From Player To Npc

He administered one HP Regeneration potion to Ragnarock as he didn't consider him to be evil and had to know more about he came to own this weapon.

He examined to see if there were any remains of the weapon's energy on his body, and he found some but destroyed it quickly by using a bit of Light Element Mana.

Ragnarock awoke, and the wound he had gotten from Shingi's attack was almost completely closed healed.

"What... what happened? Where is Zarn?"[Ragnarock]

"You should stay calm. Your weapon took control over you and I had to render you unconscious. It is a dangerous one, and you shouldn't use it anymore, or next time it may control you forever."[Shingi]

Ragnarock starred him a bit and then seemed to come to a realization.

"You saw how cool it is, and you want it for yourself, don't you? I am sorry, but this belongs to my Clan, and I like Zarn. So give it back NOW."[Ragnarock]

Shingi could quickly run away, but he considered Ragnarock to be helpful to train Wild Tycoon.

"Listen to me, Ragnarock, I know that this weapon is a strong one, but it isn't worth the risk of keep using it. I can help you, though, to get rid of the danger without destroying the weapon; you just have to trust me."[Shingi]

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Because of overuse, CHA has been set to 0 temporary for 36 hours.

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Ragnarock calmed down as the notification appeared and nodded to show his agreement.

Shingi didn't expect it to happen, but he was glad it did, although his CHA at 0 had its disadvantages. The biggest one was his MINOR MANA REGENERATION being weaker, almost nonexistent.

"I need to meet some people first before I deal with it. But you can meet me in Carda. It is a village of a little than two weeks from here."[Shingi]

"I know where it is. Was its champion there too in the past. But why can't I just come with you?"[Ragnarock]

Shingi was in a hurry, and even if Ragnarock seemed to be somewhat agile during their combat, Shingi could tell that it was a temporary boost.

"Where I am heading is to meet people who need their privacy, so won't like a crowd to come at them. You can help me deliver a few things there to a friend of mine in the town. I am guessing you have some space at your back."[Shingi]

"More than a bit of space."[Ragnarock]

His bag was similar to Shingi's Spatial Ring and was easier to make, so it was more common for one to have it.

Shingi brought out a few of the materials he had stored in his Ring but didn't let Ragnarock know that it was the ones that were the least useful.

He may put some trust in him a bit, but he wasn't blindly trusting him yet.

Ragnarock agreed to help, especially after Shingi also gave him one special bottle with spirit in it. 

Ragnarock wasn't a specialist at alcohol, even if he was a fan of it, but he could understand just by the smell of it that this was a pretty good one.

They went back to the part of the cave where the two bears were, and Ragnarock explained the situation.

"Finally, someone put some sense in your thick head."[Winestone]

"What are you talking about?"[Ragnarock]

"I told you since day one that this axe was smelling funny. But no, 'Zarn is cool.' Dude was sucking others to make you stronger."[Winestone]

Ragnarock wasn't sure what to say about this.

The weapon could absorb part of the STR of an opponent he hit with it and increase the STR of its user.

"May I ask you something, Winestone? How did you get the ability to speak? I see your mother can't do so, but I can see two types of mana in you but at different places."[Shingi]

Winestone looked at him with an obviously confused bear face.

"I don't know what this mana that you are talking about is, but I was able to talk thanks to a dude called Philemon. He seemed like a great dude at the time, but now I just think he is ok."[Winestone]

Shingi didn't expect this name to be mentioned.

"Yeah, me and some other past pals saved the world for like the millionth time by helping him keeping sealed some evil guys at his place. Heard he is a Defender."[Ragnarock]

Winestone sighed at the explanation of Ragnarock and was ready to correct him but decided no to at the end.

Philemon was the name of one of the Protectors. He was the one for whom there were rumors to have suddenly vanished, even if all of them weren't making many public appearances.

He used to be around a lot as he used to be a type of entertainer and compose many songs and use the music as part of his magic, but he suddenly one day disappeared.

Shingi could tell that Ragnarock was overselling himself about his past and probably that calling Philemon with the wrong title was why Winestone sighed.

"So I guess we are going back home. Do you think your mother is still there?"[Winestone]

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you used to live there. It's been so long since I found you, and we started our crazy adventures."[Ragnarock]

He seemed to have gotten somewhat nostalgic at that moment.

"I doubt mom is still around. She probably moved with Scarlet."[Ragnarock]

Shingi was interested to learn more, but he didn't have much time to spend, even if he had saved some by getting the help of Jax and having Ragnarock deliver some for him.

He told his goodbyes for now as he would meet them in a few days again back to Carda.

He was heading actually to the nearby town as he was interested in investigating it.

Delta City wasn't too far from the cave as he had reached it within the hour.

It didn't have a wall around it, but he detected some alarm runes and a particular field surrounding the whole town that he knew was to act as a repellant for some monsters.

He slowed down when in reach of the alarm runes as there didn't seem to be a space to pass without enabling one.

He detected a few hidden guards watching him a little time after enabling some, but he acted like he didn't notice them.

They kept an eye on him as a stranger in the town but wouldn't act unless he gave them a reason.

As he moved deeper into the town, he noticed the air getting clearer and less swamp-like. It was part of the field's effect, and Shingi knew that this wasn't a cheap thing to do.

Fields like that would spend even high-quality Mana Gems in a matter of days, making it rare for people to choose to have or add more functions to it as it would increase its cost. Most were going for just the repellant effect as having the town attacked by monsters wasn't good for business.

He noticed a few stands and shops around, and most seemed to be Scroll or regular book-related.

There even was a shop with the latest copies of novels, mangas, and other types of literature from the real world for people to buy. The shop mainly was selling to Blessed Ones, but a few nobles were interested in those crazy stories.

Many other companies tried to bring their business or products into the game, so it wasn't that unusual to find things from the real world in the game, but there were some limitations to mess with the game's theme or its balance.

Shingi looked around and found some high-quality Spell Scrolls that he bought, mainly for Mizuneko to study them.

He had quite a bit of coin with him but not enough to buy every high-quality Spell Scroll there, so he chose ones of different Spell types.

He also searched books for Arcane Words and found one more advanced than what Anetta gave him and seemed to have things he didn't know.

He bought it even if he had to spend most of his coins. 

There were more than he could buy, and the coins he had weren't limitless.

He bought a few more advanced recipes for Hineko and stopped spending more as he had now just enough for replenishing some of his supplies.

He couldn't keep fresh food on his Ring for an extended period and eating simple rations didn't help maintain a balanced diet. It would affect his body in the long run, especially since he usually was skipping meals.

He found a simple Inn also to get a meal for the day and a room as he planned to look around the town more for the next time he came.

The innkeeper and owner were a Player and one who seemed excited to met new people and travelers.

Especially seeing a young man like Shingi drew his attention and was bombarding him with questions.

Shingi answered a few but ignored most of them.

"You should not make any plan for the night, lad. We are going to have special entertainment today so you wouldn't want to miss it. I am sure especially a young one as you will enjoy it."[Innkeeper]

Shingi doubted that it would be as exciting as he was telling, but he didn't have any plans for the rest of the day.

He decided to take a break from training as overworking wasn't always good for his body.

Looking around, Shingi noticed that there weren't any NPCs other than a few that worked at the inn. Even on the way there, he saw that most were Player's businesses, and only some stands were of NPCs.

Since the town was in the middle of a swamp and was also near a permanent Dungeon of a little higher level than the one of Carda, NPCs didn't seem interested to travel here.

He had some simple meal as he waited for the night to come, and the unique entertainment mentioned to start.

More people started to gather as it was getting later, as most seemed to had come here for this special event.

There was a raised platform at one of the corners of the establishment. The tables were placed in a way so that each to have the platform at its sight.

At a point, the music played by a few people working for the inn stopped as the light of the inn was turned off.

A lone candle appeared at the platform hovering in the air just less than a meter high from the platform.

Then a second candle appeared as some music started playing.

A figure appeared like a mirage and was holding the two candles.

The figure was of a female figure and seemed to barely be dressed with what looked like a real-world nurse outfit. 

Another figure appeared wearing a similar outfit, and more started appearing as at the end there were six female figures.

The music was quite sexy, and some Players were whistling to the entertainers.

Shingi sighed as he understood what the innkeeper referred to as special entertainment and was ready to head to his room as he was interested in it.

But then he noticed among the crowd of people, who went under the platform to admire the sights closer, that drew his attention.

The figure wasn't joining the crowd as an admirer of the entertainers but to pick the pockets of the ones who were too busy to notice.

Shingi recognized him even if he tried to hide his moves.

His in-game name was Price, and he was one of the Blessed One he had started helping before dying.

He let him continue his work and followed him when Price made his way out.