Chapter 41

Everlyn was almost jumping up and down on the spot, and Tom traced her eyes to the screen.

There was a new entry in the rotating auction.

Ranger Druid Helm of Identification. (Tier 2)

This helm doubles the level of the Ranger Druid’s Identification ability.

The helm becomes soul bound after use and defence level scales with level in Ranger Druid class.

Cost: 6,000

Time to sale 1:28:00

She clapped in excitement. “That’s for me! That’s for my class and the skill I’ve been putting all my skill points in. At sixteen, my active skill becomes mana free.”

“Bid by intervals of a hundred up to ten thousand.” Tom ordered immediately. The text for the helm separated and moved to another section of the wall for them to track.

“Ten thousand,” she pouted.

“For now. That money is reserved till the auction finishes. I want to know what else there is.”

“Mine might be the only item.” She suggested hopefully.

“Then we’ll put all the money against it. But I reckon I have slightly more fate than you.”

“But I’m sure you would have dedicated all your fate to me.”

Tom said nothing.

“Well?” Her eyes were twinkling.

“Were we supposed to?”

She looked scandalised. “I…” she stopped talking. “Am almost speechless.” She paused, thinking it through. “Nah. I’m silly. You should have directed it all to yourself.”

“I’m teasing, I split my fate evenly.”

“See! That means that the helm could be the only item.”

Tom processed that information. The one thing Everlyn was not was stupid. She had been number four in the ranking and while she had never got into the habit of using fate aggressively; she had understood its value. If she thought she would be the only one getting an item, then meant… He looked at her suspiciously. “Wait, a moment. Are you telling me you only used your fate on yourself?”

She looked down.

Then her face morphed to appear guilty…

And then annoyed…

Then she caught his eyes and smiled predatorily. “You really thought I would not include you?”

“No.”

She laughed. “Teasing. No, I didn’t differentiate between the two of us. Which means the fate helping us is dead. Hypothetically, if my item was easier to get into the auction, then it might end up being the only one.”

“I didn’t differentiate either,” Tom said seriously. “But it doesn’t work the way you’re thinking. Fate sticks close to the owner. There is no way to selflessly give it to another. I invested almost a hundred and your total pool is what?” Tom focused and was surprised that his identification abilities functioned perfectly in the system room. “Thirty five? Seven,” he clarified after a moment.

She looked at him sideways. “I forgot about your fate obsession.”

“It’s not an obsession. Prudence, I reckon when we talk to species that have been here for generations we’re going to find that they invested in fate equally with the other attributes. Hell, as far as I can tell all of them are valuable. Once we reach natives, I’ll be surprised if any of the established builds have anything less than one point assigned to each attribute out of every ten they receive.”

“You’re saying a mage needs strength.”

Tom looked at her suspiciously. She was smiling at him.

“Not biting on that one, you’re well aware that strength also drives speed.”

“Yep, my split for every twenty points will be three strength, seven agility, four vitality, two fate and four magic.”

“Personally, I would do one more fate and one less magic.”

“Would do or will do?”

“If I was you. With my trait, investing into fate is pointless.”

Everlyn nodded agreement. “I forgot about that. What ridiculousness are you cooking up again? Bonus attributes all over the place”

Tom grinned proudly. “Its working out incredibly. If I progress two classes in tandem once you add in titles and trait contributions, I’m averaging two of every attribute. Slightly more magic and slightly less strength, but basically all attributes will go up evenly. Per level.” He finished proudly.

“I still think the system is broken when you get ten attributes per level and someone with a basic class only gets four.”

“We all got the same opportunities.” Tom reminded her. “If I’m ahead, it’s because I earned it.”

“I know that. Plus, attributes are not that important. If I had prioritised them.”

The screen changed again.

Everlyn stopped talking.

Tom froze as he read the details.

Trait Stone - Elemental Summoner Passive - (tier 4)

This trait doubles the benefit of all passive skills selected with Elemental Summoner class skills.

Requirement 1. Level 0 in the Elemental Summoner Class

Requirement 2. Has not previously consumed a trait stone

Requirement 3. Has summoned 4 different elementals at a class higher than the spell level.

Note 1: Trait stone is unstable and must be used within a day.

Note 2: Consuming this trait stone may restrict / prevent use of future trait stones

Minimum Bid - 15,000

Time to offer end / sale 1:28:00

Everlyn shifted on the couch to face him fully. If she was physically present, he was sure he would have been elbowed. “Are you sure you shared fate with me?”

Tom laughed hysterically. He couldn’t help himself. She was excited on his behalf, and he was blown away by what was being offered.

“Yes, I did, but Fate’s sticky.”

“Sure it is, you cheat,” she mocked him playfully.

She was rubbing her hands in glee, and he saw her rechecking the descriptions. “Let me guess, you just happen to meet those obnoxious requirements? Class still at level zero? Who the hell does that? Never used a trait stone? Everyone.” She shook her head in violent disbelief.

Tom nodded extraordinarily pleased with what had come up.

A tier 4 trait was extraordinary.

One that was specific to an expert class he was specialising in was even better.

A trait stone that prioritised passives when that was where most of his class skill points were going to be was spectacular.

It was almost as good as finding a dragon egg… well, not that special… but. He was grinning enough to strain his lips.

“And I’m guessing a tier 4 trait in your class is powerful or something?”

“Evie!” Tom snorted. “You know that answer.”

“But it’s not boosting any active skills?”

“For that class ninety percent of my skill points are going to passives.”

Everlyn clicked her fingers decisively. “So what we’re looking at is a ridiculously stupid unicorn dancing on mushroom levels of luck.”

“Another way of saying the same which uses fewer words is calling it fate.”

It was her turn to roll her eyes. “And the only person who can bid on this Tier 4 trait stone is someone already with the class, or at least has an open slot for it.”

Tom grinned broadly. “With that timer on the stone pretty much.”

She shook her head.

“It gets better.” Tom promised.

“Of course it does.”

Tom could see her excitement.

“The other two requirements are just as big as that one. This class is expert, assuming you don’t have a trait like mine then…”

“Then you can only get it as your third class.”

Tom smiled. “Yep, that means someone with a minimum of one hundred twenty-eight levels. I would ask whether it is possible for a native to reach that high without using a trait stone.”

“Not a chance.”

“That rules out natives. So the only people who can snipe the auction are those from the competition.”

Everlyn sighed theatrically. “And I thought my helm was good.”

“It is.”

She waved the comment away. “I know its value. Identification reaches the threshold faster, which lets me invest elsewhere sooner. That helm is equivalent to at least eight class skill points.”

Tom frowned. “Invest elsewhere? Do you know what the level thirty two bonus is?”

Everlyn shook her head. “No, I only went to sixteen last time.”

“But it’s not capped at sixteen?”

Everlyn frowned. Then her face looked outraged. “You bastard.” A pillow flew at him and then through him. “I wanted to invest in Nature’s Friend. And you’re telling me I need to keep investing in IDENTIFICATION.”

Tom grinned and her mock anger vanished. “Maybe depends what the threshold bonus is.”

She frowned and waved her hand.

“Details on threshold bonus of Ranger Scout Identification will cost five hundred experience per unknown level.” A smooth male TV anchor voice said.

Everlyn grimaced at the expense. “Pay for two levels.”

The screen updated.

Ranger Scout Identification (Tier 3)

This is a multi-purpose skill that passively acts as a terrain identifier (pitfalls, threats), tracking enhancements and a danger sense along with an active identification.

The active skill cost ten mana and will return name, attributes, special skills and weaknesses of creatures and objects in wild settings. Detail returned depends on creature/object tier compared to skill level.

Threshold bonus 4 - Danger sense uses senses other than sight

Threshold bonus 8 - Grants an awareness of enemies that may exist in surrounding terrain.

Threshold bonus 16 - Identification is free to use

Threshold bonus 32 - By using ten mana you can reduce the effective level of the targeted object by two tiers.

Threshold bonus 64 - Three times improvement in all senses and for passive components of Ranger scout Identification effectiveness of senses are increased by twenty times.

The two of them read those details in silence.

“Tom. I hate you.”

He just laughed at that. “You would have checked this, anyway.”

“Yes… but. Without that helm, I would never have dreamed of trying to reach sixty-four.”

“That’s a nice bonus. You’ll become a bloodhound when tracking. Twenty times improvement in smell by itself would completely alter your tracking prowess.”

“I’m not sure I’ll get that one…” she looked doubtful. “But it’s tempting because of how it stacks with the rest of the skill. Level thirty two I’m definitely getting.”

“Yeah. I imagine that threshold level boils down between seeing no details about the deadly creature you are fighting to be given a road map of how to kill it.”

She looked at him suspiciously. “Was that a guess, or have you used this before?”

“Similar skills but lower tier.” He admitted.

“Anyway, it’s clear we need both. Can we raise any credits?”

Tom hesitated. “I want to say yes, but”

“Seong collected the excess credits to stop impulse buying didn’t she.” Everlyn said. “She’ll probably give them to us if we tell her it’s an emergency.”

“Worth the question.” Tom agreed. “I’ll be back.”

He opened his eyes. Everlyn was doll like for a moment and then life flooded her. Her head moved towards him. For an instant he thought she was going to kiss him, but at the last juncture her head shifted positions, so their foreheads touched.

After a second, she pulled away, and they shared a secret smile.

The others were awake and alert near him.

“How was shopping?” Harry asked.

“An item has come up on the auction house that I want to buy.” Tom told them immediately. “I need as many credits as possible.” He caught Michael’s eyes. “Do you know if I can get some off Seong?”

Michael shook his head.

“No, Why?”

“It’s all been spent.”

Tom’s mind rushed to understand. The credits were supposed to be for the teleporter plate, not for personal purchases. If she took his money and used it for something else, he was going to be pissed. “What do you mean? What did she waste it on?”
“The teleporter. You can purchase it in parts. She’s purchased the components to make it free to sell.”

“Is there any left over?”

Michael shook his head. “No. The crafters delayed a lot of their purchases as it was and what little was left over they spent straight away.”

“No!”

Everlyn touched his arm warningly. “It’s okay.”

Tom settled. Her words were enough to ground him. They had no access to extra credits, which meant that their current budget had to be sufficient at least for one of the purchases the fate they had spent would have made sure of it. Those tailored objects wouldn’t have been displayed if they were unaffordable.

“Are you okay, Tom?” Michael asked.

“Yes, I am. Just panicked, unnecessarily. I guess…” He looked questioningly at Everlyn.

“There’s nothing we can do.” She confirmed.

“Well, then.” Tom stated. “I’ll be a little over an hour in the system room, then I’ll sleep.”

“Me too.” Everlyn said immediately.

“Why?” Michael asked a perplexed look in his eyes.

“We both have separate options on the auction house to watch.”

“How do you know that?” Michael asked suspiciously.

“We talked. You didn’t hear. You know I have a skill to silence sound, don’t you?” Everlyn asked, carrying out a master class in evasion.

Michael nodded. “As you’re in the system room, we’ll keep the elevated presence till you’re finished, and then we’ll resort to standard guard arrangements.”

“Thanks.” Tom said and then returned to Everlyn’s system room. He appeared with both of them sitting on the couch. “We have just under forty thousand credits. How do we split it?”

Everlyn hesitated. “I don’t like to admit it, but the trait stone is the superior purchase.”

“Well, no, your helm…” Tom objected immediately.

“Is good but not transformative like the trait stone.” She interrupted smoothly.

“I don’t know. It feels like it could save a life which arguably makes it better.”

She crossed her arms. “We’re doing this are we? Our first fight.” She flashed him a grin. “The trait stone boosts all passives. My one improves an entry level active skill.”

“What are you proposing?” He asked carefully.

She laughed. “I wasn’t proposing anything. Just discussing the relativities.”

“Twenty on yours and the rest rolls to mine? The trait stone finishes after, so I’ll end up with a larger budget than yours.”

Everlyn nodded. “Maybe fifteen.”

“Nope. Do it.” Tom ordered, and the helm shifted to include the budget the trait stone moved to be next to it.

“And sound the alarm five minutes before the auction is due to expire.” An alarm clock appeared along with the other information. “Do we keep watching the spectaculi or?”

“Or!” she exclaimed immediately, making the decision. “I doubt anything more will pop up, but we can always check the listings later. As for now. More shopping!” She clapped her hands and the special auction vanished.

A new screen appeared.

“I customised this view earlier, and it shows what is available in the GODs market and the human auction house for natural search terms and displays the cheapest option when it’s on sale in both places.”

Tom’s eyes skipped down the list of categories.

• Trait Stones
• Skill Books
• Spell Books
• Affinity Stones (Skills, Spells and Class)
• Attribute Boosts
• Weapons
• Armour
• Pets
• Bloodline promoters
• Consumables
• Crafting materials

What the hell were bloodline promoters? He thought to himself. That was something DEUS had not included in the trial. It was an unknown; and he hated unknowns.