Destiny Online: Halo Paladin - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Auctioning The Skill Book

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Nocturne looked up into the sky, it was getting late. He decided to go offline to have something to eat first. 

He got carried away by fishing and forgot about making dinner. 

Fortunately, it should be dark in the game after he had his dinner and the village would be lively and crowded, suitable for opening up a stall.

Right after he got back, he hugged Chubby Blue tightly and rubbed the little fellow’s head furiously.

“Chubby Blue, we are going to be rich! Hahaha!”

Chubby Blue was having a nap when its slave carried it up and rubbed its head furiously. It looked at its slave with a poker face.

“Meow?”

After Chubby Blue reacted to the situation, it looked at Nocturne as if it was looking like an idiot. It struggled to free itself from the restraint and fled from its idiotic slave.

“Tsk. Why are you running away? You will come back to me when it’s time for dinner!”

As expected, right after the cat food was prepared, the smell from the steamer attracted Chubby Blue. The little fellow ran to Nocturne attentively and started to nuzzle his leg.

After dinner and a cup of tea, Nocturne played with Chubby Blue for a while before he went back online.

The first thing he saw when he got back was a dark scene complementing Moon Lake’s soft glow.

…

“F***, I forgot to return to the village before I went offline! I’m going to die! Hmmm… since I’m going to die and respawn back at the village anyway, I might as well… fish more!”

With the light from the moonlight, Nocturne was able to find a fishing spot. He tossed the line and continued fishing.

“The fish escaped…”

“The fish escaped…”

“The fish escaped…”

Because it was dark and he could not see the float properly, he relied solely on his intuition but it was obvious that his intuition was inaccurate.

“Acquired: Waterproof Box.”

He did not get any fish but got a box instead.

“Used Waterproof Box. Acquired: Recipe: Grilled Sagefish, Recipe: Grilled Moonscale Fish, 35 Copper”

[Recipe: Grilled Sagefish]

[Required Ingredients: Sagefish x 1, Seasoning]

[Usage: Consume it and recover 120 HP, 180 Mana in 18 seconds. Gains Mana Regeneration effect: Recover 1 Mana every second for 60 seconds. Unavailable during combat.]

[Requirement: Culinary (30)]

[Recipe: Grilled Moonscale Fish]

[Required Ingredients: Moonscale Fish x 1, Seasoning]

[Usage: Consume it and recover 200 HP, 300 Mana in 18 seconds. Gains 5 Points in Intelligence. Gains Mana Regeneration effect: Recover 3 Mana per second, 60 seconds duration. Unavailable during combat.]

[Requirement: Culinary (50)]

Nocturne got two recipes. One of them was for the Sagefish he got during the day but he had yet to see any Moonscale Fish. Judging from the description of the recipe, Moonscale Fish should be a rare species.

“Let’s not stop here.”

“The fish escaped…”

“The fish escaped…”

“The fish escaped…”

“Acquired: Moonscale Fish”

“Huh? I got it already? I thought it was rare. Wait, could it be that this kind of fish only appears at night? I never got any during the day.”

As the thought circled his mind, he suddenly felt chills at his back and what followed was a heavy breathing.

He turned around and saw something large with a pair of scarlet red eyes starting at him. It was dark, so he was unable to get a clear look.

Gasp. He gasped in fear but before he could react, he was slammed to the ground.

“F***.”

“You are dead.”

“Respawn at the nearest save point?”

“Yes!”

After the confirmation, Nocturne found himself in the square of the newbie village.

“F***! It’s huge and I couldn’t see what it was! All I saw was a pair of red eyes, it’s terrifying!”

He grasped his chest tightly and looked as pale as paper. It took him quite a while to calm down and shake off the fear.

“Yo, look at that! Another poor soul sent back to the village! He must be terrified, I think he ran into the alpha wolf.”

“Yeah, I guess you are right, otherwise he wouldn’t be this scared.”

“Haha, look who’s talking. You were worse than him when you got sent back yesterday.”

“Piss off, you were no better than me!”

“Hahaha, it’s because of that bastard from the forum. He tricked us! I shall go reason with him!”

…

Nocturne slowly got himself together as the chatter entered his ears.

“Forum?”

He sat down on an empty corner and went on the forum. 

There was a thread that caught his attention.

“Do not go leveling at night. Do not go leveling at night. Do not go leveling at night. (Repeat thrice because it’s important.)”

“Don’t ask me why. If you want to know why, go try it yourself (Sly sticker)”

“You****”

“****”

“**** I almost shit my pants!”

“OP, you are so dead!”

“My heart almost popped out.!”

“Hahaha. I’m smart enough to follow what OP says, I didn’t step out of the village at night.”

“What are you guys talking about? It looks fun outside in the dark (Sly Sticker)”

“The one above me, you are really evil.”

…

Nocturne realized what happened when he saw the thread. Because of the thread, many of the players were terrified by that black thing in the wild, there were only a handful of players who experienced the terrifying monster before the appearance of the thread.

Some were curious to find out what it was and since dying at a lower level had no penalties, they tested it out but it ended up as a tragedy.

The only way to be safe would be to stay away from danger.

The players who talked about the incident earlier must have thought that Nocturne went out to test it, hence the terrifying experience.

The players also mentioned the alpha wolf, it seemed like encountering the alpha wolf was a most terrifying experience.

It was obvious that Nocturne hit the jackpot.

“Damn it. Ugh! Forget about it, I should focus on selling the skill book.”

Nocturne set up a stall right on the spot and set the skill book on sale. 

He then shouted, “Skill book for sale, skill book for sale! A crucial skill book for a main tank Warrior! Be it a raid dungeon or a boss fight, it’s the best skill there is!”

His shouts attracted a crowd immediately, many players were interested in the so-called skill book. They might not be buying but it did not stop them from having a look.

“A main skill for a tank Warrior? Damn, this guy is getting rich!”

“Another lucky bastard! They are really everywhere nowadays!”

“What do you think about this skill book? Is it better than the Priest skill book, Rapid Healing, that was sold in the morning?”

“I can’t say for sure, both tanks and healers are important to a party.”

“I think Defense Stance is much more expensive than Rapid Healing since if you can’t control the threat level, it would be useless if you have a lot of healers in the party.”

“I think he can sell it for 60 or 70K.”

“Damn, that expensive? How am I supposed to afford it in the future?”

“It won’t be that expensive later. It’s only expensive during the early stage, the guilds are fighting for it because they want to get First Blood. After all, if you start running earlier, you will reach farther in a shorter time, it is only going to snowball from there onwards.”

…

A crowd gathered in front of Nocturne. They were either talking about the skill book or calling their friends or superiors from their guilds.

Nocturne said, “The auction starts now. Dealing in cash only.”

“50K.”

“60K.”

“70K.”

“Olympus Peak is going to top it with 90K! Please, everyone, let me have it. It’s just a Level 5 skill, it’s going to flood the market soon, there’s no point for us to start a price war here.”

The players from different guilds hesitated because it was something they had to consider as well.

“We, Ragnarok, offer 100K! Stop listening to that guy from Olympus Peak, the earlier you get the core skills, the better you can progress! If you are late, you won’t even get the bread crumbs!”

A few moments of silence later, someone else raised the price and argued with the player from Olympus Peak.

The names of the two guilds were interesting, they must be rivals or something.

“120K! I’m having it!”

A familiar voice sounded.

“Beitang Meng! She’s here!”

“I knew it, she’s the richest!”

The name somehow sounded magical. When the name was said out loud, the crowd immediately divided into two, as if she was crossing the red sea.

Beitang Meng strutted forward, flaunting her long and fair legs.

Maybe because her aura was so powerful that it intimidated the other players or maybe the other players knew that she was rich, no one else made another offer.

Beitang Meng stopped in front of Nocturne and she was rather surprised when she had a closer look.

“Huh? It’s you again?”

“Yup, it’s me again,” Nocturne said with a shrug.