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

“If it’s more than a million, the Snails won’t accept a contract, so you’ll have to split it, so it will be more expensive. Oh, and if the combined weight is more than a hundred ton, a bark or a galleon won’t be able to move it. Find an astral nave, it’s going to be much cheaper, anyway.”

“Well, your Trade skill seems high enough. I think you’ll make it,” Green summed up after buying and selling everything we had wanted to and securing a contract for delivery of a three-ton cargo to Eyre via Escargot & Co. In three days, a bark would get our goods to the stated destination. As I had suspected, it wasn’t especially complicated: the most important things were attention to detail and a knack for trade.

“All right, so I got you up to speed, just as I promised. You can take it from here,” Green said. His hand lingered on my arm. “One more thing, Cat. Do you know what’s the most important thing for a trader?”

“Knowledge,” I said simply. I hated dramatic rhetorical questions.

“Knowing the market is important, but it’s not the main thing. Thing is, you can make millions and then lose everything and become a beggar stuck in the debt pit. Huge profits and a bankruptcy risk go hand-in-hand. Everything depends on you, on how much you want to earn and how much you are willing to risk for it. Do you get it, Cat? The most important thing for a trader is himself.”

I nodded thoughtfully. I was largely in agreement with him. Green was a pretty savvy guy, but he was one of the people preferring a small stable income to putting everything at stake.

“Here, I got you a present,” he pulled off a ring from his left hand. It was blue quality, which meant rare. “It has never failed me. Keep it safe. When I return to Sphere, I’ll take it back!”

And he disappeared, using a Soul Stone to get back to wherever he was bound to, leaving me alone inside a Bazaar auction hall, packed to the brim with people. I twiddled with the gift of my predecessor.

You obtained an item:

 

Ring of Keen Sight.

 

Quality: rare.

 

Material: silver.

 

Durability: 10/16.

 

Weight: N/A.

 

1 slot: Gems inlaid: 1/1.

 

Intellect: +2, Luck: +2. Gems inlaid: Star Alexandrite.

 

Identification: 70% chance to identify hidden properties of an item up to Epic quality. 1 attempt/12 hours.

 

Well, that should come in handy. With the clan tasks over, I could finally deal with my own. Thirty vials of Tincture of Fire and its recipe had been waiting in the wings in my inventory and at last, it seemed, their time had come.

The problem was, the bustling of the public auction hall made concentrating all but impossible. Local hubs like Eyre or Fairs, where I had traded before, had lots of people, too, but their auctions could accommodate them, and more. Here, the rush was comparable to Wall Street, or the New Tokyo exchange. So, what was that Green said about the perks of Diamond accounts?

I addressed one of the NPCs, an auction agent.

“Excuse me, sir. Are there any quieter places around here?”

“Quieter? Do you mean VIP halls? Of course. Floors thirteens and fourteen.”

As it turned out, everything wasn’t as easy as I had thought. Renting a VIP place inside an auction house to get some peace and quiet was pretty high: a thousand gold a day, which wasn’t much cheaper than a real-life hotel. They got a lot of nerve charging that money! I was ready to turn around and leave, if not for a nice surprise.

“Pardon me, Sir...HotCat?” the receptionist on the thirteenth floor said after checking an unseen list. “I gave you incorrect information...or, rather, didn’t check your status. Please accept my apologies.”

My status? Ah, so my Diamond account did work! Apparently, the Diamonds always got the best rooms for free. It made sense. A nice perk.

“For players of your status, we always have several VIP apartments booked. All amenities are included. After me, please.”

Well, that was not bad at all. A spacious two-room apartment with a bedroom and a living room that doubled as a study, a wall-sized picture window, and a great view of the sunset, with the yellow-red moon descending over the horizon and a swarm of astral ships slowly soaring above the Bazaar. It also boasted direct access to the market interface, an auction agent menu, the warehouse, a button for summoning a courier, and finally, a dusted bottle of wine and a long-stemmed glass on the coffee table next to the couch.

I plopped down on the couch, uncorked the bottle, and poured myself a generous helping of wine. Then I opened all the menus I wanted, connected to the trade channels, and went to work.

Chapter 8

EACH PLAYER in Sphere could obtain an unlimited number of archetypes, but only three could be active at one time. Currently, I had Novice Warrior, Novice Trader, and Free Merchant enabled. Step by step, thanks to Secret Learning and daily practice, my main skill, Trade, upgraded, finally reaching rank six. Gaining 611 skill points out of 1000 possible in just two months was a pretty serious achievement. Upon leveling up, I unlocked almost all secondary skills and following Green’s advice, used clan funds to buy skillbooks and growth manuals for those that didn’t unlock automatically.

Why not? It was for the greater good, after all. Clan Contracts, Marketing, Management, Human Resources, Wholesale, Consignments... Thirteen in total. Most of them required rank four or five of Trade to learn.

It was a handy tool, boring, but necessary. Thanks to the books, I managed to increase each subskill by 150 SP right away. A skillbook produced 50 SP, while a growth manual, which provided a detailed description of each skill and methods of