Chapter 5: Chapter 5 – Bartering

The merchant led me to his cart, constructed of softwood planks that had been nailed into a hardwood frame. The design was simple yet effective in achieving its purpose of holding and transporting goods. A large piece of fabric had been placed atop and tied down with a rope, protecting the goods from both damage and prying eyes. With a flick of the wrist, the knot was untied, and the fabric pulled back.

“Take a good look, but don’t take too long. We need to be on our way soon.” The merchant said before I began scanning my eyes across the contents of the cart.

From what I could tell, he didn’t specialize in any particular field but rather had a wide array of items for sale. Looked like a heap of junk if you asked me, but then again, who am I to say what is and isn't junk? It was quite possible these things held great value amongst the people of this island. Without knowing more about them, it would be silly of me to classify them as junk.

For now, I decided to stick to what I knew, stuff that would be useful to me at this moment in time, but it would take some time to go through the entire contents of the cart, so I decided to ask more about these villages while taking a look. “You said something earlier about two villages being abandoned. What exactly happened to them?” If I could find out more, maybe I could go on a little reconnaissance mission to gather information on these people. Imagine all the great loot I could find.

The merchant took in a deep breath. The kind usually reserved for an older member of your family before telling a crazy story, “Those villages are lost and with good reason–the first one by the name of Krossa Silver Mine. Half a day southwest of here was a colony of miners led by Lord Krossa, who has long since died. I remember the days when I used to trade there until that damned day when the Goblins overran the village.

“Goblins?” I paused what I was doing and turned to look at the merchant

“Indeed, greedy little green shits if you ask me. The miners had just discovered a new vein of silver, the largest one to date, but in their haste, something went wrong, and the mine shafts collapsed into a natural cavern below. Unbeknownst to them, a large horde of Goblins was nested there. Krossa Village was overrun within a day. The survivors scattered across the other remaining villages, rotting away in poverty. Lord Krossa was survived by twin sons who have tried to recapture the village but haven’t been able to gather the necessary men for the job.”

“So… these Goblins are formidable enemies, then? Just asking in case I come across any.” More like I couldn’t wait to fight them. Imagine the loot they’ll drop, not to mention the XP. From what I could remember from the video games, they were usually low-level mobs great for grinding the early levels. Now, I wondered if they were weak to fire, frost, and shock damage like in the games. How would I even learn these spells if they existed if at all?

“Individually, even my men could easily kill them, but that’s the thing, they come in hordes, some even as big as a few hundred, and each led by a chief. The larger the horde, the more powerful the chief. With over a thousand in Krossa village alone, I think it would be best to stay away from places like that.” the merchant warned, nodding his head in disapproval.

“Looks like I'll have to stay clear of them then… So, what about the second one?” At least I knew the areas to avoid for now.

The merchant took another deep breath, “Royo Village, a small fishing settlement and also a great source of flint, the beach is littered with it. The townspeople used to craft arrows and sell them to the other settlements. That is…until a group of bandits maimed and murdered everyone there that didn’t submit to their leader. A man by the name of Corrin Bloodstone used to be a member of the royal guard before greed and lust for blood took over his mind. The village is located southeast of here. If I were you, I would avoid that surrounding area like the plague. Those bandits will attack anyone, regardless of age and gender.”

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“And let me guess, no one’s got the balls to take them out?” Not that I was in a better situation myself. I needed to gain a few levels before even thinking about venturing in that direction, but it doesn’t hurt to get the facts straight…

“No one’s mad enough to attack them head-on, not even the duke himself. You should stay wary, stranger. These bandits sometimes venture out here; with you being on your own, they will see you as an easy target.” He warned me before noticing I had created a small pile of things that had taken my fancy. He went to the front of the cart and took out a small iron lockbox.

“I would like to know more about their combat skills.” I further enquired before taking a final perusing of his goods.

“Most of them are just peasants with simple weapons, and a few of them are ex-members of the duke’s guard. I believe my men are capable enough to take a few of them out, but people fear them for the brutal acts they’ve committed in the past. It’s more fear than anything else.” He explained before asking, “Are you done?”

“Yeah, these are the things I would like to trade for,” I said, pointing towards the three that I had gathered.

“Let me see what this will cost you.” He said before beginning to count numbers in his head. “Also, if in your journeys you come across items of great value, please let me know. I would be more than happy to buy them from you. If I can't afford the item in question, then I’ll find you a buyer. Us merchants tend to stick together here.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied before turning my attention to the bodyguards. From what I had learned from the merchant, these bodyguards seemed to be semi-capable fighters to a certain degree. And as usual, I had forgotten all about scanning them for their stats. Silly me! Let’s see what they’re made of. They gave me a weird look as I let the system do its thing. I also scanned the merchant for the fun of it because why not?

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