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

seller. It gave us pause. The other red flag was another hidden nickname actively buying dragon blood. That was a major alarm.

 

HotCat: So what does it have to do with me?

 

Joker: Moving on. It’s a new active player whom we don’t know. Hidden nickname means Diamond account, but you can’t hide clan data. All achievements are up for viewing. Five minutes ago, Russian clan “Watchers” got a new “Wolf”. That’s a strange coincidence, considering right at that time, a large batch of blood got sold for an inflated price, don’t you think? After that, it’s obvious. The Watcher’s clan trader is HotCat. Kill rating shows he’s Diamond. Divination shows HotCat’s in Seventeenth Tower of the Bazaar.

 

I checked the system tray. True, euphoric after winning the battle of wills, I hadn’t noticed the series of new achievements:

You made a major transaction, selling items worth more than 300,000 gold in one deal!

 

Achievement unlocked: Merchant Prince! You receive 10,000 XP!

 

You increased your funds more than five times in one deal! (Only sums exceeding 50,000 are taken into consideration).

 

Achievement unlocked: Wolf of Bazaar! You receive 50,000 XP! You receive 1 free attribute point!

 

Details of the latest achievement: epic, you were the 124,547th player to get it, displayed in the clan achievement list...

HotCat: Amazing deduction. How did you catch the clan achievement?

 

Joker: It’s my job. As for the achievement, there’s a special site showing such stuff live. It comes in handy.

 

Joker: So anyway, why didn’t you buy out all the lot? Please satisfy my professional curiosity.

 

HotCat: It would be too ham-fisted. And I sensed a catch, too. I think that if I bought everything, you’d never let me sell it for a good price.

 

Joker: Yes, lots of us held back their blood to fight over purchasing lots. That was a stylish job, selling everything at the peak price. Kudos.

 

Joker: I invite you to join the Shadow Guild.

 

HotCat: What?

 

Joker: It’s an unofficial community of Bazaar traders. Not everyone, of course, only the best. There aren’t too many of us there. You’ll be the ninety-eighth.

 

Interesting... Going by the available information, Joker himself was a member of NAVY, a large American coalition, and not a foot soldier, either. What did he want from me?

After a series of questions, I found out that the Guild was basically just a chat, and many of its members had never seen each other. It was used to exchange news, discuss the market, inform about the most profitable deals or warn about scams. Joining it didn’t automatically impose any obligations, while knowing the business sharks of Bazaar could be very useful in the future. Interesting... The only thing I didn’t like was how quickly Joker had found me and how easily he had invited me into an elite club.

HotCat: I have a question. Why me? Is getting into your community that easy?

 

Joker: Two reasons. First, I trust my intuition. Second, you were recommended by our mutual acquaintance.

 

HotCat: A mutual acquaintance?

 

Joker: Guess who.

 

* * *

 

Dorsa, Condor, the castle of the Watchers.

 

“To Helt Akor? In a raid?” Abbot, the Watchers’ vice leader of PvE, winced. “Are you serious, HotCat?”

His look seems to imply, if it were my call, you wouldn’t be here at all.

“I looked at your profile,” he continued. “Six thousand SP, most of them in trade. It’s ridiculous, Cat. I don’t get why you were even invited into our clan, considering your data.”

True, I had enrolled into the academy and then the clan itself by pulling strings. The minimum requirement for joining was ten thousand SP, meaning three or four months of playing. I, as well as Ivan and Maria, had been accepted thanks to a personal permission of the Keeper Council and AlexOrder’s recommendation. Still, we had passed the exam fair and square!

“Of course, you have your miracle sword,” Abbot continued. “But I also heard that using it might be dangerous. The admins could remove the loot — hasn’t it already happened once?”

“That was dealt with. It won’t happen again.”

Abbot shrugged.

“One day it’s one thing, then another,” he said. “Just imagine, we find a nice spot in the Paths, farmed it up, you killed the boss with your imba blade, we got a legendary item. First, it could be taken by the admins, and second, it would be broken, and fixing a legendary is neither cheap nor easy, it’s a story in itself! So just scram.”

“You mean there’s no way I could get there? All I need is to go with you until I reach a certain place inside the Paths.”

“HotCat, for the raid, you’re nothing but dummy weight. You can’t even wear Estel gear, your skills are too low. The level of Dread inside Helt Akor is three to five points! Stop messing about, go level up.”

So that’s how it was. I went out into the clan hall courtyard, thinking. The Watchers didn’t want to take me to the Endless Paths, and all my attempts to find another “train” to get there were just as unsuccessful. Nobody wanted to take a useless noob into the challenging dungeon network, even for a large sum of money. I had spent the last few days studying that subject. My conclusions were disappointing.

When first I started looking for the way into Dagorrath, I tried the simplest version — going through thirty portals. I lost an entire day, wasted several thousand gold on tokens, and died three times. Just as I had suspected, in the worlds controlled by Pandorum’s vassals, my status as their enemy made movement impossible. I was killed in the second to last world, where players constantly caged several portal circles. I had only one option left: go through the dungeons of Helt Akor.

The Endless