Izroth, Luna, and Halls approached the gate leading into Amaharpe. There was a group of players queued up in an orderly fashion waiting for their entry into the capital city.

“Next” a man sat behind a small table next to the gate called out in a monotone voice as though he was used to doing this all day. As he called out, the next few players walked up and handed the man their recommendation letters. They observed the players from before doing it that way and soon after gaining entry into the city without a problem. The man sitting behind the small table looked over their recommendation letter before waving his hand over it. On the letter formed a unique magic mark that was proof that one was allowed within the walls of Amaharpe. If someone was caught wandering the streets without having this magic mark, then only an unfortunate death awaited them.

“Next”

It was finally Izroth and his party’s turn to enter into the city. The three of them gave their letters of recommendation to the man as he examined them closely. When the man read the letter Izroth handed over he was quite surprised. This was the first letter of recommendation he had reviewed that was from the Combat Master instructor in ‘Opal Town’. But he was just a bit surprised, nothing else. Like all the others before them, the man waved his hands over the letters of recommendation before handing them back to Izroth, Luna, and Halls.

Once they obtained the magic marking, the three finally entered into that massive gate taking their first steps into the capital city Amaharpe.

The first thing that came into sight was an extremely grand palace in the distance. It was located at the back of Amaharpe, but it was so enormous that one could view it when first stepping through the gates.

“Woah… That palace is huge…!” Halls was startled by the size of the palace. It made some of the largest skyscrapers and buildings on Earth look like a small condo in comparison.

The scene wasn’t too shocking for Izroth who had seen palaces many times bigger than this in the seven realms. In fact, this could be considered fairly small and would most likely belong to some small kingdom in the seven realms.

Luna, however, was just as shocked as Halls, just not nearly as outspoken. She did manage to utter a small, “Amazing…” from her mouth.

“I heard that the quest here can’t be compared to those in ‘Opal Town’. They give much better EXP and rewards.” Halls had a few people on his friendslist who were already in ‘Opal Town’. Though they were all a part of guilds and so even though they kept in contact with one another, playing together was another story.

Luna nodded, “That’s to be expected of a capital city like Amaharpe…”

Izroth looked around scanning his surroundings. He was not sightseeing like the two other members of his party, but rather searching for the Combat Master class building. He had not forgotten the quest he received from Gear. Plus, he would need to eventually find the building either way since it seemed as though if one wanted to progress further down their class path, they would need the assistance of the NPC teachers. Izroth did not have any lack of skills, but maybe he would receive a better weapon than the ‘Nameless Blade’ he currently possessed. Although the skill attached to it was powerful and it was a rare weapon, in the end, it was only level 10. Izroth was currently sitting at level 12 having not outgrown the weapon yet, though it would not be too long before he did so.

Izroth started walking forward towards the main streets of Amaharpe, “I need to tend to some matters here”.

Halls and Luna looked at each other and soon after Halls nodded before saying, “We need to find our class buildings and search for some quest. Otherwise, we can only dream about learning new skills. How about we all meet up back here at the gate in an hour? That way, we all have time to take care of some task first.”

Izroth didn’t bother responding and simply held his hand in the air giving a thumbs up as he continued walking forward. It was simply his way of saying he had no issues with it.

Halls looked over at Luna and gave a helpless smile. He knew that Izroth was strong enough to do as he pleased and did not even need to be in a party with them. Part of him always questioned why a player as strong as Izroth accepted their friend request and even joined a party with them. What did he possibly gain from doing so?

…

Izroth was walking leisurely down the main street of Amaharpe. He had been doing so already for around 10 minutes. Along the main road, there were players trying to sell off or buy some equipment and items shouting out what they were looking for.

“I’m selling a Demonic Bull’s horn for 10 silver coins! The price is fixed, no negotiations!”

“Buying low to mid grade crafting material for the Alchemy profession! Willing to talk about prices and buy in bulk!”

“Selling ‘Uncommon’ equipment from level 10-12! 50 silver is the starting price for the lower level items!”

These were all the people who did not want to go through the game’s auction house system and pay for the fee it cost to put items on sale there. Although it was faster and much more efficient, some players decided that it was worth the wait to obtain a higher profit by selling or buying items using a player to player transaction method.

The thing that caught Izroth’s attention was the player buying low to mid grade alchemy materials. He remembered that Timothy back in ‘Opal Town’ had ‘Alchemist’ as his occupation and was selling potions. From there, he recalled that the ‘Goblin’s Essence’ in his inventory was an ingredient used to craft different types of potions and he currently owned seven of them. Izroth approached the player buying crafting materials.

“Yo, are you selling any crafting materials? I only run a legitimate business here so the prices are fair. If you sell in bulks of 5 or more ingredients, I’ll even throw in a small bonus amount. Oh yeah, I should ask what kind of materials you have first hahaha.” the player selling the ingredients wore an old style comfortable looking robe with sandals on his feet. A conical hat was placed upon his head as if he were trying to give the impression of being a traveling salesman or a wanderer of sorts.

“I have seven ‘Goblin’s Essence’ to sale. As long as the price is fair, I wouldn’t mind trading with you.” Izroth took out one of the ‘Goblin Essence’ items for the player to examine. It was shaped like a small orb the size of a marble and there was a light green color dancing around inside as though something was trying to escape from its confinement.

The player buying the crafting materials examined the item Izroth held out for him to see.

“Ah, this is ‘Goblin’s Essence’! You don’t see many of these in Amaharpe…” the player eyes narrowed a bit as if he were thinking about something… “How rude of me! I forgot to properly introduce myself, my name is Metronome. May I have the honor of knowing the name of my benefactor?”

Izroth noticed the slight chance in expression Metronome made but decided to pay it no thought. If he held any ill intentions, it would only be welcoming a disaster. “Izroth”.

When Izroth said his name, Metronome immediately formed a large smile on his face. “I see, I see! So you’re Izroth! Hahaha.” he did not know for sure, but he had a feeling that there was a chance this player could be the one who by himself cleared the first run of the dungeon ‘Goblin’s Paradise’. After all, having seven ‘Goblin’s Essence’ all at once was not something the average player could just pull out of their inventory at this point. That was unless they belonged to a large guild who possessed a massive amount of resources due to the number of players farming for them.

Information about Izroth was actually really popular amongst the guilds these days. Even if guilds could not recruit him, at the very least they would be able to obtain a better understanding of his strengths and weaknesses as well as his level of overall threat to their interest. First clears were a thing dominated by the large guilds and so if one went against that wave only trouble would be awaiting them. Though the large guilds never took action themselves, they always used a smaller guild under them to manage the task since they could not sully their reputation and be known as a guild that bullied players. It would not be good for their public image especially since RML was just released!

Izroth frowned when he saw that Metronome was going so far off topic, “Would you like to purchase the ‘Goblin’s Essence’ or not?”. Izroth was supposed to meet up with Halls and Luna in an hour and he still had yet to find the Combat Master class building. Not only that, but he also needed to complete the quest Gear entrusted to him.

Metronome was a bit embarrassed by his lack of proper etiquette, “Ah yes, yes, of course, I’ll buy them” after thinking for a bit he came up with a fair price but showed a bit of restraint since he wanted to become friends with a strong player like Izroth.

“Even though ‘Goblin’s Essence’ is uncommon at this point, it isn’t to the point of being extremely rare or hard to obtain. However, since large guilds are hoarding materials and buying up the market it becomes more difficult for small players like me to get ahold of it in large quantities. Taking all that into account, I can offer you 2 silver and 20 bronze coins per essence. The bronze coins are an increase of 10% of the total value due to you having them in a batch of 5 or more. Though if you want to sell less than 5 then I can only do 2 silver for each. That’s my offer.”

Izroth observed Metronome carefully as they spoke. From their body language all the way to their tone of voice and the dilation of their pupils. Even though Izroth held no knowledge of the prices items were worth in this game, he still lived for thousands of years and had experience in telling when someone was lying or not. If someone wanted to lie in front of him then they would need nearly perfect control over their body and emotions, which was an incredibly difficult thing to accomplish.

Izroth did not respond right away and waited a few moments.

Metronome was waiting patiently for Izroth to reply to his offer. It was a solid offer and definitely not one he would make as a first purchase attempt from some random player. He wanted to form a small connection with Izroth so that in the future he could possibly seize a chance to capitalize on it.

“I have no problem with the price, however, I do have one condition” Izroth finally broke the silence.

Metronome frowned on the inside, he had already given Izroth the best possible deal. If Izroth were to ask for any more than that, then it would mean he wanted Metronome to suffer a loss! That was asking too much.

“I want the location of the Combat Master class building. If you can give that information to me, then I’ll sell you all seven ‘Goblin’s Essence’ at the price you set”.

Metronome let out a sigh of relief when he heard Izroth speak and that huge smile returned to his face. Even though he was shocked that Izroth was asking for that location, he could connect the dots and figure out that most likely his class was a Combat Master. That’s the kind of information that he could easily sell off to those bigger guilds looking into Izroth. He had no intentions of making an enemy of someone like Izroth since he knew his own limits, but it shouldn’t hurt to sell just a little information about him.

“Of course, that’s no problem at all. If you add me to your friend list, I can even message you the coordinates!”. Most players probably would not know where the Combat Master class building was since anyone in their right minds would not bother picking that class. However, Metronome had happened upon it by chance while exploring Amaharpe for the first time.

Ding! You have received a friend request from player Metronome, do you accept?

Izroth found no reason not to approve and so accepted the friend request.

Ding! You have added Metronome as a friend!

Metronome soon after sent the coordinates over to Izroth as they popped up in his system alerts. The two then went on to complete the original transaction. Izroth acquired a 15 silver and 40 bronze coins from Metronome and now was at a grand total of 38 silver and 26 bronze coins.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Izroth. I hope that if you come across any materials in the future you’ll inform me so I can purchase them off of you! Even if I myself have no use for them, I have some connections and should be able to find you an appropriate buyer” Metronome stated trying to discreetly tell Izroth that being acquainted with him would have its benefits.

Izroth understood his meaning from his words and actions. It was not a bad thing to have someone who could deal with selling off materials for him. After all, he would not have time to sit around like this and sell them off himself. Izroth gave a slight nod before walking off heading towards the coordinates he received from Metronome that contained the location of the Combat Master class building.

A few minutes later Izroth stopped in front of a majestic building. “This is the Combat Master class building of the capital…?” Izroth was bewildered by the difference between this building and the one located in ‘Opal Town’. The difference was like that of night and day!