World Online

Jake rubbed his hands together.

"Show me the money on the table first, and then I will tell you what you need to know," Jake said.

"Fine. Here it is." she snapped her fingers, and all of a sudden, the entire table was overflowing with gold coins. The sound of the coins clinking together filled the room. And who didn't love the sound of money?

"Good. Keep it here. So then. The way to become a noble is pretty simple." Jake started, looking at the eager faces of Phoenix and Myriad Arrows.

"You just need to do missions really well."

"What? You have to be kidding me. Is this what I paid you for? The deal's off." Phoenix shook her head.

"Calm down. Who said that I was done? I can't be done after this much. Becoming a noble took me some time after all." Jake smiled.

"You need karma. Did you get any karma until now?" he asked.

"I did. I got some karma after clearing the special missions in Lazar. How much karma do I need to become a noble?" she asked.

"A thousand to become a Baron. More to become a Viscount or a Duke. But no matter how much karma you get, you can never be a king." Jake said.

"I see. To think that this was related to karma. But this information is still not worth four thousand gold coins. You just cheated out one of the biggest companies in the world. Do you think that you can come out unscathed?" Phoenix glared at him.

Jake smiled as he got up and walked close up to her. He then leaned in close to her and stared at her eyes, before touching her lips.

"How does that feel? Intrusive? Good. Now that that's out of the way, for another thousand gold coins, for the full five thousand that I asked for in the beginning anyway, I can give you a single mission that is guaranteed to give you a thousand karma. But it is a party mission, and it will take you all of a hundred men." Jake said.

Phoenix's face was beet red. She looked down, composing herself, before looking back up.

"Fine. This better be worth it." she grit her teeth as another thousand gold appeared on the table, completely overflowing to the ground.

"Good. Now, do you know of Crodora? The small kingdom in the north? Not many have gone up there. I mean, the number of people who thought that starting at Crodora was probably in the hundreds. Well, if you go there, then find the king and ask what his problem is. Try to complete that quest and you can get a lot of karma. But that karma is not valuable here. It is halved when you leave Crodora." Jake said.

"What use will I have being a noble from Crodora?" Phoenix frowned.

"That is your problem. Do you know how much money it took for me to gather this information? You got it on the cheap. Now, you got what you need. Get out of my room. You are making my best guild member uncomfortable." Jake said.

Phoenix pouted as she got up. She glared down at Jake as she left the floor, going downstairs.

Finally, Jake sighed.

"I thought that she would send an assistant. Why would someone like that care about this so much?" Jake thought to himself.

"So all I need to do is do missions? I already got like five hundred karma for being the first Epic Class in all of Loviel. I thought that it was useless, but if I get another five hundred, then I can try and become a baron." Myriad Arrows mused.

"You already got five hundred karma? That is awesome! Where we are going next, you can try and earn the rest. After all, we might well be the only people to ever step foot in this place." Jake smiled as he tapped on the table.

Immediately, all of the gold disappeared, going straight into his inventory.

He was rich again. Sure, he could use this to start paying the salaries, but that would be stupid. Hard cash like this was hard to find. It should only be reinvested.

"With this money and the permit that I got for a new building, I should be able to get a baller guild headquarters wherever I go." Jake thought to himself as he stood up.

​ "So then, why don't you drop the mystery? Where the hell are we going now? I don't want to suddenly find myself in the middle of nowhere." Myriad Arrows asked.

"Patience, my boy. When we get there, you will thank yourself for letting me keep my mouth shut. The surprise, well the surprise will knock your sock off. But let me be very clear. It is going to be a leveling ground that is above our levels. It is for levels thirty and above, while you are in level twenty, and I am in level eleven. Make sure that you do not get hit by the monsters you see even once." Jake warned him.

"I still don't know what I have to be worried about!" Myriad Arrows complained as they walked down the stairs.

Jake stopped at the guard.

"You can listen to the orders of the ones who have a Duke's favor, but they do not trump my orders, do they?" he asked the guard.

"No, Baron. Your words are only trumped if a Duke comes here. Even a viscount cannot order a guard to betray his serving lord. Only the king and a Duke can do that." the guard said.

"Good. Then I order you not to let anyone in until I come back. And if they do, tell them that I am busy. After that, well if they have a Duke's grace or something, do whatever but do not let them in." Jake said.

"Another person might come?" Myriad Arrows asked, surprised.

"The number of people who covet not only the secret that you just heard but also the building that we are one, are innumerable. I can't just tell them to everyone now, can I?" Jake smiled.

"Then why did you tell her?" Myriad Arrows asked.

"Well, she paid for it, she can be a useful ally in the future, and she's pretty, isn't she?" Jake smiled as he continued walking.

"You have to be kidding me. That's why you told her this?"

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