Chapter 170 Mariposa's Invitation
Izroth opened up his system interface and looked through the titles section. Sure enough, he found a lone title on the list, Protector of Amaharpe. After he quickly examined the details of the title, Izroth chose to equip the title.
〈System Alert: Warning, you are about to change your title. Changing your title may cause your reputation with other parties to rise or fall. Are you sure you want to use the title «Protector of Amaharpe»?〉
Izroth was not worried about his reputation with the people who were against Amaharpe. After all, he was too deeply tied to Amaharpe and individuals like Gear, as well as, Terminus. Even the Apothecary Physing gifted him a treasured cauldron.
Whether he equipped the title or not, would have no effect on his current situation. Besides, he had received countless benefits from his ties to the people of Amaharpe.
"Yes." Izroth said without hesitation. The moment he agreed, Izroth felt as if a new aura had formed around his entire body.
〈System Alert: You have successfully equipped the title «Protector of Amaharpe»!〉
'It is unfortunate that I did not visit the event center before heading over to the auction house.'
Title Name: Protector of Amaharpe(Secondary Rare)
Title Benefit(s):
-Pay 0% tax on items within the capital city «Amaharpe». This includes but is not limited to, the auction house, local shops, and any potential trade taxes. Personal shops must still pay a mandatory tax of 5%.
-Permitted to own property within the walls of the capital city «Amaharpe». (Property Limit: 1)
-Permitted entry into «Amaharpe Palace» (Floor Limit: 1)
-Permitted entry into «Amaharpe Palace Library» (Floor Limit: 1)
〈System Alert: You have permanently unlocked the property feature for «Amaharpe»!〉
What truly caught Izroth's attention about the title was that he would now be capable of owning property within the city walls of Amaharpe! Countless guilds would fight to the death over for the opportunity to own their own property within a highly populated city like Amaharpe.
While players could temporarily rent small places, in the end, the fees were ridiculous and it was ultimately not worth it unless you were pointlessly rich. Also, players were restricted in what they could accomplish with rented locations. For example, they would be unable to open their own shop.
At most, all they could do was advertise by foot and trade items normally. Such a thing was a huge inconvenience and ultimately impractical for large guilds or profession based guilds. Therefore, a huge dream would be to open up their own shop and have the aid of the system to manage things.
'It would be useful to have my own shop so that I can put up the pills I craft for sale there, however...'
When the window opened to reveal the available properties, Izroth was a bit surprised by the figures he saw pop up. Even the cheapest of locations in low traffic areas cost around 4,150 gold coins or approximately 3,500,000 RMB with the current exchange rates.
'What hefty pricing.'
However, Izroth understood the reason behind it. If just anyone could afford a location within the capital city of Amaharpe, then it would be overcrowded in no time. Also, even in low traffic areas, you would still stand to gain a lot in a massive city like Amaharpe. Nothing needed to be said about the high traffic areas.
'Since my current property limit is one, I should make the most of it instead of settling for something mediocre.'
There was one spot located at the heart of the district where Amaharpe had the most traffic, near the auction house and other high-tier Amaharpe shops. However, the amount needed for such a location was astronomical!
'80,000 gold coins, that's nearly 68,000,000 RMB.'
Even if Izroth sold 3,200 Five Cycles Pills at 25 gold coins each without converting it into RMB to avoid the fee, and paying 0% items tax thanks to his new title, he would barely have enough to purchase that location. That was not counting the price drop off or the exchange rate reduction over time.
At the moment, Izroth only had the Five Cycles Pill that he was able to sell in large quantities. But, there was one major thing Izroth lacked that would restrict his overall success and it was the fact that he did not have a stable flow of resources.
The ingredients he needed to craft the Five Cycles Pill were cheap, for now, but when more players started to notice that it is being cleared out nearly every time, the price would begin to skyrocket. This would be even more so if the ingredients for the Five Cycles Pill were discovered.
Another problem was that the amount inside of the auction house was finite and extremely limited compared to his actual needs. What Izroth needed was a stable supplier that would provide him with the materials he needed to craft his pills at a fair price based on their worth.
His first thought was Metronome, but Izroth still had some reservations about him. While Metronome was honest and wanted to become well acquainted with him, Izroth always felt as if Metronome had a hidden agenda and was hiding something away.
Although it was probably nothing to be worried about, Izroth needed people that he could trust without room for suspicion.
'The main issue is still a lack of manpower. If I become too consumed with dealing with these kinds of matters, then it will become increasingly difficult for me to keep leveling up at a steady pace.'
Just as Izroth was contemplating the matter at hand, he received an alert from the system that someone had sent him a message. To his surprise, it was Zi Yi's elder sister, Mariposa.
〈System Alert: Player Mariposa has sent you a message, "If you have some time, I would like to arrange a meeting to discuss a few important matters. Are you available at the moment?"〉
'Important matters?'
Izroth had a good feeling about what Mariposa wished to discuss with him. It definitely had to do with what he handed over to her inside of the Chaotic Dogma Realm as a way of saying thank you for her assistance. However, he did not think she would message him only a few hours after leaving the Chaotic Dogma Realm.
But, Izroth had no reason not to meet with her. In fact, she may even be able to assist him with a few things that were on his list that needed to be taken care of. After all, according to what he learned about Mariposa, she was the guild leader of Sleeping Gardenia, one of the top ten guilds within RML.
Izroth sent a message back agreeing to meet with Mariposa. While he still did not yet have to chance to look through the other rewards he gained, Izroth was in no particular hurry to do so.
〈System Alert: Player Mariposa has sent you a message, "Great, I will send you the coordinates now. I will be looking forward to your arrival."〉
After Izroth received the meeting coordinates from Mariposa, he exited the event center to make his way there.
...
Around twenty minutes later, Izroth arrived outside of a medium sized building. The outside decor was simple and refined but still held onto a certain level of elegance.
'This should be the place.'
As Izroth reached out to grab the door handle, a message from the system popped up.
〈System Alert: Restricted Rented Property. You need proper permission(s) to gain access to this building.〉
〈System Alert: Player Izroth found. Restriction Level: Guest. Permission granted.〉
'Oh? You can restrict access on rented properties as well?'
This was this first-time Izroth had come across such a message within RML. Though, he was not in the hobby of entering random buildings without purpose so it was to be expected.
Izroth opened the door and entered into the building. There was a transparent barrier blocking the doorway which was most likely a way to prevent other unauthorized players from entering inside even if someone else had already opened the door.
The moment Izroth set foot inside, the door closed behind him and he found that multiple sets of eyes were locked onto him. There were some who were confused and others who were shocked, but before any of them could say anything, a voice drifted through the room.
"I'm glad that you could make it on such short notice, Izroth." Mariposa who was currently standing at the other side of the room said in a slightly teasing and alluring tone of voice.
As Izroth swept his gaze across the room, he noticed that there were no other males! Every single player inside of the building was female. While Izroth was a bit surprised at first, it was not something completely new to him.
After all, back in the Seven Realms, there were some sects who only accepted women cultivators. Plus, he knew that while it was rare, all-female guilds were not completely unheard.
Izroth also noticed that some of the gazes on him were intense as if they wanted to devour him where he stood. While some others had a more reserved nature and simply admired him from afar with a light shade of pink finding its way to their cheeks.
"Your invitation was unexpected. But, I was simply running a few errands and had the time to spare." Izroth said with a carefree expression on his face.
As Izroth spoke, some of the more formal female players there had a hint of displeasure on their faces. They felt as if Izroth did not treat their guild leader with enough respect. However, many of them actually believed Izroth had the right to talk the way he wanted as long as he did not go overboard.
This was the player who ranked number one in the solo portion of the Protectors of Amaharpe event! Who did not know of Izroth's name and his recently soaring fame by this point?
"I do not believe I properly thanked you for looking after my adorable little sister while we were inside of the Chaotic Dogma Realm." Mariposa said as she took a seat at the nearby table and made a gesture for Izroth to come and join her.
"It's only natural to look out for one another when you are a part of a team." Izroth responded as he sat down in the chair across from Mariposa.
There were two players by Mariposa's side. On the left was a woman who appeared to be in her late teens. Her black hair was coiled demurely at the nape of her neck. She had emerald green eyes with a cute face and an adorable button nose to match. She possessed a petite yet charming figure that made men want to naturally protect her.
On Mariposa's right side was a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties. She was taller than the average woman and had short cut purple hair, Her gray eyes were fierce and she seemed to be constantly on guard, even in a currently safe environment.
However, hidden behind that fierce expression was a very beautiful woman. She had curves set in all the right places and if she were walking down a street, many would likely mistake her for a model.
"You are too modest." Mariposa replied as a lovely smile found its way onto her face.
"Before we start, I would like for you to meet two people. To my left is the financial advisor for my Sleeping Gardenia, He Huian. To my right is one the commander of my Lotus Guard, Valkyria. She was quite insistent when it came to meeting you, Izroth." Mariposa said with a grin.
Valkyria let out a sigh as she said, "If you word it that way then people may misunderstand. I just wanted to take a look at the player who managed to snatch away the first place spot in the solo portion of the event."
Mariposa lightly giggled, "You will have to excuse her. Valkyria is a bit disappointed that she only managed to place 5th during the event."
"I was just a bit lucky is all." Izroth replied. While others may believe that he was being modest, it was partly due to luck that he managed to take first place. After all, if he never received the Behemoth's Quake skill from that rare boss monster, then he would have never secured the number one spot after not participating until the sixth wave.
After a little small talk, Mariposa decided to finally get down to the true reason she asked Izroth to meet with her.
"Before we start, I have one important question to ask you. Are you the grade three Apothecary that has been selling the Five Cycles Pills?" Mariposa had a serious expression on her face. It was as if a switch flipped and she entered into her guild leader mode.