and where can I find him" Abalasster call to Weasel. "He's stationed near the front entrance to the town, his hours are 8 to 8" upon hearing this Abalasster went back to the bench. He decided to spend the night there and wait till day to start his journey to the shop.  Abalasster laid on the bench and went to sleep... He awoke and the sun was in noon position. "Well" Abalasster said to himself. "Let's get this over with". He began to walk through the town. Once he got to the entrance, it wasn't to hard for him to find the merchant. He was trying to get everyone to come to his shop by exclaiming he had some crazy rare holster that he's selling for 300 Col. Abalasster walked up to the guy and struck up a conversation. "How much for the holster?" Abalasster said, trying to get the merchant to stop proclaiming it so loudly. "300 Col." he said. "200" Abalasster said back. "That won't do" the merchant said back. "This may be hard than I thought" Abalasster thought to himself... 

[Abalasster 0]

"What kind of holster goes for 300 Col." Abalasster questioned the merchant, like he didn't know how sacred the holster is. "This is he holster for the illustrious rapier, Zephyr" the merchant said back to him, sounding offended. "This holstered the holy sword. Do you even know the legend of the sword and this holster?". Abalasster shook his head. Seeing as how Weasel hadn't told him anything but that the sword was special and that he wanted it. "Well..." the merchant began, in a holier-than-thou tone. "The sword was forged by an unnamed blacksmith and was given to a warrior named Zephyr. He named the sword after himself, and with this sword, he slayed many enemies. It was forged from the strongest of wood and steel, as was it's holster. Unfortunately, Zephyr was killed and his sword was shattered. And I was lucky enough to get one of the fragments of the sword. That is why the holster is the price it is. It should be worth 500 Col or more, but I am generous. Now pay the price or get out of my sight". Abalasster had a plan in mind, that wouldn't require him to pay the price he was expected to pay... 

[Abalasster 0]

"The holster seems fake to me" Abalasster said tauntingly to the merchant. "Is there a seal of authenticity that can prove it genuine state". The Merchant was flabbergasted, or at least his face showed it. "Wh-what...How dare you call a holster of this caliber fake". "You didn't answer my question, is it the real deal? Does it have a seal or sign of some sort to make it 100%, without a doubt a the real deal?" Abalasster injected. "No..." the merchant replied sheepishly. "Than how and I believe it is the real holster?" Abalasster shot back at him. Abalasster then turned to the street full of people and exclaimed "This man is a fake, trying to scam you selling a fake holster to a sacred weapon. " The merchant leaped out and grabbed Abalasster. "Are you insane, you'll ruin me". "What are you going to do about it" Abalasster shot back...

[Abalasster 0]

The merchant had a look of nervousness on his face and all over his body. He was shaking and his facial expression told this to Abalasster. "Here" he said. I'll give you a discount" the merchant. Abalasster began to smirk. "You give me 277 Col. and I'll give you the holster". Abalasster's smirk went away. He was about to turn back to the bustling streets and proclaim how corrupt this business man was. The merchant grabbed onto Abalasster again before he could turn though. "Why are you doing this to me" the merchant said, almost on the brink of tears. "Do you want to ruin me?" Abalasster considered his next response. "If I tell you, your going to drop the price to 200 Col." the merchant nodded swiftly. Abalasster hesitated. "Can I trust this guy not to blab his mouth" he thought. But, if he wanted to get holster, he would have to. "You see" Abalasster started. "Myself and a merchant who's name shall stay unnamed have been collecting the pieces to reform Zephyr. All we need is the holster". The merchant looked like he was about to explode. Abalasster quickly covered his mouth before he could he could say anything. "You see, we can talk about it'. Abalasster then put the 200 Col. Weasel had given him, the 50 Col he stole from the man's house and the boots from the man's house on the table. He then took the holster and walked off, but not before telling the merchant to not speak another word to him. "Off to Weasel" Abalasster said cheerfully...