Chương 103: B2 Chapter 11 - Mythic Hagglers

Assassin:" I'm looking to sell the Godripper and Emerald Aurora if negotiations are still on the table. Ready right away." I sent the message to Zenith Protocol's manager, whose account was literally ZenMail1. FireBrand and everyone in the guild got so many messages that they'd hired someone just to look at their messages, from fan mail and trolls to sponsor offers, and of course, trade offers. The account was currently online, but his inbox was probably filled with all sorts of junk mail.

There was a good chance it would take time before he'd see our message. To my surprise, he read it in under ten seconds. The text chat read, ZenMail1 is typing…

"Looks like they placed me on priority mail," I said as I shared my text chat with Veyra.

"They really want this sword, huh?" she said, studying the chat from over my shoulders. ZenMail1:" The guild will be ready to negotiate face to face in fifteen minutes. Does this work for you?" Assassin:" That's perfect. Where will we meet?" ZenMail1:" FireBrand will send you a teleportation request to the guild hall." I reacted with a thumbs up emoji. I'd only had good experiences with Zenith Protocol so far. Their manager also seemed nice and professional.

"Are you sure you want to sell to Zenith Protocol?" Veyra asked.

"I'm not saying they'll scam you, but they're our biggest competitors. If we sold these to Syntrix, there would be a higher chance of our opponents fighting each other."

"I've thought about it," I said.

"If I was looking for cash, I'd just place them to the auction and sell them to the highest bidder. But I'm looking for gear upgrades. Zenith Protocol has the highest chance of having upgrades that fit our builds." I already knew what Veyra would say next. I interrupted her.

"And yes, I'd trade Emerald Aurora for a DPS robe for you any day. I'm not short on money right now. If it means our damage will increase, I'm investing into your gear as well." Her eyes remained argumentative. She shrugged.

"Well, if you insist on giving me stuff, I guess I can't decline."

"More importantly, what kind of items are we actually looking for?" I asked.

"We need damage, obviously, but do we have more specific ideas?"

"I've always gone for cooldown reduction and pure spell power," Veyra said.

"That got me to the endgame. Right now, though, pure stats won't cut it. I'd need ten thousand spell power from all items to start doing damage."

"That would imply we're already close to the cap with this build."

"I might need to respec, yeah," Veyra said.

"My staff was OP two years ago, but newer legendaries have kind of outdone it. The versatility just isn't enough to make up for a lack of damage." I sat on one of the wooden chairs that hadn't been destroyed during the fight, thinking.

"Your portals are still OP. We'll need something seriously good if we want to swap your staff."

"I could always respec to a fire mage if we need pure DPS," Veyra said.

"I don't think a fire mage would fit our playstyle," I said.

"I can't go in if you're spamming AoE. I'd burn. I do like the utility of the frost and time combo. Your damage spells are also good. They just need more numbers."

"So I'd need a whole lot more spell power."

"A mythic DPS robe could get you there."

"Those will cost millions," Veyra said with a sigh.

"I wouldn't want to run around wearing a mansion worth of clothes on me as my main gear."

"Fair enough…" We continued discussing possibilities with troubled expressions. Veyra was right in that her staff was the biggest piece holding her damage numbers back. It was super versatile, not only offering portals but also letting her spec into frost and time magic at the same time. The drawback was the lack of raw stats. That was just how game balance worked. Neither of us wanted Veyra to lose her identity as the portal mage. She'd played with the staff for a long time, having mastered the playstyle.

If her spells just did more damage, we'd once again be golden to advance toward Shaltar's castle, maybe to assassinate the big boss herself. Problem was, doubling her damage output wouldn't happen from switching epics to legendaries. We'd need something clever…

"Well, let's see what Zenith Protocol has to offer," I said.

"If they have nothing, I'll just take the gold and we'll keep an eye on the auction."

"Yep," Veyra said.

"Sorry if I'm making this difficult."

"Crafting a build is difficult," I said.

"It's not you making it difficult. Oh, and it looks like time's up." [Player FireBrand has invited you to visit Zenith Protocol Guild Hall (Safe Zone). Accept teleport y/n?]"You ready?" I asked. Veyra nodded and grabbed my hand. I clicked yes, and we teleported to the guild hall of the best guild in Wonderwind's history.

Zenith Protocol had showcased their guild hall to the public many times in the past. Livestreams had been conducted there, and pictures of their castle were very much public. Like most top guilds, Zenith Protocol had hired real architects to design utterly insane structures, and they made showcase videos of their builds for popularity. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Knowing that, I thought I knew what I could expect when teleporting in.

A grand castle of magic and pure wealth with details comparable to ancient Rome in its prime. Or maybe we'd get sent to a more private underground negotiation chamber not shown to the public. I had not expected the hiss of a waterfall to be the first thing I heard. We spawned on a patio atop a cliff. Clear crystalline water cascaded down to rocky fields, into a river that flowed to another waterfall below. The clouds were close overhead, and the landscape ended abruptly, indicating that we were on a flying island.

Zenith Protocol's magical castle stood half a mile in the distance. Its white and blue walls shone without a single stain on them, and subtle touches of dark blue gave the castle a more distinct shape, though I wasn't sure what the materials themselves were. The place could have belonged to a princess movie. The same cleanliness continued to the cliff we stood on. There was a table with a lemonade pitcher on it and the perfect seats to spend a nice summer evening on. Then there were the players themselves.

I met eyes with FireBrand, the living legend.

"Welcome," he said. Oh wow, I thought, flinching by his stature. He's tall. I'd met FireBrand in real life once before. He'd been around the same height as me. His character was now a few inches taller. Wonderwind allowed incremental changes when creating a character, and FireBrand had clearly maxed out the height bar. I'd chosen to keep mine at the same height as in real life just to make movement feel as natural as possible.

His hair and beard had orange streaks to them, and both were much thicker than in real life. He wasn't wearing his iconic black and red mythic robe, instead clad in an indigo blue wizard's robe, more fit for a frost mage. Screenshots of him testing it had spread on the forums, causing confusion. I wasn't sure what it was about. Beside him were more familiar names Merami, Creator, and Godwall. The three members who'd be the best candidates to equip either the Emerald Aurora or the Godripper. I offered a bow.

I wasn't usually one for formalities, but the gesture came out naturally in an environment like this.

"Thank you for having us," I said, and Veyra lowered her head as well.

"Thank you for coming," FireBrand said. He smiled at Veyra.

"And I'm honored to finally meet you in person. Congratulations for your win in Worlds."

"Thank you," Veyra said with a little hint of awkwardness. Zenith Protocol took seats on the rectangular table next to each other, leaving the opposing side empty for us. Veyra and I sat down.

"Lemonade?" GodWall asked happily.

"Sure, thank you," Veyra said. He poured a glass for everyone, including FireBrand. It looked odd to see him take a sip of lemonade, being a tall Norwegian who could have probably led the vikings if he'd been born a few hundred years earlier. I reminded myself that everyone here was just a gamer. Awesome ones, but still players, who also respected us for our achievements.

"Did you two see that global announcement just now?" FireBrand asked.

"Of course," I said.

"Interesting stuff." He studied me and Veyra.

"You caused it to happen, didn't you? You're bonded to a spirit." An awkward laugh came out on its own.

"Maybe." Merami leaned back with a sigh.

"And that means we're losing to a guild of two people. We're moving too fast and skipping quests. We really need to step up our game, Ragnar." That was FireBrand's real name.

"A?" GodWall asked.

"You wouldn't mind coming down a few levels to catch Dragrath for us? I'll put a bounty on him. We'll pay a lot." The grin on his face told me he was joking. I held my hands back regardless and jokingly responded, "Well, if our deal goes through today, that might help you speed up the pace a little."

"Indeed," FireBrand said.

"We are interested in both mythics with a maximum price of three million gold for both items. Above that, the items' value will take too long to recoup." Three million, huh? That was well over two million dollars. I doubted we could get much better from other guilds. Zenith Protocol was offering a more than fair price right off the bat. But even if the auction house was pay to win, upgrades were hard to come by. Pure money wouldn't help improve our builds right now.

"I was actually hoping to ask if you had any items to trade," I said, putting on the most serious face I could.

"We need damage."

"I agree," FireBrand said, not one bit surprised.

"It's a miracle how you managed to win Worlds with epic gear. I was wondering when you'd start looking at upgrades." He turned to Veyra.

"I would assume you're searching for a new staff."

"Yes…" Veyra said with a hesitant nod. He called items from his inventory, and two staves appeared on the table. The first one had a classic wooden design. Sapphires were embedded into the shaft with runic patterns branching out, filling with the gemstones' energy. It had some grip tape to hold it, and the end had a crooked top. FireBrand shared its details.

Staff Of The Verdant Herald Item Type: Legendary Staff (Unique) Required Character Level: 273 Stats: +4500 Spell Power +10% Cooldown Reduction +2 to Defensive Spells Abilities: Call Of Nature (Active): Dealing more than five thousand damage with a single spell leaves a thorn on an opponent. At three thorns, activate Call Of Nature to entangle all thorns, dealing 3000 True Damage and executing enemies below 10% Health.

The second staff was built of small silver strings precisely coiled together for a surprisingly elegant appearance. At the end was a miniature dragon's head with its mouth open. Staff Of The Frozen Dragon Item Type: Legendary Staff (Unique) Required Character Level: 268 Stats: +5000 Spell Power +5% Frost Damage to All Attacks Abilities: Breath Of The Frozen Dragon (Passive): Increase All Cast Times by 50% and mana cost by 25%. Ability damage, healing, and spell effect durations are all increased by 60%.

While Veyra and I read the effects, FireBrand said, "Burst damage would do you wonders. Veyra's three-spell combo will one-shot most players with the Verdant Herald execute. Same with the Frozen Dragon staff. The cast-time nerf is too severe for our mages to deal with, but Veyra can mitigate the debuff with quick-casting. It should double her damage compared to her current staff." Both were amazing staves, I had to admit. These were the types of items top guilds were running for boss raids.

Just about everyone short of the five gods would drool over all of these items. Only mythics could be better. Veyra studied their stats, her lips at a line. Her eyes were far from overjoyed.

"These are good for one-shotting targets, yes…" She raised her head and spoke confidently.

"But I'm looking for DPS more than burst damage. I'd like something that helps in extended fights." FireBrand batted an eye.

"You're going for boss hunts?"

"Something like that," Veyra said.

"These staves are good, but they won't fit my playstyle." FireBrand leaned back, but his posture somehow remained straight, as if he was incapable of relaxing. He eyed the sky behind us as he thought. Merami faced him intently.

"Remember what we're haggling for here." GodWall laughed.

"We all know you want that robe, Mel."

"I have one item that fits," FireBrand said.

"I'm reluctant to let go of it, however. I'll only sell it for vastly over the market value."

"If it's what we want, we're here to trade," I said.

"Show us the details." FireBrand unequipped his robe, revealing his muscular chest, and he showed us one of the most overpowered items I'd seen in a long time.

"This robe," he said, "is the best legendary item in the game."