Versatile: Alternate World

Returning to Mining Town, I headed to the marketplace first and started to sell some materials I gathered from the Grass Lizards. Since it was an ingredient in throwable potions, it was easily bought by the owner of the Potion shop. I wanted to try to haggle but then I quickly remembered that I still have a low reputation in the overall world, haggling won't even work with a low reputation.

After selling the crap I got from the monsters, I managed to gain 1 silver and 80 copper. I just managed to get this amount due to some of the Grass Lizard sticky tongues being higher quality than normal. If not for that, maybe I will only have copper coins right now.

Since the funds are secured, I went to the tavern where I stayed before in the past timeline during the beginning of the game. It's a bit shabby tavern that has an inn built together to serve customers but it was clear that it is more of a tavern since no one stays much in the inn. Of course, this will close soon enough due to the reason that they will be moving. But that's a different matter, I have to go and refill my hunger so that I can go and continue the grind before I needed to eat real food soon.

Entering the tavern, I saw a woman around the age of 30, in the plump side but not that fat, just chubby, currently wiping the dishes on the tray. There are a few players around but it was more like they are exploring the place for a bit. Most of the time though is that they get scolded by her whenever someone who has not paid anything tries to climb up the stairs that lead to the rooms. Other than that, you can see that it is pretty much a barren place without any customers.

This is Lily. I still remember that time when the poll popularity of kindest NPCs in the game, Lily is ranked second, beaten by the Priestess of the Kamikaze Continent. I know I will mostly not see her in the future since I don't want to become the same bum as I was back in the past but it's not an exaggeration that she is a kind woman that will help anyone, whether you are a player or just a plain NPC. In fact, she really is considered a mother figure in the game, in fact, you can call her Mother Lily if you have a pretty high friendship level there. If you get into her good side, it was like having a best friend/mother in one.

During the darkest times of my life and whenever I was demoted back to level 0 in the past timeline, Lily became the light that helped me find the way to my darkest world. She became my friend and became one of her patrons in the past who always cries after telling the tale.

I heard she has a hidden quest to trigger while she is still staying in Mining Town but honestly, I don't have any idea how to trigger that as I was kinda late when that quest was still up, I must still be doing nothing and not yet playing the game. When I joined, she has already reached her next destination.

Since I don't think I can trigger the hidden quest at all for her, the only thing I have to do right now is fill my hunger. My relationship with her is reset back to zero so of course, she marks me as a stranger.

"One Cheese Fondue, a loaf bread, and Lemon Cola Ma'am," I ordered to her.

She looked around and smiled.

"Oh, a new face. Are you new here? Wait...you have the player tag, so I guess you are an adventurer and you just started today right?" Lily asked as she pointed the player tag floating above my head.

"Yes, I am indeed an adventurer and I just started today. I was hungry and I was told by some people that this place has a portion of good food and they even gave me a list of good food," I said as an alibi. Lily is the first NPC I have interacted with this time so the knowledge of the food came directly from my past experience.

"Aha! You won't be disappointed! My food and drinks are all delicious and even nobles eat here so you can be sure that the quality of the food I serve is of high quality at a cheap price. My name is Lily, I am the tavern owner of this place. Just wait a minute, I will be preparing your food in a jiffy," Lily smiled and headed to the kitchen to prepare the order.

I nodded and smiled at her. Lily did not change at all and I am glad that she is not affected by the changes. Since I know that it would take a few more minutes before I can eat the food, I opened my stats panel and decided to go to the skill trees.

I have a few swordsman SP from killing enemies and I think I also earned a few in Samurai class. I don't think I can learn anything in the samurai class right now so I decided to go to the Swordsman class tree for now. Currently, there are 5 tiers available for players to access skills. Of course, that is not the end since tier 6 and above tiers can only be unlocked once you have performed a class ascension or ranked up your job. But since I am still low leveled, I only have access to Tier 1 up to 5 for now.

The skill tree is being listed by tier and the price of them to unlock. The higher the tier, the higher amount of SP needed to be used. Also, if you plan to keep using the skill but feel inadequate and lousy especially in higher levels, leveling up the skills also works, and depending on the skill, it can even grow into a skill that can be capable of rivaling the 7th and 8th tier skills if invested properly.

But I only looked for the 1st Tier and 2nd Tier. The 3rd tier is very expensive and I might need a few grinding sessions before I can earn a few. Upgrading skills will also be out of the question too.

Swordsman SP: 31 Free SP: 70

1st Tier

1.Triple Slash(Active) - 5 SP

2. Shockwave Thrust(Active)-10 SP

3. Berserk (Active)- 10 SP

4. Reversal Swing(Active) -17 SP

5. Crescent Slash (Active) -20 SP

2nd Tier

1. Sixfold Slash (Active) - learned [Triple Slash] and 10 SP

2. Vibration Thrust (Active) - learned [Shockwave Slash] and 20 SP

3. Sword Concentration (Active)-21 SP

4. Sharpness I (Passive) - 20 SP

5. Boomerang Slash (Active) -30 SP

I clicked to the Triple Slash. Although I have seen this skill several times, I am not an expert on Swordsman skills so I have to check its function.

[Triple Slash]

1st Tier

Cooldown: 60 seconds

Mana Cost: 20 MP

Info: Slash three tines into the enemy with great power. Has a 5% chance of releasing the fourth slash once upgraded to a higher level.

Note: Basic of the basic swordsmanship. All swordsmen should be able to use this skill.

Well, it's just 5 SP. Besides, [Sixfold Slash] is quite good. I have seen it before. So before I can get the [Sixfold slash], I had to learn [Triple Slash] first.

The second skill I was targeting the most in the Swordsman Class is the skill [Berserk]. Although Berserker Class has a Berserk skill too, it's different and it's called [Rampage] and unlike [Berserk] the player using the skill can't be controlled during the duration and will attack friend or foe. It was strong but it's pretty dangerous so I don't have to learn it. [Berserk] is much different though.

[Berserk]

1st Tier

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Mana Cost: 50 MP

Info: Raises the attack and critical ratio for 100% percent. However, defense is reduced to 50%

Note: Most angry women fuming in anger usually enters that state.

Well, this is the skill I am looking for. After purchasing the skill, I checked the other skills I have and although I am tempted to buy some passives, I ended up going to make the decision at a later date as the amount of SP I have is limited, and earning the active skill can net me more SP in the future.  I swear I will buy it once I get enough.

I closed the panel of the swordsman class and opened the Magician Class Skill Tree. Since I have not used any things that involve magicians, I did not earn any magician SP yet. Therefore, the only thing I can spend is the Free SP themselves. Just like the Swordsman Class, the Magician Class Tree is also limited to the first three tiers. Since I have limited SP at the moment, I decided to just use this chance to earn only 1st Tier Magic.

2nd Tier magic is a bit on the expensive side and I will just go on buying one if I have the Magician SP already. Smacking enemies with staff will still net me an SP but it's slower. Magic skills would net higher SP in the process so I stopped being stingy and went to waste it.

Magician SP: 0. Free SP: 70

1st Tier

1. Basic Fireball (Active) - 5 SP

2. Ice Prison (Active) - 5 SP

3. Shocking Lightning (Active) - 7 SP

4. Muddy Water (Active) - 7 SP

5. Frigid Wind (Active) - 10 SP

Hmm, from the looks of it, the magic skills are a bit more on the cheap side. Well, they are not that strong compared to their 2nd tier counterpart but they can be considered as good spells for beginners. I can't be choosers you know. I am also a bit surprised that the First Tier of Magician class has only active skills available and I haven't spotted any passives.

I want to try out every class and I only have a limited amount of currency. Since I have other spells I want to buy, I only decided to buy the three skills above, [Basic Fireball], [Ice Prison], and [Shocking Lightning].

[Basic Fireball]

1st Tier

Cooldown: 30 seconds

Mana Cost: 10 MP

Info: Releases a palm-size fireball towards an enemy. Can be used in short ranges or long ranges depending on playstyle.

Note: Very Basic Magic that Magicians needed to learn to light up campfires easily.

[Ice Prison]

1st Tier

Cooldown: 30 Seconds

Mana Cost: 20 MP

Info: Releases an Ice Attack to encase enemies. Has a 30% chance to immobilize enemies for 30 seconds.

Note: Basic Magic that Magicians needed to learn to Ice up fishes and juices easily.

[Shocking Lightning]

1st Tier

Cooldown: 30 Seconds

Mana Cost: 20 MP

Info: Releases a small arc of lightning that can damage foes. Has 10% chance of inflicting Paralysis to enemies.

Note: Basic Magic that magicians needed to learn to recharge their gadgets and gizmos aplenty.

Uh... these notes make me want to facepalm myself. These skills are pretty awesome but when it comes to notes, it turns out very much of a joke. Is this some kind of a meme these days? Anyways, before I can even move to the next skill tree, Lily once again returned while carrying a plate a mug to me. Just from the smell, I can tell that it's the Cheese Fondue that I ordered. She also brings a plate of loaf bread and from the smell, it is fresh from the oven too. As expected of Lily, she never disappoints.

"Here you go, kind sir! Cheese Fondue, loaf bread, and Lemon Cola! I will make the payment later so, enjoy your meal!"

Although it's a game, you can smell in the game and it is much better than the food seen in real life. Not that I am discriminating against the real food but the food in the game is just top class. What is more, they can really fill your stomach in real life. The Reality Verse did not divulge how they did it especially through the tattoo version as they said that it's some kind of trade secret and can be considered as a black technology added for convenience. Eating in the game is equivalent to snack time in the real world and eating a lot here would even be considered normal mealtime in the real world. Still, it is still advisable to eat real food though than rely on virtual food.

Many tried to guess and replicate the food system that the Reality Verse did but no one succeeded until the time I returned back on time, so I can't explain how they did it. Well, I also stopped wondering. It would just make my headache worse if I think about it too much. It's not that I care about it anyway.

I look around the tavern of Lily. Unlike her tavern in the Capital, this tavern is truly dilapidated and the ceilings are peeling out. It's not a good-looking place at all right now.

"Looks like business is slow," I strike up a conversation with Lily while eating.

"Yeah, it's getting slower this past few days and even though you players started appearing, the business is still slow so I am thinking of closing this place down," Lily sighed.

"You are closing? But the food you have here is good. Why are you going to close if no one has discovered it just yet?"

"Because we are moving to a new location soon."

"You are going to move? Where?" I asked.

"In the capital. I am looking for an escort to go with my family to move out into the capital to hire. But unluckily, I still have yet to find one," Lily said.

My eyes lit up. This must be the hidden quest for Lily and I think I am about to trigger it.

"Then, since you are looking for an escort, I will volunteer myself to go then. I am pretty confident in my skills so I don't think I will get roughed up in the process," I volunteered to Lily's job.

"You will go? Well, I can hire you but I want proof that you can really protect us from enemies on the road. Fetch me 10 whole bodies of Gray Wolf then. If you managed to do so and bring it to me around two hours, then that would be settled, the escort role would be yours," Lily said.

[Bladeheart activated the hidden chain Quest [Moving Out]. Would you like to accept the quest?]

Yes/No