Rank-up missions were what allowed one to advance to the next tier of levels. For me, to go from level 9 to 10, it was getting the Primordial Villain class and a few other criteria, but according to the system message I got, I wouldn’t have it easy next time around, as supposedly primordials have specific trials they need to overcome, but for some reason, I had it easy with the first one.
Just for reference, Aurora’s mission was to negate a certain amount of damage incurred with her shields and buff us up to deal a certain amount of bonus damage due to her spells, as well as concoct a few potions, but she’d already achieved that a long ago.
Her Enchanter class was truly starting to shine with each level, as she went from a simple shieldbot to an all-around magical supporter, but of course, she had only basic spells at her disposal due to her low level.
I’m very excited for Seraphiel to round out our team. With this, we will have a very balanced setup. Blossom is the assassin who flanks critical targets, Ayame acts as our melee main damage dealer and secondary frontliner, with Lucille being our tankiest member. She is focusing on Strength and Vitality, which allows her to equip heavy armor.
Just like Aurora, however, she isn’t high enough level to sufficiently act as a tank for us as of yet. She needs a bit more time, but because we bought her a strong, full-body armor she is hard to one-shot kill, especially with an Enchanter and Healer in our ranks bolstering her durability.
However, more frontliners would not hurt. Ayame is a very mediocre tank who would much rather have other melee fighters next to her take the brunt of enemy attacks, and Blossom is a flanker, so one or two more tanky members could come in handy.
Aurora will be our enchanter- and potion supplier- and Serapiel our ranger who will heal in times of need. With my Slave Master class, I will even be able to make her into an actual archer, not just a simple healer who has a bow in hand, since I can swap between her classes at will. Doing so will let her be a much more imposing threat to our enemies.
Naturally, yours truly will be the final piece of the team, I will act as an all-rounder. I have invested heavily into magic, but since I had points in physical stats from beforehand, I’m sufficient in melee combat as well. I will protect our two vulnerable members while dishing out damage from afar, as long as we can maintain our most ideal formation.
If we get overrun then I will engage in melee as well.
All three slave merchants squinted their eyes while frowning heavily. Their worst fears came to be true; a stingy noble. It’s the worst possible combination for a lowborn business owner to deal with. They legally aren’t allowed to be rude to me, but I can’t just rob them either due to my (supposed) birth origin.
Nobles usually have an image to uphold, so they don’t barter much because doing so makes them appear cheap.
Well, I don’t really care about appearances now, do I?
Since they went to a mass sale event to get her, I’m confident to say that she was bought for cheap. They then brought her back to Greenvale, the duchy bordering the Beastman Confederation, where elves are a luxury product.
Well, all slaves are luxury products to begin with, but even within this product category elves are many times more expensive than their human or beast-kin equivalent as far as stats or classes go.
Part of it is the inherent value they hold due to their long lifespan, yes, but just like the dwarf architect slave who cost as much as Ronan and Iselda combined, she is a premium product just due to sheer scarcity.
The mother spoke up this time, “My Lord, she is a young elf who will serve your household for a millennium at least if treated well. Her price may seem steep, but she will be doing the work of numerous slaves in the long term. It’s a good investment for your beloved descendants to bask in.”
She was right, of course, but I still wanna go as low as possible.
“You bring up good points, woman. I am willing to go from my intended 25 gold to 50, a giant, hundred percent increase, especially considering the fact that you didn’t bother training her properly.” I responded in a haughty tone as if expecting them to kneel from my sheer generosity.
Instead, all their features contorted with extreme pain in sync. If I had to guess, they likely got her for around the 40 gold coin mark, maybe 50. They spent some money on her transportation and housing, but that shouldn’t even add up to a single gold coin, just a few silver ones. They are looking to make a big profit here.
After some back and forth we’ve settled on 53 gold. By the end, all three of them looked at me with murderous eyes, and at Ayame as well, because although she didn’t participate in the cutthroat haggling process she instead kept verbally insulting them once in a while, just for fun.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Gentle knocking could be heard from the other side of the door. “Madam, I’ve brought the slave you requested. I bathed her and made her presentable.” An older, feminine voice spoke up.
The owners opened the door and ushered the newcomers in. The servant was the same woman who brought Ayame to me back then. Looks like cleaning female slaves was her specific duty.
As for the other woman… I had to blink numerous times just to ensure that what I saw was reality. I’ve encountered elves before on the open market, but Seraphiel was something else. In a category of her own, as far as beauty and grace was concerned.
<Quinlan…!!!> Jealous growling entered my mind. I was staring for too long, it seems.