The Gene of the Ancients (Rogue Merchant Book #2): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (top books to read TXT) 📕

they who backed the market and provided safe logistics. It was a world of military-style clans — and I had to carve my own place there.

The young Err received me immediately.

Thanks to Alex, who had already handed over the quest — he had returned to Eyre way earlier — I had already known the reward. An epic faction quest was a rare beast, and usually, NPCs spared no expenses. I was given a generous helping of reputation, increasing it from Friendly to Revered, skipping over Respect. Faction rep was a great gain, as earning it was a chore: hundreds of quests, thousands of hours invested. It unlocked special vendors, quests, and items, which was greatly appreciated by players.

I won’t even bother you with the details about other bonuses, such as fifty thousand XP and three attribute points.

On top of that, I was given the Friend of the Nation title and a pendant that confirmed this status. It was a round, gold medallion with the image of a barley ear surrounded by seeds, like a paiza of Eyre. Similar tokens were dropped by rank 4 NPCs. Faction items were between rare and epic, in Sphere terms, and could only be obtained as a reward. They had four properties: a bonus to Eyre reputation, giving access to new NPCs and quests, a bonus to Charisma and Luck, and permission to talk to faction leaders once per day without a report. The pendant filled the amulet slot.

On the way back, I visited my friend Weldy, the girl from the magic shop. I thought she’d get offended if I passed by without seeing her. We had a great time exchanging the news. I was so used to NPCs behaving just like real humans that I talked to her like to an old friend without ever remembering that she was an AI that had passed Turing’s test. It felt great.

When I remembered that she was an alchemist and a herbalist, I showed her the recipe I had received in the Order and asked her opinion about the Tincture of Fire.

“Six components, second stage,” Weldy wrinkled her small turned-up nose. “The brewing process is very simple...Vitriol, water essence — I have them, ash rose is sold on the market... Pholiota grows in every swamp. Salamander saliva? Never heard about it. Golden lotus doesn’t sound local, either.”

“If you bring me salamander saliva and golden lotus, I could brew this elixir for you. That said, why would you want it, Sir Cat? If you want fire protection, you’d rather use common Fire Resistance Potion, it’s cheaper and more effective.”

The Tincture of Fire, just like the entire line of the Order’s potions, increased resistances to various damage types and bestowed an additional effect. Still, according to Weldy, that potion was trash expensive and less effective than specialized elixirs. Anyway, I didn’t care about the elixir’s quality, so I asked the girl to brew a sample batch — a hundred bottles — while keeping it secret.

“A hundred? Are you in the right mind, Sir Cat?” the girl was surprised. “Why’d you need that much?”

She took a piece of paper and quickly made some calculations.

“I’ll need a couple of days,” she warned. “And...forgive me for saying it, but I would really like half of the payment upfront. Money’s running low lately, and I’ll have to order bottles from a glassblower...”

That was no problem. I paid for everything straight away — the amount was less than a hundred gold — and promised to send the missing ingredients as soon as possible. The auction had everything, if not there, then in the Fairs. At last, I made one small step forward in my game.

In the meantime, my private messages were full of Watchers. First, Komtur wrote to me, then Abel. They wanted to talk. I set up a meeting in half an hour at my inn.

* * *

 

Finally, I was home. The saga of rescuing the Err was over, and the secret of the sword was revealed. Now, I was stuck in a different, pretty ugly mess. My humble suite in Karn’s inn seemed like a safe haven, and I found myself thinking that it felt like home. I was used to the slanted roofs of the attic room, a carefully done bed, the withered flowers on the table. I put Tao’s things into the chest and shut the half-round lid.

After placing the sheath on my knees, I slowly pulled out the blade. The star metal, blue like a summer sky, gleamed with a multitude of silver sparks that seemed to float from the deep. It was a gorgeous weapon and a dangerous one. Many dreamed about it, their eyes hungry for the prize. Still, I couldn’t help but feel that finding the sword was no coincidence, no stroke of luck.

Fine. I produced the Soulbinding Stone that looked like a green diamond and inserted it into the empty socket on the sword.

Attention! This action is irreversible! Are you sure you want to do it? Yes/No

 

Yes, anybody could insert a magic gem, but removing it required a master weaponsmith — and even then, it ran a high chance of destroying the stone. Still, endowing an item with the properties of the gem was priceless.

Soulbinding Stone Honestly, it was a cheat. It granted a 30% chance to resurrect after receiving a fatal blow. After, get it? It wasn’t even an auto-heal like Tao’s ring that could pull you out from zero hit points. Soulbinding was triggered after the finishing blow when the enemy was completely sure that you were sent to the resp point. The resurrection, going by the description, only restored ten percent of your hit points, but even that could be enough to turn the tide of the battle.

I inserted the stone, and the blue-green gem the size of a quail’s egg glowed in the pommel slot. I opened