Chương 104: B2 Chapter 12 - The Robe

Robe Of The Ancient Arcanist Item Type: Legendary Robe (Unique) Required Character Level: 253 Stats: +3000 Spell Power +15% Cooldown Reduction +15% Frost Resistance +100 Defence Abilities: Torment (Passive): Dealing ability damage torments the target with an ancient curse, burning 1% of their maximum health every second for five seconds, dealing fire and time damage.

"The passive could qualify for a mythic item," FireBrand said, "for reasons that I believe are fairly obvious." It wasn't immediately obvious to me. One percent maximum health damage wasn't anything to brag about. The effect didn't seem to stack either, meaning it couldn't be cheesed by spamming a bunch of balls of hail like the Emerald Aurora could. Against players, Veyra's spells themselves would do more damage than the passive ever could.

For some reason, everyone else regarded it like some overpowered mistake of game design, Veyra included. She seemed much more interested in this one. Was I missing something? Then it hit me.

"Does this have a maximum cap?" I asked.

"No," FireBrand said.

"It works against boss monsters." Ah, I thought. So that was why this was good. Against most opponents, the robe wouldn't do much. In PvP, Veyra's old robe would be better due to its buff to quick-casting. A slight burn from some curse just wouldn't make a difference in a quick fight. But against bosses with millions of health… One percentage of a hundred million was a million. The effect would literally do a million damage a second.

"It's not absolute damage," FireBrand said.

"Most bosses are resistant to fire and time damage. Realistically, the effect will deal somewhere around zero-point-four percent damage a second."

"That's still a huge increase in DPS," Veyra said.

"That's an insane ability." FireBrand equipped his personal robe—the iconic fire mage's mythic robe he'd worn for over two years now. Small flames fluttered calmly on his shoulders. The red fabric looked like it was ready to burst into flames, while the thicker black parts held it all together. Everything about it conveyed power.

"That robe is better than mine in extended boss fights," FireBrand said.

"It can't be priced as a regular legendary." I glanced at Veyra, and it was fairly obvious we wanted this robe. It was perfect for our use. She gave me a nod. Haggling time, I thought. I slapped my hands together.

"So… The value of our mythic items was three million gold combined, correct?"

"Indeed," FireBrand said.

"The value of the arcanist's robe will be retracted from the amount I'll include in the trade. You will have the robe and two million gold for your two mythics, valuing the Robe Of The Ancient Arcanist at one million gold." All eyes turned to me as I sat with my chin resting on my two fists. Veyra gave no input. Technically, the two mythics were both mine. It was up to me to get us a good deal.

"A million is too much for a legendary, no matter how good," I said.

"Its passive is better than most mythic effects," FireBrand reminded me.

"Oh, I agree," I said.

"It's absolutely overpowered. But that's not the problem. The problem is Wind Virtual's balance team." FireBrand batted an eye. Next to him, GodWall failed to keep the poker face and grinned, as if he already knew what I would say.

"It'll get nerfed," I said.

"Veyra and I can take down one good boss with that, and the balance team will panic. They'll add a maximum damage per tick cap, and suddenly the robe's value goes from one million to a hundred thousand at best." FireBrand and his team stayed stoic, but GodWall's grin gave it away. They knew this as well. That was why FireBrand hadn't yet done anything crazy with the robe. He knew the same thing as well.

"If it was a mythic item with the exact same stats," I continued, "I'd easily pay a million for that, if not more. Wind Virtual doesn't like nerfing mythic items, since they're supposed to be strong. But since that's a legendary… The risk is just too high. We'll be lucky if it survives until the next patch without hotfixes." If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"He's not wrong," Merami said.

"Half a million would be much more fair."

"Even that is a lot," I said.

"We'd need to make half a million in profit before nerfs come in. It's a huge risk." I looked FireBrand in the eye.

"I'll trade the Godripper and the Emerald Aurora for that robe and two-point-seven million gold on top." FireBrand showed no reaction, but I couldn't imagine he was overjoyed. His initial offer was a massive high-ball, but mine was just as much of a low-ball.

"Three hundred thousand for the robe…" he muttered.

"That's too low."

"Make it four hundred thousand," I said.

"That's the absolute lowest I'll go. If that doesn't work, the deal is off." He sat still like an impenetrable tower. Merami leaned back.

"Just pay the kid. Take the rest from my stash. It's not like we're low on cash." Creator, who'd been silent until now, said, "You guys really need to get better at negotiations."

"Mythics don't just come and go," Merami said.

"We can't be ripping people off. We're paying the most to secure mythic gear, and people should know that. I say we should take the deal. Two million and six hundred thousand with a legendary robe for two great mythics."

"I agree," GodWall said.

"It's good for the game if Veyra has it. Anything these two accomplish makes money for Wind Virtual. More dollars into the game means more gold for us." The staredown between me and FireBrand continued. He tapped his finger, seriously considering it.

"Very well," he finally said.

"Two million and six hundred thousand gold along with the arcanist's robe for the Emerald Aurora and the Godripper." I held my hand out for a handshake. FireBrand accepted it with a firm grip, and he sent me a trade offer. I accepted it, and my stash suddenly had enough gold to buy a mansion in real life.

"Pleasure doing business," I said.

"Likewise." Zenith Protocol's side looked more than happy with the deal. GodWall rubbed his hands against each other.

"Hah! Our pace just increased by twenty percent. Good luck catching up."

"Catch up?" I raised my eyebrows. With an amused smile, I said, "Yeah, we've got work to do." GodWall tilted his head suspiciously.

"What level are you on right now?"

"Level 276," I said obliviously.

"We have some catching up to do for sure. Thanks for tripling our damage output, though."

"I meant the underground levels." He shook his head and said to Merami, "These kids better not be on level four, right?" I stood and stretched.

"Thanks, everyone. I'm happy that not everyone in this game is as toxic as Veilshot."

"The pleasure is mine," FireBrand said.

"You're always welcome here. But remember, in the Wilderness, we're all enemies." I smiled at that, offering him another handshake. He stared at my hand, as if wondering what it was for. Regardless, he shook my hand.

"Come meet us at our castle in a few weeks," I said.

"We'll have coffee prepared."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" GodWall asked.

"Nothing," I said. Smiling, I offered Veyra a hand.

"Shall we head out?" She took my hand and quickly curtsied to Zenith Protocol.

"Thanks for having us. I love your guild hall." Even FireBrand's cheeks rose slightly at that.

"Good luck," he said.

"I look forward to seeing you on the forums."

"Same to you," I said, and I initiated a teleport out of there.

[You have arrived in the Guild Hall] The wooden walls of Veyra's childhood home loaded in. I flinched a little and immediately said, "Oh, I didn't mean to come here. Sorry, I just picked the one on top of my list." She plumped down on her couch.

"It's fine. I need to get used to seeing you here. It's not like this is really my home."

"It's still your space." I took a chair, placing it on the other side of the small sofa table. I summoned the robe and laid it nearly on the table.

"Pretty good haul, though, don't you think?"

"I like the deal for sure." She eyed the robe. I already knew it would look amazing on her. A full frost mage's robe.

"So," she said.

"What's your plan with the robe? I can't afford to buy it from you."

"It's yours, obviously," I said.

"You're giving it for free?" Veyra said.

"Of course."

"Just so you know, I'm not impressed by gifts."

"We're a team," I said.

"I wouldn't have ever gotten any contribution damage on Embridge without you. You deserve four hundred thousand gold worth of gear at minimum for helping me." She continued watching the robe. She shifted her posture. Then she grabbed the robe, holding it from the shoulders.

"Alright. I'll take it. Thank you." She looked honestly happy with it. That put a smile on my face.

"Don't fret it," I said.

"I guess I should have asked if you actually wanted it before just buying it."

"Oh, I absolutely wanted this," Veyra said, a grin appearing.

"You know my playstyle well enough to not give me some trash. This might be the best item I've ever held. Until it gets nerfed..." I leaned back.

"We'll have to make use of it before then. You think it's good enough to beat Shaltar?"

"Well I'm done being useless now," Veyra said.

"I'll be outdamaging you. You'll regret buying this." I laughed.

"Please make me regret it." I realized we were both grinning like idiots. I needed to give her legendary items more often. A new spellbook for her birthday, perhaps? The smile dropped a little when she stood and said, "I need to get going in a minute. But before that… I was thinking of our next meetup. You said you wanted to fly to Thailand?" My head perked up, and the excitement came right back.

"If that works for you, yeah."

"I should have next month free," she said.

"Maybe not the whole month, but most of it at least."

"So, next week?" I asked.

"And I can stay for a month with a few days that you'll be away?" She paused to think.

"Should work, yeah." Yes! I thought. Veyra caught me pumping my fist, as she laughed at me.

"What? You're that excited?"

"Yeah? I was expecting you to tell me we'd be meeting in July or something. February is perfect. I'll grab the flights today." She gave a little nod.

"Hopefully I won't be sick for the whole month."

"If we can log into Wonderwind, we'll always have a good time," I said.

"And if you get logged out, I'll be there to support you." She had a vague smile, still slightly nervous. She glanced at her clock from the side of her eye.

"My evening assistant is coming. I need to get off."

"Aree again?" I asked.

"Yep," Veyra said.

"Let's visit the castle tomorrow. If I can land a hit every few seconds, Shaltar will die in under five minutes. We might need a few days to prepare, though." I could hardly contain the excitement.

"Finally, some good shit. Let's cheese the fuck out of this castle." She chuckled at me.

"Yep. See you tomorrow. And see you next week."

"Have a good night. Tell Aree I said hello."

"I will," she said, and initiated a log-off.

"Good night." I stayed in the guild hall for a bit, chuckling at myself like an evil genius, before I logged off to buy plane tickets.