Selecting the Third Floor from the options as they stood in the entrance area of the Second Floor, the familiar white light washed over them before depositing them. The air shifted dramatically.
The clear and clean, almost crisp mountain air changed to a heavier and saltier taste. The added heat of the air was immediate as they were still wearing their heavy winter clothing. The clothes were fine for walking back on the Second Floor, but here it was too much.
As they could properly see again they got to take in the view. The Landing area was on an elevated location, like a central grass and plant-covered mountain, they were high enough to get a proper look around.
They were on a large island, larger than the PvP island. Surrounding the whole thing was a large archipelago, a collection of many, many smaller islands. The landmass itself had many smaller mountains, hills, rivers and bays. The trees were mainly palms or large-leaf jungle-based, and the temperature was pretty comfortable with normal clothing. Looking closer across the landscape, there was quite the deforestation done here and there to make roads for transport to make its way through, the coast was dotted with docs and boats. A small village was on the same plateau they were on, made almost entirely out of wooden structures, it had some people walking about doing things.
Dia’s eyes lit up with a sense of familiarity. Sam understood it as it was pretty similar to the Island they met on. So it might feel somewhat like home to her.
The first thing that happened was that they all got their winter clothing off, they would be cooked in not long if they kept weaning them.
“No, Dia no want,” Dia shook her head and tried to refuse as Sam had taken her dress out of storage.
She didn’t have her dress on under her winter clothing, a dress under her pants was a strange and impractical thing when it didn’t give enough warmth to matter at the time.
However, they were going to be amongst people... perhaps, and there were other reasons for it as well.
Sam thought he understood, this was her kind of environment, perhaps the closest she’d be to spending time in her home as she’d ever get, and she had explained her distaste for clothing more than once.
“You kind of have to,” Sam commented. Though nothing forced her to, it was still a civil thing, not to mention that it was easier to consider her not ‘just some random beastfolk’ if she wore clothing. Sam had a fear of that as well. “We need to make sure that people see you as something else than a random monster.”
Dia muttered something in her language, Sam didn’t get all the words but got enough through context that she wasn’t happy and wanted to burn the clothing.
Her naturalism was odd in Sam’s eyes, he understood it slightly, but he clearly didn’t get it.
He just had to add that to the list of things to ask her about later.
Reluctantly she put on the dress, to Janik’s failure to keep his laughter in. Sam couldn’t blame him, it was kind of amusing in one aspect, and in another, it was a perhaps dumb attempt at safety. He knew that she had a readable title that Players could see, but if you round a corner seeing a Beastfolk you might act before you think.
Janik seemed to be the least impressed at the view than the two others, though he might have been spoiled by reading up on things more than Sam did, and Dia was somewhat biased.
“Now, I don’t expect that you have read up on this place,” Janik started as he nodded towards the village in a motion for them to follow. “But a lot of dungeons happen underwater, and the ones that don’t, still often have things going on underwater and... I don’t know about you but my ability to breathe underwater is... limited.” Smiling at his joke he continued. “There are a few ways to work around that. One is to have, or get, a skill that lets you breathe underwater. Another is to get a water-breathing item from crafters here on the island.”
“Oh, they have that?” Sam asked curiously. But as soon as he asked he realised that, of course, they do. The things that Player Crafters could make were well beyond magical at times. “But... I assume that since it’s that important it’s...”
“Expensive? Oh, stupidly so, but you can’t get around it if you want to complete this place.” Janik put his phone in his pocket as he continued towards the village. “I have no idea just how expensive it is, there weren’t any numbers in the Guide, but I don’t imagine we have a choice. We could have gotten around it if we only got one for you if all the Dungeons had entrances over water but...“
“Of course, it’s not that easy,” Sam added. If they could just hang around in the opening of the Dungeon, like they did in the End of the Second Floor, it could have been easy enough but, for everyone who came along they needed one of their own.
“To make it better, though there are masks on Earth, the market and other creators, they aren’t good enough for proper underwater use, so... a kind of monopoly or supply and demand thing has lifted the prices to the same levels everywhere...” Janik added to make the situation worse.
As they talked they had already entered the village, Janik was looking for something and pointed out a sign on a cottage-like building reading Water Breathing. “There we go.”
It looked like a tiny storefront, it wasn’t larger than a one-car garage. Janik walked up the three-step stairs and entered the door which rang a little bell.
Sam followed with Dia in tow, entering the little wooden hut they found the place to be super simple, it didn’t even have insulation or a thick wall, just a simple cottage with a desk and chair inside. There were several shelves with locked glass doors on them, the shelves had a bunch of what looked like gasmasks covering the whole face, but rather than a filter or two they had small roughly square-shaped compartments.
“Welcome.” A young man behind the counter stated as he paused something on a laptop on his desk. “You need a water-breathing device?”
Janik nodded.
“That’s great. It’s $100 000 for a simple one-time-use mask. $300 000 for a rechargeable one, and $350 000 for the young lady there.” The man pointed at Dia when referencing the lady.
Sam had conflicted feelings. On one hand, he somewhat expected this. On the other, these were insanely steep prices.
“And there’s no haggling,” the man added afterwards with a smile hinting that he didn’t care if they got something or not.
“Excuse me?” Janik let out in surprise, causing the young man to smile.
“Yep, supply and demand, not gonna sugarcoat it. The reason the one for her is more expensive is because of the fur and mouth:”
Again, this made sense as a basic concept. One-use one was the cheaper, the rechargeable mechanic added up-front cost but that could be made back easily enough if it’s used for a while. And Dia’s face was different than a human, her muzzle and fur would require some specialist stuff.
“Can we pay with Monster Cores?” Sam asked, having decided that since they were probably going to spend some time grinding here like the other places, they might as well get a good set.
“Yep, not a problem. But we will take a 5% fee for that, as we’ll need to get those transported and sold to TAC later,” the man smiled.
“Can we talk with them on?” Sam asked focusing on the functionality instead.
“Yep, no problem. All of them will let you know when they are nearing empty, the rechargeable ones can be recharged by putting an Aether gem against the charging point, much like phones and other stuff today. This works underwater as well.” He smiled as he explained, pointing at the specific location on a mask he took out from underneath the desk.
“Since they are airtight, they also work as gasmasks, and since they produce their air, I have heard of people using them in super cold environments for more comfort as well.”
Though this was expensive, at least the man knew how to market his stuff.
“Fine, we’ll take three, then. Rechargeable ones, of course,” Sam explained as he walked up to the desk.
Janik sighed. “I’ll pay for my own.”
He didn’t seem happy about it, but he sounded adamant with his statement.
Sam was fine with this, it felt better than if Sam were to pay for everything. The two masks that Sam was getting, for himself and Dia, made up $650 000, bumped to 682 500 after the 5% markup. However, he found out that the Cores he got from the Dungeon on the Second floor only ended up at 450 000, with the markup it would then only cover about $428 500, the remaining 200 000 he had to get from his account.
He wasn’t happy about it, but he didn’t have much of a choice.
That said, he considered leaving Dia behind as he went through all this after all her XP progression meant that even if he got several levels here, it wouldn’t take much for her to catch up with a few kills on the next Floor. And it wasn’t like she got extra loot, and the stuff he’d give to her from his own would happen regardless. But this was all put aside when he considered that this kind of mask was a good idea to have regardless, as it was an almost infinite amount of air in small quantities at a time, as long as they had Aether gems.
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If nothing else, Sam was a bit glad that he didn’t use all his money on things, or he would have to go back and grind even more to get to this point. He was also happy to realize that though Dia’s mask needed some special adjustment given her face shape, it was included in the cost and after they had all paid the absurd amount of money for the glorified gasmasks.
The only consolidation was that now they had them, and the fact that they were this expensive everywhere if they wanted the kind to work underwater, so...
“Thank you for your business,” the man smiled at them as he waved his hand past the pile of Cores, having them disappear like Sam’s Item Box.
Leaving the little hut, Janik and Sam were visibly annoyed, Dia was too confused and intrigued by the weird thing placed over her face as she had not taken it off yet. Though it did take some coaxing and explanation to allow Sam to put it over her face, having something around her mouth and nose like that was not natural to her. Now she at least tolerated it and found it interesting how she could breathe in it.
“Dia can’t smell anything,” she suddenly commented, breaking both Janik and Sam out of their annoyance.
“That’s probably because the air is created inside the mask,” Janik explained.
“Air... created?” Dia tilted her head in confusion.
The following attempts to try and explain things to her bottom line to the fact that it was magic, she couldn’t smell anything with it on. Which she accepted more than any actual attempts to explain it specifically.
“So, you want to give these a test, or you just want to relax a bit first?” Janik asked, vaguely pointing to the ocean behind him.
Sam was interested, he had never gone diving before, at least not more than a snorkel and a mask. He hadn’t gotten to try out diving with an air tank or something like these Player devices replaced. They came with a simple one-page user manual that Dia was doing her best to read through the mask. Though it wasn’t a problem seeing through it, the problem was more that some words didn’t make sense to her yet. The guide explained how the mask would let you know how much air you had left with a small light you could see in the corner of your eye, and how to recharge it. It was made to be simple to use so this wasn’t an issue.
“I think I’ll relax for the rest of today... I had... a lot happening.” Though Sam was filled with interest and intrigue for this new place, not to mention that he wanted to let Dia just roam free for a bit to get a sense of freedom, he was tired. The Player Vitality only stretched so far when you didn’t put points into it.
“I thought as much,” Janik smiled back. “We can go back now, I’m gonna test this thing in the bathtub, at least I have more control than the ocean.” Sporting a childlike smile he looked like he wanted to at least play with his new toy.
In his defence, it was a good idea, even if there was a bit of childish glee behind it.
Heading back to Earth, Sam got a popup as soon as he did, an information window about Elara levelling up. This should ping her to know that they are back as well.
“So, just split up here and meet again tomorrow?” Sam commented, not yet sure what to do with Elara. She seemed to enjoy it with the kids, so he didn’t mind her being there but it was feeling a bit odd with how he wasn’t even bringing her. Perhaps he should let her hunt around on the island while they go do Dungeon things.
Janik was on his phone almost immediately, which wasn’t uncommon when they returned to Earth after a day away.
“Yeah, I think that’s fine.” Though he answered Sam, his focus was on his phone.
Sam gave him a minute to go through hand replies to his messages, he knew this was important to him as he assumed it to be from his kids.
“Huh...” Janik accidentally let out as he read something on his phone. “It seems that Grace, Ethan and Elara found a strange and fun idea.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, if you don’t use her Venom, you can sell it. Many ranger and rogue types would love some venom. And hers is getting rather strong, isn’t it?” Janik explained, ending with a question.
“Yeah, I think so. With your Vitality of 17, if we put her level-up point in her Vit, then you have no chance to resist it. It only does 5 damage per tick but... without external help, I think you might be fucked.” Sam answered honestly, checking the System for the result and math if he bumped her Vit with her current free point.
“Ok.. that’s fucking terrifying, but that’s my point, selling this to others for a sum per dose can give you quite the income!” Janik exclaimed.
“Oh... that makes a lot of sense,” Sam joined. “I can think of several problematic bosses that have a Vit score below the resist threshold, a ranger with a good shot can just hit them and hide.” This sounded like a decent idea, but Sam had a second thought.
“But... can’t this then be used for PvP? I mean... If a low-level person has some... issues with a higher-level one, throw some money at a dose and poke them with it. As said, you’re level 23 and a level 1 Player could take you out with this...”
“Ah.. well. Though true, that can be said for many things. Having some good skills or scaling, a good weapon, or like the fuckers that attacked us, they could just attack in our sleep and tie us up or something. Doesn’t matter how good your stats are if you can’t use them.” His tone sounded more like he was persuading himself than explaining it to Sam.
“That’s a good point, like any tool it’s a weapon both for good and bad depending on how, or rather; who uses it,” Sam commented, realizing that as long as he could make sure that this doesn’t come back and bite him later, he didn’t care that much. “I’ll just check with TAC, if all goes well we can just have her around there or something.”
Sam liked this idea, though it would probably not rake in money to the point that he would get some solid funding, it would give Elara something to do. And besides, all money is good money when it comes to it.
“In that case, I’ll bring her tomorrow morning, we can go through things then,” Janik smiled as he finally put his phone away. “But I think I need to head back, got stuff to do before I head to bed.”
He left the two without giving Sam a moment to properly respond besides saying his goodbyes.
Dia and Sam headed back to TAC. He had free living there, after all, so there was no need to not stay there compared to anywhere else. Going through the normal process of getting a room, and having derogatory comments whispered around them, they soon found themselves back in their room.
It didn’t take many seconds for Dia to rid herself of clothing like normal, something Sam had gotten used to, to a certain degree at least.
“Dia,” Sam started, wondering about many things but specifically about one thing just now. “Why do you hate clothing that much? Is it in the way or...?”
Dia had jumped onto the sofa and was shuffling around on all fours like a pet looking for a hidden snack, but she perked up as Sam spoke to her.
“Dia not like clothes. Not in way, but fur important, it feel free, clothes press fur, hide.”
“So... Showing off your fur coat is important to you?” Sam was piecing together things but needed confirmation.
She nodded, emphasising it with a confirming yip. “Coat show health, good health is sign of good Zar. Important.”
They talked about this a bit more, but it seemed that it boiled down to that clothing wasn’t entirely uncomfortable and it had its use, like the cold weather clothing on the mountain. But it pressed her fur and made it look matted or something, a glossy and well-maintained coat was a show of her good health and worked as a status badge, of sorts, for Sam. In her culture, this meant that he was treating her well and was a good provider. So her visual status was important for him as well, at least in her mind.
Her naturalism was also a result of habit, having lived her life like that it just felt like the more natural thing. There were also other aspects related to grooming and non-sexual intimacy that came with it, so there was a list of things which had her dislike it, but luckily it wasn’t to the point that she hated clothing.
“In forest... jungle... Dia home, Dia want run free.” She smiled in the end with the tone almost sounding like a request.
Sam took note of it, he expected this when he was there so he wanted this for her as well but he would have to find a good spot or something.
For now, he sat down and decided to take a gander at the marketplace, seeing if something was interesting he could spend his remaining 2.7 million on. As tomorrow they would try out a dungeon on the Third Floor.
